The Perfect Pen

I'm an old-fashioned sort. I really do prefer writing by hand. I don't as much as I used to, simply because it is easier to type directly to the computer.

Actually, as I think of it, it may be less old-fashionedness but the feel of the pen between my fingers and the way pen point feels against the paper. That feeling goes beyond writing, of course. It's why the chances of you ever finding me reading books on a Kindle or iPad are near zero (I hate to say never about anything, because you never know if someone will own one of those devices and will show me something on a "page" but I am pretty sure I'll never own a Kindle and I'm damn near positive I'll never own an iPad or anything by Apple -- hm, that may be a post for another day). I like the way a book feels in my hand. I like the way a magazine feels in my hand.

When I want to make a change on the computer screen, I hit the backspace button or delete and away go the wrong words, in come new ones. On paper I scribble out the words. It feels good. But I don't scribble so hard that I can't read the words because I might change my mind and want to bring them back. It's much harder to do that on a screen.

Because I like to write by hand, I have a lot of pens. A LOT of pens. Throughout my house there are old mugs stuffed to the hilt with pens and pencils of all sorts. Next to my favorite chair in the library, there are three cups of pens. I don't know why, but there are, and it is a good thing because I never know what pen will feel right at the moment. I use good old Cristal Bics, blue, for most things, like when scribbling notes during an interview and often when writing letters. But when I'm trying to squeeze a thought out of my head and I'm seriously blocked, I'll use a variety of pens and/or pencils, print and/or cursive, until the words start to flow.

So yes there really is a perfect pen. I just don't know what it is until I use it.