precisely...

I'm down to one Pilot pen. So important is this particular instrument to my daily Iife that I'm actually carrying it back and forth with me from my office to my home. (Granted, they are in the same building, but still...) I've ransacked my room but can't find a stray one anywhere -- not in my junk drawer, not in the couch cushions, not under the bed...

Thankfully I'm having some imported from the US in three days (yes, that's how SOON the long-awaited visit of my college best friend is!) so as long as the ink holds out (and she doesn't pack them in her carryon) I should be okay. If they exist in Switzerland, I can't find them. I did see some in a store in Oxford the other weekend but I just couldn't bring myself to pay £2 for one (that's $3.79!)... but that was when I still had two. This week I might have reconsidered.

If you don't understand pen addiction I probably can't really explain it to you. I haven't used anything else since my sophomore year of college (exception: sharpie markers are acceptable for certain tasks) -- that's a long time. I literally lose my ability to think without this pen. It's impossible to write in my journal with anything else.

Even for my three years onboard a ship on the coast of Africa I had them specially imported for my whole communications crew as a vital creative tool and morale-builder. One year I actually made an impassioned case to our COO for them to be included in our office budget. I lost, unfortunately, but became a beneficent donor of Pilot pens instead.

Life is in the details. And details become even more important when the big picture of your life is spinning out of control...

Pilot Precise Rolling Ball V5... black ink. And journals with lines...

:: "Stay Up Late: Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you’re separated from the rest of the world." — Bruce Mau, designer