i have a bizzar fetish for office supplies

[insertnamehere]

today i was looking at the classes being offered this fall at my school and deciding what i was gonna register for, so i picked some stuff out, and got all excited and went out and got some spiral notebooks and a planner and some pens.

i love notebooks and pens. it doesnt make any sense. i never use up a whole notebook's worth of paper it seems, but i cant just use the same old notebook.

i never got a planner before. what? write down assignments? absurd. but this semester is gonna be different. im gonna take notes with my awesome pens, and im gonna not fuck up my online classes cause im gonna write down when shit's due in my planner. no more will i walk into class and be suprised that we have a test on that day!

im just sad that i coudltn find any of the notebooks with the spirals ontop, cause im left handed and that would rule.

IM WRITING ALL THE IMPORTANT SCHOOL DATES IN MY PLANNER WITH A GREEN PEN!

yeah... im a geek.

[enree erzweglle]

i love notebooks and pens. it doesnt make any sense. i never use up a whole notebook's worth of paper it seems, but i cant just use the same old notebook.
I have the opposite problem. I have stacks of notebooks filled with notes from the texts that I've read. I rarely refer to those notebooks although when I have, I haven't been able to find a damn thing in any of them. I write on both sides of the page and I write quickly so everything's sloppy and illegible, even for me. I just use composition books. I must have a hundred of them filled with crap notes from the last 10 years alone. I'm looking at a stack of them right now.

Now, are we talking fetishes? If so, who's going next. Because I've wanted to read a thread with just this topic for a long time.

[Beth]

when i was younger, i loved that bic pen that had 3 different color inks -- blue, red and green. or maybe it was 4, or maybe instead of blue there was black. i can't really remember.

i adore office products too. i have a fake need for all of that here and at work. "oh, i need a hole punch." no i don't. my secretary uses his so that i can put documents and discovery into the file. "oh, i need a staple remover." no i don't. there's a staple remover by the copier, and usually my secretary is the one copying shit. "i need a highlighter in every color." yeah, i've only used one of them, and even that one wasn't necessary.

i'm a whore for the colored post-it flags. i intentionally make more work for my secretary so that i can use different colored flags. "please do a subpoena duces tecum for CVS to get the video tape. the address is red flagged. please also request a copy of the tape from the arresting agency. their case number is blue flagged. then do a defense witness list. the names and addresses of the witnesses are orange flagged."

[Documad]

when i was younger, i loved that bic pen that had 3 different color inks -- blue, red and green. or maybe it was 4, or maybe instead of blue there was black. i can't really remember.
Four - red, green, blue and black. And none of them worked very well--especially the green which was truly lame. It was the first pen I bought with my own allowance money. There was later one with more unusual colors but using the same model. It had even worse quality ink.

No one has a bigger office supply fetish than me. But it's about QUALITY not quantity. Why would anyone use 4 different colored highlighters in one book? It's just makes a mess. I was rarely able to buy a used textbook.

[dublirie04]

I like blank journals. I will start one and then get another one and the prior one will end up a quarter full -- something about a blank book....so many opportunities to get creative. I also like stationary.

The multi colored pens were fun too. Remember as a youngin writin notes in school and every paragraph or so changin the color......so funny what was entertaining as a youth.

[Documad]

There is nothing funny about being entertained by different colors of ink. So long as the ink is of sufficient quality.

[dublirie04]

There is nothing funny about being entertained by different colors of ink. So long as the ink is of sufficient quality.
Yeah, it was like a trend thing too. When I would be getting my school supplies ready for the school year that was on top of the list along with a trapper keeper, and pop beads. I know those arn't an office supply but I remember having to have those before the first day of 2nd grade. I begged my mom to take me out to get them because everyone (the girls) were going to be sporting em and I didn't wanna be left out.

[cosmo105]

bizzar = Insane Clown Posse album

[jabumbo]

being lefty sucks with spiral notebooks...

i just take my notes on old handouts and stuff...anything thats not lined, i dont like lined paper anymore. it just doesnt do the job i need for the notes i take

[Justin]

I always say im gonna buy all new notebooks and pens and such and really be a neat, organized student. HA, that always last about one week

[insertnamehere]

yeah every year im like "ok, this year im gonna be good" and i am for the first few days and then im like "man fuck taking notes"


for real though, this semester im gonna rock. all As. yep.

[BGirl]

If you let this paper fetish go unattended you may end up becoming a bookbinder like me.

Yeah, I started out with notebooks and stationery (and also a book lover)... my girlfriend and I would spend hours in the card shop pooling our change to buy stationery and stickers as kids... organized a stationery swap at summer camp (still have the loot from that back at my parents' house)... now look at me (http://www.figure5studio.com/).

:D

[enree erzweglle]

There's a particular parker pen that I like to use. I like the feel of it on softer paper. It digs in.

Other than that, I have no attachments to anything office-supplyish.

[insertnamehere]

how to you get a job as a book binder? does it pay well? can i come live with you?

[ms.peachy]

There's a chain of card/paper goods shop here in England called Paperchase - their flagship store on Tottenham Court Road is like heaven for paper product junkies. Four floors of paper paper paper, and everything that goes with it.

[BGirl]

how to you get a job as a book binder? does it pay well? can i come live with you?

Heh. In the old days, that's how it would work. If I was a master binder (which I'm not yet) you would live with me and be my apprentice for about 8 years. Those days are long gone now, although I do know one master binder who has made space in his studio for assistants to stay overnight - shades of the old ways of doing things. I used to work for him in the city but he's moved upstate and now it requires a $70 train trip to get to his place - not feasible for me.

There are many places you can work as a bookbinder - a common job is doing book conservation in a library. You could also work for a commercial bindery. Or you can be in business for yourself, which is what I'm doing as I continue to learn and master bookbinding skills... I am more interested in making designer bindings than a career in book conservation, but I am learning book conservation at the Met so I can provide those services to my clients when they come to me with their beat-up old family cookbooks and whatnot (also it's nice to give back in return for the privilege of learning this ancient craft by helping out at the Met - also I will need to start teaching at some point. Knowledge of bookbinding comes with a responsibility to pass it on).

If you're seriously interested, PM me and I can give you more info on getting started. I happen to live in NYC where the first book arts center in the US was founded and I started learning the craft there by taking classes. And I'm heavily involved with the Center (first as a workstudy student) so they tip me off to contract work and things like the opportunity at the Met. There are more and more book arts centers opening around the country, so maybe there's one near you that you could check out.

Oh - and from what I've seen bookbinding is not particularly financially rewarding. It's rewarding in other ways. :)