The pen is mightier than the sword


Pens are fun.

I’m not talking about the Nokia digital pen that (gasp!) lets you send handwritten multimedia messages through your cellphone. Nor am I talking about the Logitech io2 digital writing system. (Hah. There’s the obligatory mention of high-tech gadgets I will never buy.)

I’m talking about my trusty Pilot Hi-Tecpoint V5. There’s something about black signpens that make me go ooooh, particularly when I’m writing on smooth, medium- or heavy-weight white paper. Of course, this preference means I have to be careful about the notebooks I get. If the notebook paper is too thin, the ink will be visible on the other side. Too rough, the ink will blot. Too smooth, the ink will smear. Signpens are picky, but they’re worth it.

I’m also quite fond of gel pens. Silver ink on dark blue or black paper, gold ink on burgundy, mahogany ink on beige… Ooooh. The wide array of papers and pens available at your nearest bookstore means you can easily experiment with various colors until you find a combination that appeals to you. If index cards came in colors like that, I’d be completely sold. Must get around to cutting my own index cards.

I hear 4-color pens are really useful for taking quick notes. I’m not really a ballpen person, though. I’d love to find out where I can buy a sign pen or gel pen version…

For the PDA-obsessed among you: check out Stylus Central’s 4-point pens and see if you can bug your favorite PDA accessories dealer to bring some of them in. (There, I mentioned gadgets again. =) ) Hmm, that red pen/black pen/mechanical pencil/stylus combination looks very interesting; I wonder where I can get that locally? I’d love a combination pen/mechanical pencil for my deck of index cards, as I occasionally need to pencil things in.

For the anachronistic among you: check out Hobbes in Greenbelt 3 for quills. Yup, quills. They’re made of glass instead of feathers, but they should give you a properly medieval feel. You can also get sealing wax from there.

What’s your favorite kind of pen?

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June 9th, 2005
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
BernieJ
Posted on:
6/10/2005 at 7:19 am

Mine’s a Lamy 2-in-1 Stylus/Ballpan combo. It has survived three PalmOS PDAs and is currently tapping happily on a (ugh!) PPC PDA/Phone.

I have to admit that I get to use the stylus more than the ballpen but this really works for me. I actually picked up the habit of simply leaving the stock styli of my PDAs at home and simply live with my beloved Lamy pen.

Note: I use the stylus more because I think people can read my writing better “digitally” — my real handwriting is simply horrendous (and I’m being kind to myself here).

As for the quills at Hobbes. Thanks for the tip and I’ll probably drop by and see them for myself. I must have been a monk in my previous life — copying rare books by hand sound rather appealing to me (despite my horrible handwriting).

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Art Ilano
Posted on:
6/10/2005 at 10:11 am

My favorite pen? My fingertip. More often than not, I end up writing on my PDA with a bare finger rather than with a stylus.

Incidentally, PDAs have screwed up my penmanship. Ever since I’ve used a PDA, I can barely manage to write with a pen anymore. Often I end up using Graffiti characters (argh!) on paper, with my A’s being inverted V’s and my D’s devoid of columns.

…Not that my penmanship was legible prior to PDAs in the first place…

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Head Geekette
Posted on:
6/10/2005 at 10:49 am

My favorite pen is a fountain pen. I collect them and use them as often as I can. Like you, this means I also have to take care of the kind of paper I use for it. I actually bought a dipping pent set from Hobbes plus the different nibs available. I used to use it for my journal writing. But since I moved house, I haven’t found the time to take out my set. It’s still somewhere in the boxes. I’m sure I’ll get around to using it again when I move house (permanently) at the end of this month.

Fortunately, because I love the power of expression through old fashioned pen-and-paper writing, the use of the PDA has never screwed my penmanship. :D

My eyesight is a different story altogether…

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
renan
Posted on:
6/15/2005 at 3:25 am

i use a hero 329 fountain pen (a cheap imitation of the parker 51) and noodler’s black ink, which is water based but is permanent once it dries on paper. can be even used to sign checks!