"The result is that people create odd-looking passwords and then have to write them down, which is of course less secure than something you can memorize"Balls.
Of course it is, but 90% of password security advice is based on corporate culture not home use. So, if you write down passwords at work, it's far more likely that someone will take the post-it off your monitor or keyboard. Shoving them into your address book stored in the drawer next to the spare batteries etc is pretty secure in a security-by-obscurity sort of way. That said though, it's bloody useless if you forget the password when you're on holiday or at the shops.
EVERYTHING you have should be secured with two-factor authentication where possible, it's as close as you can get to impossible to hack (ignoring the system itself being compromised). I have a yubikey that generates Google Authenticator codes for some stuff, GA codes on my phone for other stuff, texts for some stuff that doesn't support GA and, of course, bank code generators.