Monday, October 20, 2008

Little Things, Little Things...

Let's hope the money I've saved by eating stale crackers for lunch will pay for my latest little splurge: some nice pens. I've spent about $20 in the past month on 4 new pens, all after stumbling on a blog called The Pen Addict. If you have the least inclination to care about what kind of pen you use, DO NOT CLICK ON THAT LINK! You will be sucked in. You will want to buy new pens.

I generally feel like pens are a thing that should not be bought. Lots of free ones are given away, and if you work in an office, so much of your use of pens is probably for work purposes anyway that you'll just use the ones you get there for free. But I hate crappy pens. When my office stopped stocking the kind I like best, I hoarded the ones I had, and at one point I even ordered a way overpriced box of them online because I was afraid they weren't being made any more. I still have a few of those left and continue to use them happily.

But in the meantime, I've been trying to organize my life better by keeping lots of notes and to-do lists in one of my beloved Moleskine notebooks. In the past, I've kept lots of lists in my PDA, and there are advantages to the electronic method, but I also really like the immediacy of writing things in a notebook. I've posted about my notebook obsession before, and since increasing my usage of notebooks lately, I've been searching for cheaper ways to buy them. There are plenty of blogs that discuss Moleskines, and one of the frequent themes is how different pens work on Moleskine paper. My usual pens work okay in Moleskines, but not perfectly. Or at least they seemed much less perfect after reading other people's opinions about what pens are closer to perfect via sites like Pen Addict!

Also, I wanted to try using multiple colors in my notebook to try to differentiate different projects. I thought it would be handy to have one of those multiple 4-in-1 pens like Bic makes, but I only use rollerball pens, not regular ballpoints, and a rollerball multi-pen seemed impossible to find... until I visited JetPens.com, where I bought a nifty rollerball featuring black ink, red ink, and a mechanical pencil all in one. It was $6, which seems like a lot for a fairly basic plastic pen. (Fortunately, though I've used fountain pens in the past, they hold no attraction for me now, as you could easily spend a lot more than $6 on one of those!) The trouble with buying pens online is that you can't be sure they'll feel the way you want them to, and that you're tacking on shipping charges that can seem quite high relative to the price of the item itself. But I was so happy with the pens I ordered that I'll probably end up ordering some more... which may mean I'll have to start eating stale crackers for dinner too!

12 comments:

Nothing fancy to think of .. said...

I use Pilot® Precise V7 Needle Rollerball Pen, Fine Point, Black. I got 2 boxes (24 per box) 1 black and 1 blue when I graduated high school. I still have about 7 of them left. I have used these almost every day, they last forever (obviously - if I have used 41 in 20 years) and they write very well for my hand writing (no inky blotches like gel pens).

Oh well - hard pressed to change my mind :)

Caleb Nelson said...

My favorite pen is the simplest pen there is. The comfortable bic with roll tip. I think I'm going click that link to see what else there is out there. I've never really paid that much attention to it.

Anonymous said...

Interesting...I guess we all have our little things that make us unique! :)

Gord said...

I've got big hands and I like a big pen; fairly heavy. Unfortunately, the person who designed the pen slot in my uniform shirt pocket thinks I should use a slim pen. I tried to widen the slot but ended up destroying the shirt. So, frustration at work, and satisfaction at home, nothing new there!

Anonymous said...

Madame X, I am curious:

Why are the crackers stale?



-OU

dowdyism said...

Thanks for the kind words Madame X!

Madame X said...

I think my crackers are stale just because they are very old! Whenever I open a box of crackers, which isn't very often, I put them in a ziplock bag to try to keep them fresh, but even that only helps for so long!

sh0pgal said...

Whao JetPens!!!!! thanks madame X!!

Anonymous said...

It's weird. I love getting those free pens but at the same time, I hate having a huge stash of them. It turns out I collect them quicker than I can run them out.

Ah well, better than buying them I suppose.

Anonymous said...

So then I guess the good news then is that if crackers become your new money-saving routine, at least they won't have to be stale.

On the other hand, crackers aren't really a great value, in terms of calories and nutrition per dollar spent. (unless you make your own; flour is cheap...)

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is my friend's sister's site...I remember a couple of years back when she first opened it. I'm happy to hear that you like the site.

Anonymous said...

If you are left handed, which superior people are, then what kind of pen you use really matters, because your hand moves across what you have written. Cheap pens -- like ball points -- are very unpleasant to use, unless you don't mind being covered in sticky ink.