Saturday, September 17, 2011

A Sheaffer Fashion Ballpoint....For the ladies.

Don't take any offense.  Some pens are designed for female hands, or guys with really slender fingers.  I do not have sausage fingers but I do wear a large glove. (Please remind me not to blog on Saturday mornings after killing an entire French Press of the good stuff, this could get personal and rambly.)  I cant help but think of the man hands episode from Seinfeld as I write this.
There are certain weight watcher pens that I like.  The Le Pen is one and that's really all I can think of now that my heart has hit the caffeine induced targeted rate for the day.  But generally I like my pens fatter (and usually full of drippy ink.)

I do respect the fact that this one still has the factory sticker on it. It's nice to know someone had the restraint to not reach up and scrape this one off and the white dot still screams Sheaffer.
This one still has the original Sheaffer refill in it. I am pretty sure if I wanted to I could still find a replacement fill for this one.  Unfortunately,  if this one runs out during the writing session of this post it might remain dry forever.  It's just not my type of pen. Why you ask?
OK, here's the scenario: Business meeting, Friday afternoon, high powered execs just trying to crank through this last meeting in order to get closer to that bottle of Ketel One. "We need a pen!" comes a shout from across the room,  apparently the contracts are agreed upon and it is time to sign,  I reach into my Brooks Brothers Regent Stripe 1818 Suit (so fancy) and pull out a pretty little baby blue ballpoint that slides out of every one's hands because it's too thin and then a fight breaks out and the world ends. Wow. Bad pen choice.
No cheating...did you notice what this pen doesn't have?  Did you notice?  That's correct. No clip. No dress shirt means no reason for a clip.  Good thinking Sheaffer.


Don't sue,  I borrowed this image from Vintage Paper Ads. Yep, that's mine in the center.  The ad from was from 1984 so assuming this one is dated close to that.  It was 12.50 back then which seems kind of high to me, but whatever.

I am convinced every pen has a person that loves it, this one just isn't for me.  It has so many strikes against it that it's not funny but it is a Sheaffer and that is a plus.. Man hands... still funny.

Have a great day.
Next post:  It's not your handwriting, it's your pen.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Doodles

Pen people are also doodlers correct?  You have pens,  you have paper...naturally you want to use the two items together.  Drawing for me is a normal part of my day.  If my phone rings- I grab a pen to take notes, but inevitably- I will cover the paper with drawings and 1% phone call related content.  I am listening.. I am just also doodling. (trust me.)

10 times out of 10 they hit the trash can.  A few years ago I was riding a train about 3 hours a day and was cranking out some decent doodles and saved some of those, but normally my stuff gets tossed aside. I have done some pieces for people and really enjoy them (there's a pointillism AK-47 hanging up somewhere in Boston that I loved to create.(don't ask)

Sometimes I get inspired by something...like a house:

Or a song: This one has been clanging around my head for a few days now.  Powerful stuff.
You only need to go back a post or two to hear about my Bon Iver addiction. To me, music eases the mind, I can think and draw and listen to music and don't expect perfection from my work.  I also generally don't care about paper, just that the pen puts down the line or a dot I need.  I never expect to need any sort of archival quality anything.
Click for bigger views.  Not perfect, and not a care. I did it for me and that's all really.
For this one...sometimes I grabbed a ruler, or just free-handed it.  The pen is a Pentel CeramicMicron 500 II 02.  The paper is normal typing paper that I just tweaked a bit to look a little more antiqued in the photos. And no,  I am not saying you need to go doodle to relax. Some people juggle, some people close their eyes and imagine themselves dancing  in a sea of dolphins being played piano to by Yanni. (Freaks.) 

Seth







Moonman AKA The Camry

OK,  Camry MIGHT be a little bit of a stretch comparison.   Low cost and will run forever.  The Moonman M2 is a super fun Chines...