About

Give me a little while to get all this set up. Give me another little while to get in a regular updating habit.

Also, leave me a comment if you want to be pen friends! I should have more links to other pen blogs. I am shameful and lazy for having not done so already. Again, I swear that sometime soon I will stop being so dishonorably lackadaisical and update my blogroll with delicious links to other nice blogs. I will also update this about page with a breakdown of my reviewing set-up/process, and I’ll make several more promises that we’ll all hope I keep. DONE. Now, to make more promises.

ABOUT…ME?

I graduated college and acquired regular disposable income. Then I discovered the JetPens website through a coworker. Then I decided that new pens at least once a month was a very great idea. Then, several JetPens orders later, I decided, “holy crap, I have a lot of pens, and I like attempting to talk to other people about these pens…why don’t I just start a blog and leave my friends alone?” And here we are. I like writing (even though my handwriting is terrible) and I like making art (even if I’m only okay at it). I’m interested in all the bits involved in these processes, from the pens to the paper. I’ll perhaps put more effort into this “About” section later. I’ve realized it’s time to take a break when I’m playing with my cat’s elbow instead of writing this.

ABOUT MY COMPLETELY ORGANIZED REVIEW PROCESS

Until I figure out how to operate pages in a way that makes sense (say, being able to put more than one post on a page. Is that allowed? I don’t even know EDIT: it is not allowed. We all take a moment to be sad), we will just link this here. Secrets ahoy!

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH ALL THESE PENS? WHY DO YOU NEED ALL THESE PENS? WHAT DO YOU USE THEM FOR? MENTAL HOSPITAL TIME IS NOW?

This seems like a stupid question. Obviously I baste them in a white wine sauce over medium heat until they are tender, then toss them with cooked whole wheat spaghetti and sesame seeds. … … ….

No. Obviously I write and draw with these pens (and pencils). What do I write? Words. What do I draw? Pictures. I don’t have any limiting hierarchy for what pens can and can’t be used for in terms of writing/drawing (this is kind of a lie, there are some exceptions…which I do not actually adhere to). I write microstories, I write short stories, I write grocery lists, I write half-begun and then abandoned novels, I write quotes, to-do lists, notes; anything. Everything.

I don’t NEED all these pens, but I like having lots of fun options to choose from, plus every pen is a new experience. I think life would be quite boring if all you ever wrote with were Bic Stics and Pilot G2s.

I really don’t understand why people ask what I use my pens for. It seems that once you carry around more than five pens at once everyone thinks they’re the radioactive energy source for your ink-based time machine. What do you use your pens for? YOU WEIRDO.

MY PEN PROBLEM IS THE BEST KIND OF PROBLEM. Haters be jealous, ‘coz they probably all collecting something silly, like fast-food ketchup packets or old models of computer mice.

MY BIASES IN A NUTSHELL

• I’m left-handed
• I prefer fine-tipped pens, say around 0.3mm. Except when I prefer broad stub nibs. Or when I prefer something else entirely. Hm.
• I tend to disproportionately review fountain pens (relative to the number of them in my collection, but quite proportionate to what is in my daily use)
• I pretty much only ever buy from JetPens, Office Supplies and More, Goulet Pens, Goldspot Pens, the Andersons when I see them at pen shows…
• My reviews currently all take place on some type of Rhodia paper. I prefer the dot grid, but sometimes regular grid
• I refuse to concretely structure my reviews
• I’m slowly in the process of learning how to hand grind nibs. I will occasionally post my results. I do not recommend attempting any of the insanities I undertake, as you may damage your pens beyond repair.

MY JOB, A.K.A. THAT THING THAT LETS ME BUY THE PENS BUT KEEPS ME FROM UPDATING ALL THE TIME

When I first started this blog, I was a lab project manager in a psychology lab and had a lot more free time than I do now. For about three and a half years after that, I worked primarily as a sit down superhero an emergency communications officer, first on Batman Shift A (6pm to 5am) and then Batman Shift B (party Batman hours 4pm to 3am). Then, I was a communications training officer for a while (on a daywalker shift! with regular sunshine hours!), training the new people on how to spend all day trying to help people over the telephone and how to tell the units what to do.  After that, I was a shift supervisor on Batman Shift C (8pm to 7am) for about 3.5 years – still answering the phone and dispatching when needed, with added responsibilities. As of 2019, I said heck with that career path and switched to providing customer support for a really great software company. From here? Who knows!

Also keeping me from updating all the time are my dog (Thora, a Belgian Malinois) and my cat (Tobi, a classic tabby, unless you ask the dog, who thinks Tobi is a small hateful dog that won’t play with her for no apparent reason).

Hopefully in the coming year I’ll remember how to update on a regular schedule again. And update my links. And make fewer criminally terrible puns.