Pencils are lovely. Once you've got one, it works until it ends; this process is highly visible and thus predictable. They never leak. They're erasable. They write on almost any surface. They're cheap, so one can amass a collection without breaking the bank.
And, as demonstrated, they're beautiful, varied, and represent the entire world.
An utterly dependable instrument. I'm never without one, and can't remember the last time I wrote with a pen.
And that's if you have a pencil sharpener handy, which is extra paraphernalia the pencil requires of you. Or else a sharp knife and a steady hand, and then the temptation is always to end up with a blunt tip because at the margin making the point blunter allows you to expose more lead with a minimum of cutting through the wood.
An utterly infuriating instrument. The best writing and drawing instrument is the Mitsubishi Uni-ball Eye UB-150 pen. It always works and it lays down a high-contrast line very smoothly every time. I'm never without one.
The main downside of the UB-150 is that everybody who sees it instantly recognises it and they are liable to grow legs. I recommend buying them in large quantities and sprinkling them all around your house and workplace so that there is such obvious abundance that nobody feels compelled to take one. And if they do, well there are plenty more for everybody else anyway.
transitorykris•1w ago
icwtyjj•1w ago