Lila on Stationery

Pilot Precise V5 RT 0.5mm - Two bodies by Octavio Paz

I bought the Pilot Precise V5 RT 0.5mm at Staples today. $3.99 for a pack of 3 in black ink.

I'd used the V7 (0.7mm - fine) for less than a week and loved it. Its super smooth nib enables me to write fast to almost catch up with the pace of my thoughts. My husband prefers a more "scratchy" aka. finer pen, so I picked up the V5 (0.5mm - extra fine.) If you like it very sharp the V5 might still be a little too smooth for you. The writing experience is very pleasant with both pens. The ink dries pretty quickly on standard ruled paper.

Some reviews on Amazon point out that this pen is an ink-killer especially with heavy use. I'd say that it does seem so, though is definitely worth a try. I enjoy writing with the Pilot Precise V5 and V7 so much very little attention is paid to the life of the ink barrel.

For a long time I preferred finer pens. The finest I've ever tried was a 0.28mm uni-ball. In the recent months I've been using the TUL gel ink pen (0.5 or 0.7mm), an OfficeMax product. The TUL is a sleek and gorgeous pen which kept me loyal for quite a while. The Pilot Precise RT, however, is very close. I'm still trying to figure out which one I like better - TUL or Pilot Precise RT.

The poem in the writing sample is Two bodies by Octavio Paz. 

I have a small poetry book with selected poems by him, which I've read over and over again many times.

Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pen

It's been a while since my last post. I have not tried any new pen or notebook until today.

Below are the tools and the writing sample.

Rhodia paper is probably the best for this pen, but I took some notes on regular A4 paper in class and it turned out great as well. I love the smooth nib with a slight sharpness to give it some edge while writing. The ink is really dark black on the shiny Rhodia paper, which is adorable to me.

Ranking of paper preference:  plain > ruled > squared.

 

 

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Barcelona Paper Size Bag (Int'l Arrivals); blank Clairefontaine notebook

Look what I got today! 

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The Barcelona Paper Size Bag in Black, by International Arrivals!

Closer at the real pretty brand tag:

 

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These are sold on the site for $9.95 each. I got one at Bob Slate in Harvard Square (the larger store on Mass Ave) for $10.95. Taking shipping costs, order size, and waiting time (if I had chosen to buy online) into consideration, it seemed like a pretty good deal :-)

 

The ideal use for the  Barcelona Paper Size Bag is to store travel documents such as a passport, flight tickets, and letters. I'm actually using it to store my pens for now. Considering the bag's size, 13 7/8''w x 9 1/4''h, there's plenty of room for my relatively small collection.

But there's more...

 

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Sorry about the flash...

 

This is such a beauty to put my hands on. I love red, orange, certain shades of pink, and earthy colors, so this simple, stunning cover totally got me. Also, my fingertips tell me that this notebook of 96 sheets aka. 192 pages contains op-quality paper. I'm very artificial this way I know... should have written something on before telling you about it, but I was so excited I didn't want to hide it.

One thing I didn't like about this notebook:

 

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You technically lose the first two and last two sheets this way... I don't know how to describe it. A little overglued??

 

I like the spine binding though, look:

 

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I have this really bad habit of bending notebook/book while writing/reading. This one stood against it though. I tried to bend it; when it folded back up, I saw virtually no crease on the spine.

 

Niceee!

I'll put up pictures of writing samples on this paper as soon as I can :-)

 

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So the other day I put up a picture of my pencil pouch.

 

Pencil Pouch - Barnes & Noble

It looks stuffed. And it is...

 

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Yeah... my pencil holder shares the same fate.

 

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For next week I'll bring less pens to class... ;-)

Thanksgiving is only two weeks away, woo hoo! I'm on a 'staycation' this year... but chillaxing is a nice enough treat for me.

 

Sleek Slicci's, a disappointing G2, and some thoughts on pencils

My JetPens order arrived today, yay! :-)

The mechanical pencils of my sister look really pretty:

Pilot Dr. Grip and Ohto Tasche - both 0.5mm
the Eraser Refill pack of 5 for the Pilot
Pentel Hi-Polymer Pencil Lead 0.55mm in BLUE.

 

 

Pilot Grip & Ohto Tasche

 

She's gonna form her opinion as soon as she gets her hand on them, so I'll be waiting. I like the look and the size of the Pilot Dr. Grip. My friend has one in Blue and it is her top favorite pencil.

Me, I've never really been a fan of mechanical pencils. I prefer wooden pencils: am using a Black Faber Castell 8B -- and a Staedler mini-sharpener. During exams, I would bring with me some napkins to sharpen my pencil. It sounds kinda pathetic, but it doesn't feel good, or right, to go into the exam rooms with the unfavorite types of writing instruments. This probably applies to many things in life. For instance, you would not go into a debate with your weaker arguments, unless you have no serious intention and/or preparation to win.

Even so, I usually ask my Professors to let me use a pen, unless they:

- give out Scantron forms
- are my Economics professor, Herr Professor Snyder, who "gives the longest tests in the Bentley history" .His exams include, and I'm not exaggerating, 70-100 multiple-guess questions and 2 essay (usually one to two single-spaced pages for each essay question.) I usually used a pencil for the multiple-guess section and always used a pen for the essays. Or sometimes just a pen for the entire test because I wouldn't have much time to go back to the lengthy part anyways... He's a very cool guy though.

How do I change my answers if I use a pen? I have a correction pen, and even in this category I have a preference: fluid > tape. Why? The tape sometimes breaks easily on the page. It doesn't look as nice compared to the fluid IMO. Just because.

Why won't I use mechanical pencils? Well they break easily too... I have heavy hands. Mechanical pencils do not produce dark-enough writing for me because the tip is very often fairly small. I couldn't find good lead. The only mechanical pencil I loved was one that was quite heavy because the case was made out of some kind of metal and the whole thing looked absolutely brilliant. It actually looked like a pen. I loved it until the lead stopped coming out for some reason though I refilled it. That was the end of my love for mechanical pencils, and it's been more than a few years now. 

But who knows. Maybe I just haven't run into a mechanical pencil that could totally change, not just rock, my world.

 

 

Oookay, enough on pencils for now. Here are my new pens!

Pentel Slicci 0.4mm - Dark Blue and Dark Purple
Pilot G-2 0.38mm - Black

 

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My writing samples, using:

• Pentel Slicci 0.4mm - Dark Blue

 

Pentel Slicci 0.4mm - Dark Blue

 

 

• Pentel Slicci 0.4mm - Dark Purple

 

Pentel Slicci 0.44mm - Dark Purple

 

 

• Pilot G-2 0.38mm - Black and Pilot G-2 0.5mm - Blue

 

Pilot G2 0.38 & 0.5mm

 

Among these three pens, I like the Pentel Slicci Dark Blue the most, the Pilot G-2 the least.

The Pilot doesn't feel smooth while writing and the ink flow is pretty bad for me.

The Slicci is great. Wonderful ink colors, great tips, nice design. Only the size isn't too suitable for my big hand:

 

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This is just for you to compare the sizes of my recent pens:

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And my notes using the Sharpie pen in Black + the uni-ball Signo DX 0.28mm in Pink, so you know I didn't just use them for my pen reviews :-)

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And... last but not least, this is my pencil pouch (Jonathan Adler for Barnes & Noble.) From the look and size of it, could you tell how many items are stuffed in there? :-) 

Pencil Pouch - Barnes & Noble

 

More on the Sharpie pens

My JetPens order has not arrived, but these did yesterday. Such sweet creations.

 

Sharpie Pens (Pack of 4)

 

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I've used the black Sharpie pen a few days now to take notes in class and still refused to grab another pen from my box of pen supply. Hopefully Sharpie is gonna add more colors, but for now, I'm quite contented having this amazing pen in 4 essential colors.

My writing sample in all 4 colors of the Sharpie pen family:

 

Sharpie Pens - writing sample (4 colors)

 

It feels great to write on the page I just want to keep writing. Finer tip pens like the uni-ball Signo DX 0.38mm and 0.28mm are fantastic, but they require more "force" to produce legible writing. My note-taking feels easier, smoother, and significantly faster using the felt-tip Sharpie pens.

Will I use the Sharpie pens exclusively from now? No. I tend to use one pen exclusively for a short period of time, but then I'll switch. Just like my blog theme - which is changed so frequently I start to feel bad for any reader that stops by more than once. I don't mean to confuse you; it's just that I'm still in my search for a theme that is easiest on the eye for everyone.

And I get bored easily. Fortunately, I'm the type that is so easily entertained - just provide me with these beautiful pens to write with and some gorgeous paper/journal/notebook to write on...

So, will this be my last post on the Sharpie pens? Ooh... I don't know about that! ;-)

 

 

 

A tale of three pens

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While waiting for my second JetPens order (some mechanical pencils for my sister, Pentel Slicci 0.4mm and Pilot G-2 for me), I just thought of putting up here a sample.

From top to bottom:

Sharpie pen

Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.4mm

uni-ball Signo DX 0.28mm

I got the Sharpie pens from Office Max and really like them, which surprises me since I was never able to find the right felt tip pen for my hands.

During grade 1-5 at home, we all had to write with fountain pens (the cheap Hero ones that always sprinkled extra ink), and I actually broke several of them. When I got to junior high school (grades 6-9) then senior high school (grades 10-12), we were allowed to use other types of pens, and I've been a fan of uni-ball since. A few stores there have been carrying the uni-ball Signo UM-100 pens and I rarely found any other favorites, partly because we did not have that wide of a selection in stationery stores and bookstores.

 

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My favorite childhood/home pen. Just the sight of it brings back memories.

When I got to the States, my stationery addiction found its place to be.

I love stationery in general. Pens and journals/papers are the major ones.

 

 

 

uni-ball Signo DX 0.38mm [ee cummings]

This is my writing sample using the uni-ball Signo DX 0.28mm in three colors: red (poem title), orange (author name), and blue (poem body.)

 

I carry your heart with me (i carry it in -- ee cummings - 540x720

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the pens a lot. Though I tend to put extra pressure on my pen while writing, these 0.28mm pens handle it well. The colors are on the lighter side because of the fine tips, but I think the writing is legible enough. I've been looking for pens with sharp tips like these for so long.

As for daily writing (i.e. class notes), I'm using the uni-ball Signo DX 0.38mm instead. It's been a wonderful experience, yet I'm thinking of switching to either a 0.5mm, a Sharpie fine point pen, or some other pen with darker ink for taking class notes. They, out of the things I write and read, should be most eye-catchy to me at this time.

I chose this poem by ee cummings because of its extraordinary simplicity and beauty. It's always good to read a love poem by a great author.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First JetPens order - some fine Signo DX and highlighters

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I bought a case of 10 uni-ball Signo DX 0.38mm pens, 1 Signo DX 0.28mm, and 2 Pilot Spotliters from JetPens.

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The 0.38mm one is spectacular. I've been using it since I got it. My Extra Fine Pilot V-Ball and uni-ball 0.2mm (roller ball pens) lose their top favorite positions in my list.

The 0.28mm is actually a bit too fine for me though I immediately fell in love with the sharpness. Very smooth ink flow. I tend to put pressure on the pen while writing, so the pen helps me to sort of loose it up a little bit. Still, I think 0.38mm is fine enough for heavy-hands like mine.

I'll put some pictures of my writing with these pens on here soon.