[Pen/Pencil Review] Owl Stress Pen Novelty
I love Back-to-School time. It’s one of my Most Wonderful Times of the Year. All the lovely office/school supplies ON SALE. It makes my poor heart flutter. Especially when I can hit a Walgreens or CVS or other store and find some awesome novelty pens. This year was no exception. Walgreens had these amazing Owl Stress Pens for $1.99. I had to buy one for my friend, Meredith (she loves owls) and if she gets one, I get one.
This is a novelty pen, so the expectations are not high with pens like this. This one is top heavy, obviously, there is an owl on top. The pen barrel is a bit short – the whole pen is short, it’s only 6.5†long. There’s a flare to the base of the barrel, so there’s a slight nod to ergonomics. It’s not a pen for long-term writing unless you have a small hand.
The surprising part is the smoothness of the black ballpoint ink. The conical tip is smooth. There’s very little skipping or glopping. The point is on the fine side – like a 0.7mm. Which is AWESOME. Always like when something doesn’t default to 1.0mm or larger.
The selling point is the owl though. It’s a stress “ball†of sorts. Have a co-worker, family member, or random school mate that makes you want to pop someone’s eyes out or pinch their heads like a zit? (Eww, I know, imagery!) This pen lets you DO THAT. Squeeze the owl and the eyes pop out. SO MUCH FUN! And keeps you out of HR or the principal’s office. Win/Win.
The fact you get this in a pen that actually writes decently for $1.99? PRICELESS!
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 It’s works fine, solid ink flow and a decent tip. The therapeutic aspects are just a bonus.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – There’s a nod to ergonomics, but it’s short and not well-balanced
3. Material – 1 It’s a cheesy plastic novelty pen. You get what you pay for.
4. Overall Design – 0.5 – The cap doesn’t post – in fact the cap is probably superfluous. It’s short, oddly balanced, but so much fun you can’t quite NOT use it. Though I’m using it for less a pen and more for the stress aspects.
5. Price Point – 1 – It’s not outrageous. It’s $1.99 on at Walgreens. For Back-to-school on a budget, it’s not necessary. For stress-relief that has a functional purpose? $2 is a good price.
4 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
[Writing Post] Geekinomicon and Deadlines
Annoucement (Especially my OKC folk!):
GEEKINOMICON!, September 2-4, 2016 – I will be a panelist – and have a table in their Small Press area. One of the panels is already on the schedule – stuff is always being added. But there will be so much more to do than autographs and buying stuff. I know this because 1) I know how hard Devin Pike is working on that; and 2) I’m not a celebrity draw, and I’m there! Come support this, please? Cox Convention Center!
Now… Deadlines. Yeah, I’m going to blow that arbitary YA deadline. Sorry, Larry, you really tried. I really tried (not giving up YET) but, dude, it’s so not going to happen. Between day job stress and crap and just normal life stress and crap… stress and crap happened which has an effect on the writing. There’s been family trips and conventions (and now new conventions) and this is the “busy” time of the year.
I am writing. Regularly. I didn’t spew all those things out as excuses. They are things that happened that delayed what I’m working on. But I am currently working on three projects (because I’m a masochist and details for one ongoing project keeps popping up when I SHOULD be working on ONE THING) – but the priority is the YA novel – but there’s an anthology that I REALLY, REALLY want to be part of.
So I’m WORKING. I’m moving forward (which was the goal for this year). I’m not going to make the deadline. ASAP. Promise. Mostly because I want stuff off my plate and elsewhere.
ONWARD!
[Pen/Pencil Review] Premptive Post
I am in a training class for 2.5 days for work with yoga tonight (yoga is becoming very important). The likilyhoodnof there being a review today is prett slim.
I gave actually started my inventory/purge of my massive amounts of pens, so we will see where we head from here. I will do my best to get something up is week — but today is iffy.
Love seeing pen companies respond to the social media – if there is something you want to see — let me know.
I am totally open to suggestions from all areas, actually.
[Writing Post] And hey…It’s Wednesday
Yes, this day nearly got away from me. But here I am once again, getting a blog post in. These four day work weeks are AWESOME for the long weekends, but heck on knowing what day it is.
We spent a lovely weekend in south Texas – beyond San Antonio – in the middle of nowhere. We got to see some amazing scenery both on the trip down through the Hill Country and while we were in south Texas. And that triggered a plot bunny (or two). We’ll see how that turns out, since there’s an awesome anthology I want to submit to soon.
This same trip gave me a detail or two for another ongoing project.
What it didn’t give me was a word count. I own that, even though I took stuff with me and I did LOOK at said ongoing project – I really needed the time to decompress and disconnect. I haven’t had that in a while.
But since I’ve been back there’s been “back on the horse”-ing. I’m doing my darnedest to make my September 1st deadline, but I’m not sure it’s going to happen. /sigh Because, of course, I keep getting stuck on stupid little things like coming up with names for characters.
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I have been reading – quite a bit during the trip. I thoroughly enjoyed Shanna Swendson’s Rebel Mechanics (had to go order the sequel – Rebel Magisters). I re-read J. Kathleen Cheney’s The Seer’s Choice and then her newest novella – Whatever Else. It’s different but just as well put together.
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Now it’s time to put the finishing touches on the latest Redheads of the Apocalpyse book before our 10th Anniversary Bash at FenCon in September. See you there!
[Pen/Pencil Post] Wooden Pencil Sampler
Pencils are hard to review. I’ll try to do some for these on an individual manner, but in the last order from JetPens.com, I did pick up a “Wooden Pencil Sampler – B”
I am a fan of wooden pencils. There’s a sense of accomplishment when you use one down to the nub. And by doing a sampler, I can try some of the more artistic types of pencils as well as regular old pencils.
I chose the “B” leads, because I prefer the darker, softer leads – even if that means they don’t hold points quite as well as harder ones. I look forward to playing with these over time.
Yes, I know this isn’t much of a review, but hey, I’ve actually had something of a vacation this weekend, and I’m lucky to get this far before going back to yoga and work. Let’s see how these pencils perform over time!
[Writing Post][Convention] ArmadilloCon 38
I totally meant to do this blog post earlier in the day – but here we are. But it’s still Wednesday. I’m on track. The word counts have been a bit…less awesome…but I’ve been doing random bits of things since getting back from ArmadilloCon.
ArmadilloCon is in the rear view. It was awesome as always – but it’s different from some of the other convention. This one is more of a working convention because it’s really more about writers for writers. The writing/literature panels all had 15 – 20 ish people, but apparently the art panels weren’t quite as well attended. Hmmm… but as a writer, it was cool.
The weird thing about ArmadilloCon is that when people went to panels…they WENT TO THE PANELS – and STAYED there. The Dealer’s Room was often nearly empty (and that didn’t count the handful of tables that either didn’t sell or the sellers never showed). Tea Punk had to skedaddle Saturday evening because of a BIRTH in the family (YAY!!!!! Shiny new fan child!) Never saw many people in the art show at any one time either.
So it was hard to judge just how many people were there. But I still love this convention (and not just because I knew where Michelle Muntzler stored her amazing cookies) because of the professional connections and getting the creative juices flowing, talking to other professionals – meeting new fellow professional (and of course, helping out with Fannish Feud is AMAZING). There are now SO MANY THINGS I want to do – but I have to stick with the plan. There’s a PLAN, darn it.
Saturday got stupid busy, but I LIKE stupid busy. The panels were interesting. I had people (including someone I don’t know) at my 7 pm reading – so I didn’t get to do much more than MEET Mark Finn’s wife (after hearing about her for literally YEARS). But the best part of the entire convention is hanging around tables (and the bar) and having THE BEST conversations with other authors about The State of the Industry and the different experiences people are having with people like J. Kathleen Cheney and Martha Wells.
Now it’s time to get cracking on said plan. Because there’s work to be done. More conventions ahead. More product needed. And SO MANY plot bunnies!
[Pen/Pencil Review] KUM Scribble Tip Top Pencil Cap and Sharpener
I’m a huge fan of the Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil. No bones about it. That little sucker is the thing I’ve always needed that I never knew I needed. So when I was on JetPens last, I found something similar but different and decided to try the KUM Scribble Tip Top Pencil Cap and Sharpener.
The KUM Scribble Tip Top Pencil Cap and Sharpener works like the Perfect Pencil but is cuter and more child-like. But the price was okay for a trial for a different and extra pencil extender and sharpener (and cap to keep the point from breaking.
The Scribble Tip Top cap is about 2.25″ long and comes with a white stubby pencils, so the initial length is about 5.0″ long – with the cap posted to the non-sharpened end, it makes the pencil itself about 6.5″ long. The cap is thick plastic with a blue plastic clip and a flip cap that covers the sharpener that’s nested inside. There are doodles decorating the cap for a whimsical appearance.
The sharpener pulls out of the cap with ribbed edges that secure the sharper to the cap. The sharpener works pretty well for being about an inch long. However, there’s a bit of an issue with the sharpener – the grip is really close to the blade, so my fingers catch graphite dust and shavings making the sharpener dirty to work with.
Then there was a further test – I tried the cap with generic pencils – both round and hex. The round pencil that are generally used as promotional giveaways was tight, but you can get the cap on – barely. The Berol Mirado hex pencil fit well. Capping it on erasers was tight, so maybe not that. But definitely use the slightly narrower of the typical pencil.
I still love the idea. This thing works as it’s supposed too. It doesn’t cost a lot, and there’s something to be said about having a pencil sharpener always available – and being able to protect the points. But honestly, it’s not as good as the Faber-Castell. I’ll keep this one around, for back up uses, but it’s not my first choice
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 It’s one of those things that if you love wooden pencils, it is a must have. The cap is secure. The sharpener does a good, tight point.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – There’s no real “grip”. It does make shorter pencils easier to use and regular pencils a bit long – but the plastic is a bit bulky and the sharpener is a bit short.
3. Material – 1 It’s strong quality plastic with a decent metal-bladed sharpener that seats securely. Clip feels strong and unlikely to snap off.
4. Overall Design – 0.5 – The cap needs to be a touch wider to better accommodate round pencils, and I would desperately love a slightly different design to the sharpener to keep the graphite dust of my fingers. I don’t want to have to clean my fingers all the time.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – It’s not outrageous. It’s $4 on Jet Pens. That’s cool. Nothing to break the bank over – but being the same price point as the Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil – I’d spend the money on that one instead. But it’s still a good price.
3.5 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
[Writing Post] Oh, Hey… it’s Thursday
It’s been one of those weeks. Again. But in getting ready for ArmadilloCon tomorrow – and having a short week at work – I totally lost track of what day of the week it was.
We have done some work on the house. I’ve finished up the edits on a short story.I got three of my beta reader’s notes in. They were pretty much all the same — which is a big flashing sign that there might be issues with those bits. Seriously… if three people have issues with the same bits? It’s not the reader. It’s the story.
And… then my 1650 word short story now comes out to 1550… and that’s how that works.
So come see me and a whole bunch other really cool, awesome authors and artists, head to ArmadilloCon! It’s going to be fun!
[Pen/Pencil Review] BIC Xtra Precise Ballpoint Pen – Multiple Colors
I have a problem. Back-to-School displays are my weakness. I went into Walgreens and discovered a new line of BIC Cristal stick pens – Xtra Precision multi-pack with “fun and colorful capsâ€. Neither cap nor color drew me to these pens. The “Xtra†and the “Fine†point did. I had to give them an “Xtra†look. (But come on, how much does leaving of the “E†actually save you?)
Given that BIC tends to the 1.0mm and higher points (BOLD!) I was pleasantly surprised to find these were a 0.7mm ball point. Haven’t seen anything like that in the US in a very, very long time. So for a $1.99 at Walgreens, I had to try them. Because, um, yeah… Hello, impulse buy!
I have to admit I was even more pleasantly surprised when I dug into the package. These are better than I expected. They are a needle point tip – which I’m coming around to liking. I admit my initial hesitation for needle tips are from early days when they were flimsy and bent easily. These days, whoever designs these things has made them a lot sturdier. The pen is long to me ~5.75†capped and 6.5†with the cap posted. After using a bunch of retractables, that’s LONG. The barrel is the classic hex pattern in translucent plastic matching the ink color. The plastic cap is white with ink-matching accents. So they pretty much are fun and colorful.
The ink impressed me more than it should’ve. The light blue and greens are, indeed, light – but the rest are rich and smooth. With some other Bics I would notice if you used them for a while, the ink would kind of fade out – especially with fashion colors or the finer the point. I see none of that with this batch. The ballpoint is smooth and wrote on the first stroke. I see no signs of skipping or ink blobs.
There’s nothing fancy about this pen. It’s simple, plastic, with no bells or whistles. The hexagonal barrel has no padding or ergonomic grip – which does lead to fatigue if you’re do a tight grip on pens like I do. But for a simple pen, it’s quite handy and nice. And at $1.99 for an 8 pack, I’m going to try to pick up more – especially if I can get the classic colors.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 It’s decent. No frills. No padding. Ink is smooth and dark. Wrote the first time, every pen.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – It’s an inexpensive, plastic, no frills pen. The grip and feel is hard plastic. But you’re not buying this pen for the grip, let’s be honest.
3. Material – 1 For an inexpensive plastic pen, it’s solidly built. The cap and barrel are secure. The logo doesn’t wear off easily.
4. Overall Design – 0.5 -It’s a classic BIC pen with a needle point tip. That’s always going to be a weak point in my book. The length might be an issue with some.
5. Price Point – 1 – I got these at a local Walgreens. Still having to find them elsewhere easily – though online, you might be able to get them from Target or Amazon. I got the 8 pack at Walgreens for $1.99. Target seems to have a 15 count for $2.96 online. That’s stunningly cheap, really.
4.5 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
[Conventions] ArmadilloCon 38 Schedule
As it stands, here is my programming schedule for ArmadilloCon 38 next weekend. Come see me and all the awesome creators there.
Welcome to ArmadilloCon
Fri 4:00 PM-5:00 PM Ballroom D
Bobo, Crider, Eudaly, M.A. Finn, Keller, C. Siros*, Swendson
Our panelists will talk about the essential elements of SFF cons in general and ArmadilloCon in particular. Learn about all the can’t-miss events you should attend to get the most out of our con.
Art of the Short Story
Sat Noon-1:00 PM Southpark A
Afsharirad*, Eudaly, M.A. Finn, Person, Porter, Scarber
What makes a good short story? How do you as a writer unlock this form?
Career Management for Writers
Sat 1:00 PM-2:00 PM Southpark A
Cheney, Chu, Eudaly, Landon*, McKay, Wells
How do you manage your career as a writer? How do you know when it is time to switch agents, publishers, etc.?
Keeping It Weird
Sat 2:00 PM-3:00 PM Ballroom E
Eudaly, M.A. Finn*, Hilbert, Perez, Rose
Discussion of weird /bizarro fiction: definition, history, who you should be reading now.
Autographing
Sat 4:00 PM-5:00 PM Dealers’ Room
Clevenger, Eudaly, Fletcher, Latner, McKay
Reading
Sat 7:00 PM-7:30 PM Conference Center
Rhonda Eudaly
Flash Fiction Discussion & Reading
Sun 11:00 AM-Noon Ballroom F
Cherry*, Clevenger, Drayden, Eudaly, Goldsmith, Muenzler,
Panelists take a few minutes to talk about what makes for good flash fiction, then have round robin flash reading.