ALMOST WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Mitsubishi Pure Malt Mechanical Pencil Review

Mr. Pentulant and I recently made the trek to Japantown in San Francisco to Maido. (OMG, I love that store.)

Among other things, we came away with this Mitsubishi Pure Malt Mechanical Pencil. It takes .5mm leads.  I don’t know much about pencils, but Mr. Pentulant tells me he loves it.

Away we go . . .

Are you into pencils? What is your favorite?  I have a new one to show off soon, too!

PAPER REVIEW: Mnemosyne B5 Notebook by Maruman

Shopping for paper online is wonnnnderful. Shopping for paper in a store is like, whoa.

Feeling the creaminess of the paper. Studying the color of the lines. Pondering the lay-out and line width. Comparing sizes, and bindings, and covers, oh my.

I found this Mnemosyne B5 Notebook by Maruman at Maido in Japantown, San Francisco. I love that store. I could move in there. (Especially because there are noodle and mochi shops nearby. Yum.)

This notebook is a B5 size. It measures 176 x 250 mm. That’s 6.9 x 9.8 inches for those of us who don’t speak millimeters. Such a pleasing size. Neither too long nor too wide. It can be laid open on the corner of a desk without being too much in the way.  Fold it over on itself and it’s not too big to be held in one hand. I’m digging B5.

This yellow sheet is the first page in the notebook. It looks like instructions, but it’s in Japanese. And it’s a little confusing at first glance because these pages do not have vertical lines, but this example page does. What the heck?

It turns out that there are teeny-tiny very light vertical marks on the paper near the header and then again at the bottom of page to help us create tidy vertical lines on the paper. If you want to, that is.

You can see one of these little marks in the picture below.  Such a nice touch – love the easy flexibility.

Each of the 160 pages (80 sheets) has gray dotted lines that are spaced 7mm apart. Every ten lines, there is a heavier solid line. These heavier lines lines divide the writing part of the page into three equal sections. These lines are not so intrusive that you have to use them, but they’re there if you want to. Again, easy flexibility.

The paper is white, but not screaming bright white
The binding is wire-o. Pages are perforated.

But…how does it perform?  Check it out . . .

No feather, no bleeding, tiny amount of ghosting (show-through).

The paper on top of the writing sample is Clairefontaine 90gsm. The Mnemosyne is definitely a softer white.  The paper is buttery smooth with an expensive look and feel.  I paid  $8.95 for the notebook and while that’s a lot when compared to a Mead notebook, it’s about what I’d expect to pay for a premium product.

Bottom Line:  I love this notebook and can definitely see using it for work notes or at home for planning or maybe even scribbling down quotes I love.

If you’re not near a store that carries Maruman products, JetPens has it – for around $15. (Making me feel like I got a pretty good deal!)

Tell me which notebooks you love? And do you love B5? I asked on Instagram and A5 seems to be more popular.

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FOUND AROUND FRIDAY: Catching Up Edition

You guys. It’s August. Where did July go?

I was so far behind on my blog reading, but I’m all caught up now.  Check it out . . .

Inkophile reviewed an ink I have, but haven’t gotten to yet. I like the color!

Unroyal Warrant has a CRAZY Field Notes thing going on.

My Instagram buddy, Fountain Pen Physicist, is working on an epic ink test and a different sort of test for her students. (Pretty sure the answer is either 42 or yes.)

Peninkcillin has a detailed (in a good way) review of the Pilot Metropolitan. Check it out here.

Do you read Inklode? I’m gonna start.

MyCoffeePot looks at the Parker Duofold Centennial. He says it’s his most favorite pen and I can certainly see why. My goodness. (Watch the video – pretty sure I can hear him about to burst with giddiness.)

Office Supply Geek bought a Poppin notebook from Staples. After my other Poppin experiences, I’m going to pass. (Though I still have, use, and love the ruler!)

I’ve been excited about Kaweco lately. Check this one out from The Pen Cup. That milky color. I loves it.

New ink from J Herbin?  That’s what Inkophile tells us! I won’t be at the DC Pen Show – will you?

Oh my. A Colorado Pen Show. I love it there. I have good friends there. Hm.

And, finally, over on Instagram, I was getting ready to mail out some ink samples . . .

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Do tell. Which blogs should I be reading?

Have a good weekend!
xo