Update on Pens & Highlighters!

The old secretary desk

Growing up, I had a grandfather who was a college professor, and in his study, he had an antique Victorian secretary desk, which he kept closed most of the time. One of my favorite things to do at his house was to sit with him, look inside it, and play with his collection of pens and all sorts of fun office supplies - nifty gadgets, pencil sharpers with toys attached to them...  I think this sparked my interest in nice pens.  

I have always owned a couple of fountain pens and love to play with inks of different colors, but for everyday use, I like to have an assortment of affordable pens for school and note taking.  Using different colors while making notes on schoolwork helps me draw attention to different points I'm trying to make, and colors are fun!

A couple of years ago, I tested a bunch of pens and wrote a review, so I thought I should make a quick update since I discovered these pens on Amazon - Pentel Energel Deluxe pens.  I used them all year, and they are fantastic.  I now own every color with boxes of refills, so I never run out.  I really like both the bold and fine tip pens, though I have been favoring the fine tips (0.5mm) more lately.  These pens are smooth and comfortable. They write well without the need to apply much pressure at all.  I love the variety of bright, well saturated colors available.  Pentel liquid gel dries quickly, which is a nice thing, but it does not write well on glossy paper, and it is not waterproof.  There is a good sized window on the pen to see if the ink is running low.

I also switched my highlighters last Fall and now use these Stabilo highlighters.  I love them!  I bought this set last Fall, use them every day, and they are still as good as new.  Since buying these, I have found new uses for my highlighters.  They have been especially helpful with IEW's Fix It!  I use them every day, and the girls love seeing their pages light up with color.  They almost don't mind that they have some things to correct and more work to do because their papers are so colorful when I am done with them. :)

Pens for 2014-2015

I like a good pen. Perhaps that is an understatement...  I shop for pens once a year. I've bought numerous fountain pens in the past, and I still like them, but this time, I wanted ballpoint pens in several colors.   After reading several reviews on Amazon,  I decided to go to the store and skip the wait, since I was looking for easy-to-find brands.

I brought home a pack of BICs that looked great, BIC Atlantis, and another one of Uniballs.  Without hesitation,  Uni ball is much better side by side on an index card; furthermore, the lighter green BIC was not just a disappointment because the color was way too light and skipped leaving white streaks, but the pen actually didn't work... the clicker was broken right out of the box. :(

One reviewer on Amazon had high praises for the red Uniball, but there were none to be found at the store, so I did order that after testing them out. 

These days it's a good idea to check even on products I've bought many times before because companies change management all the time, and you never know if you will be getting the same item you've always liked.