Lifestyle changes...

[elfs]

It seems odd, but the most major lifestyle change of the past month has been this: I've changed the ink color of my pens.

I've been using the Uniball Signo line for years now. It's my ink of preference, and the line has always been high quality. People who've read my handwriting (poor, poor people) know that it's teeny-tiny, and the 0.5mm line of the Signo Micro has always suited my style. It's one of the reasons my musing fit so nicely into a moleskin pocket notebook.

And I've always used blue ink.

Now it turns out that the three office supply stores in my area have stopped carrying the blue in micro; at best, you can get it in medium. Worse, there's now the "Ultra Micro" 0.3mm pens-- in black only.

So I've been using those. And it just feels weird; I haven't voluntarily used black ink in years. It just doesn't look right. It doesn't look like me.

I see that I can buy blue ultra micros from Office Max for $20, but only through mail order. Sigh. Maybe I will anyway.

Comments

I wonder if the ink/color change is an age thing...

[shunra.livejournal.com]

I've switched from purple (a longtime favorite) to black Sharpie pens (in medium, which is quite a surprise - I tended to fine until this year.)

Fountain pens!

[(Anonymous)]

This is why I use a fountain pen - the ink can be any color I want. And if I can't find a bottle that is just the right shade, I can play amateur chemist and mix up a batch I like. The Pilot and Namiki brands use narrower nibs than the American brands, so an XF Namiki might be smaller than Micro tips.

[bldrnrpdx.livejournal.com]

I don't have a particular have-to-have color, but in the last several years, I've been using rollerball pens nigh on exclusively. I cannot use ball-point pens for much of anything more than signing my name anymore - the drag from the ballpoints is enough to aggravate my tendinitis so badly I can't write more than about a sentence or two without aching. The glide on the rollerballs is significant enough I can usually do most or all of my data-taking through my five 45-minute groups of kids plus be able to take care of a small amount of hand-written paperwork in my work day without hurting. This wasn't too big a deal until I had to start sharing my desk last school year and I noticed my pens disappearing. The cost isn't a major thing - I do buy them with my own money (special ed school budgets don't cover stuff like that of course) - but it's a pain in the ass to count on having them there, finding them all gone, and still having four hours of work to go.