The Pen Addict is moving!!!

Please follow me over to my new home at www.penaddict.com.

This blog will remain in it's current state for reference purposes, but all new posts will be at www.penaddict.com, so please come join me!

Ink Links

Sorry I'm a bit behind with some of these.....
-- Moleskine Limited Edition Leather Diary 2009  (Scription)

-- Review: Derwent Journal  (Spiritual Evolution of the Bean)

-- Review:  Pocket Stifflexible Notebook  (Spiritual Evolution of the Bean)

-- Pilot Latte Pens Review  (Wait… Come Back)

-- Spot on....The Pilot Super  (Good Pens)

-- Ana, her green pens, and pandas!  (Snowangels)

-- Moleskine Collection at Behance  (Moleskinerie)

-- Review: Quo Vadis "My Weekends" notebook  (The Pen Hunter)

-- Uni-ball Signo UM-153 White Gel Pen  (Manon Doyle)

-- Doane Paper store up and running on Nov. 3rd  (Doane Paper Feed)

-- If you start a blog post with "i have always been particular about my pens" you are a friend of mine  (musings of a jaded optimist)

-- The Paper Version of the Web  (Deeplinking via Notebook Stories)

--  Postal Destruction - poor Nrepose!  (Unposted)

-- Win The New Piccadilly Notebooks  (Black Cover)

-- Seth is into pen modifications - awesome!  (Good Pens)

-- Oops...some pens I left off the list  (Kelly Kilmer)

-- The purple beaded Pilot G-2 - not bad!  (Unique You)

Limited Edition Hello Kitty Pilot Hi-Tec-C

I was browsing the What's New section at JetPens today and saw these cool Pilot Hello Kitty Cap Limited Edition Hi-Tec-C Gel Ink Pens for sale.  I'm not a Hello Kitty fan, but many people are, and these just look fantastic:

Here is the description from JetPens:

In this winning combination, Pilot has combined two of Japan's most popular items, Hello Kitty and the Hi-Tec-C. A collection of nine adorable figurines adorn this limited-edition collection. The figurines include images of the standard Hello Kitty, Charmmy Kitty, as well as her charming mouse friend. Each set includes a RANDOM set of figurines, so what you receive will not necessarily match the picture displayed. The figurines on the caps can also be removed, so when you are done with this Hi-Tec-C you can always transfer Hello Kitty to your new Hi-Tec-C for another round of joyful writing.

JetPens Gift Certificate Winners

Thanks to everyone who entered the first giveaway here at The Pen Addict - I think it was a runaway success!  To pick the winners, I had randomizer.org pick out three numbers between 1 and 127, and the winners are:

#53  Jeff of MargaretAndJeff  (Margaret And Jeff)
#79  Ashley  (The Life and Times of a Caniac)
#82  Definatalie  (Definatalie)

Congratulations you three!  Just send me an email (address is on the right sidebar), and I'll get your gift certificate to you right away.

Thanks again to all who participated, and don't fret if you didn't win - I will have a new giveaway next week!

Review: Pilot Super Gel 0.5mm Black

The Pilot Super Gel is an average pen at best.  This image actually came out looking better than the pen performed.  It is really rough and scratchy when writing, even on this smooth Doane Paper, resulting in a lot of effort and a tiring writing experience.  Maybe that's the reason why this review was so short?  There are many better options out there.

JetPens Facebook Promo

I've been asked the question a million times about getting samples from JetPens, and now is your chance to join in on the fun.  The gang at JetPens is looking for more bloggers to review their products, and have all of the details in their Facebook group called We Love JetPens.  You will have to join this group to get all of the info, but they will be starting monthly giveaways in October with the new colors of the Uni-Ball Signo DX.

Win the new Picadilly Notebooks from Black Cover

October must be the time for giveaways!  Nick at the Black Cover has a contest going for the new Picadilly Notebook, which you can enter from now until October 31st.  The rules are at the bottom of this post, so hop to it!  Nick's site is fantastic, so be sure to follow his quest for the perfect Moleskine alternative.

Giveaway Time!

It is finally time for the first round of giveaways at The Pen Addict!  I really appreciate all of the support I have had since starting this blog, and it is time I started to give something back to you, the reader.  I have four giveaways in total to dish out over the next few weeks, so be sure to keep an eye out.

Everyone knows I am a huge fan of JetPens, and the good people at JetPens have been a big part of the success of The Pen Addict.  They have been kind enough to donate three $10 gift certificates to their online store for this round of giveaways - thank you JetPens team!

I'm a pretty simple guy, so I am going to keep the rules for these giveaways as simple as possible:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Thursday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.  You are limited to one entry.

2. For this contest, I will pick three winners (one for each gift certificate) at random from the comments section of this post.  The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on.  The random number generator at randomizer.org http://www.randomizer.org/ will be used to pick the numbers of the winners.

3. The contest winners will be posted on Friday, October, 17th.  The winners will have one week to email me at the email address posted in the right sidebar.

And that's it.

If you have any questions about the contest please email me directly - do not post them in the comments section.  If it is an issue that I feel needs to be addressed, I will update this post with any additional information.

Thanks, and good luck!

Weekend Wonderings - The Perfect Notebook

I'm headed out of town for a long weekend, but wanted to throw this out there real quick before I go:  What qualities make up the perfect notebook for you?

This is a pretty broad question, but the comments are wide open for you to post your thoughts.  Has anyone ever found the perfect notebook for them?  We all have different requirements.  For me, I like a medium size - say 8"x5" - with a firm but flexible cover, grid lines, and smooth paper for a variety of writing instruments.  I can hit most of those basic requirements, but I seem to be struggling with the paper being smooth enough.  And if I do find some paper I like, I generally don't like the notebook for other reasons.  I probably haven't experimented enough, but I have yet to have that aha! moment with one particular notebook.

So tell me, what does it for you in a notebook?

I likely will not have internet access while I am gone, so I'll be sure to respond in the comments when I get back on Tuesday.  And keep an eye out on the blog next week - it looks like I am about ready to start the giveaways.  Hopefully everyone will enjoy what is in store!

Review: Uni-Ball Signo DX 0.28mm Lime Green

Sorry gang - you are going to have to put up with me fawning over another one of my Uni-Ball Signo DX's.  Memo to Pentel and Uni-Ball:  I need to build my own multi-pens out of Slicci's and Signo DX's.  See Coleto, Pilot Hi-Tec-C for reference.  I use way too many colors every day to keep popping caps off of pens and putting them back on all the time.  Give me a two or three cartridge barrel, lots of colors, and I'll go to town, as will I bet most readers of this blog.

Thank you, drive thru.

Oh yeah - the Lime Green DX 0.28mm is smokin' hot!

Kool Stuff From Kata

Wow - talk about a great mail day!  My friend Kata sent me this great package full off coffee beans from The Fire Roasted Coffee Co. (Nicaraguan and Columbian Fair Trade beans to be exact), plus all of these cool pens:  Berol Dart II Extra Fine, Staples Optiflow Rollerball Needle Point, and an Itoya Xenon Aqua Roller.

Thanks Kata - you know I will put all of this to good use!

Review: Pilot Drawing Pen 05 Blue

The more I use the Pilot Drawing Pen, the more I keep trying to find something that I don't like about it.  Truth is, there really isn't much not to like.  My only real gripe is that the line is just slightly less clean and consistent compared to the Sakura Pigma Micron and the Copic Multiliner.  In a drawing pen, I want that sharpness, and therefore the Pilot falls in line just behind the other two.  It's really a decent pen though.

Special note on Doane Paper:

I have had a lot of readers recently mention they were having a tough time finding Doane paper in stock at DoanePaper.com.  I emailed Chad Doane recently, and he sent me this update:

The Houston based printer we use did recently open back up but they raised their prices 25% to cover the costs of what they lost in the huricane. I can't afford that so we're looking for another alternative vendor to print DP pads, we think we might have found a printer in Ark. called Drumline that can make DP pads at a reasonable cost. That's the bad news, the good news is that we're collaborating with another stationery company to bring a couple of DP journals to market in the next month.

So it's a good news/bad news situation with Doane Paper, but hang tight and it should get straightened out soon.  Thanks for the update Chad!

Ink Links

-- JetPens September Newsletter  (JetPens)

-- Lamy's are the Volvo's of Fountain pens  (Good Pens)

-- Quo Vadis Habana, Large vs. Small  (Spiritual Evolution of the Bean)

-- I agree with Ellie:  Getting mail pretty much rocks  (The Pen Hunter)

-- Skateboard art fascinates me for some reason  (Juxtapoz)

-- Meredith is a pen snob  (True Confessions of a Southern Baptist Pastor's Daughter)

-- Stickers and Donuts Currently Obssesed list rule!  (Stickers and Donuts)

-- Proving Moleskine Is Just A Style: The Piccadilly Notebook  (Black Cover)

-- Oneloneman is down with the pen movement  (Pens and Pencils)

Review: Muji Gel Ink Pen 0.38mm Black

Is this the pound-for-pound gel pen champion?  At approximately 1/3 the cost of of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C or Pentel Slicci, the Muji Gel Ink pen is a great alternative - if you can get your hands on one.  Muji stores are mainly found in Asia and Europe, with a recently opened store in New York.  Pen Addict reader Fabian graciously sent me this sample which he received from a friend in Japan - sorry the review took so long Fabian!

The first thing I noticed about this pen was how lightweight it is.  I can't think of another pen I own that is this light.  This can be good or bad, depending on your preference.  The second thing I notcied is that the gel ink isn't as gelly as other gel pens.  What I mean by that, is that the ink seems a bit thinner and wetter than say a Pilot G-2, and I get a little bleed on the page.  Not much mind you, but enough to make me notice a difference if my writing becomes too slow.  I think it didn't fare as well on the highlighter test for the same reason.  One final thing I noticed is that the combination of the brushed plastic finish of the barrel (think Bic Stic Grip, minus the grip) and my dry hands made my grip a little slick.  A rubber grip would make this pen awesome, but I assume that goes against Muji's focus on minimalism.

That may sound like a lot of negatives, but they are all minor in my book.  It's hard to pass up an 0.38mm gel ink pen for less than a dollar.  I find myself using it all the time at work, and I'd jump at the chance to get the rainbow assortment of colors.