Get the lead out!

So far, I’ve written a lot about pens. But, my go to tool these days more often than not is a pencil. And not a mechanical pencil. A wood case pencil. Because, we all know the truth about mechanical pencils.

So, what makes a fountain pen guy go to wood case pencils? Well, the short answer is that they work. As the old story goes, when the Space Race was going on, we Americans invented the Space Pen while the Russians sent up a pencil. Now, all politics aside (yes, rest easy, I’m as proud as Lee Greenwood to be an American), there is a certain simplicity to the humble pencil.

But what opened that door to me? Well, when we were in Korea last summer finalizing the adoption of our son, we had a fair amount of downtime. So, we did some shopping. Many of the traditional markets included stores that sold individual pens and pencils. Need I say more? I was worse than a kid in a candy store.

Still, I brought home many more pens than pencils that trip. In fact, my original idea for this blog was “Blue Pen – Yellow Pencil” but then I realized that while I will only use blue pens, I don’t always use yellow pencils. Combine that with the fact that the first six months with an adopted child is like having a newborn all over again, the blog never took flight. But I digress …

No, what finally sent me over the edge was listening to the first few episodes of The Erasable Podcast. I decided to give these wood cased pencils a solid go. And the rest is history. When we went back to Korea to take custody of our son, we had less downtime, but I did manage to find some pencils. Just a couple anyway.

Now, my usage is probably 45% each on pencils and gel/rollerball pens. The last 10 % is fountain pens, but we know all about my … complicated relationship with those. But, I carry a metal bullet pencil in my pocket most days and often have a pencil stuck behind my ear. Pencils meet the practical side of writing. They are great fun to write with but they are far from finicky. They will write on most any paper with no issues. Even a dull one can get the job done in a pinch. And I can get my thoughts down quickly. I love them.