My new pen-crush

The Pilot Q-7. Ok, so I've never been shy about my love affair with Pilot, but crikey, this pen is the new official Nirvana of pens for me. It has the same wonderful feel of the G2, only slightly lighter, but the thing that really makes it awesome is the needle point. It writes with all the beauty of the G2, but with a needle point. I haven't made a big trip to a pen-store in a while, so I'm not sure how long this has been out, but I snagged mine at Kinko's the other evening on a late-night print run. These pens have snagged my new top-spot from Muji.

My new favorite paper/pen-related site is the DIY Planner. They have all kinds of templates of planners/notebooks/etc. Hubby has built an entire planner from the templates. I'm a big fan. Me, I just made a trip to target and found the new line of build-your-own planners in fun colors. I had to snag some of the filler notebook paper, flags and post-its, and monthly tabs.

The Pilot Precise V7 RT
I just finished this pen and I loved it. Here's what I like -
1) The needle point (in case you can't tell, I'm a big fan of needle points)
2) The cushion
3) That the ink actually comes out a little bit uneven. I liked that.
4) The colors are really bright.

The one thing I didn't like about it... it took forever to die. Seriously. I thought it was never going to end. And I can't just throw away a pencil if it still has some ink in it. So I just kept dragging it around all week, convinced it was on its last page, and it would last another five pages. Seriously - it did my head in.

I do really love pilot pens, though...

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Material Grip Gel Ink Pens

I had this pen come in the big batch I got from JetPens a little while ago (and I know, I stink at regular blogging...). I have started using it, and have to say, I'm really bummed that they appear to be sold out now because they're GREAT! They are a little bit skinny, but not enough to make me not like them, and the writing is amazingly smooth. The tip is just scratchy enough to feel textur-y, but not enough to scratch the paper. It has a fine point, and makes my handwriting really neat and clean. So I'm totally loving on this pen right now.

I'm in a bit of a decluttering mode and am planning a big yard sale in a few weeks. I'm thinking about getting rid of some of my pens. On one hand this seems crazy to me. But on the other hand, the sheer amount of pens I have is slightly overwhelming, and I feel like I'd write more if I got rid of all the ones I am never going to use, and just kept half of the ones I had. I'm thinking about it. Will see what happens...

In other news, has anyone checked out the stationary section of Target lately? Man, they are really rocking. They have a bunch of new notebooks, especially, that are really boutique-y and fun. I love that I can get great stationary and cat food at the same place.

Yay! New Pens!

Got my order from JetPens today, and I'm totally excited. It also prompted a big pen-clear-out as I was growing out of my pen storage containers, and I couldn't bring myself to admit that I needed more. So I went through and tried out every pen I own to make sure they still write, and with the ones that didn't, I stuck them in the garbage, unless they had some huge amount of sentimental value. It felt a little sacrilegious to be throwing away pens, but I thought it was a step forward in decluttering my life, and freeing up space for the stuff, and pens, that really matter.

So I got these new pens - a bunch of Japanese Pilot pens that are all different, and I'm really digging on them. The ones I got are mostly needle points and really fine points - like .3mm - and I'm finding that they're really great for writing on scratchy paper, with really fine lines. And I think, though I'm not certain yet, that they make me write more carefully, because I'm afraid of breaking off the tip of the pen if I press down too hard.

I'll write some reviews on them soon, but for now, this was the package I got in the mail today and I'm oh-so-happy with pen-packages!

Environmental-chic pens
Has anyone noticed the range of recycled pilot pens at the big-box stores lately? I was a little hesitant. Oh, I recycle about 80% of my garbage, and I try to eat low on the food chain, so I'm down with the granola, but pens? I mean, seriously, how much trash can pens create?

Well, a lot, it seems. Back in the day we didn't use disposable pens (yeah, I do actually remember my dad's fountain pen). Then Bic brought us disposable plastic everything...including razors and pens. Now you use a pen and throw it away (with, in my case, a lovely feeling of satisfaction). But Pilot is aiming to do something about the waste that all this throwing-away creates with their Be Green line. A full line including markers and needle point gel pens, these pens are made from recycled materials, and are also refillable. So I can feel retro and environmental at the same time, I guess, to help make up for the lack of satisfying "swoosh" as the used pen goes into the trash can. They're available at every boxy store around. I bought some at Target, and while I was nervous that they'd be somehow crunchy or pulpy (like some of the recycled paper they sell at Whole Foods) I was happily surprised. No pulp in sight, and smooth ink. If you have a spare 30 seconds you can watch their UK tv commercial.

I should say that I'm not entirely impartial - pilot has, and will always be, my favorite pen company. Not because I love their pens (though I do) but because of all the happy memories and associations I have with them. Like stocking up on the various European kinds that we don't get over here on trips, and when living in London. Or writing in my Magic Journal (in 2000, the year that a bunch of really weird magical stuff happened to me and I was convinced it was because I was journalling it into existence). Or when a coworker I really liked popped her head over my cubicle when I was 22 and said "I just found this great new pen" and it was a pilot g2 gel roller.

So try them out if you have a spare $4 to try on pens and tell me what you think of them, or if I'm just in love with anything pilot puts out because I have a pen-crush on pilot...
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In other news, I haven't blogged for a while because I was traveling. I was at a conference in Denver where I had the opportunity to pick up many more swag-pens, but opted against it. Not only because in this recession the giveaway pens just aren't as good (the companies with money were giving away 1 gig flash drives - I woulda been happy with a nice needle point gel pen). But also because I'm trying to live more by the quality-not-quanitity philsophy and limit the amount of cheap pens I pick up. And cheap everything, but since this blog is about pens, I am limiting my discussion to cheap pens.