Office Max Going after Me!

According to this story on Marketplace (a show that evokes similar feelings in me as pens do), Office Max is now going after women (who make most of the purchasing decisions for supplies in offices since they're often the office managers and assistants). Apparently there is more color, pattern and design. Well, it's got me interested, that's for sure. I think this weekend I will have to make a pilgrimage to Office Max (somewhere I don't go very often, preferring Office Depot since they sponsor Carl Edwards in Nascar, and he's yummy).

One thing I thought was interesting in the story is that they spoke to a woman who is an expert in marketing to women, and she said that she thought that maybe younger women would fall for all the colors, etc., but anyone who had gotten anywhere in their career, or wanted to portray a professional image wouldn't buy it. Then they talk to a guy at Office Max who's all "yeah, the days of women wearing power suits and trying to essentially be men are over." And I'm wondering why the guy makes more sense than the woman does. Why do we have to take ourselves so seriously? Does using a pretty notebook somehow make us less professional? Sheesh. Some people insist on keeping themselves down.

I browsed the weekly ad, which had lovely butterflies all around it, and I was particularly interested in this set of desk organizer accessories. Yes, I must make a trip to Office Max this weekend.

Piedmont Stationary Store: Part 2
Back in April I visited the Piedmont Stationers in Oakland, and I loved it. It had this lovely musty smell, and had all kinds of fun and unique pens and notebooks and filofaxes. It was a very happy place. I found out yesterday that they are going out of business, which is not very happy news. I suppose there are too many Office Depot's around and in this economy not enough people are in the market for foreign pens. So if you can, please go out and buy a pen from your local stationary store to help keep them afloat in these difficult times. Pens are a fairly inexpensive indulgence that offer an entire world of possibility. As value for money, they can't be beat.
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So I've been using my pens a lot lately because I've been doing The Artist's Way again. I have never actually completed the creativity self-help book, but I always get started, and do the Morning Pages - three pages every morning about whatever's in your head. It's really difficult for me to fill up three pages each morning. I wind up writing about the weather an awful lot. But I do find it comforting to hang out with my pen and paper for thirty minutes each morning.

Since the death/breakage of the needlepoint pen I had been writing with, I have opened up the pen bag and pulled out this Stabilo Pointvisco. The one I'm writing with is a lovely magenta which is cool as my journal is a leafy green color, and my wedding colors were purple and green.

Anyway, this pen has a total retro feel about it with the stripes down the yellow barrel, which vaguely resemble a Yellow Number 2 pencil. The gel roller tip isn't a needlepoint, but my writing is still pretty neat with it, and the ink comes out really smoothly - almost like a liquid, but not smeary.

They come in a ton of colors and I have green, magenta, blue and orange which I purchased at the stationary store. They were about $1.25 each and are supposed to last a long time.

After not blogging about pens for a while....

I'm at Jiffy Lube today getting an oil change (normally my hubby does it himself, but since we live up in the mountains now it's all snowy and there isn't enough room) and I'm hanging out with my headphones on, writing in my journal, and my pen, which is a Xenon Aquaroller with a needle point (I love needle points because my writing is so much neater with them) just BREAKS in half. Like the top part that screws into the barrel just breaks. Maybe my grip is too much for it. Very strange. I didn't think I had a hard grip, but maybe after shoveling snow for two weeks, my hand has superhuman strength. Anyway, it was really annoying and disappointing because I really liked that pen... I have another one in silver. Maybe I'll use that next and see how it goes.

I am currently writing in a Fountain journal from Nippecraft Limited. I'm really confused because I swear I bought this journal at Target but when I go to the website, it's all foreign and fancy and boutiquey and stuff. I really think I bought it at Target, though. Maybe Target is sneaking some boutique stationary in to go with their designer bags? I don't know, but I'm not arguing.