Okay, so I need to talk about pens and pencils again. Bear with me. I needed another mechanical pencil, so of course that forced me to place another order with
Jet Pens. The service was super quick as usual! I got the
Pilot Presso Side Knock mechanical pencil, but I’m not sure exactly why I picked that one. Maybe I thought it was cute. That is highly likely. Anyway, it has a side click and a pretty good-sized eraser on top. It feels comfortable in my hand and writes smoothly. I also got some lead in both H and HB. Now I am thinking I also need a mechanical pencil with a really fine, sharp lead. Probably a good idea, right? Any suggestions?
I also got a couple of new pens. My
brother had to fly to California for the day last week, and he ended up with some time to kill, so of course I told him he should go to Maido or Kinokuniya and buy me some pens. Ha! Lest you think I’m a big brat, I
could have sent him to the petite bra store, so you see, I am not so evil. Anyway, the green pen is the Uni-Ball Signo in .38mm. It is NOT the Signo DX, and I’m actually not sure what the difference is. If I were really obsessed, I would know. It’s a nice gel roller pen. The other pen is the Zebra Techno Line ballpoint pen in 0.4mm. I got it based on a recommendation from
Lydia. It’s a fine-point ballpoint pen, but I hate to say I am not feeling the love for this pen. I find that the ink is a little prone to smearing, and it lacks the smooth flow, the ink-skating-over-the-paper feel of the Uni-Ball Jetstream Sport. I am not, however, giving up on the Zebra. If Lydia says it’s great, I am willing to give it a chance.
Yeah, the Zebra isn’t the smoothest on most surfaces, but I love the super fine line. I’ll have to evaluate it closer about the smearing, since as a lefty my hand gets dragged through my writing.
Hi Mariko – I’ve recently gotten into “vintage” mechanical pencils – I die for the ones with kernals of corn in the tops – but I also love the tiny marbelized ones – would you like a felted candy corn (large knitted candy corn, not forgotten last year’s candy corn in couch)?
“If I were really obsessed, I would know.”
OK, so you’re not *really* obsessed. If you say so.
I went to that site and got totally lost in the pens. Nice to know I can just go to Kinokuniya.
(Nothing wrong with a Pilot Precise, is there?)
hi mariko,
i’ve been reading your blog for some time now but never posted before. however, your pen talk has struck a nerve. i work for a publishing house, and we are all pen-obsessive. we only use uniball signo 207s here -and only in purple-. ten of us and we all write solely with these pens; attempts to introduce us to other pens always fail. when the signo supply runs out we all get very, very mean and make wild accusations about hoarding and smuggling boxes out of the office. when we go to each other’s houses we sneak around and look for stashes of smuggled signos.
cheers,
jennifer
I got a self rotating pencil that keeps the tip sharp from Maido just last week. Yeah baby. I’ll e-mail you the name of it. The labels were written in Japanese but I asked the clerk what it did. It turns the lead around (by itself!) so you’re always writing with a pointy bit.
On the lead, I like H.
Someday I’ll start my collection of drafting pencils. I like how well balanced they are with a bit of heft. Maybe I’ll get some when I finally unearth my entire fountain pen collection 🙂
I’m with Jennifer. My favorite pen is the Uni-ball Signo 207. They just glide over the paper and never skip a space like my Uni-ball Jet Stream sport and Pilot G2 seem prone to do on certain types of paper. My only complaint is the 207s I have now are .7mm and I think I would prefer something just a tiny bit thinner. Reading all this makes me feel so much better about my pen addiction. 🙂 Two of my missions in life are to find the perfect pen and the perfect dental floss.
Ok, so as far as mechanical pencils go, I heart the Zebra ones. The really skinny lead kind that are made from metal and more like a permanent kind writing instrument vs. the plastic bodied ones. But the eraser sort of sucks because it’s really small, so I also MUST have with me at all times one of those clic-erasers.
I am an eraser geek like you are a pen geek.
I think it’s time for a blogger giveaway. (heh heh)
Ah, Jetpens! T^T I still have yet to get something from there to add to my gel-pen addiction! You have just reminded me to do that and visit the Kinokuniya Stationery store too.
I love a bic cristal pen myself. I love the price even more about 10 cents a pop. But, the top has to be on the top when I am writing so it is perfectly balanced.
I can’t comment on the Sumo post, so I’ll post it here — I have wimpy arms too, and while I originally didn’t think I would like it, once I got my hands on an Amazon Kindle and tested it out … I discovered that I *LOVE* it! Gone are the days of pain from holding a really heavy book. It is the perfect weight & feel. I’ve read more in the past 2 months since I bought mine than I have in the past 2 years. I seriously love it THAT MUCH.
Just had to share. Now I’m tempted to find a Sumo – it looks like it would be comfy to take a nap on!
Have you gone down the fountain pen rabbit hole yet? I love Lamy Safari with Noodler’s Inks from pencity.com.