Finals Week...

As I go back to school after a short yet somewhat refreshing winter break, I have finals to stress over for the rest of this week and part of next week. I'll be taking a break from the internet during that time to focus on my studies, and hopefully do well on my finals. I know I haven't been posting as often as I hoped, but I hope that after finals I'll be able to post at least one review every week. Over the holidays, I went on a trip and visited a Kinokuniya. I found so many things there that I wanted to buy, but unfortunately they would've run over my budget. I did, however, pick up a few pens, notebooks, and erasers that I thought might be worth reviewing. I will try (and this time I really mean it) to get some of those reviews posted, and again, I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything much worth reading (if any at all) within the past few months.

In the meantime, check out this great view of TeNues CoolNotes over at Notebook Stories!

Now, I think I'll slink off and put myself in solitary confinement with my textbooks, notes, and five of my finest weapons _{(by weapons, I hope you know I mean my pens and pencils)} to attack finals. Wish me luck!

Pilot Hi-Tec-C: Sear Blue 0.4mm

Looks like Hari's prepared for winter!

Haven't heard from me in a while, eh? Well, I'm back for a few reviews before Christmas rolls along. Today I'll be reviewing one of the many colors in Pilot's Hi-Tec-C line.

First of all, why "sear blue?" The katakana on the label reads "shia buruu," which could translate to "sear blue" or "sea blue," but JetPens marks it as "sear blue." Name aside, sear blue is a dark, turquoise color. It's a nice shade of blue (or green...whatever you consider turquoise to be) to write in. Being a .4mm sized tip, it is only slightly on the scratchy side, but not so much that it's significant. It skips quite often, but other times it writes normally. I tried to clean the tip and remove any fibers, but even after all that it still skips. Could it be the way I'm holding the pen? Could it be that there's paper fibers tightly stuck in the tip?

(Lyrics are from "I Believe in Father Christmas," by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) (I'm sorry, the pictures don't do much justice to the ink's real color...)




Moving onto aesthetics. The body of the pen is pretty simple, like your typical pen body. Nothing extravagant or out of the ordinary. The cap clicks on, it has a rippled grip, the body is transparent, and all that. The tip is a needle tip, and there are two dimples on it where you can see the ink coming out of it.

PROS:
-Simple design
-Nice turquoise color
-Lays down a relatively smooth line

CONS:
-Skips occasionally
-Needle tip is somewhat scratchy, though almost unnoticeable

PRICE: $3.00 at JetPens

Overall, I give this a 9.8/10!!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

So...as we all know, Thanksgiving weekend has started for most of us and Thanksgiving Day is tomorrow. I haven't been posting a lot (if at all...), but I'm going to take a break from the 'webz for the weekend. While we're all stuffing ourselves with turkey, turducken, tofurkey, and whatever protein you eat for Thanksgiving, spend a few minutes thinking about what you're thankful for. If you're reading this, most likely, you're a lot better off than millions of people around the world. I'm thankful that I have a loving family, a roof over my head, there's always food in the house, that I've met so many awesome people in the past year, and I'm getting a good education. There's a whole lot more stuff I"m thankful for, but it'll take too long to post. So I have two questions for you...

1. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?
2. What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving, and have fun for the rest of your weekend! :D

Field Notes: Levis Edition

"I'm not writing it down to remember later, I'm writing it down to remember it now."

I went to the mall over the weekend and remembered that the Levis store was selling Field Notes. Since buying Field Notes online wouldn't be an option for me (I have one book I picked up at an anime convention that's too pretty to use), I decided to buy a pack from there. These look nice to slip into your jeans pocket... Enough chit-chat and let's get straight to the review!


The graph paper notebooks are in blue, white, and red with silver printing on them. The back of the paper slip reads "I'm not writing it down to remember later, I'm writing it down to remember it now" which I assume is Field Notes' motto. The inside of the cover has printed what you would normally see in a regular Field Notes book. (I tried taking a picture of it, but the silver kept glaring at the camera.)


Overall, I love these notebooks although I haven't written in them yet. Heck, I don't even KNOW what the first pen strokes will be! To be truthful, I don't even know how to use graph paper notebooks, besides actually graphing something...

For anyone who's reading this and would like to comment, I have a few questions.
1. What can I use graph paper for?
2. If you bring a small memo book everywhere you go, what kind of stuff do you write in it?

Post it in the comments below!

*Wipes off cobwebs*

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted on this blog...

Ever since school started, I haven't been able to update anything. However, since I'm near the end of the 1st quarter, things are just gonna get even busier, three projects due on the same day, tests, you name it. However, I have a few things that I'd like to review and post on here within this month. You can expect to see maybe two or three reviews within the next few weeks.

Also, I'm thinking of starting a sketch blog. It's less work than managing a pen blog (nothing to review, just scanning). I haven't started it yet, but I will in the near future.

Pentel Jolt Mechanical Pencil: 0.5 mm

(Sorry, Hari the wooden mannequin is on vacation)

I first laid eyes on the Pentel Jolt while on a trip in Shanghai, China. I was tempted to buy one, but it was ridiculously expensive – $5.10 a pop! The reason why it's so expensive is because China has a deal with Japan to import some of their goods for a much higher price (I guess to pay the distributor, the store, and the company), while their Chinese goods are sold for much cheaper. (Unfortunately I didn't acquire any Chinese brand stationery) Then when I got back, I went to office supply discount store and found these on sale. I was so happy that I decided to get two: one in lime green and one in navy blue.

The one I'm reviewing is the lime green pencil. They come in lime green, navy blue, pink, and orange. The pencil has a modern feel to it, with the colour scheme being lime green, black, and white. The grip has grooved curved lines and a wavy design to compliment the modern feel. There's a clear window that shows the shaker mechanism, but I think it's supposed to be held a particular way to show the window. I usually grip my pens/pencils using the "death grip," (the improper way), while this one wants you to hold it the "proper" way (two fingers on the grip).





I pressed the top just to test the default mechanism. I shook it lightly to expose some lead, nothing. Shook it harder, there we go! Then I retracted the nib and shook it. Only the lead comes out, not the nib. You have to press the top to expose the nib, then shake it for more lead. Also, the weight of the shaker puts a lot more weight on the pencil, making it heavier than other pencils.

So to recap...

Pros:
-Nice, modern design
-Shaker mechanism works fairly well if nib is exposed

Cons:
-Takes some force to get the shaker working
-If the nib is retracted and shaken, only the lead comes out

Costs: $2.75 on Amazon

Overall, I give this pencil a 9.3/10!

Rhodia Webnotebook 3.0

Many thanks to Stephanie for offering one of these beauties to review, and thanks to Karen Doherty who made this possible! I entered a giveaway held by Stephanie at Rhodia Drive not expecting to win one of 10 Webnotebooks. Later that day, Stephanie emailed me asking if I wanted one of these to review on the blog. In a heartbeat I replied yes, and boneheaded-ly turned down the 2nd Webbie to giveaway (since I didn't think many people would read this blog). However, there are some bloggers out there giving one away! (I'll mention them at then end)



Moving on, when I got it in the mail, I tore the mail packaging open and squealed with delight at my new Webbie. Of course the people in the elevator gave me weird looks, especially the dogs. (When I told a few of my friends about this, they thought I got a new computer notebook and not a writing notebook, since I mentioned it was a Webnotebook. Hehe.) I delicately opened the plastic and document this moment (too much eager beaver?). Then I took out the rubber band, opened it, and ran my fingers across the paper. Never in my life have I felt paper this smooth before. Reading the back, it's Clairefontaine paper, which to me is like the Holy Grail of paper. Turning to the back cover I notice a folder to keep papers in. Surely that meant that this was surely something.

Fandom aside, let's get to why you're really here. Mind you I've never tried a Rhodia product before, so this is something new. A difference Stephanie mentioned to me was that the Rhodia logo was missing from every page. Of course I haven't seen it with the logo, but I assume this meant more writing room and not overlapping the logo. ...Actually, why don't you let the written sample do the review for you?





Now that you've at least skimmed to the end of this, enter in these great giveaways! There's nothing to lose except a few seconds of your time!

Giveaways~!
-Rhodia Webnotebook Giveaway! (Peaceable Writer)
-Rhodia Large Blank Webbie and a Giveaway! (Pocket Blonde)
-Rhodia Webnotebook and a Giveaway (Faint Heart Art)
-Rhodia Webbie Review (Madame Purl)