March 2, 2008 at 8:40 pm
· Filed under Object, Place
This past week in California I stayed in five different hotels. During the night after night of packing and unpacking, I set out in a quest to see whether any of the otherwise nice hotels I stayed in would distinguish themselves by leaving a halfway-decent giveaway pen in the room. Often these are the crappiest of ballpoints, and I leave them behind.
What I found instead was four instances of spare, earthy-seeming black pencils. They solve the problem of a giveaway that is both cheap and nice-looking, but the resurgence of the non-mechanical pencil (which I welcome) raises a long-forgotten issue: that of sharpening.
The conference I went to, which also jumped on this bandwagon with its giveaway, offered electric sharpeners in the lobby for use between sessions. For that and for many other details that make their machine so well-oiled, I applaud TED for their thoughtfulness.
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February 20, 2008 at 4:45 pm
· Filed under Object
Like many felt tips in my life, this pen had to be put to rest before its time was due. About once a year I succumb to the allure of the felt tip. Something about the ultimate control its fine point provides, and the calm smoothness of writing with a marker draws me in. Yet inevitably, long before the ink is out, I wear down the soft felt point to a contourless nub, impossible (well, undesirable) to write with at any angle except vertical.
I press too hard. I press too hard and wear out my pens, I walk too hard and wear out my shoes, I work too hard and wear out myself. One solution would be to lay off on my pen; trust that it will write with only a light touch on my part.
It’s a lesson I could probably take to heart. Life goes more easily when my grip around it is just a little looser.
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February 11, 2008 at 9:26 pm
· Filed under Memory, Methodology
This weekend brought me to Vermont to see Katy, of former theme colors fame. When her daughter Yarrow showed me her amazing fruit sticker collection, it was clear to me that she inherited the recreational organization gene that Katy and I posess.
She has a whole binder cataloging different stickers peeled from fruit, sorted according to type and number. Note the comprehensive homemade tabbing system she developed to sort by number. How do they all fit together? Could it possibly be that there is a master fruit catalog somewhere out there, holding the answers?
I have countless stories of recreational cataloging escapades throughout my youth — from kindergarden sticker collections, to bottlecaps laid out in rows on my carpet, to my very first excel spreadsheet cataloging all of the different names J Crew used for the color blue (seafoam, anyone?). For certain children, like Katy, Yarrow, and I, the mere act of collection and sorting is the definition of fun.
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January 28, 2008 at 8:21 pm
· Filed under Memory, Object
Sadly, I lost this pen before it came to an end. I had a bad night where I was in a tizzy about my new job, head spinning, my cell phone got lost or stolen, and along with it went this pen.
The VBall is a true historical staple, and this was the first time I’d returned to it in awhile. I got this one in Japan, so unlike the picture above, it had a cute light green part of the top that complemented the kelly green body. The VBall was the first roller ball that I remember using that had consistently smooth ink (its claims are true), and for that innovation should go into the Hall of Fame. My only issue with them is that they are short enough to feel stubby.
I also found tonight a “Pen Selction Guide” on the Pilot Web site. It is minimally clever, but I’m glad someone is taking the time and effort to give $3 pen selection its just due.
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January 14, 2008 at 10:29 pm
· Filed under Brand, Place
I spent this weekend in Los Angeles, hearing stories from a generation of designers who know a bit more than I about life. Their stories from the past and optimism about the future was as welcome as the sunshine I found there.
I had a present to drop off with each of them, and I found gift bags made from Japanese newspaper at my favorite shop: Soolip in West Hollywood (the bird above welcomes you to their Web site). The natural wood shelving, sunlight serenity, and vaguely Asian styling has LA written all over it. Among the many gems there I found notebooks with Hugo Guiness poppies on the front, by Marie Papier.
I returned today to the snow in Boston; a cold, messy January day that had me out of the house for only a minute. I spent this evening thinking about how I want my home to look, and found that many of the pictures I’d noted in magazines over the past year were of homes in Marin County.
I think I’ve brought home more of California than I thought.
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January 6, 2008 at 9:42 pm
· Filed under Memory
[[Age 14]]
The year after theme colors was 9th grade. I guess I relaxed a bit; I’m surprised to see I was using different pens in different classes. My cousin Liz, who is truly more my sister than my cousin, had gone on a Putney Student Travel summer program to France that summer and brought me my first real French planner. Clearly an influential move on her part, on the stationery front and otherwise.
9th grade was a year to make new friends and try to find my place. I don’t remember that part of it being too easy.
I do remember being happy that header color in the planner changed each month. This one was April. I’m pleased that since I’m back on an academic calendar these days, month-changing has meaning again. Working Life in California — without seasons and especially without summer — had a subtle but constant lack of context.
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December 21, 2007 at 2:20 pm
· Filed under Brand
On Cool Hunting’s Holiday Gift Guide, I found the Behance line of stationery for creative professionals. They’re specially designed to capture to-dos in meetings, with a proprietary methodology called the “Behance Action Method”. It’s Franklin Covey for creatives, designed to get a class of Perceivers to act more like Judgers.
Can stationery make the unmethodical methodical? Should office supplies come with built-in orthodoxy? For the analysis-prone like myself, a pretty to-do list like this might be a nice kickstart; a treat that inspires me to focus afresh. For those who get offended by trying to put all of life in small boxes, it might be too much.
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December 15, 2007 at 3:13 pm
· Filed under Memory, Place
[[Age 20]]
Was when I studied in Paris, and spent class hours coveting Sarah M.’s filofax, only to find this beautiful store where I could buy my own. The best part about Filofaxes is all of their inserts — maps, timetables, pockets. It gives the illusion that, given enough time to build up the appropriate collection, All The Answers can be found in one book.
In the end, the Filofax proved too much of a commitment for me; it’s sturdy leather designed to last a lifetime didn’t allow me enough chances to buy new planners. But it was fun while it lasted.
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December 13, 2007 at 10:22 pm
· Filed under Brand
This week I discovered See Jane Work, a store and Web site, which (despite for being a bit too precious and girly in its aesthetic) has a philospohy and product line that I couldn’t agree more with:
“At See Jane Work we’ve long admired the European aesthetic of bringing Function and Style to necessary items. Using simple designs and a fresh color palette we’ve created a line of products for the Office, Home and Home Office that reflect that understated elegance and unpretentious sense of purpose. Now, the notebooks, binders and organizational products that you use everyday can not only help you manage your work, they can also reveal your personal style.”
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December 5, 2007 at 9:31 pm
· Filed under Memory, Place
[[Age 31, and also 8]]
I’d like to add myself to the many who have blogged about the gem called Au Petit Bonheur La Chance in the Marais, in Paris. Though I am neither a lover of antiques nor of kitchen collectibles, I do have a huge heart for anything French, and was delighted by their collection of old stationery.
Especially this “While You Were Out” pad, which now sits by my phone at work.Back in the days when I would go to Woolworth’s and buy carbon paper receipt books to play store, pink While You Were Out message pads were another “form I wish I had reason to fill out for real” favorite. Now that I have a real job with real voicemail, I can celebrate my legitimate need with this lovely pad.
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