About a pen

I’m still not sure why I decided to dedicate a whole blog post to pens, apart from the fact that I just received a box full of them and thought that that would be too weird a photo not to put on here. As you can see, the duck agreed!

Let me give you a little backstory: I’ve always been specific about pens (as I suspect many people are); the duck and I usually carry at least two pens with us when we’re out and about in case we just need to write something down – immediately! In the past I had a few pens that I liked, but most of them were promotional ones that I couldn’t just replenish easily once I discovered that I wanted more. The situation is a bit different with my current favorite pens, though. They’re the regular round BIC kind that you can buy in multi-packs at pretty much any store that has a stationery section… in America. I used to use up black pens much faster than blue ones which is why I didn’t really think of stocking up on my blue pens the last time I had the chance. But things changed: The duck and I somehow got back into studying. And because I’m peculiar about pens I just need to write study notes, that the duck enjoys highlighting, in blue (black is my color for jotting down creative ideas). When I was down to my second to last blue pen (our beloved 100 yen shop highlighters are dying on us, too) I knew that I had to do something. I checked the Internet just to discover that it seemed to be impossible to find a 10-pack of the exact same blue medium point pens that I love to use. I found black or fine point, but that wasn’t what I wanted. So, I decided to order the next best thing: a box of 60, so that the duck and I could be lifelong learners! It took our pens several weeks to arrive from America, but once they did we were ridiculously happy. I was so happy, in fact, that I wrote a poem:

Pens

Ever since I’ve been to school,
there was something very cool
’bout finding, for the perfect line,
a pen that I’d be glad was mine.

I’ve been on a constant quest,
testing pens, to find the best:
a pen that has a comfy grip;
one to improve my penmanship.

In the past I’ve found a few
good pens, both in black and blue;
black is for when I create,
and blue can help me concentrate.

We studied quite a bit this year.
With the end of our blue pen stash near,
we had to make a decision quick:
how to replace our beloved cheap BIC?

COVID meant most shops were closed,
so the duck and I supposed:
‘Let’s look on the Internet
– that is a much safer bet!’

And our pens we found indeed,
though they were way more than we need;
we’d have to ship from far away;
delivery would take many a day!

Still, the duck and I could not resist
the chance to replenish the pens we missed.
We deliberated, then we placed an order,
and waited for our pens to cross the border.

When we checked our mail weeks after that,
we discovered a black flat plastic bag;
we knew at once what was inside:
dozens of pens that would let us write
no rhymes, because that’s what black pens are for. We could probably write notes on hundreds of textbooks, though, which is more than we will likely read in our lifetime. It’s always good to know, however, that we will not run out of study pens for a looong time, and that we can now easily lend out a pen or two without feeling bad for having to request it back even though it looks so cheap.

Now we just have to find adequate replacement highlighters…

Are you as weird about pens as the duck and I are? Or is there any product that you are particularly particular about?