From 272ddf4da88877d4da42bb8b32f4626d419dbfb5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "R. Tyler Croy" Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2018 20:51:50 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] A stupid blog post about pens --- _posts/2018-08-26-good-pens.md | 63 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 63 insertions(+) create mode 100644 _posts/2018-08-26-good-pens.md diff --git a/_posts/2018-08-26-good-pens.md b/_posts/2018-08-26-good-pens.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7527e4e --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2018-08-26-good-pens.md @@ -0,0 +1,63 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: "Inky and the Brain" +tags: +- opinion +--- + +You might not be surprised to know that among my many views and opinions, I +have given serious consideration to writing instruments. While much of my day +is consumed by typing away on the keyboard, I carry no fewer than three +notebooks with me at all times, filling each with tasks, ideas, designs, and so +on. The paper notebook for me is a scratchpad for my own thought process. There +are numerous spiral bound pages in my office which hold early designs for many +of the products I have built, and probably more from those more crazy designs +which I was not able to build. + +What makes writing enjoyable for me, depends on a number of qualities which +aren't found any pencils nor in most pens: + +* _Wet_: since I'm right-handed and don't run the risk of dragging my hand + through my own writing, I find that a very fluid and wet pen allows me to + comfortably scribble notes as fast as I possibly can. +* _Smooth_: Related to the wetness of a pen, a smooth roll is very important. I + find that ballpoint pens don't glide as effortlessly across the page as I + would like. With pencils, I always feel like I have to etch the page to get a + decently thick stroke. +* _Clicky-top_: While I can work with capped pens, I abhor those pens which + screw outward. I've never understood their appeal. I most often see them in + hotel rooms, which leads me to believe they're intentionally dysfunctional to + prevent theft, just like those curve-less hangars in the wardrobe. +* _Comfortable_: I consider my hands to be very dextrous but they are large + and my fingers long. The strain from holding a narrow writing utensil + results in too much frustration to be worth the trouble. Pens with a larger + section towards the point tend to sit more comfortably in my hand for + extended periods of time. + +For over a decade, I have been a big fan of the **Pilot G2** "Gel" pen. I would +purchase boxes of these pens and then snarl at anybody who attempted to pilfer +one for their own uses. Consistently, I would use a single G2 all the way until it +had expended its last bit of ink. Then, assuming nobody else had exhausted my +supply, I would start in on the next pen sitting in the box. + + +Recently however, I have adopted a simple fountain pen. One which I purchased at an +office supply store over a year ago, with which I hadn't previously bothered +spend time. + +The flow on the fountain pen is **phenomenal**. It is strong enough that I +intentionally purchased some new notebooks with a bit more thickness in the +page in order to reduce bleed-through. The heavier weight of the fountain pen +also feels much nicer in +my hand, and in turn makes my notes feel much more consequential, even the +trivial scribblings in between meetings. + +One aspect of the fountain pen which I didn't fully appreciate, when compared to the G2 +and other such pens, is that the fountain pen results in _far_ less waste. +Rather than throwing out a 7" piece of plastic every few weeks, I'm plopping a +little cartridge into the same pen over and over. + +If you're not already happily writing notes, don't consider this an endorsement +for a specific type of pen, but instead, a challenge to explore the wide variety +of pens and pencils out there. Even with poor quality hand-writing like mine, +the right tool will make your written words that much more enjoyable to write.