[Pen/Pencil Review] The OHTO Sharp Pencil – Forest Green – 0.5mm
It’s no secret that I have a wide-ranging love all kinds of writing instruments (or this blog wouldn’t exist). And I go through cycles where I want to write with a certain KIND of instrument. Gel pen, fountain pen, pencil… But when it comes to pencils – it’s sometimes more difficult. Mechanical pencils give a good solid performance and are refillable, etc. But there’s also something satisfying about traditional wooden pencils. Sometimes I use wooden pencils to feel like I’ve accomplished something by the wearing down, but it’s also seems wasteful of resources.
Which may be why I gravitated (jumped on with both feet?) to the OHTO Sharp Pencil on JetPens. It’s a mechanical pencil with a 0.5mm lead in a forest green wooden pencil body with a pink eraser cap that is also the lead advancement mechanism. It’s the best of all the worlds.
The body is the traditional hex shape with a short “sharpened†point with about a 6.5†length, which is shorter than a traditional unsharpened wooden pencil, but long enough to be comfortable in the hand. The diameter seems to be the same – but maybe a bit narrower – than an analog hex pencil, so you might need to add a pencil grip to give it some ergonomics.
The lead is a traditional 0.5mm HB – I still prefer 2B – but is sturdy. The tip mechanism is brass. And the mechanicals are inserted into a wooden hexagonal pencil. Lead is loaded into a barrel under the eraser button The eraser button is solid but I’m not seeing replacements for them, so maybe use an external or cap eraser. The button fits into the classic crimped metal top to the pencil.
This is a pencil that has to be ordered from a retailer like JetPens. This is still a Japanese line and not yet widely available in the US. I accidentally ordered two – but that just means I get twice the joy – and they come in three colors – dark red, forest green, and brown. It’s a bit on the expensive side, but not horrible – since it’s mechanical and can be refilled with the lead of your choice.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 It works just like any other mechanical pencil. Click the eraser, get decent lead out, retract. I haven’t had a lot of trouble with breakage of the lead.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – It’s a wooden pencil body with mechanical pencil guts. As with any wooden pencil, there are no ergonomics, but the wood has warmth that plastic doesn’t.
3. Material – 1 It’s strong quality wooden body with solid mechanics with the eraser button and brass tip. It’s well designed.
4. Overall Design – 0.5 – It’s solid, but I’m not seeing eraser replacements, which is a drawback. If you want to keep it all working, you have to use a separate eraser at some point.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – You have to get this online – or if you find a store that carries OHTO, let me know. It runs $4.60 on JetPens, which means it’s not a cheap pencil, but it’s also not ridiculous. If you want the convenience and longevity of a mechanical but the feel of wood – this is your pencil.
4 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
[Writer Post] Moving Forward
I’ve tried to write this blog a couple of different times today. Neither one worked.
I could write about the elections, but I won’t.
I could write about the vitriol, the fear, and the anguish on my social media feeds, but I won’t.
That would just be adding to the noise. Instead… lets talk about Moving Forward.
No matter what happens now, we move forward. We continue.
My brain has come back from whatever vacation it took without me last week. I’m starting to get back into my groove. Which means moving forward there, too. Which means continuing.
[Pen/Pencil Review] G-Free Ballpoint Pen by Sailor – Mars
There’s one thing a writer needs to be able to do – write. Any time. Anywhere. At any angle. In any condition. I talked about the Power Tank a couple of weeks ago, now there’s another, Sailor has released an economical and convenient pressurized pen for “all-terrain†writing The G-Free. What’s kinda cool about these is that they’ve named their barrel colors after the planets. I bought “Marsâ€
The the G-Free Mars by Sailor Ballpoint pen is a pretty nifty 0.7mm ballpoint and is refillable. The barrel is about 5.7″ with a black clip and plunger. The pen extends with the plunger and retracts by clicking the clip. The grip is softer molded plastic in a triangular pattern for an easier grip.
I like the 0.7mm conical tip. It’s smooth and dark for the size. It doesn’t seem to skip or glob nor does it feel scratch on paper like some finer points can. On glossy paper, there’s a small bit of smearing if you rub it right away, but it dries quickly. The only quibble I have is that there’s a kind of bounce/spring to the ink mechanism, so the point squishes back into the barrel just a bit. The ink is black, but uses the G-Free LV Ballpoint pen refills but only seems to come in black in so ar.
These are also relatively economical, compared to Fisher but more expensive than the Uni Power Tank. The pen itself runs $5.50 JetPens with the refills being $1.80. You do have to order them, I don’t believe they’re available widely in the US. But they’re worth it if you do a lot of work on clipboards or just at odd angles. It’s a really solid pen that you can use for quite a while, and if it walks away? Not expensive to replace – unlike Fishers.
Let’s see the numbers…
1. How does it work? – 0.5 – it works well. The ink dries quickly – the 0.7mm point doesn’t smear easily. The line is good and dark. There’s a bit too much spring in the point for it to be perfect. There’s a learning curve to figuring out the clip retracts the point.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – The length is good, the plunger is good. The grip is ergonomic and more comfortable than many pens of this style without getting into a much more expensive pen
3. Material – 1 – It’s a plastic retractable pen. For a pressurized pen, it’s pretty darned comfortable
4. Overall Design – 1 It’s a decent design with an economical pressurized design that goes anywhere and does its job.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – You have to order these, but they’re worth it. If you write in challenging conditions, this is a good investment at $5.50 a piece and $1.80 for the refills Very economical for a solid office pen. But it’s more expensive than others of it’s class.
That’s 4 bronze pencils out of 5.
[Writer Post] Taking a Trip to Oz
Maybe the Wizard can give me a brain. I admit to being completely disjointed and unfocused for the last couple of weeks. My concentration has been crap. Creative output? A complete farce. I mention this because it’s NANOMO – or NANOWRIMO – whichever. It’s National Novel Writing Month, and I laugh in its general direction.
There are many things I hope to accomplish in November – like shedding the mantel of Snot Monster (yay allergies!) is high on the list. I’m sure that has Nothing. At. ALL. With the lack of brain. I have several things pending at the Day Job – not the least of which is a major deadline and a week-long training in another state. Writing 50K words on a new project? Yeah, not going to happen.
So what am I going to do? There’s still quite a bit of typing to do on existing projects. I’m going back to a collaborative project that’s been languishing that’s been in a rewrite/editing mode for a while and needs finishing. But that should help jump start some brain cells. The same with the typing on the existing and yet unfinished project. I fell off the story, so that should help me get back on track for that.
Sadly, I think I’m going to have to bail on a market that I was hoping to get a piece done for – unless one of those “WRITE ME NOW!†stories hits me in the next couple of days (hahahahahahahahahaha) or a week. Sometimes you have to know when to cut your losses. Right now, that lovely little themed anthology being edited by a friend just isn’t happening (Sorry, Viv). Granted the deadline isn’t until the end of the year, so it could happen, I suppose.
Hopefully everything will clear up in a big burst of mental sunlight and burn away the fog. But for now, I’m going to keep muddling through and seeing where I go from here. But for now… Ray Bolger said it best:
I could while away the hours
Conferrin’ with the flowers,
Consulting with the rain;
And my head I’d be a scratchin’
While my thoughts are busy hatchin’
If I only had a brain.
[Pen/Pencil Review] Halloween Rerun – Glowing Skull Halloween Novelty Blue Ballpoint Pen
I’m doing a rerun this week – one because it’s going to be a weirdly busy day – hey, it’s Halloween – and two, because I snapped the head off this pen during a meeting that morphed into my annual review. So this is a REST IN PEACE post to a fun novelty pen…
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It’s Halloween week, and that means one last novelty pen. This one, I swear was given to me by my friend, Meredith Hines as part of a survival kit for FenCon. It’s a skull pen (because well, yeah) that only lights up on an impact. Which makes it not only awesome as a pen, but also a great source of amusement and stress relief.
![IMG_2215[1]](https://www.rhondaeudaly.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_22151-300x225.jpg)
This sucker is long. It’s 7.5″ inches long with the cap on and just under with the cap off. The grip is flared for a bit of ergonomic support leading to a slender barrel. This pen is top heavy with the white skull in a light bulb style base. The skull is a soft rubber that makes it impact resistant – which is what you need since the LEDs are triggered by impact. The LEDs shift through the color spectrum for a decent amount of time – but you do have to let the cycle run. Thwacking the pen again does not stop the light show.
![IMG_2219[1]](https://www.rhondaeudaly.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_22191-300x225.jpg)
The ink is a fine point blue ball point ink with a stainless steel point. The ink flows well and has a smooth action. It will be my pen of choice this week.
![IMG_2220[1]](https://www.rhondaeudaly.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_22201-e1382967502500-300x107.jpg)
The Numbers.
1. How does it work? – 0.5 – It’s better than I expected. The flow of ink is nice. The ergonomic grip makes it more comfortable to hold than it might be.
2. Look and feel – 0.5 – It’s not bad for a novelty pen. It’s long and a little top heavy, so the balance is off but not as a huge detriment to the writing experience.
3. Material – 1 It’s a fun novelty pen. It’s mostly plastic but has a decent point and workable flashing lights.
4. Overall Design – 1 – It’s an awesome skull pen that is also a stress reliever by letting you hit something upside the head. That’s all there is to say.
5. Price Point – 1 – I have no idea how much these run, but considering how/why it was given to me, it’s probably in the $2-$4 range, which for the stress relief alone is worth it. But the fact it actually works pretty well, make it awesome.
4 out of 5 bronze pencils.
[Writer Post] Chaos, Disruption, and Spreadsheets OH MY!
It’s been a long week – and it’s only Wednesday. Not that it’s been BAD because it hasn’t. It’s just been very … weird. And long. And disruptive.
The annual review went well – just a day later than I had scheduled so the head of self-esteem I had going had to be maintained and that’s just exhausting. 😎 But I did stick up for myself and my accomplishments – which has led to having to pull numbers and statistics to help document the accomplishments. Bottom line?
Spreadsheets make my brain hurt. And my whole day job since the annual review seems to revolve around freakin’ spreadsheets. Ow. This is one of the MANY, MANY, MANY reasons I married Jimmy. He lives by the spreadsheet. I die by the spreadsheet.
Also, due to several compounding factors my life has been disrupted, disjointed, and in disrepair. The things I can control – the chaotic house – are in process of renormalization and are close enough to not rattle me any longer. The factors I can’t control, I’m dealing with the best I can (Darn you, Ragweed!) and have identified root causes. The knots in my neck are totally due to spreadsheets. Hello, Curvy Yoga – and I’ve made a pretty significant to continue this class.
All that to say, my writing was for poo last week. I had no focus, no concentration, no nothing. This week, I’ve committed word counts. Not necessarily BIG ones, but they are there. Things are looking better. And hopefully I’ll be out of Spreadsheet Hell for a while after this week. That would be awesome. So onward!
[Pen/Pencil Review] The Uni Power Tank Smart Series Ballpoint Pen – 0.7mm
There’s one thing a writer needs to be able to do – write. Any time. Anywhere. At any angle. In any condition. Seriously. For quite a while, if you wanted to do that, your option was the Fisher Space Pen (which is awesome). Now other manufacturers like UNI are releasing economical and convenient pressurized pens for “all-terrain†writing. This week’s pen is the UNI Power Tank Smart Series Ballpoint pen.
The UNI Power Tank Smart Series Ballpoint pen in 0.7mm is pretty nifty (one because it comes in a 0.7mm – though a “High Grade†is available in the
I like the 0.7mm conical tip. It’s smooth and dark for the size. It doesn’t seem to skip or glob nor does it feel scratch on paper like some finer points can. On glossy paper, there’s a small bit of smearing if you rub it right away, but it dries quickly. The ink is black, but uses the standard Power Tank refills, so you can get blue and red in 0.7mm.
These are also relatively economical. The pen itself runs just over $3.00 on JetPens with the refills being $1.65. You do have to order them, I don’t believe they’re available widely in the US. But they’re worth it if you do a lot of work on clipboards or just at odd angles. It’s a really solid pen that you can use for quite a while, and if it walks away? Not expensive to replace – unlike Fishers.
Let’s see the numbers…
1. How does it work? – 1 – it works well. The ink dries quickly – the 0.7mm point doesn’t smear easily. The line is good and dark.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – The length is good, the plunger is good. The grip is hard and can cause fatigue.
3. Material – 0.5 – It’s a plastic retractable pen. For a pressurized pen, you might want a bit more comfort in the pen.
4. Overall Design – 1 It’s a timeless design with an economical pressurized design that goes anywhere and does its job.
5. Price Point – 1 – You have to order these, but they’re worth it. If you write in challenging conditions, this is a good investment at $3.30 a piece and $1.65 for the refills Very economical for a solid office pen.
That’s 4 bronze pencils out of 5.
[Writer Blog] Horn Tooting Epiphany
I’m not good at “Tooting My Own Hornâ€. I’m not! Really! Or at least it’s not something that comes naturally to me. Writing bios for conventions and websites almost makes me break out into hives. I think it comes from that super-ingrained cultural phenomenon that says, “Be quiet. Be humble. Don’t make waves. Don’t be loud. Don’t brag. It’s NOT BECOMING.†Even getting a “hey, you’re pretty awesome†cards from my MOM makes me go, “oh, no… not really. I’ve been fill in the deprecating word of choice here†inside. But lately, there’s been a bit of an epiphany (thank you, Curvy Yoga to a degree) that says (within reason because flat out bragging is NOT cool), “You know, I AM – or this thing I did – is pretty darned awesome.†Because let’s face it – hard work it NOT its own reward. You can put your head down, get the job done, and it might not get noticed without a light shined on it. And it’s okay to be the one holding the spotlight.
So, where is this coming from? No, I’m not about to do the “OMG! I’m such an awesome author you should BUY ALL THE THINGS! You can if you want, and I’d be hugely grateful, but that’s not the point. Actually, I’m not all that awesome right now. I’m kinda struggling on the forward momentum of a couple of big writing projects and just trashed a short story I thought had a lot of potential. But I’m working on at least grunt work (typing) that should hopefully jump start the mojo. That and we’ll have the chaotic house under some control by next week.
No, it’s Annual Review Time at the Day Job. I’m working on the whole “this terrifies me to my core†reaction, as well as, Boss’s Office = Principal’s Office = Being in Trouble thing. There’s a form I have to fill out that asks what my “Three Greatest Achievements†are. HAH! I chose to be “programmatic†in my approach to that and I wrote down all the things I did in the last year in these three program areas. This is to help prove – to them and to me – that I don’t have to take the “here’s the cost of living/merit increase†and like it. I can (and should) push for more than the “average of 3%†because I’ve EARNED IT. Even if it is only 3%, it’s still more than what I’ve gotten in the past because then I wasn’t “eligible†because I was part time. Now, I’m making a case because if you look at the list (and it’s not complete – I stuck with my 3 main program areas), the list is pretty freakin’ impressive. And that effort (not necessarily ME but the EFFORT) deserves to be recognized and rewarded.
And that’s a pretty big thing to realize. Welcome to my epiphany, feel free to take it with you and hug it tight. Because whatever it is that YOU DO? It’s pretty awesome, too, because only you can do that thing. And if no one’s said it you today, this week, or this year? YOU ROCK. You’re doing a great job. Don’t just keep it up, blow it up. Out of the ballpark. And listen to the awesome puppy.
[Pen/Pencil Review] Morning Glory Mach Campus 0.28mm – Blue Ink
This is one of my last batch from JetPens . Jimmy directed me to the fact there were new 0.28 points available. Morning Glory has a new line available on JetPens that does indeed have one of the finest points available – the Morning Glory Mach Campus Rollerball Pen.
Haven’t heard of Morning Glory? Don’t neither had I until I’d delved into JetPens. They’re a South Korean pen maker. According to JetPens and the TradeKorea website – Morning Glory is the “biggest Fancy Stationary Manufacturer” based in Seoul, Korea. JetPens started out with the Mach 3 line, and now they carry the Mach Campus.
The Mach Campus line has three different colors in the 0.28mm needle tip, roller ball design in a few different barrel styles. This one is the blue ink, pearl body. The pen runs 5.5†long capped and 5.75†cap posted. The cap posts with a satisfying click with no likelihood of flying off. The cap is transparent and the grip is a translucent ribbed plastic so you can see some of the ink reservoir. The barrel accent colors match the ink – only the ink is darker. The length was consistent with these types of pens to give a decent balance.
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The roller ball and ink are smooth and dark for such a fine line (which I like). The tip can be a touch “scratchy” but that gives it a bit of character. I didn’t see a lot of skip or stutter. The needle tip felt solid and not about to bend if you write heavily. The line is solid and totally legible – which is a strength when you’re dealing with such a fine point. And it has a good price point for a disposable roller ball pen.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 – For such a fine point, it works really well. A solid, dark line with little skipping. Dries quickly with minimal smearing.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – I’m knocking a half point for nod to ergonomics. The grip is a decent diameter, but it’s a barely textured hard plastic. If you’re a hard gripper, it’ll be tiring. There’s also a ridge where the cap seats that can dig into fingers.
3. Material – 1 – This is an inexpensive, disposal roller ball. It is what it is. Plastic and steel, but it feels sturdy
4. Overall Design – 0.5 – It is what it is. It’s a good design for an inexpensive roller ball. I like the view port for the ink levels. It’s meant to be used and done. It’s good for what it is. There aren’t any ergonomics. The roller ball can be scratchy which some might not like.
5. Price Point – 1 – It’s pretty cheap. It’s $2.00 on JetPens. For a decent quality roller ball, it’s an okay price point.
That’s 4 of 5 bronze pencils.
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[Writing Post] Story Sale and Even Keels
What a difference a week or two makes. We’re in the second full week of October, and I can finally say I feel like all the weight and stress of the past few months is lifting. And if not completely lifting, at least shifting back to normal stuff.
I SOLD A STORY! And not just a story, a dark SF story with no animals in it! I sold it to Mark Finn for an upcoming SKELOS issue! More details as they become available. Since it’s more a literary journal than a typical magazine, I’m really excited about this.
It’s kind of a big deal for me. One, it’s dark and creepy which I don’t do often – and less often without some type of absurd element to it (sentient crocodiles, zombie parrots, intergalactic call centers) – so this was a bit of a stretch. Then Mark came back with NOTES, lots of notes, the week before FenCon. I couldn’t even.
But I told him I’d have it for him in a couple of weeks (maybe mid-October), not sure which. I hit right in the middle of that. I lost some time recovering from FenCon AND its nasty little stomach bug, replacing our washing machine, and finally the water leak under the foundation. Because we don’t do ANYTHING halfsies. But it’s done. Finished. Sold. Boom. AND I managed to write a guest blog for a friend for some time in November, I think. More details when they become available.
So WORDS! I have committed WORDS! To paper. To pixels. To RIDICULE! (Well, maybe not that last one yet.) Beginning to end. Done. Now…now we return to the incomplete projects and the projects impatiently waiting their turns. The YA novel WILL. BE. FINISHED. I have trashed and restarted (and trashed the restart) of a story due by the end of the year.
It feels good to know there’s still a show out there – Marvelous Nerd Year’s Eve, y’all! – but for now, I’m floating along blissfully in a sea of NOTHING ON THE CALENDAR except a couple of social things. I can regroup, refocus, and get my house and blood pressure in order. And that’s all good. Even keels, baby. Even keels.