[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

"Dead platypus".

i love the platypus, the name and the animal (although, as ever, not dead, please). in french it's called "ornithorynque" ; equally awesome. the whole beastie is like something god mozzled on a dare with whatever spare bits he had left over, name included. "ornithorynque" : makes any joke funnier.

Originally Posted by pshrynk

So, on the subject of pens...

I notice that Taylor uses colored ink or pencil. (Hard to tell from a scan.) I find myself using only the fountain pen that my wife gave me for Christmas this year. (Along with my Kindle. Which, when you think of it, is a remarkable juxtapostion.) I was thinking of using color, but when I asked my wife if she could get me another two or three pens, she blanched and aske me if I knew just how much the thing cost?

So, I have what is apparently an incredibly expensive pen, a $10 moleskine, and no colors.

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

In addition to being a notebook snob, I have a pen fetish. My workaday pen is a brass Rotring, silver colored, hex in cross section (it's meant to look like a nail punch, I think). Discontinued, though Levenger revived it briefly. Its a rollerball, and I use the fine tip. I have the matching mechanical "pencil"; it has three tips. I have pencil, underliner, and stylus (don't use the stylus anymore).

I also pack a complete set of colored gel pens in my satchel, just to doodle around with. I do have to design process workflows for my job, and it's nice to have several colors for that.

I'm trying to learn to draw, so I plan on adding graphite pencils to my gear.

I have a couple of very expensive pens that I don't carry around with me. I use them only to sign my poetry submissions to publishers. There is no reason for this, and it's purely silly. But I like it.

Note: the ink for my signature pens is distilled from discarded spleens, the blood of skinned moles, and Zelda's used bathwater. Very rare and expensive.

(i'll come back to this later)

Originally Posted by DaleDe

You might be thinking of Naugahyde. Naugas seem to be an endangered species as you don't see much of their hide used any longer.

Dale

pfff...

Originally Posted by Patricia

Like VR, I use propelling percils for writing. I like the idea of being able to erase a poorly-chosen word. Also they are easier for left-handers, I find.

i have a rather sensual relationship with my pencils ; i like feeling the graphite wearing down on the paper, i like sharpening them and the curls of wood shavings that spiral off before the blade, i like varying the pressure for different effects. i have a hard time with propelling pencils ; too sharp, too brittle. the only ones i really like are the ones which take pencil-sized lead : they're called "porte-mine", lead-holders.

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

I like seeing my poorly chosen my words and my recorded struggle to find a better. It's instructive to me. I also like seeing my commentary on what I write, such as "cliche" or "remove made-up impressions".

I use my notebook as a workbook, and I force myself to "show my work", which is why I like using a pen.

i like that too, building up on an idea. sometimes the process is more interesting than the result. this is why i even do the crosswords in ink (well, and that i have no fear.)