Colibri and Gift pens

As always, click for better views....I am a huge fan of gifting pens. (I am also a fan of receiving gifted pens.) If you divide things evenly and say that there are 2 groups 1. Pen Lovers and 2. People that use pens because they have to...then it gets very interesting when group 1. buys for Group 2. or vice-versa. I think about that scene in the 2000 classic Meet the Parents where Ben Stiller's character gives a rare Jerusalem tulip to Robert De Niro's character and he has no idea what he was just given. Things could get awkward quickly. Suddenly a Parker 51 gets thrown in the back of drawer never to be seen again.

Engraving the initials on a pen is a nice touch. The odd thing is, I have more pens with OTHER peoples initials on them than with my own. Anytime I can use 3 little initials to let the world know that the pen I am loaning them is not theirs...I am happy. This pen (for a company that makes lighters) actually has a nice balance to it and is nice to write with. I have always loved black pens and I have a pile of refills for this one and it usually travels with me.

I hold on to the pens that I love to write with, but my friends know I can deliver a steady stream of pens to them from the ones that did not make the cut. They might appreciate a fat goopy .9 that I would never use. Technically I guess that is not gifting...but it's the thought that counts rights? Next time I will put a bow on it.

Aint it Strange...Broken Montblanc

I am NOT the guy you see in business meetings that pulls out the Montblanc just to let everyone know he (or she) has a pretty little snow cap on their pens. "Look at me, Look at me...I must be important!!!!" It's actually my biggest pet peeve with MB's...non pen lovers try to use them to make people think they love pens. (Work with me...in my head this makes sense, I have had a lot of coffee today.)

I have a few MB's and I do love them, it's a little ironic. This one is now in need of repair. I am not sure if it was in my bag or my pocket, but this happened somehow. It's a roller so... I am not devastated...but I am not really happy either. I think I won this one in a sales contest about 5 years ago.

Montblanc has had an interesting history, there are scandals and many lawsuits and some odd practices in how they sell their pens. Dunhill bought the company in 1977 and dropped all the low end pens.

I might run into the Montblanc store in Boston and give them my best "Look at what just happened face." I haven't used it in a while because it almost never works. By the way, the notebook is a Moleskine designed for you to write/draw on, I haven't finished my last word on it yet, but I definitely am going with "strange."