My kingdom for a pen....

I'm a ink-pen addict. I make no bones about it. I can't write unless I have the right pen.

98% of the time I'm a fountain pen girl. None of these new-fangled ink pens that stutter and leave blotches. I need the good, solid heft of a real pen to write, especially fiction, which I draft longhand first.

The other 2% of the time, I'm testing out new pens. I buy pens like most women buy shoes. Anything new, shiny, sparkly or with a pretty color suckers me in immediately. The guys at Staples (near where I used to work and now near my house) all know me by first name. If I have a bad day at school, I don't drink to forget my problems (well, ok, I do ...), I stop by the pen aisle on the way home and pick up something cool.

My latest trial-and-error is a success. For years, the only pen the hubby would use to grade lab notebooks and chemistry quizzes was the Pilot extra-fine. (In red, of course). A few weeks ago, I discovered the Pilot Precise v5 RT (extra fine as well)--in a retractable, not capped, form. I got a package (for him, I claimed) for fun.

I love this pen!! It's smooth and doesn't skip, drip or smear. (I'm a fast writer). I love the extra fine tip for scribbling extra notes to myself in the margins (or between lines) for future drafts. I'm not going to leave the fountain pens anytime soon, but this is a definite keeper.

(It takes so very little to excite me sometimes it's almost scary, but if you write longhand, you understand my happiness :))

When you write, which pen is your favorite? Tell me about it. Remember, every post gets you entered in the July 23 drawing by Jason, the boy genius. (a hint: he hates writing with pens. Pencils only. Maybe he's adopted...)

(and maybe an extra point if you can tell me from whom I filched the post title from...)