October 7, 2009

What is your writing implement of choice?

It might depend on what you're writing. For example, this morning, when I was about to use a checkbook that makes carbon copies, I was handed a felt-tip pen. That's not happening. And then yesterday, a lawyer arguing before the Supreme Court offered this kooky advice to Congress:
"I think at some level Congress has a job to write with a scalpel and not a buzz saw in the First Amendment area."
Well, it's true, a scalpel is a better writing implement than a buzz saw, but it's still pretty bad. I recommend — for free-speech-threatening purposes — the Uniball Vision Needle. Or, better yet, put down all your implements.

42 comments:

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

All this blogging.. and all I got was a sharpie ;)

bearbee said...

Or, better yet, put down all your implements.

Exactly!

wv - merded: outcome of First Amendment if left at the mercy of congresscritters.

Peter Hoh said...

Have you now or have you ever received a free Uni-ball Vision Needle?

Paddy O said...

Congress isn't hacking off limbs, a mass murderer inflicting his horrific will, with a chainsaw.

Writing with a scalpel implies a cutting out, small portions, peeling back the skin of the Constitution to remove the tonsils, or appendix, or maybe even a kidney.

Congress should write with a quill pen. Careful, deliberate, simple. Too ponderous to write a 1000 pages. Still adding to the rights. Still protecting the people from the government. Giving more to the people, not slashing or slicing what the people have left.

Johanna Lapp said...

Eberhard Faber #2 graphite pencil with the yellow enamel finish -- the venerable Mongol.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Althouse has her deluxe writing coverage while the masses have nothing to write with.

Shame ;)

Danny said...

I use fountain pens- yes the kind that one fills from a bottle of ink. I use both vintage and modern fountain pens.
Failing that, I use Pilot G2 Gel-Pens( with the ergonomic, and squishy grip material) or Cross ballpoint pens.
People in Ann Arbor always stare at me when they see me writing with a fountain pen in one o fthe cafes. Seems most folks under the age 45, have never seen a fountain pen ever.

chuck b. said...

I tried to write something by hand recently, and it was a disaster.

Also, I ran out of checks in 2003.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

What we need is a cash for your number two program.

Wince said...

I carry at all times the Fisher Bullet Space Pen. It writes upside down, and in all temperatures and pressures.

And it's small and rounded enough to carry in any pocket without the risk of puncturing my scrotum.

You want the Space Pen?

Go on... Take the pen!

wv - "infir" = guessing whether the carpet matches the drapes

Angst said...

I'm all for the #2 pencil for congress ... but not for writing bills.

I want to watch them on C-SPAN sitting at their desks next April, in the floor of the House and Senate filling out their 1040's BY HAND. No turbo-tax, no assists, just a bound copy of the ENTIRE set of tax laws for reference.

And yes, I would consider that cruelty to animals :->

Dust Bunny Queen said...

At work:
Ink: Pilot G-2 07 Blue

Graphite: Pentel Icy Mechanical .05

Blue allows me to tell the difference between the original signature/document and the copy.

Black in the notary journal and on documents that require/request black.

Tibore said...

I have a moral objection to purchasing any product with the word "Uniball" in the name.

Tank said...

Given that Congress shall "make no law" blah blah blah, I would think and eraser would be appropriate.

traditionalguy said...

A Uniball Vision Needle sounds a lot like a scalpel to me. And you a Law Professor. The small writing space between the lines of a single spaced document does require a fine point for comments. I wonder what would happen if a new Bomb could erase all ink in an area like the electromagnetic pulse weapon does to computers. Would go back to lead pencils again.

Fred4Pres said...

I am thinking of John Derek as Joshua in The Ten Commandments saying that the Egyptians kept him strong so he could cut the stone deep with his hammer and chisel.

But I could not find that youtube clip so I went with this one instead.

Christopher in MA said...

For work - one of a stash of black Bic ballpoints I snagged from a Doubletree hotel. I don't know how they made them, but they're the smoothest, easiest mass-market pens I've ever used.

At home, for pleasure? A bottle of Levenger blue ink with a steel nib dip pen in an old plastic pen holder from my high school calligraphy days. Twee and precious, I know, but it pleases me.

wv - "areba." A Mexican stadium.

- The Other Christopher

Scott said...

Bic Atlantis Retractable Ball Point Pen, Medium, Blue. I like to lay the ink on thick.

Samsung NC-10 Notebook.

Textpad Text Editor. You will never go back to Notepad again.

miller said...

I use whatever's handy. But what part of "shall make no law" is so hard to understand?

Scott said...

Oh, Portage Newspaper Supply used to sell a pencil called a "Portage Head Bouncer" with a thick black lead. It was a very sexy pencil. I like thick and black. :)

peacelovewoodstock said...

Pilot G-2 .5mm in blue, no question.

Next best thing to an authentic IBM Model M keyboard (clickety click!).

DADvocate said...

I prefer the Zebra Z-GRIP. Writes smoothly, comes in a medium point which I prefer and is cheap so it's no big deal if I lose it or break it. In general, I like the way writing with a pencil feels better than pens but pencil writing usually isn't dark enough and harder to read.

BTW - I make wood body pens on my little lathe for gifts, etc. Typically I use Brazilian rosewood and working compatible with Cross pens/mechanical pencils.

DISCLAIMER: I receive no compensation of any sort for mentioning these products. Indeed, I have bought them all at retail prices available to the general public. Please don't arrest me.

Mike said...

I've been a die-hard Pentel QuickClicker 0.7mm HB lead fan for well over a decade.

Steven said...

Pentel Forte Pro (A65). The Forte (A55) and Forte Pro II (A75) will do in a pinch.

Pen-wise, I don't have a favorite yet.

Keyboard-wise, hmmph. What I'd really like is a USB keyboard with built-in 4-port hub, the original Microsoft Natural Keyboard layout, and IBM Model M keyswitches.

DADvocate said...

Pentel QuickClicker 0.7mm HB

My favorite too. I began using one years ago in my computer programming classes. (I needed to be able to erase all my psuedo-code mistakes.)

I'm kinda a pen/pencil freak and haven't found a better mechanical pencil for general use.

Big Mike said...

But the US has at times passed laws severely compromising freedom of speech. The Federalists under Adams (number 2, not to be confused with Adams number 6) passed a Sedition Act and then Wilson passed the Espionage Act in 1917 and a Sedition Act in 1918.

Just a quick word to Democrats who keep wanting to fool with Article 1 of the Bill of Rights: their respective parties got hammered in the following election.

Scott said...

Mechanical pencils that require the user to push the eraser top down pose a problem: Over time, the oil from one's thumb makes the eraser smeary.

Paper Mate has a nice cheap mechanical pencil, the SharpWriter #2, that solves this problem. To advance the lead, you turn the nib. No need to touch the eraser, ever.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Tibore said...

I have a moral objection to purchasing any product with the word "Uniball" in the name.

Even if they got Lance Armstrong to endorse it?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Now that I lost my incandescent bulb, I got me a compact fluorescent pen.

I’m especially impressed with the colorful ink.
I heard they bring it all the way from mercury.

Kylos said...

The Pentel Graphgear 1000 is about the most well-constructed and sharp-looking pencil you can buy. It has a brushed aluminum barrel with retractable tip and the diamond-knurled grip has rubber insets to enhance your grip on the pencil. I prefer the 0.3 mm model since I write small.

victoria said...

My first pen was (lord know why I remember this) a Parker T-Ball Jotter. Wow, does that age me.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

When I need to write my name it the snow, I usually go with ... oh, never mind.

That must be why several girls I've known compare that part of me to a pencil.

rhhardin said...

Avoid Papermate pen packs. They won't write unless you scribble some circles first, each you want to use them. What design team thought up that property.

Bic in similar packaging is okay.

I wonder if anybody knows about the first 50s Papermate ball pens with the button on the end, whose failing was the point would retract while writing. They never figured out a workable click mechanism until the button-on-the-side model.

Everybody had a drawer full of old abrupt-retracting pens.

Ken Pidcock said...

Ink: Pilot G-2 07 Blue

The Pilot G-2 is a great left-handers' pen. But I'm a fidgety sort, and I will always end up snapping the clip off of anything plastic.

So, for me, it's the Zebra F-701. A little heavier than I'd like, but indestructible. And the clicker has a wonderful machine piston feel.

Freeman Hunt said...

Recently tried a Pilot Hi-Tec-C. Now I will never use anything else if I can help it.

lawlackey said...

I like the uni-ball Elite, but still love the Pilot Precise V5 Extra Fine. In Blue. Sigh.

Eric said...

For fun writing (like a diary or personal correspondence), I've grown partial to one of those glass pens. Writes half a page before you have to dip it, and it's much smoother than a ball point.

Non-fun writing is done on a computer. Since I started using TurboTax many years ago I don't think I've written a full sentence with a ballpoint pen, and I haven't used s pencil since college.

Daryl said...

If you like needle-point pens, try the Pilot Precise V7 (liquid ink) or Pilot P500 (gel ink) pens.

Sofa King said...

But nothing says "decider" quite like standard fine-tip Sharpies in a variety of colors.

Can't dispute that the G2 has been my workaday favorite since it came out in the nineties, though.

rhhardin said...

I use black ink, a habit from the days when blue ink wouldn't xerox.

AllenS said...

My ball point pen has no distinguishing name on who built the thing. I got it from Smith Sales, LLC, Professional Auctioneers. If I'm writing on the neighbors garage, then I use a spray can.

WV: spvmzcci

That's what I'll write next.

Danny said...

I am surprised that not one single comment besides mine has mentioned a fountain pen.