This is why I love my readers

Pen Addict reader Jonathan sent this to me over the weekend:


I saw your blogs after playing around with blue and black Frixion pens.  A few observations:

1. Ink color is indeed not great...but these are still so much nicer than those erasable ink pens from when I was in high school...which may have been when you were there, but never mind.

2. I held a match up to some text written with Frixion, but not close enough to burn the paper.  The ink actually doesn't disappear; it turns white.  I confirmed this on a dark piece of paper.

3. I then took some of the text that I erased with the heat of the match and chilled it thoroughly by holding it firmly against a bag of frozen asparagus.  It turned gray again--which is about all the "black" ink ever was.

These are completely useless things to know, but I thought you might find them mildly amusing.

And in a later mail......


I should now add that for the heat it is simpler to hold the paper with the Frixion ink next to a standard light bulb (it doesn't have to touch) to erase it.  Also, to make it reappear, if one is patient, you can just put the paper in the freezer--though it can take hours to get the ink to come back.

One thing you got wrong Jonathan - these are not completely useless things to know, these are ESSENTIAL things to know for all of us Pen Addicts out there!  Thanks again for sharing.

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Posted on August 6, 2008 .

Review: Uni-Ball Color Mechanical Pencil



I am starting to turn the corner on pencils, and this Uni-Ball Color Mechanical Pencil 0.5mm Blue is helping lead the revolution.  I know colored leads have been around for years, but my general lack of interest in pencils made me forget all about them.  Little did I know how much I was missing.  The Uni-Ball performs admirably as well, with a nice feel, comfortable grip, and a nice, spring-loaded cap.

I must not be the only one who likes them - JetPens is currently sold out of 6 of the 12 models they carry.  They generally restock fast though, so keep an eye out if the one you want isn't avaialble.

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Posted on August 5, 2008 .

The Pen Collector

It was a big weekend for friends of The Pen Addict, as my Flickr friend Felipe (yay alliteration!) has started up his own pen blog, The Pen Collector.  Felipe has been following me on Flickr since I first began posting my pictures, so stop by his blog and pay a visit.  I can't wait to see what he has in store.

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Posted on August 4, 2008 .