Obsession of the week...well my life really

I have what others would construe as a problem, but I'm quite content and happy with my problem. It's a comforting problem, something which when I'm having a bad day perks me right up and makes things just a little more colorful and bright. I'm comforted by the sharp lines, the slight breeze from fanning out the colorful pages, the sounds of a nib scratching against a sheet of acid free paper or little metal bits coated in plastic and stuffed into a cute little see through container with a metal rim. Yes folks my obsession for office supplies is well documented and while others might plan an intervention I can tell you it won't take. One. Bit. I LOVE my office supplies. I'm like a junkie I have to sometimes deliberately tell myself that the store is closed so I don't give into the need for just one more stack of post its or one more sheet of labels. {I love labels. LOVE.} The object of my affection though are pens. And not just any pens. I love and adore teeny tiny pens with metal nibs that scratch against the paper with such  a lovely noise it makes my heart flutter.

Crazy I know this pen obsession. It's really not a shocker though, I've had a love of pens since I was a child. I remember being in grade school and getting some of those RSVP pens in purple. I loved those pens. I had terrible handwriting growing up, but with those pens in hand I had grand images of lovely flowing handwriting in perfectly executed cursive. I would get notes about my handwriting and no one wanted to read the bubbly handwriting of a fifth grader. Enter the journal. In my journal it didn't matter how horrible I wrote. Those pages were a sacrament for my eyes only. I wrote in just about everything growing up. Composition notebooks, spiral {I shudder to think how many spiral notebooks I've used over the years}, actual journals and random notebooks purchased here and there. I still have many of those journals. I look back now and laugh at that horrible handwriting and the petty things in life that have no meaning now but were mountains back in the day.

Today my pen tastes have been slightly sharpened and refined. When we went to China I was a basket case because of the horribly long flight {15 1/2 hours!} and the one thought I clung to was the desire for new pens. It took some searching and eventually I settled on a number of different pens from one of the shops on the PKU campus in Beijing.

Why the hope of purchasing new pens? Why would something a simple as plastic, metal and ink make me so happy? Well I'll be happy to tell you! You see I am obsessed with teeny tiny pens. My current favorite is the Pentel Slicci .25.

Pentel Slicci .25 a thing of beauty

My slicci's are the best. I love them. I write small and fast {decade in college will do that to you} and these pens keep up. They've taught me a lighter grip on the pen and now my little chubby fingers fly across a page with these beauties in my hand. I sincerely blame a good friend of mine for turning me on to these tiny pens. She had recently returned from a mission to South Korea and had a number of little pens that she so graciously gave to me. I've been hooked ever since on the Korean and Japanese style pens. I am also a fan of the Hi-Tech C as well as the Pilot G-2 in .38, both provide that lovely scratch and don't drag against the paper. There is nothing worse than a pen that skips and drags across the paper leaving clumps of ink behind. Nightmares!

Hi Tech C .3

Pilot G-2 .38

                                                 

To say I love my pens is a understatement. Seriously I've just written an entire blog post about my love of pens. Also note that I'm highly protective of my pens. I only allow certain ones out of my possession. I flat out refused to loan someone a pen I know I will never see again. I have a few I don't even like to use except on special occasions and I have pens for different times and places. Those slicci's are reserved for my scriptures because of their size and smooth writing. I have some that are only for school or work and some that are just for a personal note. I know what you're thinking, I'm off my rocker, and if I were outside looking in I'd think something similar. But alas I'm inside looking out and say hands off my pen! :)

{All of these pens can be found on line at: www.jetpens.com or www.tokyopenshop.com. Both sites are fantastic in their own rights!}

P.S. Here is a shot of my real pen case with all the craziness. This is only one of several as well!

My pens. A a photobommer Mickey!