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November 12, 2004

Today, I want to discuss the little things in life that make things happier, just a bit nicer, and have virtually no real reason for existing. In other words: luxuries. They may not be for you, and they probably don't represent me in my finest fashion, but by gum, sometimes you just have to say what you believe in, and barring that, what you really like a lot. Furthermore, let's admit it: there are only so many ways that one can demonstrate one's personality or accessorize, if that one happens to be male. Bracelets, rings, and necklaces, I'm told, are not particularly attractive to most women; the tongue stud, which I'm told is, is decidedly not for everyone. [Picture: your father.] So when you have the opportunity, I am a big believer that you should take joy, if not pride, in these little flourishes and outward demonstrations of personality that the newest pair of jeans simply cannot communicate. Affectations though they may be, they often end up making me feel better; perhaps they can do Today: Parker writing instruments. A fine pen is difficult to come by. The cheap ones are all over the place, and it's very easy to lay your hands on the closest writing instrument when you're at the office or someone's hotel. Yet those pens are always exploding, running dry with lots of ink in the reservoir, disappearing, and being stolen by someone else whose hands are as nimble as yours. When you have a good pen, however, you almost always know where it is, and you will be hurt, if not actually devastated, by its loss. The pen feels like an extension of your personality, writes smoothly and continuously, and the truly special ones are nearly warm to your touch, even when you haven't used them in days. But pens are as quirky as haircuts; kids and Beatles look good with moptops, but only the kids would look funny drawing with a Mont Blanc. Where football star millionaires can sign with a Sharpie, Paul Allen and Donald Trump (millionaires, billionaires, whatever) never would. The proper tool for the job, you know? For me, I've got fairly bad handwriting--fine motor skills are probably not my forte#[fine]--so, I need something fine enough to prevent my letters and words from blurring unnecessarily. However, I also press pretty firmly on the paper and grip fairly tightly to my pen#[hand], so I need something sturdy and without too fine a point lest I shred the paper or the pen...or both at once. Kerpow. [hand]: The concept of handwriting my entire bar exam scared the bejeesus out of me, in the fear that I might in fact have come out of the Javits Center without having passed and with a permanently misshapen claw ending in a pen or pencil. I could hear someone's mother, though probably not my own, screaming: "It's going to freeze that way!!" [fine]: Let's face it, one reason I blog is because I can bang the keys as hard as I want and the letters still come out rosy-perfect every time. This is why I use the Parker Jotter. You've seen them everywhere, but that doesn't mean they aren't good. You see Mercedes automobiles all over the world, but that doesn't mean they aren't good, either. What's more, the lines of the Parker pens have been copied by knock-off artists and other pen manufacturers time and time again. The pens feel substantial, they write as smoothly as the words come out the end of your dominant hand, and even if they slow you down a bit, they still flow naturally. For me, the Jotter is exactly what I need--the metal upper barrel adds the heft, while the plastic writing portion is substantial and, as I noted as a requirement, it seems to be nearly alive with its internal warmth. And what's more, they're fairly inexpensive, write forever, the ink is extremely water-resistant (which someone told me was the reason they used it as a traveling sales representative), and fits perfectly between my wallet and the side of every pocket they've ever traveled with. It gives off a satisfying "ka-chunk" when you depress the button, another when you release it, and does it all over again when you retract the pen. It never disgorges its ink inopportunely [schmancy for: "it doesn't leak"], and the little arrow-clip, Parker's signature, ends up giving just a tad of flair and shows that you've splurged on name-brand. Except you haven't really. A Jotter is $5. Five dollars buys you quality, craftsmanship, all the things you need, and even if you lose it--and experience that moment of heartbreak--you haven't lost that much at all. And let me just say: I've written with Mont Blancs, Bics, Papermates, and Sanfords, Caran D'Aches, Watermans, and Crosses. I know me some pen. The Jotter--and in fact, all of its Parker cousins--kicks their butts on the all-around. The Mont Blanc might be warm, and the Waterman solid, the Bics and Papermates cheap, but none of them is the perfect combination of all that. The Perfect Storm of pens.#[storm] [storm]: Have you noticed that ever since The Perfect Storm came out, people are constantly referring to combinations of things as "the perfect storm" of blank? Basically, it's a little dab of heaven. And then, earlier this week, I discovered the Jotter pencils. Take all that's good about the pen, and turn it into a pencil. It's got smooth, dark lead that is thin enough to leave precise marks, but thick enough to withstand the might of the two-ton handwriter, and generally works in every way you could want it to. Another dab of heaven. That makes a scoop.

This was Luxuriant , and it appeared on November 12, 2004 8:05 PM.

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Posted by: PG at November 15, 2004 9:17 PM

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