The Obsession Grows...

[klsiegel320]

So that was all when I was young and charming and in grade school in the 70's. I had not yet ventured very far out into the wide world, and most of what I could tell you about my taste in pens boiled down to a decided preference for Bics over Papermates.

And then I started exploring the dim corners of obscure book and stationery stores, and discovering ballpoints in all sorts of amazing colors! The best source, as I recall, was Lauriat's Books in the Salmon Run Mall, in Watertown, NY. Although it purports to be simply a bookstore, it was also a stationery shop, and they had a display of these pens - short, round caps; medium point ballpoints; and the colors!

This was when Bics came in a maximum of four standard colors, before they made the bright aqua and pink and purple and neon green that are now so popular. (Oh, and believe me, I pounced on those, when they started making them.)

I can't really say exactly when I started hoarding pens. It happened gradually, over time - I'd see something new or different, and pounce. I'd be a in a "writer" mood in Office Depot, and pounce. So I didn't have a few pens in a drawer, or even a few pens in a mug, or even a lot of pens in three mugs. I had a tin (you know, one of those old-style tins like Oreos come in at Christmas) full of pens...until they didn't all fit and I needed a second tin.

I've weeded them a few times. I go through a box, when I come across them in the closet, and anything that's long since dried up gets tossed. But I also still buy them in boxes, sometimes, when I'm feeling writer-ish.

Edit: And of course it occurred to me later that I completely forgot to mention my love affair with Gelly Roll pens. I have one entire (very large) mug full of these, in every color I could lay my hands on. Perhaps my favorite, in the gel pen family, is the Zebra multi-colors. The barrel shows three colors of ink mixed, and they write in a sort of iridescent, opalescent mix of the colors in the barrel. I especially like the "happier" colors for journal entries on feast days, like Easter or Christmas.

Comments

The Obsession Grows

[readinginbed.livejournal.com]

I don't hoard, per se, although my husband might disagree! (My sister gave me a package of Gelly Rolls -- the ones with the lightning bold on the cap -- as part of my birthday gift -- and he said, Don't you already have tons of those? He obviously doesn't know that there are many varieties and shades of Gelly Rolls. hee, hee)

Pens without any special characteristics go in the general cup by the phone, or are brought to work to put by the printer for the poor souls who don't have anything to write with. If it's not especially attractive, or smooth-writing, I probably don't have it in my den.

I've never seen the Zebra multi-colors you describe.

I'm feeling inspired to write my own "pens I have loved" post now. Maybe over the weekend. :-)

Re: The Obsession Grows

[klsiegel.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely re: the Gelly Rolls and their many permutations. Tons of those doesn't begin to describe it...

And we have a similar pen cup. Usually the ordinary things that wind up in there eventually get tossed for lack of willingness to write when they're really needed for taking a message...

For the Zebra multi-colors, try the pen aisle at Target, Office Max, or Office Depot - I think one of those places is where I found them. They come in a pack of four, of assorted mixes.

Looking forward to starting a trend (posts on "pens I have loved").