[Pen/Pencil Review] Multi-Function Office Buddy Pen – Black Ink
This past weekend was the annual blueberry pick in East Texas – which meant an inevitable trip into Tyler – usually this is for coffee, this time to PetSmart for a new dog bed after Freya threw up on Loki’s bed and logistics ensued (holes in bed to be repaired before washing). Ended up also in Drug Emporium where I impulsively bought this little guy.
This inexpensive pen is too much fun. For a ballpoint, it actually writes pretty well with minimal smearing and a good color to the black ink. It’s about 6.5″ long, multi-functional and adorable. It’s a retractable stylus pen in my favorite style, the pen comes through the stylus so you don’t have to recap or turn over if you want to go from low tech to high tech. But the fun doesn’t stop there
The pen is a “person” so the ergonomic barrel is both green and white to denote “clothes” and curved for a “body”. The metal clip is a striped tie and solid. The plunger is a ball with a smiley face painted on it with microfiber mop head (in green) to clean your device screens.
For a novelty pen, it’s TOO adorable, yet functional. It actually has a pretty smooth ink and line. It’s probably a 1.0mm but doesn’t glop much to make it seem like a bigger tip and only smears a bit on glossy paper. The stylus is functional but not quite as responsive as others I’ve used. And it comes in several colors without breaking the bank – probably available at other random retailers.
Now to the numbers:
1.How does it work? – 0.5 It’s decent. For the length and price point, it works pretty well. It’s a ballpoint. It’s a cheap ballpoint. And it is what it is.
2.Grip and feel – 1 – It’s an inexpensive, plastic, no grip pen. It has some ergonomics in shape but not grip and is relatively well balanced for what it is.
3.Material – 1 For an inexpensive plastic pen, it’s solidly built. The clip is super solid.
4.Overall Design – 0.5 -I’m giving it a bit of a knock because it’s not the world BEST design – it can be a bit bulky, the cleaner and stylus could work a BIT better, but it’s functional and okay.
5.Price Point – 1 – It’s $1.99 at Drug Emporium. That might be a little high for someone buying something as a novelty but it’s multifunctional, so there’s that investment.. I’m willing to pay a couple of bucks for something that makes me giggle.
4 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
[Write the Story] A Journalist Crosses the Line
Prompt: A Journalist Crosses the Line
Words: defamation, stroke, reporter, truck, weasel, supermarket, encyclopedia, contemplate, classify, clutch
Story
“You’re going to get us sued for defamation, and I think I’m having a stroke.” Len slammed his fist on his desk hard enough to make an encyclopedia jump. “Or worse! The Feds could investigate us. Give me one good reason not to throw you to the wolves.”
Blair didn’t flinch. She stared her editor down as his tirade wound down. She seemed to contemplate the citations, degrees, and awards on the wall behind him until he sputtered to a stop with a “Well?”
“I’m sorry, did you want me to do supermarket stories or did you hire me to be the type of reporter who dug deep?”
“Is this story for real? Are you willing to go to jail for this story? Because you will, you are in the path of a truck you can’t stop.”
“The senator is a weasel. He only decided to classify the findings after I started working on my story. I’m in the right.”
“You really think so?” Len slammed his fist down once more. “Did you think about anything?”
“Of course I did, Len. I thought about the truth. About what’s going on at the highest levels. It’s what we do. We don’t back down in the clutch. Do we?”
“When it jeopardizes this newspaper, maybe. There’s more at stake here than your hubris.”
“If there is, then I want no part in it.” Blair slapped her credentials on the desk. “I quit.” As she stormed out, she palmed a USB drive. After all there was always the internet.
Word Count: 256
Written: 5-15-17
[Writing Post] Confessions & Expounding on Advice from Rosemary Clement
Road to recovery…in a writing sense. My creative output has sucked this last quarter. No other way to put it. It’s not that the I wasn’t willing or that I haven’t beaten myself up over it. Or tried to force my way through it. I have. And you know what? It’s still sucked. I’m behind on a whole lot of stuff. Stuff I’ve been “meaning” to work on since April.
There are reasons. There are excuses. They are what they are. I’ve been on TWO business trips (in which I’ve gained a whole lot of knowledge and experience). Family is in town from out of country and staying with us. So things to do there. And sometimes the Day Job is ALL CONSUMING, but it is good work, important work, and it allows me the funds, healthcare options, and vacation time to do all the things I need to be able to take care of the business side of writing.
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Welcome to the Real World of Writing. All the “YOU MUSTS” yeah, no. As Rosemary Clement put it in a DFWCon “When to Ignore Good Advice” panel (or Lies my Writer’s Group Told Me – I think that’s her “subtitle”) YOU DO YOU. If YOU have to write something every day. Good. If you need to take time for self care. Good. (I now do yoga one night a week and tai chi two mornings a week at work and walk A LOT.) Does this mean I end up writing EVERY DAY – obviously not or this blog post wouldn’t be happening. BUT…BUT…but…I do write relatively regularly (I need to do the exercises more frequently) and when I’m not doing that I’m generally reading which is research and still vitally important.
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If you need to take a few weeks in an allergy medication fog so you can breathe? Breathing is good. I highly recommend it. But honestly, unless you’re doing really “Weird Fiction” I wouldn’t necessarily recommend writing while on Benedryl. TRUST ME on this one. But hey, YOU DO YOU. Pollen-Inspired fiction probably has just as much place in the grand scheme of things as anything else.
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I’ve also been on the bandwagon of listening to Podcasts While Commuting. I so should’ve done that long ago – also research. Also writing related good use of time. Not necessarily committing words to paper, but again not a Bad Thing. And if you’re EVER EVER stuck for story ideas? Just start listening to Stuff You Should Know or Stuff You Missed in History Class. SO MUCH FODDER! SO MUCH. I’ve also been loving Talk Nerdy, Writing Excuses, and most Star Talk episodes. So much to learn. So much to put into stories.
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So yeah, so maybe my output sucks right now. It’s busy (SO BUSY) and Pollen Season (NO! Fungus Season!). Barring the Crepe Myrtles incapacitating me further (they hate me), my output should be getting better soon. It’s a home stretch thing. I’m going to start some editing and thought priming and reading. It’ll all be good. Because it’s how I do it, and that’s okay…for me. You find what works for you.
[Pen/Pencil Blog] Hoard vs. Collection
Today is a pen related blog… not really a review but a pen blog on a Monday during a crazy early summer of traveling mostly for business. Have fun with this. I’ve written an essay in the past about being a “Practical” pen person rather than a collector. I don’t take care of pens the way a true collector might. I use everything I get don’t discriminate against brand, type, expensive-ness. I’ve been to TWO conferences in the past 4 weeks…here’s the fistful of pens I brought back.
The promo pens from two conferences.
(There was a half sentence in here originally that I have no idea what I was saying, so…) Jimmy collects a specific pencil. It’s not just a mess from across the country. But it’s a true COLLECTION. In fact, there have been changes to my house so he can organize and display his Pentel Pencils when I’ve come home from Day Job Conferences. First shelves then lighting. We’re an LED family now.
Jimmy’s well organized (and now lit) collection.
This is a COLLECTION. So how’s this different from what I have? Take a look… the first weekend of June I dumped my BOX of pens (and not all of them…just most) and decided to at least sort them by brand/manufacturer and put them in ziploc bags. Then I can slowly (oh, so slowly) figure out what I have reviewed. What I haven’t. What I might want to do with some of this stuff. This is a thinned hoard too. A couple of years ago I culled the lot and donated stuff to teachers and organizations that might have use for writing instruments. Because wow.
My Hoard
I DO NOT have a collection. I have a hoard. I have a plethora. Okay, let’s face it. I have an EMBARRASSMENT of pens (sorry, not sorry). This is why everything I do with ink and pencil seems so incredibly random. There’s no rhyme or reason to what I do, not like with Jimmy or other collectors. And it’s not wrong (a problem maybe, but not wrong). I’d like to say that I can stop at anytime, but you’d all hurt yourselves laughing. I can’t give up pens any more than I can give up coffee or breathing (though during allergy season the breathing thing seem to think its optional).
More of the hoard.
And the world needs us both. The Collector and the Enthusiast. The collector can tell you the minute aspects of one kind of pen or pencil – Jimmy’s documenting every style change of the Pentel P205. Me? I can tell you which ball point pen may not smear in your shiny new journal. We each have our strengths that bring value to this Wonderful World of Writing Instruments. Will anyone care in the future? Maybe. Maybe not. But it makes us happy, and that’s all that really matters. So find the thing – the pen, the pencil, the marker or crayon or some other thing that makes you happy and be happy.
[Write the Story] The Supernatural Invades the Every Day
Prompt: The Supernatural Invades the Everyday
Words: metamorphosis, rogue, shrug, salamander, sleepy, chimpanzee, enzyme, lemon, glance, merge
Story
Salamanders vs. Chimpanzees sounds like the Worst Gang War EVER, but we weren’t talking West Side Story or Happy Days. Oh no. Our sleepy little town actually went through some sort of crazy metamorphosis that changed, well, everything.
Six months ago everything was fine. I mean it. Our little hamlet had high school football, ice cream socials, and FDA-guidelines-be-darned bake sales. Then came some rogue enzyme that “awakened” our town.
“We have to do something!” The sibilance from a reptile tongue still sounded weird to me. I struggled to parse the words even when they were dropping from my newly-forked tongue.
I was roared down by a six-foot tall primate – literally half our town went Chimp. Half went reptile. It wasn’t pretty, especially when it came to resources, and avoiding the news. Both the reports and the reporters.
“I’m not talking about lemons and lemonade,” I said with a quick glance around the room – easy to do with eyes that move independently. “we need to merge forces, work together.”
The chimp shrugged. “Why not just knock heads and be done?”
“Because the fouls aren’t worth it. If we’re ognig to win State, we have to be smart. You’re strong. We’re fast and camouflage. We can win this. Then maybe we’ll be human again.”
Word Count: 213
Written: 5/7 & 10/17
[Writer Post] Greetings From Buffalo NY
Many apologies for dropping off the face of the earth this week. If you follow my social media, you know I’ve been participating in a conference for my Day Job in New York State. I have met so many awesome people and animals. I’ve seen some amazing scenery. Done a lot. Seen a lot. Totally ready to come home. This experience has been incredible, but my Inner Introvert is screaming to be my OUTER Introvert. Totally looking forward to my back wall cube next week.
Me at Niagara Falls – Terrapin Point
So, yeah, there’s been no pen review – though I’m bringing home more souvenir and promo pens and a couple of notebooks. There has been a ton of meeting people and an endless supply of food. Buffalo has treated us very, very well. This is going to be this week’s writing post, because what I have learned is amazing details for whatever Doomsday or thriller (romantic or otherwise) book I finally decide to write.
Statue of Nikola Tesla on Terrapin Point – Niagara Falls
Seriously, that’s been one of the most amazing parts of this Day Job is all the STUFF there is to learn that can benefit me as a fiction writer – no matter what time frame I want to write in. Because even if I project this into a dystopian future or just a future, these are details that are just going to add depth and color and out and out coolness. And those type of details MATTER. They matter SO MUCH. Not to mention those experts you’re trying to portray? Take a tiny step in their shoes – put on the gear (or even half) for just a minute, and I guarantee your respect for them will rise exponentially. See me in a EOD bomb suit jacket? Yeah, that weighed between 20 and 40 pounds and was just HALF THE SUIT. The panel on the sleeve that are some kind of controls? I couldn’t even reach it! And these guys dismantle BOMBS in this suit. SO MUCH RESPECT. I mean I don’t have a whole lot of dexterity to begin with, but add this suit? DUDE.
Writing something with mounted police? Some squads use Quarter Horses that are cutting horses. BRILLIANT! These are smaller, quicker, and if a suspect runs into a crowd? Why not use a smaller, more nimble horse trained to separate cows from a herd. Same concept, different herd. Never thought of it until I met a PD Quarter Horse. Then it seemed incredibly obvious.
Police Quarter Horses!
It’s a detail. And details matter. They matter so much. These details can adapted to near future or far future or historical – even alien. We’ve all heard the “write what you know” adage, but we can’t all be aliens or jump to the future, but we can take what we know and project. Just like we can take things from history and project it to the future – because as much as we don’t want it to, history repeats.
The Edward Cotter – a 100+ year old working fire boat.
So take the time to at least attempt accuracy in your details. Develop the relationships (if you can) with some of those experts to ask questions when you’re stuck. And though I can (and do) talk a mile a minute – especially when it comes to my Day Job with the stuff I can (and need to) learn, I really try to do the “Listen twice as much as you talk”.
1932 Pierce Arrow touring car built for an opera singer. Cost at the time? $14K
So right now, there’s so much stuff swirling in my head – and literature I’m bringing home that can be useful research in the future — and OH SO MANY pictures.
[Write the Story] On a Quest
Prompt: On a Quest
Words: medieval, derive, molten, oar, rhythm, ears, antique, corn, daughter, yammer
Story
“Call it a journey of discovery if you don’t want to call it a quest,” Seth continued packing. “But you’re going.”
Astrid glared at her brother as she tapped the short wooden oar against her palm. “It’s a stupid, medieval ritual. I don’t see why it’s still relevant.”
That last conversation played in Astrid’s mind as she stomped through forest and field to the hidden temple of Sif, Norse goddess of the harvest, ears of corn weighing down her pack. She still didn’t get why she was doing this except she was a Viking’s daughter, and she didn’t want to listen to her family yammer on about it anymore.
Astrid’s steps fell into a ragged rhythm as she trudged around brambles and tree trunks until she burst into a n open glade leading to a rock face.
“Safe to assume the dar, creey cave hole is the way into Sif’s temple…” She clicked on her antique flashlight and headed into the dank, tight cave. “And yay. I get to leave the harvest sacrifice and earn my reward. What kind of stupid quest is this, I ask again?”
“One that will change your life if you let it.”
Astrid whirled in the tight quarters, bruising her shin as she played the weakening beam. The voice was warm, like molten caramel, but there was no one there. She couldn’t derive the source of the sound, but she kept moving forward. She pulled the corn from her pack.
“Oh, yes, you’ll do fine.” Suddenly light sprang forth and a woman approached, reaching for the offering. “I wish someone would bring pizza. Just once. Now girl, let’s see about reclaiming the earth.”
Word Count: 278
Written: 5/4/17
[Writing Post] Stubbornness and Questions
This will come as a shock to NO ONE – but I have Journalist in my blood. I’m a WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, (especially) WHY person. It’s what drives me as a writer. It’s what gets me in trouble probably with my parents (when I was a wee one), teachers, and others along the way. I like to question. To understand. To see beyond the surface (mostly). Yes, it’s frustrating when things (like tech or math) are beyond me and try as I might I just DON’T GET IT.
Which is why I’m still talking in circles with my website hosting company for double-charging me for hosting this year. 1) Their initial chat window does not allow for screen caps or attachments, so I couldn’t provide documentation for the error their system said didn’t exist. 2) Once I COULD provide information, I still had to convince them their system was wrong and not me (No, ma’am your account was NOT double-charged according to our system, can you provide proof?) 3) Proof provided, “Oh, yes, ma’am, I see that now, we’re refunding one of the charges. So sorry for the inconvenience. Do you still have questions?
The newest acquisition. Hand-crafted resin and pewter DRAGON pen.
Stevie Ray Vaughn’s handwritten lyrics and notes. Shivers up the spine.
So, that’s part of what I’ve been doing – that and hanging on to my Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Training by that same stubborn sheer will thing. Totally don’t know why I did that. Which is part of what’s thrown my writing off kilter – statistics taught by a person for whom English is at best a Second Language – maybe even tertiary. Yeah… that happened. And the pollens are trying to kill me.
BUT… We went to Austin this past weekend to the Stevie Ray Vaughn exhibit – and lunch with Renee Babcock. Also spent some time with Kat Stephens and the Famous Monsters of Filmland (or something) convention. Met Daniel Roebuck – who’s one of those character actors I LOVE. He’s been in EVERYTHING and is so versatile and warm and funny. And bought an awesome pen.
Daniel Roebuck – hard working character actor. Totally want to write stuff actors like this want to be in.
THEN hey! Last night? Last night I DID STUFF. I wrote fiction words. I worked on a pile of filing/decluttering. I ACCOMPLISHED STUFF! I didn’t do a lot of words, but they’re new words. They’re progress words. Which means even though I’m heading out of town again next week, maybe I won’t be in quite as much of a fog when I get back this time.
FORWARD PROGRESS!!!!!
[Write the Story] A Romantic Scene in an Unromantic Place
Prompt: A Romantic Scene in an Unromantic Place
Words: blacksmith, tongue, woman, spark, musical, blind, Bible, barbecue, elbow, bundle
Story
Tara shifted her bundle as she made her way down the street of the village. She dodged rambunctious children chasing and being chased by dogs and chickens. Smells of slowly roasting meant already scented the air, trumpeting the arrival of the town barbecue. She breathed deeply and smiled as she greeted the blind woman carrying a basket of fresh bread. “Good morning, Mamie!”
“Good morning, Tara, great day for a feast.”
Tara took Mamie’s elbow and guided the older woman across the square.
“Be a dear, Tara, and pick up my pot? The handle was repaired.”
“Of course, Mamie.” Tara veered off toward the blacksmith’s shop. She could hear the nearly musical tings of the hammer striking the anvil as she slipped through the door.
Sunlight streamed through the upper windows and struck the blacksmith with a golden glow on sweat-sheen muscles. Tara tried to speak, but her tongue froze.
He turned, holding a hammered gold cover for the village’s Bible. His clear blue eyes met hers and sparks flew, both between them and from the fire behind them. It had to be a sign.
“I…would you… pot…Hello.” Tara couldn’t take her eyes off him. “Barbecue! You should come!”
” Cooper. I’m new. And starving.”
Word Count: 205
Written: 4/26-27/17 – sometimes there’s a distraction. This was a “meet cute” exercise, and I need to work more on it.
[Writer Post] Times They are a Changin’
My Day Job Organization is in “Transition”. A lot of it. That’s what happens when executive leadership changes. No one knows what’s going to happen in the long run. This is also my last week of training for Lean Six Sigma Green Belt — then I have to complete my project (or find out if the transition stuff will make my project obsolete before I even do it). There’s no danger (currently) to my job, which is great because I do love it.
So there’s some “Brain Goes Ow” because of the training. And with a trip, 2 weeks home, trip, 2 weeks home (lather, rinse repeat) concentration is half shot to heck. Or more than half. I’m trying to keep everything going and getting just everything back in gear.
But it’s a struggle right now. It really is. But everything will get better. There will be an even keel again.
But for now? Brain Zombie. But hey, but hey… three day weekend coming up that should help.