Paperclips
The Pen Addict Gift Guide Rebuttal (with respect and jest)
I am a huge fan of Brad Dowdy and his Pen Addict blog and podcast but I’m going to have to provide some alternatives to his podcast gift guide. I was actually speaking out loud as the podcast was playing with my suggestions so I figured I needed to put them down for everyone else. I will not be recommending the Vanishing Point or the Retro 51 since the boys have already covered that topic fairly thoroughly but I do have some alternatives.
| The Pen Addict Recommends: | The Well-Appointed Desk recommends: | Why? |
| Render K | Sherpa | Everyone has a Sharpie, Uni-Ball rollerball or an Accent Highlighter so give them a better case to carry it in, $30. |
| Retro 51 | what can I say? I do own a Retro 51 Crossword mechanical pencil. They are cool looking and reasonably priced, the rollerballs start at $21. | |
| Lamy Safari | TWSBI 540 or TWSBI Mini | TWSBIs are fabulous pens that write every time, $40-50 |
| Sharpie Pen | Le Pen or Sakura Pigma Micron or TUL marker pen | similar quality and prices, Le Pens have great color, Microns and TUL are great quality. |
| Kuru Toga Mechancial Pencil | I haven’t used this mechanical pencil (yet) but who am I to reject a good pencil tool? | |
| Uni-Ball Signo DX (0.38) | Uni-Ball Style Fit Multi-pens | I do love the Signo DX, I think the Uni-Ball Style Fit Multis use the same ink quality for a larger pen with more than one color in a single tool. |
| Pilot Hi-Tec C | Pilot Hi-Tec C or Uni-Ball Style Fit Multi-Pens | more color choices in a single tool and a bigger grip, about $20 tops. |
| Edison Collier | Monteverde Prima | Beautiful and about one-third the price and available in a 1.1mm stub nib, $56 |
| Field Notes Color Subscription | Totally agree! If you can’t afford the whole year, buy the classic kraft set or the red-blooded set as a stocking stuffer. | |
| Doane Paper Utility Cover | Looks like a great gift. |
My big fuss is, as a lefty, I cannot comfortably use a Lamy Safari. I can write at almost any angle, upside down or sideways with the TWSBI 540. Pick the clear demonstrator model to show off the ink in the reservoir. The new TWSBI Mini looks great and is smaller alternative to the 540.
I am not a fan of any of the Kickstarter holders for the Hi-Tec Cs. But if you want to jazz up a pen, how about a Sherpa?
I prefer to use a multi-pen version of the Hi-Tec C or, better still, the Uni-Ball Style Fit multi-pens which are as good a gel pen as the Uni-Ball Signo DX but with more than one color (and the possibility for a mechanical pencil) in one device.
Finally, as lovely as the Edison Collier pens are the Monteverde Prima is much less expensive. Monteverde is a larger company than Edison but I cannot, with a clear conscience, ask my family to give me a pen that costs $150 at the holidays and I can’t afford to buy it for myself. The Monteverde Prima in $56, available in beautiful colors and can even be purchased with a 1.1mm stub nib. Great option, right?
Of course, a gift certificate is always a good solution to get someone hooked on good pens. And because I love all my readers, I am going to give away a $25 gift certificate for the holidays. Pass it along or treat yourself. Tell me what’s on your wishlist in the comments to enter to win.
FINE PRINT: Voting ends at 10pm on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012 (US Central Time). You do not have to be registered in this district to vote. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Sunday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear.
E for Effort… and erasers
Do you think we might like E for Effort’s product line? I think so. With the tongue-in-cheek notebook paper t-shirts to the finely crafted eraser jewelry, E for Effort is definitely “our kind of people”. Upscale but office-centric.
(shout out to my cubcile-mate Esther for the tip)
Clear-ly, A Digital To-Do List
RealMac has created a desktop and iOS to-do list app called Clear that is simple and easy to use. I have tried just about every to-do app I can find and this one seems simple and not too annoying. I have had a couple to-do apps I had to delete because I couldn’t get them to stop yelling at me.This app never seems to yell or alert so you’ll have to open the app to see your list.
I downloaded the iOS version and it works really well. The quick tutorial makes most of the gestures intuitive before you know it. The only difficulty I had was squeezing a list closed to reveal the group list view if a list only had two items in it. If you intend to just use one big laundry list, then there should be no issues. Its very quick and easy to add, move, delete or check-off items. If you need timed alerts or repeating alerts you’ll need to use a different app.
The NORAD color view is nice: things at the top of the list are marked in red and then they fade to orange and yellow but it doesn’t seem to ever fade to green or blue. I guess its always at a state of alert.
It appears that by using iCloud you can sync lists between the desktop Clear app and your iOS device. At $9.99 for the desktop app though, I am a bit hesitant.
Currently, I use SimpleNote on my iOS devices with Notational Velocity on my laptop which is a free list/text solution but slightly limited. A full “premium” version of SimpleNote is $19.99/year. SimpleNote and Notational Velocity act as more of a text receptacle than a list-maker and I would say the same thing about Evernote as well. Clear is definitely a DO THIS task list-maker rather than a great big catch-all.
The iOS version of Clear is $1.99 and the desktop app is $9.99.
Link Love: This Should Keep You Busy For Awhile
Pens and Ink
- Blue Ink Comparison Chart (via JetPens)
- Levenger True Writer Kyoto (F) Review (via From The Pen Cup)
- Beginner Fountain Pens Part I and Part II (via East West Everywhere)
- Tips for Buying Bottled Ink (via Writer’s Bloc)
- Kuretake Zig Cocoiro Roller Ball Review (via Economy Pens)
Pencils
- One of the Best Things About Running a Pencil Blog (via Pencil Revolution)
- David Hayward Design 5mm Brushed Nickel Scribbler (via Pencil Talk)
- Faber Castell Sharpening Machine 1828 review (via Lung Sketching Scolls)
Tools and Topics
- Rickshaw Bagworks Moleskine Folio Handwritten Review (via Inktronics)
- Nomadic PN-04 Snap Button Case Review (via Pen Addict)
- Writing Thank You Letters (via Rhodia Drive)
- How a Crossword Puzzle is Made (via Openculture)
- Owning My Handwriting (via Courtney Em)
- Moleskine Monday Comparison and Complaint (via Notebook Stories)
End of the year diary buzz
I posted some halfway point images of notebooks and diaries earlier is year but this end-of-year image on the Moleskine myMoleskine gallery is a delight to see. This is a well-loved and fully-utilized planner.
Do you keep a daily paper record, be it notebook or planner or do you plan to do so in 2013? Send a photo of your well-loved book or planner and I’ll post them here.
Ask The Desk: Adjustable Pencil Sharpener
Today’s question comes from Victoria at Paper & Type:
Most sharpeners I’ve come across sharpen to a depth/length of about 3/4″ to 1″. I’m looking for one that sharpens closer to just 1/2″. Am I making sense, & might you happen to know of one? I’d appreciate if you could point me in the right direction!
She was specifically asking about electric sharpeners but the only adjustable-depth sharpener that I am know is the Stad T’Gaal from Japan. The only other sharpener I could find on my exhaustive search with the rare DUX adjustable brass sharpener which is stunning but unfortunately out of stock everywhere I looked. The last-known stockist was Kaufmann Mercantile at a cost of $19.90.
The Stad T’Gaal may not be as elegant as the DUX but it is infinitely useable and only $6.25 at JetPens. Each number on the dial indicates a different pencil length from a short stubby tip to a very long point. Its also available in a variety of candy-colors. I have an earlier model which seems to have vanished so I need to order a new one. The same sharpener is available from Holbein via Dick Blick or other art supply shops. Its a bit more pricey at $13.46. Bill Brandon wrote a review of the T’Gaal on Pencil Revolution which demonstrates its flexibility.
I do use a Alvin/DUX inkwell desk sharpener which sharpens to a slightly shorter point than the average sharpener and is a bit more accessible than the brass adjustable. I reviewed the inkwell sharpener several years ago on Pencil Revolution as well.
Other options are the KUM long-point sharpener if what you want is the longest point possible. The sharpener is designed to be a two-step process, first sharpening the wood casing then refining the point. Pretty much any pencil sharpener that uses the KUM blades will be a good sharpener, especially if it includes replacement blades or fits the standard replacement blade size.
Hope this helped!