Pens. Holy shit, I have a weird thing about pens. I’m very particular about what I write with, and it’s a little strange. Black ink only1, which is a remnant of my military time. They were very particular about that shit. Also, I hate ballpoint pens and gel pens. Give me a decent rollerball pen, or a felt tip. (Also, it’s nice to know that my obession puts me in good company.)
My favorite pen of all time — a Bic rollerball with a rubber grip — was discontinued more than a decade ago. Can’t even remember what the model was anymore, but man, I held out hope for awhile that it’d crop back up or that I’d find some hidden internet cache of them. Ultimately, I gave up and tossed it in the trash a few years ago while preparing for a move across town. Sadface.
So, as I write this, I am suffering from having forgotten my Pilot Precise V5 RT at home. I’m left in an office where my only option is ballpoints. This is what I am reduced to:
I forgot my pen this morning. Considering a lunch-hour @Target run for a new rollerball, because ballpoints and gel pens are so shitty to write with.
Yes, I have issues about pens. Fuck you for calling me out on it. 😄
— 🚲 dan bailey 🚲 (@fontosaurus) June 1, 2018
Also, I don’t even like the Pilot Precise V5 RT. I hate retractables. I stuff my pen in my front pocket and this piece of shit always leaves me with little black spots on the front of my jeans that’ll never wash out.2
I feel like sometime later this year I should have a rollerball shoot-out to see what is best (similar to the link above) and then buy a pallet of them so I am never screwed by the discontinuation of a model again.
I might be a bit obsessive about this. Hmmm. Anyone else?
(Also, I feel like I should make some sort of joke about Pen Island and their unfortunate domain name, penisland.com — but that’s probably not a thing anymore.)