Let the thoughts flow…

I’m a fan of pen and paper - I like to make notes on 3×5 cards and I always carry spare notes with me. But finding a good pen - one that you can use but not worry to much if you lose - is always a challenge.

I love fountain pens and I use them at work and at home. They’re delightfully retro and really get my creative juices flowing. But a lot of times I just want to dash off a quick note and being a “lefty” makes using fountain pens an exercise in patience and control or the entire side of my left hand turns blue.

So when I’m on-the-go, or just need to dash off a quick note, I reach for something else. And by and large I dislike ball point pens. I know, everyone raves about the Fischer Bullet Space Pen, and I own one, but my preference is for something other than a ball point. I usually gravitate towards Paper Mate felt-tip pens. They leave an effortless line on the page, and I usually don’t smudge my hand to much with them. But they’re still not perfect.

So imagine my surprise when I found a lose Paper Mate “Liquid Expresso” pen at work a few months ago. They’re a felt-tip pen, but they’re fed by real, liquid ink. So they write almost exactly like a fountain pen, but dry quickly and work for a lefty.

The only complaint I have is that they feather a little on cheap 3×5 cards. But then so do fountain pens and plain-ol’ felt-tip pens, so I’m really no worse off.

But the line they lay on paper is amazingly smooth. The tip just glides across good paper; it’s hard to describe, but a pleasant surprise for a pen that costs about $1.75. In my opinion, they write a heck of a lot better than the Pilot G2 gel pens that so many GTD’ers love so much.

And the price is low enough that if I do misplace a pen (or more likely one “grows legs” and walks off my desk) I don’t worry to much about it. If you’re a picky pen person, I highly recommend you check them out for yourself.

And for the record, I don’t have any connection with Paper Mate, this is just my own opinion and it’s not bought or paid for. Hopefully if you’re a pen-and-paper devotee this will be a helpful little article about a pen you may not have tried yet!

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Here are some related articles you might also enjoy!

• Power napping: Day 11 - the caffeine nap
• What’s your dharma?
• Capture your thoughts on-the-go (and a great tool to help)
• Power napping: Week 1 impressions
• You need more than measurement to reach your goals.

June 16th, 2007

Entry Filed under: Tools, Reviews