A Good Pen is Comforting Like a Teddy Bear

InkJoy pens. Image from the wide, wide web.

Is there anything better than a new pen? Not just any pen, or the freebies that get stuck to us wherever we go.

Those pens are shameful junk.

I'm talking about a nice pen. One that feels just right holding it. One that has a perfect stream of ink on a clean sheet of paper.

I've had favorites over the years. As a kid, my dad always had the best felt-tip pens. Nothing beat those in 1988. Skimming over a notepad with a felt-tip pen. The precision. The dark lines that were all the way dark, not just dark in parts.

I like even darkness. No skipping around or streaks or globs of ink the way a ballpoint Paper Mate can be.

Then in college, I loved the Zebra pens. Fine and precise. Their mechanical pencils were just as fine and precise. Perfect for drafting.

At my big girl job, we used red Pilot pens all the time, and those were my favorite. A beautiful, bold, precise red line that was all the way red. Oooo, I get goosebumps thinking about them again. We marked up architectural drawings with those so the revisions would stand out.

They were in slot #1 for me for about 15 years until I had a Sharpie pen. Talk about love at first sight. They weren't red. I will forgive them. But oh, the sharp, crisp black line from those was unbeatable.

Now they're in slot #2 only because I've discovered yet another pen that is my new current favorite.

The Paper Mate InkJoy gel pen. And they come in a rainbow of colors, though red and black are the best ones. I let Kara have all the other pens in the pack.

These glide over fresh paper, practically writing out my to-do list by themselves. They make a note to the teacher look good.

I absolutely love writing with these pens that mark such a precise, crisp line.

Catch me on any day, at any time, and I'll have a handy selection of writing utensils that include at least my top 3 favorites, or two reds, one black, and a pencil.

No good answers come to mind as to why I need that many pens, plus a pencil, everywhere I go. I just like them and my paper planner and handy notebook. I feel better with them.

I never carried teddy bears for security.

I carried pens. All my life.