Anyway, besides stocking up on my other favorite, I discovered a new model that had not been available in my town, and I am now carrying one of these everywhere I go. It is a Foray Preccision Ballpoint Pen, and it is one amazing pen for just $5.79 per 12 pack. Here’s why I love this pen:

1. It is retractable: I’m one of those annoying “clicker,” which to me is like a string of worry beads. It is also practical because it keeps the tip from getting damaged.
2. It is a 7 mm point, a rarity in these days of bold, bolder, and boldest in pen tips. I love this tip because it doesn’t feel scratchy like a 5 mm tip and doesn’t feel like an elephant trying to squeeze into a hoola hoop as those wide tipped pens do.
3. It is SMOOTH! It’s remarkable how this tip glides across the paper. It feels wonderful.
4. It leaves a nice, skip-free trail on the paper.
5. It allows me to exercise my best writing because of the control with a narrow, but not-too-narrow tip.
6. The width of the pen itself is also relatively narrow, again a joy relative to the big-barreled trend of recent years.
7. It is available in several color inks: black, red, and blue, that I know of.

I’m sure I will think of more things to add later, but in the meantime, I highly recommend this pen. Perhaps I shall run into you in Buffalo one of these days.

I am a major fan of “generic” brands, in pens, as well as a multitude of items in general. So in this post, I introduce to you Office Max’s upscale brand, Tul pens, pictured below.

TUL Pens from Office Max

Here’s a summary of what I like about Tul pens:

1. In this day of 1.0 + mm tips, Tuls come in .7 mm (medium, as shown), and .5 (fine point).
2. These pens come in both stick and retractable models.
3. The barrel is thin, as opposed to the general trend of tick, cigar-like barrels. I personally like the graceful feel of these thinner shafts.
4. The pen tip sticks out a good way from the tip housing. This is a critical factor for me in evaluating a pen because it gives me a greater feels for and sense of control when writing.
5. For a narrow width, these pens are surprisingly smooth in putting their ink on the paper.
6. They come in a variety of ink colors including green, red, purple (my personal favorite), blue and black.
7. They look classy.

Overall rating out of 10? I give these guys a 7.

]]> http://purloinedpen.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/tul-pens-office-max/feed/ 0 Maryanne Tul http://purloinedpen.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/hello-world/ http://purloinedpen.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/hello-world/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:15:36 +0000 profmad72 ]]> I am freakish, fanatic, and fixated on pens, and sad as it may seem, my life is all about the quest for the perfect pen. Have I found it? No, I have not, and I truly doubt if I ever will. But the joy and excitement of the quest leaves me always on the edge of my chair with hope that this trip to Staples, this trek to the upscale city giftshop, this new pen website will hold the answer to my search.

Never in my travels have I come across anything close to the kind of information I seek in searching for the perfect instrument. Sales copy is one thing, and can certainly set me salivating in hopes. But it is just that — sales copy, and the words likely have little relevance to the reality therein.

So — that’s where I come in. I have created this blog to deal with a need I never saw addressed in my digital travels. Surely, I found many a pen web site, but I never found a site that answered the questions I had about a pen, or gave me the information I needed to make a purchase decision on the cyber-spot. And so, here is my humble attempt to pass on my impressions and experiences with a wide variety of writing instruments, high-end, low-end, and in between.

In addition to my comments, I welcome not only your responses to my reviews, but also your own reviews about instruments dear to your heart or scourge of your spleen.