The Pen is Mightier Than The Sword: A Low Tech Love Affair

   Tech Tuesday is a place for all things technology.  Here we will discuss both low tech and high tech thing-a-ma-jigs.

    

    I am a pen addict.  I collect them like some people collect coins, except I am really particular about what kind of pen I collect.  (I guess there is some particular coin collector out there only looking for pennies, what a weirdo.)

   

Jinhao 321 Fountain Pen
(I have three of these pens: black, red and yellow)

    I love fountain pens.  I have three of them and I even have ink bottles to refill them. There is just something about dipping the tip into the ink and puling up to fill the cartridge.  You can buy pre-filled cartridges, but what fun is in that? I love that fountain pens are thin tipped because I tend to write very small and very quickly(I lose my thoughts and to avoid the loss I must rush).  

   

Happy Day Korean Pens
(can still be purchased on Amazon)

    I bought some Korean pens that I really loved on Amazon a few years ago.  The main reason for the purchase was because the pens were thinner tipped than any pen in the U.S. at a very thin .3mm.

    You may or may not be a pen nerd like me, so you may or may not know that pens come in different tip measurements.  The smaller the number the thinner the tip.  In America, our pen tips are typically .7mm or .5mm,  .5mm are okay for me, but the .3mm Korean pens were a game changer.  Fountain pens come pretty close to the .3 so I write with them a lot.

   

A close 2nd The Pilot G2 

    I also have a few name brand pens that I gravitate to.  At work, it is hard to carry around my fancy fountains, so I resort to mainstream store bought ones.  Cheap Bic pens are not a preference, in fact, ballpoint pens of any brand are just meh to me.  I love the G2 Gel Pens by Pilot.  Gel pens often write smoother and Pilots are top of the line, in my opinion.  

   

The Paper Mate Flair

    The other mainstream pen I have always liked is the Paper Mate Felt Tip.  Currently I have about six black .7mm Paper Mate felt-tips.  They were on sale and I have a weakness both for pens(obviously) and for sales.  (By the way: I just spent about 10 minutes looking for thinner Paper Mate pens, I found that they have an ultra-fine felt tip that is .4mm.   Somebody may be spending ten dollars on eight new pens today.  I think I may have a problem.)

    I get it, some people may just think a pen is a pen and any pen will get the job done, but for me pens are much more significant.  The pen is what takes my ideas from a neurological spark to a tangible symbol on a piece of paper.  I want that tangible symbol to look a certain way.  I also want to feel a certain bit of feedback from the paper as I write down those neurological sparks. (Don't even get me started with paper.  That is an entirely different post. )

Media Monday: Book Edition

  Media Mondays is a place for all things media.  From social media to news media, music, movies, and art we will cover everything concerning creativity and communication.

Book Cover Selfie: Drink, Slay, Love

    Books are wonderful things.  They take you away. They take you to new places.  They create a different reality.  I used to not read novels much; I would pick non-fiction instead. But in the past few years, I have needed that escape from reality.  

    This book was given to me by my school's librarian, Nancy.  She had gotten a bunch of books donated and had many copies of this particular book.  I was intrigued when  I read the back cover:

"Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire...fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil...until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops."

    I instantly flashbacked to The Twilight Series, but thought: "wait, a unicorn?"

    I took a few copies from Nancy as a joke and shared one with a friend, the cover totally making me think the book was a joke. Then I had a crazy idea.  Why not give the book to a few other friends as well and have a reading group.  I actually was joking, thinking all of them would hate it, but they all read it, and we all actually liked it.

    This very entertaining read has lots of fun high school drama mixed in with vampire drama.  It takes a vampire through a life crisis where she must decide if she is more loyal to her family of vampires or to the greater good of the world. 

    And it has a UNICORN in it.  Hello.  

    You should find a way to read it.  Lifetime also made this literary masterpiece into a movie and you can stream it in various places, including Hulu, Amazon and iTunes. 

    I give Drink, Slay, Love ten pints of type O negative.

Flashback Friday: Menacing 30th Birthday

           Turning 30 was hard for me. I felt that I was officially becoming old. I was single which made the transition even more difficult for some reason. Looking back, I realize 30 isn’t old and there is nothing wrong with a person who happens to be single and 30.  The more birthdays I have, I realize age is just a number and numbers are often relative. 

To avoid feeling pathetic back then though,  I decided that turning 30 would be much more enjoyable away from the land of “single over 30 makes you a loser.” So, my roommate and good friend, Mary Beth and I hightailed to San Francisco, the land of “nobody cares that you are single and over thirty!”

It was on this trip that I fell in love with cable cars, Alcatraz, The Golden Gate Bridge, sesame cookies, Chinatown, and Redwood trees. 

There is nothing better than a city where you can get anywhere you really need to by hanging out of the side of a cable car, feeling the balmy air through your hair, enjoying the bells of the car and clammer of the underground cable, captivated by the skill of a gripman, who carefully maneuvers the car up and down the slopes of San Francisco. I have since been back to SF a few more times and I seriously could ride cable cars all day and be content. In fact, one day I did just that, while the group of friends I was traveling with went to Alcatraz(I had been twice and didn’t feel the need to go that day!). 

As I am now mothering two little humans, I travel a little differently.  Sometimes I mourn my single days and wish I had cherished the moments a bit more. Maybe not the moment that Mary Beth and I realized the beach we were exploring was in fact a nude beach(some moments need not be cherished) but the other moments like the ones I feel I may have wasted by worrying about being judged for being single or the moments I pinned for the whole not being single anymore. 

I turned 44 this past Monday. Funny, that turning 44 didn’t make me feel old. Life often seems to be getting better and better with age. I know who I am, what I want, and what I can say no to. Aging is truly liberating. 

Whatever spot you are on the age timeline, may you take a step back and reflect on where you have been and more importantly on where you are going. Make each moment one to be cherished and enjoy the journey. 

Age is just a number after all. 

The Man. The Myth. The Legend.

     Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.  

    There are only a few conversations I have had in my life that I actually remember them word for word.  The following conversation occurred between me and my Father-In-Law, Perry Ficklin, a few years ago, just before BYU was to play Wisconsin in football:

Papa:  Wisconsin is coming to be beat by BYU in a few weeks.

Me: I heard, think you can score me a couple tickets? (He was the king of getting tickets to BYU games.)

Papa:  I could, but not if you are going to cheer for Wisconsin and wear RED!

Me:  Hmm.  What if I wore some blue?

Papa:  It can't just be blue, it has to be the right kind of blue and have BYU written on it.

Me:  If you get me tickets, I will wear something BYU.

Papa:  I guess, but I'm still not happy about it.

On game day, I went to visit him in his usual seat at halftime, wearing my red Wisconsin Football shirt and a newly purchased royal blue BYU hat.

My friend, Kari and I.  Notice the blue and red!

Me: Hey Papa.  Quite a game, huh?

Papa:  You still cheering for that other team?

Me:  Maybe, but I feel bad for your blue team and I do have the BYU hat so I can cheer both ways.

Papa:  I guess that is okay, sweetheart, but that hat isn't too much blue.

Papa in his happy place.  Lavell Edwards Stadium

    Papa passed away on February 11th, just hours after I visited him wearing  a BYU shirt and that same BYU hat.  I whispered in his ear the following as he rested peacefully under a morphine dose:

Me:  Papa, we both know I hate the Cougars, but I, from now on, I will represent them always.  It's okay for you to go Papa, you have taught me so much.  I love you.

    Papa was a true legacy of faithfulness and kindness.  He was a friend to all and will be sorely missed.  He truly was Papa: The Man. The Myth. The Legend.  Which was written on a shirt we gave to him for Fathers' Day a few years back.

    May he always be our angel now and keep us safe.

Low-Tech Tuesday: Books

   Tech Tuesday is a place for all things technology.  Here we will discuss both low tech and high tech thing-a-ma-jigs.

     I am a book lover.  I am always reading one or three books.  With the push towards online learning this year, my students have gotten really used to doing everything on their Chromebooks. I feel we have traveled far away from the beauty of books.  

    I just love the feel of books in my hand.  I like that my own kids know I am reading at home and can pause at any moment to give them attention(I don't think the same feeling happens when scrolling on my phone, even if I am reading a book on it.).  

    Here is how I always plug how amazing our textbook is when we are in Health class and using the book.  (I have used my current read Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst for this demonstration)

                                                               To Power On:  Open book:

To Zoom In:  Move book toward face:

To Zoom Out: Move book away from face:

To Scroll:  Turn page:

To Power Off:  Shut book:

Sometimes, low-tech is better, no?