OF A GOLDEN AGE

Office supplies elicit strong reactions: many workers cherish particular paper clips, legal pads, filing systems, and so forth, which they patronize religiously. My dad covets a certain type of pen — not even a brand or anything — the occasional pen which just feels right in his hand, which he sometimes decides to take from a restaurant or bank. Recently my coworker Ryan bought a supply of “his brand” of pens for his desk, even though our office manager would certainly buy some for him if he asked.

On the one hand, I couldn’t care less about the pens I use for work as long as they function. A former boss insisted that everyone use classic felt-tipped Flair pens, in black or blue only unless otherwise specified. (We also had to take orders and messages on blank sheets of 8.5×11 white paper, whether the message had two words or two hundred.) We burned through Flair pens like they were on closeout.

On the other hand, when it comes to drawing, I became an obnoxious scrutinizer. Really, one pen works best for ink drawing: the Pilot Precise V5. It has a clean shape and feels good in your hand, with a strong tip that makes consistent and fine-but-not-fiddly lines. In my infrequent bouts of housecleaning I come across a dozen of these and always say, “I should do more ink drawing.” Maybe one of these days it’ll happen.

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