What's on Ted's Desk? (February 2021)

What’s on my desk this month is, much like life these days, a mix of work and leisurely stationery products. Some are new to me, some are tried and true.

Paper

The Black n’ Red notebook on the left goes under “Work.” Straight from the fluorescently lit shelves of Staples, this thing is huge, an unconventional and excessively fractional eight-and-a-quarter inches by eleven-and-three-quarters inches. It’s substantially bound, as well. With this beast in my hands I feel like a Darwinian bookkeeper logging barrels of rum coming in from Barbados. The Black n’ Red paper is think and a little slick, so it’s great for fountain pens when I get the urge to elevate my work notes.

Atop the Black n’ Red is my Papier Tigre pocket notebook. It’s a bit larger than a Field Notes, so not incredibly convenient, and the paper is of the rougher recycled variety. But it’s been enjoyable to veer away from the Field Notes formula, especially when it looks so cool. (I visited the store in Paris in 2019.)

On the right, my more-or-less daily log, started in Sept. 2019, the Nanami Seven Seas Writer. The brilliant paper — thin and supple but substantial — is a playground for fountain pens. Sitting down to write long sentences is a pleasure in itself, and the pleasant side effect is the record of daily life and observation. I only write on one side of the page to avoid bleed-through, but there are so many pages in this thing that it’s not a big issue. As I fill more pages, the sense of satisfaction grows. When this is done, it will be a keeper with an almost archival feel. Love it.

Finally, good old cheap index cards. Grab one to take down quick notes or think through an idea that benefits from the finite amount of space. Move them around, throw them out, do whatever. Dispensable, functional.

Pens and Pencils

The Uni JetStream is my tried and true daily hard-charger. The excellent performance of the hybrid ballpoint ink, the slim and grippy body, the happy clickyness…it just all adds up and I love to have them around. They appeared at Target recently and it’s all I can do to re-supply every time I see them.

Marc Bacas, aka NibGrinder, ground the unpleasantly wet bold nib on my metal 1980s Pilot Vanishing Point with a faceted body to a delightful stub nib. Thanks to Ryan for the encouragement to pack it up and send it off in the name of putting a little work in to turn it into an enjoyable tool rather than a lingering thorn. Marc’s customer service was excellent. Now, I write with this pen in the Seven Seas writer all the time, and it’s a match ground in heaven.

The Pentel P209 is still pretty new to me, but it’s so simple and straightforward that I it already feels like a stalwart tool in the collection.