Far as we know, we are the only species ever to walk the earth with the ability to communicate over vast distances and across chasms measured in centuries. It is no wonder that some of us take writing very seriously and will spend small fortunes on high end pens and paper.
Snobbery has its place but for me, the best writing machines are right here:
They don’t freeze in cold weather and they don’t explode in your pocket in the summer. Staedtler is the best of the bunch too - the one that takes 2mm leads. They’ll do all writing chores, they’re great for woodwork and chit house carpentry, or scratching out quick notes to yourself while on the job. Us the sharpener in the tip…and that thing is right at home on the drafting table.
YOU deserve one of these.
Still have my rotary sharpener and sand paper board. Without looking the drafting pencil is probably Dietzgen. (looked up spelling to confirm IIRC and they're calling them "vintage". Sure go ahead and make me feel old.)
ReplyDeleteGreat post Mr. Filthie, an good mech pencil is essential as an everyday carry!
ReplyDeleteChutes Magoo
Turd or tater?
ReplyDeleteFitty
Leadholders / Mechanical pencils. F lead is easy to write with, but can smear easily. I like 2H leads for general use.
ReplyDeleteDad was an architect beginning in early 50's. He drew building plans on vellum, using these lead holders. It was a realcraft back then. Now, computer aided drafting (CAD) does the work.
But a drafter has to tell the computer where the lines end - begin..
> across chasms measured in centuries
ReplyDeleteJAMES ELROY FLECKER
To a Poet a thousand years hence
“I who am dead a thousand years,
And wrote this sweet archaic song,
Send you my words for messengers
The way I shall not pass along.
[…]”
https://englishverse.com/poems/to_a_poet_a_thousand_years_hence
——
Funny you mention these. A couple of weeks ago I splurged on a little collection of Japanese mechanical pencils and rollerball pens. Easily 95%+ of my writing is on the keyboard, and I missed writing stuff by hand, in a notebook/pocket calendar. Just consumer grade stuff by Jap standards (nothing you’d cry over losing or breaking), but so much better than the Chinesium crap we usually get at the big box stores. There is real pleasure and satisfaction from being able to use nice tools of any kind.
Writing IS therapeutic, Mike. No bones about it.
DeleteOh, the glorious hours spent learning drafting in high school. I finished both semesters worth of material in the first semester. Then I had the entire second semester to learn more advanced techniques, like working with fountain pens and how to make an actual blueprint. 40 years later, I've still got my tools around here somewhere, including my set of Staedtler 0.2, 0.5, and 0.7 mm precision drawing instruments. To call them "pencils" is nearly an insult. And of course I had a variety of hardnesses of leads for each. (That's what the 'HB' or '#2' stand for.)
ReplyDeleteThat’s right! The Staedtlers are “precision instruments”…
DeleteWe were probably the last generation to learn drafting on a board. AutoCAD had a huge impact, and not all of it for the better.
ReplyDeleteI remember beautiful drawings and plans. There was soul and spirit in them. Today the CAD stuff offers only cold utility.
DeleteGrand aspirations and plans belong on paper… not thumb drives.
I'm always breaking the mechanical pencil leads. The thin ones break too easily. The fat ones smear; I'm left-handed. I still use them occasionally though.
ReplyDeleteI really miss the pens we had back in the day, especially the Parker pens (Keep your paws off my Parker!). They not only had a "pump" in the ink cartridge to keep writing smooth, but were also fat enough for a man-sized hand. Cross pens LOOKED good, but were so thin it was like writing with pencil lead without the pencil!
I've actually got a Fisher "Space Pen" on my "museum shelf" at work. It's actually vintage 1969, and commemorated the NASA moon landing. These things will write pretty much anywhere, any time. They're still available!