favorite pens

Is it weird to have favorite pens? I journal, take notes, sketch plans, and make lists with pen and paper. I assume not everyone is as sensitive to the way the pen feels as I am, but in my sensitivity, I can categorically say there are pens that are enjoyable for writing, and there are those that are not. Thus, I have favorites.

I use regular Sharpies for labeling (even things that don't require permanent ink) and fine point Sharpies for list-making. I use sparkly gel pens for underlining while I read non-fiction - I have yet to find one I like for writing words, but they make for fun underlines. I don't use give-away pens if I can help it - for anything at all.

My all-around favorite pens of all time are Paper Mate Profile 1.4B. A few years ago, Paper Mate came out with InkJoy. I was excited to try them, but ultimately not impressed. Now, they have several varieties of InkJoy and the Profile 1.4B doesn't appear on their website. (There is a Facebook fanpage, though.) So maybe the InkJoy is better now. However, I will not be trying it again because there is no Paper Mate in Kenya.

Bic, yes. Uni, yes. Pilot, yes. Paper Mate, no.

When I need to buy a pen here, I've been buying Bics (I could do worse - there are pens cheaper and worse for writing than Bic's standard stick pen), unwilling to try any of the nicer pens because I thought it would be a waste of money, since they all carry a large markup as imports. When I go to the US, I stock up on Profile pens. Today, with the exception of my rarely-used red pens, I am down to the last quarter-inch of ink on all of my stock. I decided to try something new.

And I have to say, surprisingly, I may actually like these better. But first, my perfect pen wishlist:

• Ball point
• Smooth writing experience
• Retractable
• Broader tip (Bic stick pen's redeeming factor)
• Multiple colors available

The Uni Lakubo meets all but the third bullet point. I don't like keeping up with pen caps, but I can forgive them that. Beggars can't be choosers and such.

When I picked them up, I didn't look to see whether there were different size tips. I ended up with a 0.7 mm and a 1.0 mm. The reviewer on the link (which is for a 1.4 mm) prefers these over my up-to-now favorite pen. So far, they are the best fine and medium ballpoint pens I've ever used.

They have proven to me that I actually like fine point pens for making notes in my Bible. I can write super tiny with them, and they don't bleed.

Next time I will check to see if my store has the bold ones. If they do, these could surpass the Paper Mates in my hierarchy of ultimate favorite pens. The only thing holding them back is the non-clickability.