Swingline Keychain Stapler

Staplers seem to be the hip new topic of the Typosphere, so I thought I'd share the one I've been using for the past 5 years or so. I carry it with me in my backpack, and it comes in handy for stapling together math homework just before turning it in.

I often enjoy my 5 minutes of celebrity status as everyone scrambles before class to get their homework stapled; often times we lose points if our work is not stapled together. Of course, most, myself included, forget about stapling it until time comes to turn it in.

I like the folding design; most people who use it comment on the sleek lines and folding mechanism.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. (taken with my Logitech C920 webcam)

Questions about the Faber-Castell Saphir Dip Pen

Pentel 350E mechanical pencil review

My handwritten review. Text of this page after the pictures.

Aside the Pentel GraphGear 1000, the king of all Pentel drafting pencils.

The Pentel 350E—an historical pencil, to say the absolute least. To say a bit more, this is one of the first, if not THE FIRST, mechanical pencils released by Pentel. It kind of reminds me of the Japanese compact cars of the 1960s & 1970s—quaint, but driving them today, while they probably function just as well as they did when new, is kind of a chore, while their historical value is undeniable. They have just been surpassed by subsequent technological advances, making them totally obsolete in comparison to the creature-comfort laden cars of today.

                Onto the pencil. The body, as you can see in the picture, is a maroonish color with the typical silver trim. What is cool, though, is that the body is hexagonal and tapers at the tip just like a woodcase pencil. It’s got a 4mm fixed sleeve, so it’s suitable for drafting purposes. Another thing about this pencil that shows its age is the PENTEL logo—it’s not the familiar Pentel [written in modern Pentel font] we’ve come to know and love. Block letters here for all the lettering on the pencil, including “MADE IN JAPAN.”

                Functionality wise, though, this pencil is not very good. Already I’m feeling the burn of not having any sort of grip area—the pencil is pretty thin and VERY smooth, making it difficult for me to hold the pencil without it sliding and without giving it an iron-like deathgrip. Also, you may have noticed the thin lead advancement button—THERE IS NO ERASER. The button comes off to reveal the lead tube directly. On one hand this is OK because it saves me the disappointment of that TINY easer on modern pencils, but come on.

                To top it all off, the lead tube is micro thin, even for a 0.5mm pencil. So tiny, in fact, that there is only space for ONE lead. Not only do you need to carry along an eraser, but also a spare lead tune! This pencil is truly barebones.

                Overall, I’d give the Pentel 350E 3/5; while it is devoid of anything resembling modern conveniences we take for granted today, like a grip, an eraser, and space for extra lead, it is an historical milestone, and I am glad to have this pencil in my collection.

                

Typing Paper!

Graph Paper Notebooks.

Hi loyal readers, thank you for returning to my blog!

As a comeback post, I thought I'd write about something I've recently acquired-a nice new Rhodia reversebook from Blick. The paper's so smooth and perfect! Since it's a graph paper notebook, I figured that I might as well write a little about all my graph paper notebooks.

I saved the best for first.

RHODIA reversebook

What can I say that hasn't already been said? First off, this paper beats Moleskine up and shoves it into a trash can. Rhodia's 80g grid-lined paper is out of this world in smoothness and quality (and price, but that's beside the point, since this is the notebook equivalent of buying a blood red Ferrari 360 spider). The square design means that it can be used with the spiral at the top or on the side-whichever way you feel like at the moment. I've been waiting for a notebook worthy of my Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencils, and I think I found it!

Office Depot dual-sized graph notebook

I found this one laying around in my math classroom for about 5 months, and decided on the last day to take it...what a bizarre notebook! Firstly, it's a wireless notebook-(no internet though)-and it's got 2 different sized grids on each sheet-4 squares / inch on the front and 5 on the back! Interesting. You can see this in the pic.

Mead Quad/College Ruled Composition book

Got this one from school for use in engineering class, but I just saved it and used my old one, which I'll write about next. I thought this was an interesting idea-have a diagram or picture in the grid section and notes on said diagram on the lines below. Haven't found a practical use for it yet, so on my shelf it sits. Maybe I can use it for designing parts or stuff like that, or writing what's on the whiteboard on the top and lecture notes on the bottom. Opportunities abound.

Office Depot graph composition book

We received these notebooks on the first day of Intro to Engineering/Design, and it's got some of the designs I came up with then, for projects and the like. I've also written some notes about what we learned and included some programs we wrote in Computer Integrated Manufacturing, which I took last year. I've only used about 1/2 the pages, though...maybe I'll use it next year in Digital Electronics!

Moleskine cahiers and Piccadilly Small Notebook graph

I got both of these at different times from Border's, before the location near my house closed. They caught my eye not only because they have a yellow insert (**side note: that's my favorite color) but because they're so small and full of utility value. I can take them anywhere in my pocket, and write down notes and draw things.

(Duh, that's what notebooks are for, Vikram.) When I finish up the blank Piccadilly small notebook I'm currently using, one of these will see some action.

AWESOME CONCLUSION:

So, there's my superfab comeback post. Stay tuned, I've got a bunch of topics in mind for future posts!
(ideas for future posts:)