Best pen review ever

[julesjones]

I occasionally read pen porn, i.e. geeky reviews of pens I know in my heart I'm never going to buy, but I can still fantasise about. Having lost a bookmark for a blog, I was trying to Google it, and found a link to the best pen review ever. The Amazon reviewers have been having a little... fun... with the "Bic Crystal Ballpoint Pen, Medium Point, Black" review section. :-)

Comments

[supermouse]

Hee! Did you see the three wolves t-shirt reviews and Tuscan Whole Milk? (Since, sadly, withdrawn but I hope the reviews stay around, some of them were works of art).

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

Aah, I want pens that automatically write in British English. XD

As many people find with porn, I know what I like in pens -- for sitting down and writing for a long time, I like finepoint felt tips.

[julesjones]

My favourite pen is the Pentel R50/R56 rollerball, as it's physically very light, suits the way I hold a pen, and it has a very smooth flow onto the paper. But a decent quality finepoint felt tip is good as well, for pretty much the same reasons.

Who knew?

[cassandra-gold.livejournal.com]

What interesting reviews. I had no idea my Bic could save my life or write nearly 2km. I guess it's really true that you learn something new every day.

And on a serious note, those pens are actually good. I use them all the time at work. I haven't tried to fight off any ninjas with one, or anything like that, but I'll keep it in mind next time some show up in my classroom.

Re: Who knew?

[julesjones]

They're the ones I'm supplied with at work. I'd much prefer something slightly more expensive, but as cheap-n-nasty basic ballpoints go, they're actually pretty good. They're not constantly blotching the way a lot of very cheap ballpoints do, for starters.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

LOL! Fabulous reviews!

[julesjones]

Absolutely deadpan, most of them, and the good ones are very good indeed.

[annafdd.livejournal.com]

Nah. The Orange Bic is vastly superior, in that it can thanks to its high visibility it can save you from shipwreck of enable you to signal for help should you fall into the sea following breakup of the airplane you are on.

[julesjones]

[grin]

[emlynley.livejournal.com]

I never even heard of pen porn until now, so thank you for opening my eyes!

Funny reviews. Reminds me of a few years ago on Epicurious.com when a recipe for boiling water got lots of reviews.

Thanks for the comic interlude!

[julesjones]

The pen porn thing comes from the sf&f writers' group on Usenet, where one common thread drift is to start talking about pens (and other stationery) in a manner that borders on the fetishistic. This is because a lot of the members do appreciate really nice pens, and in particular there are a lot of fountain pen owners with a "prise from my cold dead hands" attitude.

Further examples of pen porn, particularly in the comment threads.

[spindriftdancer.livejournal.com]

There's an even deeper dimension of porn... the do-it-yourselfer ;p

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=53758&cat=1,330,43243

Lee Valley. Accept no substitutes.


---
I downloaded your story 'Spindrift' from Loose-ID, partially for the name (lovely coincidence) and partially for the quality of the blurb. It didn't disappoint. I just thought I'd pop by and thank you for writing a gentle, interesting and magical story. I'll grab the next one tomorrow when it isn't devastatingly late.

[julesjones]

Now those are *nice*. :-)

Glad you liked the book -- and I imagine you understood the point of the title a lot sooner into the book than most people would. :-)

[spindriftdancer.livejournal.com]

Everything Lee Valley does is nice. It's disgusting, really.

And yes, the title was not lost on me ;p The remainder of a delinquent childhood spent reading the dictionary.