gutlessness update...

still gutless at work. dunno what i'm so scared of -- it's not like i'm an integral part of the organization yet... suppose it's just fear of making a fuss when things are always so barely-under-control anyway.

developing guts at karaoke, though. out-of-tune, cracking-voiced ones, but they're guts! much fun.

maybe they'll stick around long enough to cough out what i need to say at work tomorrow morning. i picked up the notice form to get out of the apartment... once i turn that in, no looking back.

unless i want to commute.

and i don't.

withdrawn...

and did i mention that i finished the second sandman volume this morning? even better than the first. and i've sworn not to buy another until the weekend. ok, so it was next weekend, but dammit i can't wait that long and i'm going to the land of many bookstores again anyway since dave has to work saturday... and being gutless means i'm working at least a week longer than i originally thought anyhow, so i can afford it...

no sandman, no e-mail... what on earth am i s'posed to do on lunch break now?!? (in fact, i've already started another margaret atwood novel... but there was that moment of helplessness before i picked it up, so i'm not completely fabricating!)

it's back!

my ttu e-mail account's been reactivated. yay!

I HAVE A PEN! I LIKE IT!

ok, quick background. you know milton, the guy from office space who's waaaaay too attached to his red swingline stapler? hate to say it, but i totally sympathize. i get pathetic over office supplies, and i agree that the swinglines are the best. but my big issue is pens. i can't stand most of the pens provided at the office. i was actually resorting to begging and pleading and trading with my co-workers when the spending freeze made us run out of the one kind i tolerate. i don't even have pretty handwriting, but i'm a freak about it.

anyways, i love fountain pens. i found this out in france, where they're plentiful and cheap. then i came back to the US... and, um, forget about it.

i still have my favorite, a plain metal fine-point one made by waterman. it still writes beautifully, it's got a nice weight to it. i paid about $8 for it.

unfortunately, most of the ones i've bought here in the states are leaky disasters. my dad found one that showed up in my xmas stocking last year that was fantastic for a while, but its nib's been feeling a bit under the weather here lately. other than that the best i've found in my price range are the disposable ones that pilot makes.

so delight quickly gave way to impulsiveness when i found a waterman fountain pen set including lots of ink cartridges and even a liquid ink converter in office max today. waterman! they who made the perfection that is my favorite pen! nearly $30, but dammit, if it doesn't leak it's worth it. and so far it's not leaking. and it's pretty -- all blue and gold detailing! and it doesn't skip!! medium-nibbed, but i suppose that i can forgive it.

boy, do i feel neurotic... but neurotically happy and pen-possessing!