I tried the hipster pda with vanilla 3x5 index cards, $4 for 1000, popularized by Merlin Mann. I tried it, but the cards were too white trash for me. Literally. While I was planning my third cross-country move, I splurged on Crane pure cotton 3x5 cards. They were beautiful and strong, but really, $22 for 100, that's insanely expensive. I looked lovingly at Levenger cards; they register higher on the quality-meter than supermarket index cards. I indulged in these when studying for the MCATs, and I'm glad I did. I made a few hundred flashcards and kept them for a year; good design makes it easier to tolerate endless drilling. But Levenger cards cost too much ($44 for 1000) for GTD-style short-term disposable usage. I find Post-it index cards incredibly offensive, design-wise. The rules are far too dark, and the sticky backing literally attracts dirt and lint, which then ends up marring the face of the card behind the dirty/sticky card. The Real Simple index card deck caught my attention, but it suffers from horrible colors and too-wide rules. I honestly don't understand how the people who fetishize moleskine notebooks can tolerate all these loud, rough-edged designs.

My favorite so far: Paper Source business card blanks. Except that (ye gods!) these are $1.50 for 25 cards. Six cents per card? Yuck.

I just bought a deck of long, thin, oval index cards by Umbra and found them entirely the wrong size to play Freecell. (Which is a whole 'nother blog post: why it's better to have time-wasting fun activities that don't involve the computer.) Now I'm experimenting with combining them with a fisher space pen for a cool-shaped hipster pda. Thinking about it in the light of day, though: I paid maybe $5 for 52 cards. This is not a good long term plan.

My latest greatest innovation is using Umbra Meow Playing Cards as bookmarks. Each card has a lovely illustration of a different cat breed, and they're a great form-factor for bookmarks. $5 for 52 cute-as-a-button bookmarks is a big win.

And, ahem, Kitty Spangles Solitaire is really the bomb for mac os x solitaire.