What's in my Pen Case? Pt. 2

Yesterday, I posted the part one of my two-part What's in my Pen Case series, so here's part two!

On the back of the panel that has my eight most frequently used pens, there are three mesh pockets. The stuff I keep in here is pretty straightforward.  In the top pocket, I have two little pads of staples brand sticky notes, one blue and one lime green. In the next, I keep two erasers, a black and a white.

(How I arrange things in these pockets!)

(The things I keep in those three pockets!)

The last pocket has a pad of yellow sticky notes and a pack of pencil lead, or rather, like fifteen consolidated packages in one container. I use the sticky notes to leave notes for people, write mini to-do lists, and of course, to take notes. Having three colors is really incredibly convenient, and these three pads fit perfectly in my pen case right now.

This isn't my favorite part of the pen case, however. The mesh isn't stretchy and I worry that I'll rip it apart. The erasers and lead don't stay in the pockets very well either...

(When you flip over the page of pens!)

And finally, in the bottom half of my pen case, I keep...well, pretty much everything else. :) I have a small white Rhodia grid pad (N. 12) which is useful for testing pens, leaving notes I want to keep, bigger to-do lists, and drawing on. Below it, I have a Tombow hybrid correction tape. Its grey tip can be pulled out in order to protect the white-out, but I find that I don't need to do that as it isn't messy at all. Neither of these items is secured to the pen case.

Underneath the Rhodia pad and the correction tape, I have quite a myriad of supplies... I just like being prepared. :) I have a mini stapler, a MUJI "stick type portable scissors," two rulers, three more mechanical pencils, two standard pens, and two fountain pens! Wow. I've posted pictures below. :)

I keep a metal ruler and a plastic ruler, as I've found that the metal one is (obviously) more durable, but the plastic one is a) see-through, b) a protractor, and c) required for my physics lab. But I wholly prefer my metal ruler - it's so nice and thin and sturdy.

      

The stapler I debated about, as I didn't think it would be useful, but I've used it a lot more than I thought I would! The scissors are there so I can snip off bits of thread from clothes or my backpack, or cut paper, or what not... essentially, I'm keeping my scissors in here to act like scissors. :) I also keep three other mechanical pencils back here. The green and the red/gold one are the same, except for color. (I put gold foil in the top of the red one to get that color.) I keep these three pencils back here in case my carpel tunnel is really bad - the wider barrels are much easier for me to hold and the grips are so comfortable!

There's also a 0.28 tip pen back here, which I use only to make notecards for linear algebra. My professor allows us to have a notecard, front and back, for midterms and exams, and with a very slim pen, I can fit more information on the card! :) The two fountain pens are just for funsies - if I have the time to let the ink dry, I'll use these pens. I absolutely adore the heaviness of the Jinhao 250. For such an inexpensive pen, it looks quite pricey and writes nicely. This pen has a fine nib (which I specified in the picture with an F). And of course, the Muji gel pen is my only pen in my entire pen case that isn't a color I could use for regular school work. It's nice to have a pen that has a little more pizzazz... and it helps me ensure that my pen case isn't just old and boring. ;)

(Pens I keep in the back...
Sorry for the off-center photograph!)

I just wanted to make sure I posted a photo of my five mechanical pencils (and my correction tape too, I suppose!) All of these pencils, with the exception of the Pilot Opt, were purchased in Taiwan. The Opt was a gift from a couple of good friends of mine.

(From top: Pilot Delful, Pilot Opt, and three Pilot Dr. Grip CLs, and a
Tombow mono hybrid style correction tape)

Alright, that's all I have for today's blog post! See you on Thursday!

What's in my Pen Case? Pt. 1

Hi there! :) As you may know, I'm currently majoring in chemistry at UC Santa Barbara. I'm also a little bit of a stationary collector... so I carry around a pen case with me. :) I thought I'd blog about it today - it's one of my favorite things I use.

This is a rather lengthy post, so I've split it up into two, so here is Part 2. :) In this post, we'll just be going through the top half of the pen case.

Before I begin, however, I'd like to post a disclaimer: I mostly use black and dark blue pens, as well as pencil. My pen case strongly reflects that. I have another pencil case I use that holds colorful pens, which I might blog about another day this week or just in the future. This is just the one I use for my work every single day.

Anyway, that's enough talking, so let's begin!

I use the LIHIT LAB pen case pictured below. (I've heard this pen case be called the "Teffa" pen case as well). I chose this specific one because I've heard a ton of good reviews about it, and even though I researched it (a bit, anyway), I was still surprised by how large it was. After using it for just over a month, however, I've gotten used to it, though it still is a bit unwieldy to use on the small desks we get in classes and such.

I don't keep anything in the outside pockets of my pen case, unless I have a midterm or a final, in which case I keep my ID in the smaller pocket. An index card will fit in the bigger pocket, but obviously, because it isn't very protected, I don't keep index cards in that pocket. As of right now, both pockets are empty.

When you open the pen case, on the first two "pages" of the pen case, I keep my white 0.5 Pilot Opt mechanical pencil, as well as my black and pink Pilot Delful 0.5 mechanical pencil. 

(What you see when you open my pen case!)

The Pilot Opt was a Christmas gift from two of my friends, and I love how sleek it looks. It has a spring clip that allows me to clip the pencil to papers, my mini legal pad folio, my bullet journal...really anything. And the Pilot Delful clicks like a pen, so that the piece that feeds the pencil lead doesn't always need to be exposed. It's my favorite pencil for travelling or keeping outside my pen case, as the tip stays protected. These two pencils are relatively slim (compared to the others I keep in my pen case) so they stay up at the front.

(Zebra Mildliners!)

And I also have my pastel set of Zebra Mildliners. I recently got these (as well as the yellow and blue sets) and I'm already in love with them! I'm going to save them for their own little blog post... :)

Anyway, on the next page of the pen case, I keep the eight pens I use the most - there are six black ones and two dark blue. 

I'm going to start off with the two pens on the bottom. I purchased the sharpie pen because I currently have carpel tunnel, and the sharpie pen is essentially a fineliner - it requires absolutely no pressure. It's not my favorite, as when the ink runs out, I'll have to toss the entire pen body and that's just a huge waste of plastic, but for now, it's nice to have. The Pilot Precise V5 definitely isn't my favorite pen. I use it for lab, as it requires a bit of pressure (which makes my carbon copies come out darker), but due to its needle-like tip bending under pressure, it isn't very durable. Once the ink runs out, I will most likely not repurchase it. 

But now, from the top! I like my dark blue Pilot G2 pens because of the color - it's something that's a little more interesting to look at. The G2 is a reliably good pen to use so I use it often - I keep two of those in my pen case and will often take notes with them. With the Uniball Signos, there really is no reason for me to have four of those except for varying tip sizes. I use the 0.38 tip (gold "ultra micro") for writing my cheat sheets for Chem, the 0.5 (gold "micro") for notes and letters, and the 0.7 (just the normal silver 207) for really everything else. The 207s are waterproof, unlike the G2 pens, and don't bleed when they get wet! The 0.7 signo is my go-to daily writer; in fact, I keep a third one clipped to my bullet journal. Although I love my dark blue G2 pens, sometimes, you just need the standard black pen.

(My most-used pens!)

Anyway, I'm going to stop here for tonight, as it is getting late. Happy Tuesday, and see you tomorrow!

-C

Wow, it's been a while.

Well...it's been quite a bit of time. It's already "next year," so to speak. I haven't touched the post button here since last summer, and since then, I've gone through 1.75 quarters.

But well, I'm going to challenge myself to post once a day for the next week. The blog posts may be really short, or maybe more in depth? I'm picking up on some new hobbies, got some cool new stationary, started a bullet journal...

A lot of stuff has happened and I want to remember most of it. What better way is there to do it than to blog about it?

Alright, that's all I'm going to blog about today Hopefully, tomorrow's post will be a bit more interesting!

-C

Oh Crap

Yesterday, I was a communication major.

Today, I'm a biochemistry major.

"Just" a Hike

       

(At the edge of the lagoon)

I'm officially in Santa Barbara for school now! Technically, move-in is tomorrow, so I'm just chilling in a hotel typing up a blog post on some pretty sweet free wifi, but well, Santa Barbara is going to be home for the next (at least) 4 years. I'm pretty lucky I chose the most beautiful UC campus.

There is so much flora surrounding the school. Paths meander along the edges of campus, wandering along the edges of the sea cliffs. Gorgeous blooms of pink, yellow, and purple dot the landscape, and bright greens occasionally appear amidst the drab brown landscape. Although the cliffs aren't necessarily high, I still felt tendrils of apprehension wrapping around my stomach when I looked over the edge, because it seemed like it would be so easy to fall. But the water, lapping at the shore some ten feet below, seemed calm and serene.

I walked a few of the paths today, wandering along the edges of the lagoon, and then following the edge of the cliffs.  As I hiked, I kept snapping photo after photo of the ocean, of interesting trees and of beautiful flowers, none of which I know the names of. Of course, I enjoyed the weather, sunny with a few scattered clouds. It was only in the mid 70's, which was a welcome respite from the weeks of 100+ degree weather from San Marino! Santa Barbara being 30 degrees is reason enough to stay here, because, well... summers in the LA county are just B-R-U-T-A-L.

Also, I was pretty surprised at the amount of "fauna" in SB. I saw flocks of birds, five or six lizards, and bugs of all types... as well as 68 pokemon today (ugh I know, I caught on to the craze...). Hahaha okay, but in all seriousness, it was cool to see people out on the beaches, playing in the ocean with their dogs and what not. It makes me so excited to come to school here.

(I'm just posting a few photos I took today on my hike...)

Something I thought was super cool was the stone labyrinth. There was a little informational sign near it, saying that there was no wrong way to walk the labyrinth, and that the entire distance of the maze was 0.6 miles.  I walked it (took me around 10 minutes) and once I was done, I had to take a moment to appreciate how much work went into the labyrinth... people had to bring the stones up, line them up in a maze, and then walk and measure how long it took to walk. And I was tired from just walking the maze... it definitely made me think. And I think this will be one of my favorite places to spend time this summer, and for the next few years.

(The labyrinth!)

I know I said I didn't feel ready to move on, and I still stand by that. But the beauty of the campus definitely quells the homesickness, and I guess I feel a little more ready.

Not Ready to Move On

I'm going to Santa Barbara tomorrow.

I'm not ready. There's so much I haven't finished... and I don't mean packing.

Because, well, look:

(Mountain of "stuff")

There is no way I didn't pack enough...haha. I have boxes of things, and new shoes, and sheets, and pillows and notebooks and just a lot of stuff.

I just don't think I finished everything I wanted to do. I've been ready to leave San Marino for a few years now, or so I thought. Because, well...tomorrow is the beginning of a new adventure. I'm going to Santa Barbara for orientation, for the freshman summer start program, and for a few months, with a couple weeks of break in between.

I'm alternating between excitement and terror... I'm excited, I really am. but it's just that San Marino was hard for me to get through... and I hope Santa Barbara won't be the same. Somehow, though, San Marino was "home." And when I leave, I'll be leaving behind some wonderful people, memories, and places. I'll miss so many people so much, and it's hard to imagine leaving. I'm not ready to move on.

But I don't have a choice - I leave tomorrow and it's going to be fun, I know. I'll be going to school by the beach, and I fell in love with the campus back in March or April, so having to spend a few weeks/months/years somewhere I love doesn't really seem that bad. So I'll be okay.

But why is it so hard to convince myself?

Sew What?

If you checked out my senior project blog, you'll sort of know of what happened during the second half of my senior year. Long story short, my left arm had a large bone growth: a benign bone tumor. However, it was large enough to start impeding on my radial and ulnar nerves, as well as a handful of other fairly notable ones, which caused my entire left arm to lose function.

Around the same time, I was doing my senior project, which was quilting. And well, it's hard to sew one-handed. I detailed a lot of my frustration on that other blog, so if you're really that interested (hey, no judgement here), go check it out by that link above.

Well, I'm leaving to go to Santa Barbara for college in a couple days (WOOT WOOT GO GAUCHOS). And I just wanted to prove to myself that my arm is at least 80%. I may not be able to use it quite as well as before, but I was able to sew a little pouch out of some pretty pink flowery fabric.

Sewing is still as difficult as I remember... so nothing has really changed. :)