The paper calendar I've used since the 90s is elegant: a spiral ring across three pages that hang down. Week day, date, month. It's self-standing, and each piece of paper in it is a sample of a different elegant, subdued stock from the manufacturer.
What makes it work so well for me isn't just the simple reminder (which I often forget to update) of the exact monthdateday is that its cyclical nature and paper construction have made it ideal for cyclical reminders. First it was sticky notes on the day, so I'd remember trash, class, or the Irish jam. It has expanded to small pencil notes in the month page to remind me of family birthdays and anniversaries in that month. If I had something on the Ides of each month, I could indicate that on the date pages.
From the side, it's like a triangle, but the bottom side is two sides, tented for stability. Each sheet bears the name by which it can be ordered. Copyright 1994 by the International Paper Company, so I've been using it for twenty-five to thirty years.
All this points me to an ideal calendar, which would be very much like this one, only the pages would be designed to accomodate the items associated with each, and maybe allow one big one in red for whatever's really important to you.
And there should be a fourth leaf, position to be determined, with a nice picture or whatever in it. For logistical reasons, you don't want much more than twelve of those. Something to figure out later. I'd like it to hang on a wall, and have arbitrarily chosen a clipboard as the model for how that would work. There could be designs on the backs that work together in random ways, so the part that is above the hanging daydatemonth letternumbers would be pretty and mutable. Or that can be the part where you write your stuffs, and the calendar info can be more decorative.
Unsure of my description, I added a photo. I have two of these, and one is still in its plastic flat pack. I figured I'd break it out if I ever needed a new one, and this one is going to last forever. The sticky note up there is loose at the top because they changed our trash day again.
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