Uni Kuru Toga .5mm Auto-rotating Lead Pencil

My Uni Kuru Toga and My/Mon Mini Journal

My baby pink Uni Kuru Toga .5 mm auto-rotating lead pencil from Jetpens looks so cute with my My/Mon Mini Journal (4" x 5.5")! My Pretty Pretty Princess (that's my friend's name) brought me this delightful little notepad last time I saw her. I'm sure her plan was that I constantly pair it up with the pencil she hadn't known I'd recently purchased.

It's been ages since I reviewed anything, but that doesn't mean I'm not constantly trying out new products. Mechanical pencils are always an iffy proposition for me, though. I don't own many because I am so picky about them. I looked through a pencil blogs, and it seems that most are focused on the wooden pencil. The mechanical pencil reviews are isolated in their own mechanical and draft pencil blogs. I love that there's a blog out there for everything!

Photo from Jetpens.com

APPEARANCES AND FEEL IN HAND 
My baby pink Uni Kuru Toga is the cutest pencil I've ever owned.  Look at that tip - the shiny chrome look moves up to the pink edging which continues on smoothly to the clear plastic cover that shows off the rotating mechanism. This visible portion of the rotating mechanism is orange and white, but I think it might only be for decorative purposes to differentiate it from other pencils because I can't actually see anything happening. The eraser cap is pink and slightly see-thru. The pencil is very smooth in my hands, but my guess is that if I carried it out and about instead of just leaving it on my work desk, it would probably lose some of the extra smoothness. I would have liked the pencil name on the white clip to have matched either the pink of the body or the pink that's down by the pencil tip, but truthfully, I didn't even notice that they didn't match until I sat down to review the pencil. One thing this pencil is missing is a cap over the sharp tip. I've ruined more sweaters by putting pencils like this in my pocket then snagging yarn on the sharp point as I pull the pencil from my pocket.


The gray pencil has a blue ring where the hot pink ring is at the tip, you can't really see the mechanism clearly through the gray plastic shell, and the eraser cover is dark blue and almost see-thru. While the pink pencil is adorable, the gray one is very plain with simple. The pink looks more expensive, too, but I can't figure out why I think that.

BUT HOW'S IT WRITE?
I've only used this pencil with HB (hard) lead: the Uni .5 HB lead that came with it and the Pentel Ain Stein .5 HB lead.  Pentil Ain Stein had good reviews, so I picked it up, and until today I didn't really notice any difference than with the other leads I've used. Taking a look in my desk drawer, I see that's because the third lead I own (BIC) is also HB, and I don't really know enough to differentiate between leads.  However, when I filled my gray pencil with the Pentil Ain Stein and left the Uni HB in the pink to test the different leads, I discovered that I have a slight preference for the Uni lead. It seemed to write more smoothly, although they both are working well with the pencil and not causing any problems or difficulties. I have no idea if the fact that it's a Uni pencil and Uni lead makes a difference.

The rotating mechanism definitely keeps my point sharper. It doesn't keep it "new lead" sharp, but the lines never become as thick as standard non-rotating pencil lead becomes when you don't rotate the pencil in your hand.

Here's the thing with the rotating mechanism: I still have to advance my lead. I had thought my gray pencil was a non-rotating Uni pencil because ads say that the rotating lead means you don't need to advance it yourself. When I bought my pink pencil I realized that I was also advancing lead. To see if it was how I write I asked a coworker to use my pink pencil for a week,. When she returned it, she told me that she never had to advance the lead. The rotating mechanism took care of that for her. My assumption is that this is because I write very quickly, to the point that I sometimes I have trouble reading over notes from meetings that happened a month or two ago. I have noticed that I need to advance the lead far less often than with standard rotating lead mechanical pencils.

BREAKAGE
The lead breaks far less often in my Uni Kuru Toga pencils than it does in other brands of mechanical pencils. I'm assuming that's because the rotating mechanism keeps the pencil from becoming very dull, and thus sharper and being rotated, which for me leads to frustration and my writing harder and slamming the pencil down. I'm also guessing it's because I start with a far less advanced lead than I do with other mechanical pencils. I don't have to continually click the lead out on my rotating lead pencil, so I don't feel the need to click it out as far as possible.

Less breaking is huge for me because I prefer a super fine point pencil but really do press too hard.  I tested a Retro 51 Tornado Crossword 1.15mm pencil at a Sarnoffs in Tucson, and it was amazing.  However, I can't come up with any reason to ever purchase myself a luxury pencil like that. It's gorgeous, but it lays such a thick line that I can't imagine what I'd ever use it for. I doubt that thinck lead breaks much, though!

ERASER
The erasers that came with this pencil are exceptional. I have other eraser refills in my desk from my other pencils, but I'm probably going to purchase the refills sold specifically for this pencil because they erase that well. However, this could be the age of the erasers - I've only had the gray pencil since February and the pink pencil since May. My erasers aren't used often, and dried out or dirty erasers just make a mess. The eraser cap probably helps keep the eraser working better since it stays clean and won't lay down schmootz on your desk.


CLIP
The pencil clip is a joke. You can clip your pencil to the top of your pad as long as you have no plans to actually move your pad around. The only thing the clips are good for is keeping your pencil from rolling off an unlevel desk. They would probably also work clipped onto a pocket protector as long as you don't bend over and pick up one of these pencils you'd clipped to your notebook before walking to your boss's office. I've never used a pocket protector. How do you keep the pocket protector in your pocket when you pull a pen with a working clip off it? Do you pin them into your shirt? If you use pocket protectors, these are pretty.


SUMMARY
I love my Uni Kuru Toga pencil, and I love the lead that comes with it. Even though I write too quickly for the auto-rotating mechanism to keep up, I advance the lead far less often then with other mechanical pencils, and it does work for the other person who tested the pencil for me. It's adorable, it feels smooth and soft in the hand, and I'm definitely glad I spent the money on these pencils.

PROs:

• The baby pink is attractive with nice little additions like the color coordinated eraser cap.
• The pencil writes well on all the paper I tried it on.
• The rotating mechanism makes the pencil far less annoying than all my other mechanical pencils because the lead breaks less because I don't have to advance it as often.
• The pencil feels good in my hand. It's smooth without being slippery.

CONS:

• This is inexpensive in the overall scheme of pencils, but it's more expensive than many folks are used to paying for a mechanical pencil. To that I saw pish tosh. Keep it in one place so that you don't loose it.
• The clip is a waste of money. They shouldn't have bothered wasting the time to put on a useless clip.
• I want to try the .7mm now, and that's going to be more spent money.

---------------

So, what do you think; should I give my coworker the extra pencil since she liked the auto-rotation so much?

College Essentials

My stapler!  My joy!*

Every summer I look forward to Back to School sales, store College Essentials lists, and the plethora of events put together for this time of year. Sometimes I make great finds.  I have the red swingline, a $22 stapler purchased for $6, from an Amazon back to school sale.

The Office Space red swingline photo is from virtualstapler.com/.  There's an entire section dedicated to staplers in movies!  Yes, I find this interesting.  If you don't, well, you're just weird.

Amazon and I disagree on what qualifies as a college essential..  They seem to think that you need the following items in order to succeed in college.

May the Stir Be With You

A Star Wars self-stirring coffee mug. Now, to be fair, this is a fun and cool gift idea for the person who has everything, but calling it a college necessity is going too far.  This is probably harder to wash than a standard mug, and we all know that some college freshman will eventually throw out their moldy dishes instead of washing them.  Of course, I didn't do that at all the first few months I lived on my own.  *whistles innocently* 

This was advertised as a college essential on Monday, July 13, 2015.





 

Do seahorses neigh?

On July 13, 2015, Amazon listed crystal jewelry as a college essential, with the first piece pictured being this lovely little seahorse necklace. This begs the question - how many of you needed seahorse necklaces when you started college?  Did you find that having a seahorse necklace decreased homesickness?  Does a seahorse necklace help you study for your Bio101 exam? 

Maybe this necklace is intended to be worn by sexually active hetero cis men as a reminder to carry condoms - after all, it is the male seahorse who carts the kids around all day.

It was even signed by Stan Lee.

On Friday, July 17, 2015, Amazon added the "Fine Arts and Collectible: Entertainment" category to the College Essentials section.  Does a $300 plastic Iron Man prop mask autographed by Stan Lee help you get to class faster?  Or is it just something you wear to class on the first day in order to more easily find new gaming buddies?  Either way, I think it would get hot in there, and it will probably smell funny.


Of course, we all know that an iron man mask is one way to get revenge on someone who steals your parking space.

I could have used one of these in college?

Finally I reach the most important college essential posted on Amazon on  Monday, July 13, 2015:  the meat grinder. 

I want to make up funny jokes about how college is akin to a meat market, but I can't find any that don't smack of Hannibal Lechter.  After all, once you add an actual meat grinder to the dorm room mix, all jokes about humanity end up on a bun.






Now Bed, Bath, and Beyond is a far more sophisticated shopping tool for back to school than Amazon is.  They have college registries, options to help you find the stores closest to your school, the ability for you to place your order and have it already created and waiting for you to pick it up when you get to campus, and they have college specialists.  College Specialists are waiting for students to schedule appointments to make sure they register for everything they need for going away to college.  Apparently going to college is like getting married and having a baby.

We get a BB&B sales flyer in the mail, and the first thing I noticed is that almost everything came in the color aqua and with a chevron pattern option.  So be sure to stock up on your mountain and valley stripes because it's a chevron extravaganza this year!  I always wonder, though, which college kids are purchasing huge, $500 desks for their dorm rooms and apartments?  It's wild!

Even though the BB&B list is actually far more useful, they still don't disappoint.  Mixed among some really nice items for small living spaces (that I need!) are a few college jewels.

Part of BB&B's College Keep It Clean Collection

Do you wear the same clothes everyday for months on end without washing them?  Do you forget to shower until that night where you think you might get laid?  Do you see no point in taking out your garbage?  Then BB&B's Bad Air Sponge is for you!  I found it in the college essentials on July 13, 2015.








The next item is probably actually super useful in a college dorm room, but I couldn't stop laughing at it, so I had to include it.  It's the surf board tv tray. When you're buried in five feet of snow at SUNY Oswego, you'll need this, your thermal long johns, and as much booze as you can fit on the tray and the floor.

The SUNY Oswego page shows everything bright and sunny, so below is a more realistic photo of Oswego.  I have no idea why people live there.

See how useful surfboard tv trays are when attending winter-states colleges?

Miro Notebooks

Notebook Stories is having another great giveaway; this one's for Miro Notebooks. Notebook Stories giveaways are always fun, and this one's no different.

Photo from http://www.remembermiro.com/journal.

My favorite notebook of the ones reviewed on Notebook Stories is probably the journal. I love the idea of colored edges with a coordinating band. However, I'd probably need to keep my Cat Midori Book Bands handy for when the rubber band snaps off the journal. I am very hard on my bands. I love that more and more journals come with them, but if they're not sturdy, they're useless. If I liked the notebooks and bought more, I'd have to get the Dolphin Midori Book Bands so they'd color coordinate. In fact, I know that I'd get the hot pink journal and the dolphin bands (sadly, I'm not a huge dolphin ban, but they're the only cool colored book bands on Jetpens!).

I like all the colors, but I don't currently have any aqua or hot pink journals, so those are my favorites. Then again, Red is always a favorite color, and the lime green is quite attractive... Well, I don't know if I'm going to buy these journals, so I guess it doesn't matter that the black isn't attractive to me because the thing I like about this notebook is the crisp contrast of the colored paper edges against the black.

The journals are available in 3.25x5.5, 5x8, and 7x10. The two larger sizes come with a 3x5 utility pocket book. We all love free things, right?

I generally prefer wire bound notebooks, and Miro has two different kinds. Unfortunately, they're not as attractive as the journals. The Notebook Stories review said that the journals lay flat, so I'd say the crisp look of the journal beats the convenience of the wire bound.

Making Mail

I might have spent far too much time playing Dragon Age yesterday, but I also had a lot of paper and pen fun.

A sampling of my new envelopes. 

Envelope making is a great recycling project. I used an old map and some magazine pages for some of the envelopes, and I used a spirograph on some large thrift store envelopes. The labels were cut off of sheets that had jammed up the copier at work and were being thrown out.  

I started out by making envelopes using the Kuretake Handmade Envelope Template  purchased from jetpens.com.  I traced the shape onto the page then cut it out.  

I used the Kuretake Handmade Envelope template to make several of my new envelopes.

The pages are folded along indents.

Cut and folded envelope just before I glued it with my Kuretake Craft Glue Pen.

I used the Kuretake Craft Glue Pen on my envelopes.  An ordinary glue stick would have worked, but I love this little glue pen. It's far stickier than a glue glue stick, and the ink squeezes out blue. This was my first time using it, and I learned to dot the glue on instead of drawing ink lines with the pen. It's very strong, and a little bit goes a long way.

These envelopes require address labels if they're being mailed.

Then I pulled out my spirograph. 

I have a partial spirograph set from the late 50s/early 60s. I purchased it on eBay. 

The box came with some of the circles, the pins, two outer circles, and two long sticks. I haven't figured out how to use the sticks properly. I think they might require the pins. The box also says that it's a great way to get children interested in math, but I've checked with some math professors and teachers, and nobody knows why it says that on the box.  

Look! An orange and pink spiraled envelope!

I needed very large envelopes for my spirograph. 

Finding paper that could fit inside my map and magazine envelopes was difficult. The envelopes are small because I didn't have large enough paper to make larger envelopes. I don't have any paper that will fit inside my large spirograph envelope.

The smaller template envelopes were a bit easier. I discovered that one of my notebooks is great. It's a gorgeous notebook with a cover that's been decorated with snipped electrical wire. It's too small for use as a journal and too large for a quick jot pad. I picked it up on a lark at  Antigone Books  in Tucson, and the high quality paper is great for writing letters!

I purchased this journal from Antigone Books in Tucson.  The cover decoration is a great example
of re-purposed materials (electrical wires snipped and glued into place).

The notebook pages are not not lined or perforated. I yanked them out at the wire binding then trimmed off the edge bits.  Then I placed washi tape along the top edges to disguise that they weren't perfectly even, and voila, pretty paper!

Some samples of some of the paper I decorated yesterday.

Future envelopes will be more customized; I plan to play with lining the envelopes for more variety. I'll make some solid envelopes with spiffy inserts or add solid linings to my spiffy envelopes. I think it will be even easier to line envelopes made by template because then I can add them before I even fold the page! Oh the fun that I'll have.

Stationery

I'm having a very difficult time buying writing paper in person (with matching envelopes and not sized to go through the printer). Notecards are everywhere. Which is nice, but I want to write letters, not a thank you card!  I tried whining and complaining for a bit, that didn't get stationary into my hands.

So I made some stationary today. I have a gorgeous notebook with plain white paper that too small for my notebook taste but too heavy to use a jotter-pad. So I cut some pages out of it and grabbed the washi tape.

But what about an envelope? I mean, the note stationery pages are not big enough to turn into postalettes, so I need a paper transporting device.  That's where my new favorite toy comes in:

Kuretake Handmade Envelope Template photo courtesy of Jetpens

The kuretake handmade envelope template is amazing. I ordered a package that came in earlier this week, and this was one of my happy items. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of a huge project, and I didn't get to play with it the first four days I owned it!

I made up for lost time today. And I forgot to take photos, so I'll rifle through some of my outgoing mail and see if any of it is worth taking a photo of.

I used a map and some magazines. They only fit the second smallest envelope size, and I'd like to find something a bit larger to trace the template on. Any suggestions?

Notebook Fun

I love notebooks, and I have quite a collection. Since moving to Arizona in 2011, I have acquired about a dozen notebooks, possibly more, and several of them are in rotation at any given time.

But none of them are as cool looking as these Paperback Notes Notebooks - notebooks with covers made from the covers of old paperback books.

Paberback Notes are awesome looking!
The picture is  form Notebook Stories 

I have not used these before, but  Notebook Stories is having a giveaway for these notebooks!  Cool, right?  Like most giveaways you can enter by Facebooking or Tweeting information (full instructions are available on her blog.). However, she's added an awesome figure - you can also blog about it!

I do not use Facebook or Twitter, so I miss out on a lot of giveaways (or at least a lot of giveaways where you can get extra entries by using FB or Twitter), so I was thrilled to see this opportunity. In fact, I am entering this contest not just to get a chance at winning such cool notebooks. I am also entering it to support the idea of giving us non-social-media users opportunities to enter giveaways and support the products being given away.

Yay Notebook Stories!

Yay Paperback Notes!

October Olive Box

Olive Box is a monthly stationery subscription service (so much better than the fruit of the month!). It's even better than the wine of the month. I can go to the store, pick the wine I'm in the mood for, then sip my chosen wine (I would like a Cassillero del Diable Carmenere, please) while playing with my new stationery.  

Olive Box has such wonderful stationary!

I place quite a few online orders each month, but I always know what's inside my packages. Olive Box is the answer! I get to increase my stationary collection and receive a nice surprise in the mail.  I had been considering a Quarterly Co., but I promised myself I'd only purchase myself one subscription, and stationery won.

That didn't last long. This morning I joined Goulet Pen's Ink Drop. But it's very nicely priced,  $10 with shipping included, and I need to get some ink! I don't know anything about ink, so Ink Drop's sample sizes will help me learn without costing me $9-20 per bottle.  Subscription services are addictive!

In September, I purchased the October box on a month-to-month basis. It was a test to see what I thought of the service. After sitting with my October box for a few days, I ordered a 6-month subscription. I look forward to monthly surprises through April. I would have liked to have gotten the 12-month subscription - it breaks down so that each box is cheaper, and it comes with a $25 gift certificate for its sister company, Pink Olive.  But it was too pricey for me at the moment. That's ok. In six months I will just re-join :-)

I've had to create wish lists in Pink Olive, Goulet Pen, and Jetpens just so that I can track all the wonderful writing things I need to buy!

It's all about me!

The October Olive Box came in simple, tasteful packaging. The box had a lid, so I didn't have to open the side and dump everything out like with a FedEx box.

When I lifted the lid, there was a package wrapped in blue tissue paper sitting on brown crinkly spring paper (no ugly bubble wrap or styrofoam peanuts). If you decide to give an Olive Box subscription as a gift, your friend will receive a beautifully package that doesn't contain billing information.

Each box has a theme. This month's theme is, "It's all about me!"  An unsealed, gold envelope contained a letter about the box's contents. The envelope flap had a small white heart sticker that easily peeled off to decorate my cork board. The blank envelope is now waiting to hold a letter. The envelope is made of a shiny, thick paper that will require a Sharpie or a ballpoint pen.

The blank notecard is a cheerful white decorated with triangles, and it has "hooray" emblazoned on the front. The envelope is brown paper that I can leave as-is or decorate.

The sticker that came in the box proclaims, "You are loved," and will make a delightful addition to a future package. I might even use it on the gold envelope.  If I didn't want to share it, I could decorate one of my plain notebooks (the simple gray text would make a nice addition to the plain black cover of my Black n'Red notebook).

A small plastic bag of confetti was included in the box. I hate getting packages with confetti in them. It's cute for two seconds, then I spend an hour picking itty bitty pieces of plastic and paper out of my carpet before the cat eats it and gets sick. My current apartment has tile and no kitties, but that doesn't change the fact that confetti makes a mess  I will probably give this away to someone (after making them promise it will not be included in anything they give me!).  

The final (main!) item in the box is a diary. I opened the diary, felt the smooth pages, and immediately wrote my name on the box that says "this is the beautiful life of" on the pink inside cover  Well, I took a quick picture before I wrote on it.

The inside front cover is pink and has a square to write your name.
The Lamy Safari is included to show the diary's size.

I wrote my name on the inside cover before reading the smaller print on the cover. I was upset when I turned the page and saw on the cover page that it's "my autobiography in drawings." I don't draw. I tossed my Olive Box in the corner of my living room and moped for a few days because I couldn't regift it to someone else with my name on it. I didn't want to use it for text because then I'd remember I'm a lousy draw-er and that's why I was forced to write in a drawing diary.  

After a few days I got over myself and fixed the diary. It is now my autobiography in words and drawings. I am back to being in love with my new diary and my entire Olive Box.

My autobiography in words and drawings.

The diary is from  from Chronicle Books. Their website states:

Inspired by the enduring magic and importance of books, our objective is to create and distribute exceptional publishing that's instantly recognizable for its spirit, creativity, and value. This objective also informs our business relationships and endeavors, be they with customers, authors, vendors, or colleagues

The pages of my new journal are edged with silver. The pages are smooth, and they are thick enough that there's no bleed through with my fountain pens. In fact, writing on them with my Estebrook SJ fountain pen is one of the most beautiful writing experiences I've ever had. I used a fine point master nib with J. Herbin Bleu Myosotis (forget-me-not blue) ink. I have been eyeing Rhodia and other high quality journals, but I couldn't convince myself that they were worth the extra expense when the cheap Carolina notebooks are good enough. Writing in this diary has convinced me to buy the dotted Rhodia notebook that I've been oogling for ages.  I really, really want to write on a dotted page and enjoy the experience of high quality paper!

My Estebrook SJ with J. Herbin Mystosis Bleu ink writes like a dream in this Chronicle Books diary.

The pages are blank with small notes at the bottom that suggest what I should write about. I already have a journal to write random thoughts in, so this is a fun journal addition.  

Some pages have margin outlines, and some don't. I usually dislike margin outlines, but these are small enough that they don't negatively affect the page size. 

 A very small margin does not disrupt the white space like so many outlined pages do.
The Lamy Safari and the Estebrook SJ are included in the picture for size... and because they're awesome.

My conclusion?   Olive Box = Awesome  I am already looking forward to my November package!

March 2013 Update: I have fallen out of love with Olive Box. I misunderstood the type of content I would receive, and I haven't enjoyed any box as much as I've joined my first one. I don't want a book about home decorating or a country-charm style wall print. I thought I was getting a "paper" subscription, but I was mistaken. The boxes are always beautiful, and the products included in it are top quality. I would definitely give a subscription to Olive Box to someone who would appreciate it, but I won't be continuing my subscription once my current subscription is complete.

Carolina Pad Hot Chocolate Notebooks

SUMMARY OF THE FULL REVIEW:  I love the Hot Chocolate Notebooks

Pros:  They were cheap (I got them for $1 each on clearance). There's no feathering when used with my fountain pens. I can write on both sides of the pages with fountain pens and roller balls. The wire binding is strong, the cover is sturdy, and the notebooks are attractive.

Cons:  The 10.5" x 8.5" is a bit too large for my use. It's the standard notebook size I used in high school and college. The local store I purchased them from no longer sells these notebooks, and I'm not sure about the Carolina Pad customer service. I emailed them last Tuesday (today is Sunday) to find out where I can purchase the notebooks locally, and I still haven't received a reply. The smaller notebook has a plastic sleeve envelope at the front as well as plastic index tabs. The larger one doesn't.


FULL REVIEW

I'm at Seven Cups teahouse in Tucson, 
and they keep the lights dimmed. 

I am constantly looking for a notebook that meets my needs and doesn't cost a lot. That's how I ended up with the  Carolina Pad Hot Chocolate Notebooks. First and foremost, I should be able to use my notebook anywhere and everywhere. The paper should be thick enough that I can write on both sides with a fountain pen, and it needs to be smooth enough that there's no skipping or catching when the pen moves across the page. I need a sturdy notebook - it'll be tossed in my bag and carried everywhere. It might also be stepped on. I want my notebook to lay flat when I'm writing in it.  It should be attractive (which is extremely subjective - in my case, the colors should be ones that I enjoy looking at, I don't want movie stars on the page, and please, no fake heart tattoos). Oh, and the page should be completely usable. I will not purchase a notebook that has a huge flower along the bottom right corner leaving a portion of the page un-usable. The page should be lined or there should be dots marking where lines could be.  My Hot Chocolate Notebook fits the bill.

Paper

The paper is a crisp white, but it's not blinding. There is sometimes slight show-thru on the page of the page when I use a rollerball or a fountain pen (but it's not there all the time, perhaps it depends on how slowly I'm writing).  When there is slight show through, there are no detrimental effects to the page, and I can easily and comfortably write on both sides of the page without there being visible issues.

This notebook has 80 3-hole punched, micro perforated sheets. Microperforation is one of those innovations that started showing up everywhere while I was still a student, and it made me so happy. I tear pages from my notebooks, and I hate those long lines of ugly page edges hanging out of my wire.

10/20/12 UPDATE:  I have a larger selection of Hot Chocolate Notebooks now, and I've noticed that the microperforation sucks on most of them. About 1/4 to 1/3 of the page generally tears without following the microperforation.

I wrote a sample page, and there was no bleed through at all on the pens or pencil. There was a touch on a Sharpie Ultra Fine Point, but it's a Sharpie! You'll notice that there's no feathering with any of the pens - not even the Sharpie.

No feathering - not even on the Sharpie!

The picture above shows a page testing all the pens in my pencil case today. I wonder why I persist in calling it a pencil case when I store pens in it (and one pencil)?

Fountain Pen Usage

The page is smooth, and all my fountain pens glide across the page. Except the Sailor Candy. The Sailor Candy often catches and skips on this notebook, but it seems to do that on all of my paper!  I just used it today for the sample page, and the Sailor Candy actually had a beautiful, wet, thin line. I'm wondering if my Sailor Candy might just have more reactions to weather than my others.  I generally use my Platinum Preppies (blue/black and purple) and my Lamy Safari with Watermans brown ink with this notebook.

10/20/12 UPDATE: I have been using it regularly with my Estebrook SJ master 9665 nib and J. Herbin Forget-Me-Not ink for a few weeks, and I am very happy with it. It isn't bad with my dip pen in the forget-me-not ink, but the lines are too close to write neatly.

II sent an email to Carolina Pads to ask where in Tucson I can buy more Hot Chocolate Pads and where I can get a Sasquatch. The Staples I bought mine at put them on Clearance for $1 each because they don't stock them anymore.  Unfortunately, it's been five days, and I have not received a reply. The Carolina Pad website is annoying - instead of listing where you can buy a notebook by city and/or state, it's listed by individual store. So you have to go to each store's website and then click to see if there is a location in your town. They sell at a lot of stores, and I know for a fact that while they sell the notebooks at Staples, they do not sell them at the Staples near me.

Cover
The cover is a solid, hard cardboard. I generally write at a table or on a tray table that has been allowed down during the flight, but it's not always possible to lay my notebooks flat. The solid cover of my Hot Chocolate allows me to write comfortably while balancing the notebook on my thigh along the bottom margin of the page or while sitting in the car with it propped up between my body and the steering wheel. The covers have taken a bit of a beating over the last few months; they show a bit of wear along the edges, but they haven't bent at all.

Binding
I don't care what type of binding a notebook has as long as it can lie flat. That's hard to find in bound notebooks, so I often purchase wire bound notebooks. This notebook is wire bound using the same style of wire binding that I use for work. Since it's not a spiral binding, the wires don't move around, and there's no "unwinding." Remember back in high school when your notebook would start to unwind? By the end of the school year, you'd be ripping your clothing on the sharp edges of the wire!?

10 bonus points for the spiral binding being blue - it's very similar to the nib of my blue Platinum Preppy! Minus 1 point for the color not matching the covers. It's such an attractive blue, though, that it's still a win :-)

The cover has an elastic band on the side which holds the notebook closed when it's tossed in my bag.

Size
I fluctuate on my size preferences. At this moment in time, the Hot Chocolate I've been using is a bit too large for journaling. It's 10.5" x 8.5". All the pros out-weight this one con. I am looking forward to using this notebook up so I can use a smaller one again.

Smaller Notebooks
I've got an 8.6" x 6.5" waiting for me. The cover's got diagonal stripes, and the binding wire is brown. The brown matches the notebook color (kudos) but isn't nearly as fun as the shiny blue. However, the smaller notebook doesn't need a shiny binding. The cover is just as thick, and it has the rubber band (which is a shame, I've been looking for an excuse to buy Midori Book Bands.

This smaller notebook has something the larger one doesn't. When I open the first page, there's a plastic page with a folder sleeve and an envelope that I can put items into. It also has plastic index tabs.

10/20/12 UPDATE:  I received a smaller size as a gift, and it has the same paper as the larger versions and the same thick covers.

My large Hot Chocolate notebook (can you see the blue binding?) with my black matte Lamy Safari.

Photo taken at Coffee Cartel.

I enjoy writing on the pages of the Hot Chocolate notebook, and it looks good alongside both tea and coffee.  What more could I need?