Still Pencils
I’m still getting deeper into pencils. At the center of that interest is the Erasable Podcast. There’s over 150 episodes and so I’ve been listening to them one after another while I take care of stuff around the house. It’s a pencil podcast first and foremost, but there’s enough culture and media recommendations to make it much more than just pencils. I’ve been reading and watching their recommendations over the last five years of episodes I’ve listened to and have found some great stuff I missed the first time around.
The podcast also prompted me to dive into my old stash of staionery. Back in ‘08 to about ‘13 I was deep into pens, paper, notebooks, some mechanical pencils, and bags. At some point I moved on, only keeping my fountain pen habit up until I left Slack. Not having to keep lists and meeting notes for work meant I didn’t have a need for them.
Fast-forward to the pandemic and I’m writing more than ever. I’m designing some stuff for my 3d printer and soon to arrive metal CNC as well as a daily laundry list of stuff to do around the house as well as some online projects I’m working on.
I would say I write more now than I ever did when at work.
Pencils end up fitting into this perfectly. While I loved my fountain pens they were fussy, a little messy, and not great for my kind of sketching. Also pens themselves aren’t consumable the way pencils are, and so it’s nice to spend time with one 15¢ pencil, appreciate how it feels and writes and then move on to some other 18¢ or even 25¢ pencil. Maybe if I’m feeling fancy I’ll grab a $2 pencil. With pens you do consume the ink but if you want to try something else it’s a “whole thing” that I don’t really have time for.
Current favorites: