Erasable pen that actually erases!!!

So the erasable sharpie was a huge disappointment. I think we're all still a bit sad about that. But...Pilot has managed to do the impossible: It has created a truly erasable pen! Woo-hoo!!!! My friend Elaine got a few free samples of the pen and shared one with me. I have to say that this was an unexpected gift from the office supply gods. According the the office supply sales rep, the ink disappears when you rub it with the special rubber tip. Supposedly the ink will reappear if you stick it in the freezer. I might have to check that our later today...

The only bummer? It is hideously ugly.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Well, it's not quite cold yet here in Seattle, but the return of the rain is a reminder that winter is on its way. This year, I plan to be prepared. I've wanted these every winter, and every winter I neglect to buy them.

Check out the cheapest selection here, but you can also google "usb powered gloves" to find more all over the web. I'm holding out for some not made from wool...

Trust Me

You need this. It is the best.pen.ever.

I bought it after perusing the pens on Amazon.com and reading reviews. [This is what I do instead of writing my dissertation.] These Jimnie Gel Rollerball pens have 15 reviews, all overwhelmingly positive. In fact, the only negative points were that it seems to run out of ink faster than other pens and that people will steal it from you.

This is Who I Want to Be When I Grown Up

I have found the coolest store, ever. My work here is done--I have no need to blog ever again. I'm seriously thinking about running away from my life here in Seattle to see if Kate's Paperie in NYC will take me in.

They have something called an eraser ring, in bling yellow, for goodness sake! How awesome is that?

Speaking of Sharpies....

Everyone's Talking About...

There was quite the buzz about Sharpie's new "pencil"--an erasable pen whose ink becomes permanent after a few days. The consensus seems clear--this is a cool concept, and everything works great--the erasing, the permanenting--except that it writes like crap. Bummer.
And yet I still kind of want one....

Daily Candy Has Great Taste

Daily Candy does an amazing job in finding the coolest stuff on the interwebs and then spreading that information. Today they took on the subject of school supplies. Check out their advice!

Powell's Books Field Trip

I went to Portland for the first time a few weeks ago and, of course, I had to make the pilgrimmage to Powell's. It is truly a wondrous place! Despite my best intentions to just breeze through the place in an hour, I somehow lost 5 hours there. I don't even know how that's possible, because all I did was check to see if they had any books on or by Sri Aurobindo in anticipation of next month's trip to Auroville, India.

Anyway, I discovered that in addition to many, many books, Powell's has some pretty awesome office supplies. Below, please find some of my favorites, presented for your pleasure:



They had a variety of really beautiful legal pads.
















These are sets of beautiful post-it notes, designed by graphic artists.











OK--enough with the beautiful and on to the goofy!

















This is a HUGE post-it note pad in classic yellow. It was at least 18" square--big enough to be kitschy and small enough to be not super-useful....

Cool Technology

Sorry for the long absence. I've been saving up some stuff to post, but I haven't been able to get to it. That said, I saw this article in Time Magazine and I had to share it--25 Best Back-to-School Gadgets. I really want the Livescribe "Pulse" smartpen and Kensington ComboSaver notebook lock!

I'm a Mac Girl

I'm torn between believing this is cool and that this is excessive--Deskology has produced a set of desk accessories to match your mac! They do look appealing together, but they're a little pricey ($189 for the set) for me. Unfortunately, that's a problem with most things mac--you do pay more for good design. I'm willing to do that for my computer, but I'm not sure I want to do that for my paper tray, too...

This made me giggle

My friend Jeanette supports my office supply habit by picking up interesting products for me in her travels around the world. This is a pad of paper she brought back from New Zealand for me. Hee hee hee!

Creative Recycling

Sorry I've been gone for a while--the end of the school year hits hard! I've actually been saving up stuff to post, so there should be a lot of stuff appearing here soon.

These origami sticky notes, however, were too good to hold off on sharing. I'm a little unclear as to how this works, but I think the sticky note container has instructions for creating 10 different shapes out of the used notes. So awesome!

The Perfect Thank You Gift: Poopy Clips!

One of the wonderful students with whom I work bought these for me--so awesome! The binder clips (in case you can't seen them clearly enough) are in lovely pastel colors and are labeled either merde, shit, caca, or crap. Genius! They're from Knock Knock , but I can't tell you how much they cost because they were a gift.

The hard part is going to be remembering to not use them on someone's thesis or to not give into the temptation to use it on mine...

We go together like rama lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong

I love the idea of a built-in niche for my pen/pencil in my notebook. I drag notebooks all over campus, trailing pens behind me like breadcrumbs marking my path. Maybe this would help reduce the number of pens I buy... Well, okay, that's probably an unrelated issue, but it might reduce the number of pens I lose.

Sassy in a Green Way

I just discovered something pretty cool: soy-based laser toner cartridges. I wonder how well they work? At any rate, here are the benefits, as explained by idealbite.com:

• Minding the environment. Using one soy-based cartridge conserves up to a pound of oil.
• Philosophizing more clearly. Soy-based inks emit fewer headache-inducing VOCs (air pollutants) than run-of-the-mill, oil-based inks.
• Knowing the difference. Soy ink tends to offer brighter colors, and although your office will shell out a little more (depending on its printer), it goes farther than its petroleum counterparts.

Happy Derby Day!!!

It's the first Saturday in May and as all Louisvillians (even those of us stuck out here in Seattle) know, that means Derby. Time to bake a derby pie, make some benedictine dip, and pick some fresh mint for a genteel, yet somehow ass-kicking mint julep!

Here are some horse-themes supplies for you in celebration of the big day:

• Horse-shaped paper clips
• Tape decorated with horses
• Horse-shaped hole-punch
• Mini-sticky note cube with horses
  

Nature + Office Supplies

I visited my friend Ellen at her farmhouse in Vermont this past fall (so beautiful!) and experienced a very not important revelation: I want to decorate my world with tree-related images. I love tree silhouettes, leaves, acorns, pine cones, and whatever other kind of tree-related ephemera you can come up with. (Well, except the raccoon that was in my tree in the front yard two nights ago that scared the bejeezus out of me and the dog. Actually, I might just exclude that tree completely from this ode to trees and tree-related products.)

Anyway, Elle on Guard pointed me to a new site filled with fabulous things, and some of those fabulous things were these fantastic paper clips--love them! Thanks, Elle!

Sale!

Daily Candy's Daily Deal says that you can get 30% orders from Sorting with Style if you use the code DCDEAL when you check out. I'm not sure how long this deal will last (it was on today's email, but was dated 4/28), so check it out soon!

Monograms Make Everything More Functional

When I was in high school, we spent our entire junior year learning how to write a research paper based on using note cards. We had to write an outline and take notes on 4x6 cards, marking the part of the outline to which the notes corresponded on the upper right hand corner.

Now that I've been writing my dissertation for six years or so, I keep thinking if I only had the right system, I could finish the thing this weekend. I have occasionally entertained the thought of transcribing all of my notes on little note cards, spreading them out in front of me, and imposing order on all of the information I have collected over the years. The idea of the note cards having my name printed along the top makes that an even more appealing waste of time. Hmmmm....

You're gonna shuffle when you walk at the depot

So I made it to Office Depot this week to use my coupon and stock up on some pretty paper clips and other essentials. (Why do metal paper clips make me feel like Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest?) I found some wondrous new things to share with you all.

The first is the Office Depot Brand Combo Pack, for first-time forays into the world of pretty office supplies. It has red, blue, yellow, green and purple staples--a veritable cornucopia of color!--as well as large and small binder clips and paper clips in the same colors. I think it should be renamed the Gateway Pack, but that's just me.


Next are these fun leopard-print binder clips. Not much to say there, except how can you go wrong with tacky AND functional?










These are my favorite: people-shaped dry-erase boards to hang on your door knob so that you can write a note about where you are, when you'll be back, secret codes, whatever.








And finally--success! My stash of pretty paper clips has been replenished. All is well in the world.