would you buy a used sportsball hero from this man? Over the weekend, a big thing happened in sportsball, which you know we are always on top of here at yr Wonkette. Turns out that the freedom-haters over at Al Jazeera declared jihad on All-American Hero Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning by reporting that he got some sweet sweet human growth hormone from an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic. That is a no-no, Peyton Manning! Did you learn nothing from Lance Armstrong? Do you really want to have to eventually give up your World Series ring or whatever it is your sort of people win?
As a fellow southpaw I always hated ballpoints because my hand would smear the greasy ink. Don't even get me started on gel ink. And also because, back in the day, they weren't as reliable as they are now unless you got an expensive premium model like a Parker. Fortunately my parochial school started us out on Sheaffer School Pens and so they were what we used until we moved off to high school after 8th grade. I used to love getting a new pen at the start of each school year. Back in the 1960s you could always pick the Catholic school kids in Detroit out of a crowd because they were the ones carrying those Sheaffer pens along with least one pack of spare cartridges in their pockets.
Since everyone in school used the exact same pen there was a thriving underground market in spare ink cartridges. If yours ran out in class and you didn't have another one, you had to be prepared to haggle (quietly, so the teacher didn't hear) with the kid sitting next to you over exactly what you would give in return for getting one of his spares. (It usually entailed a combination of money - a dime, typically - and the performance of some service, such as fetching a book from his homeroom desk, or the exchange of another commodity like ten sheets of looseleaf paper, depending on how desperate you were.) My school absolutely insisted that all schoolwork be done in fountain pen if you were in grades 4 or above. Woe be the kid who turned in work done in ballpoint.
I don't have any of those old ones anymore (we're talking about a half a century ago) but I have managed to pick up a few pristine NOS pens from dealers online that I keep squirreled away. As collector pens go they are dirt cheap, but nevertheless are valuable to me because they are so loaded with memories and personal significance. We used the version that had tinted transparent polystyrene barrels (opaque ones in the last couple of years), usually with the conical ends for most years. But my absolute favorites are the older version with rounded Balance-style (bullet-style) ends. These were the ones we used in the first couple of years after switching to pens from pencils and I always liked them the best. They are also the hardest ones to find, especially the one with the totally clear barrel. That one is the Holy Grail.
I also have many others, of course, with my faves being my Snorkel and my Pilot Vanishing Point. After getting too many funny looks and weird reactions I stopped using a fountain pen in public. Now I carry an extra-fine point Pilot or Uniball roller ball. They use actual liquid ink and have some of the same feel as writing with an FP.
Well, sort of, anyway. On the increasingly rare occasions when I get to use it ...
BTW I am just blown away by how few people these days even know what a fountain pen is and can recognize one when they see it in the wild. Damned Millennials.
Were you able to buy pens with your school name imprinted on the barrel? I tracked down a few from a school in Chicago and presented them to a prof in med school. People say she still tears up about them.
No, they were stock. The school had a school supply sale every year on the first day of school in September. The pens were on retail cards just like they appeared in the stores and they had no personalization on them. Which reminds of another little tidbit: we used to write our names on tiny slips of paper and stick them into the barrels before we put in the cartridges. Since the barrels were transparent (but usually tinted) you could plainly see the paper all the way up in the distal end of the barrel. If you did it just right and make your name slip small enough, you could even read it as it sat up there in the barrel end. Needless to say, this worked better in the older Balance- (or bullet-) ended pens because there was more room in the elongated end. (Do a Google image search for "Sheaffer Balance pen" to see the shape I'm talking about.)
Keep your pens out of his hands. I sent him some work and they ended up worse than when I sent them in. I've used John Mottishaw and a retired surgeon in San Francisco. And Penopoly in the East Bay.
Peyton heals amazingly fast from a severe procedure like neck fusion surgery, for an old man. He did indignantly deny all charges against him as vehemently as a Bill Clinton or Lance Armstrong, so I guess he's innocent?
If I were allowed to comment I'd say: "The entirety of the NFL and all sportsball is doped to the gills STILL"... so who cares what PeePee did. And, I might add: " the Broncos suck." Holier Than Thou Tebow involved in both those topics as well.
As a fellow southpaw I always hated ballpoints because my hand would smear the greasy ink. Don't even get me started on gel ink. And also because, back in the day, they weren't as reliable as they are now unless you got an expensive premium model like a Parker. Fortunately my parochial school started us out on Sheaffer School Pens and so they were what we used until we moved off to high school after 8th grade. I used to love getting a new pen at the start of each school year. Back in the 1960s you could always pick the Catholic school kids in Detroit out of a crowd because they were the ones carrying those Sheaffer pens along with least one pack of spare cartridges in their pockets.
Since everyone in school used the exact same pen there was a thriving underground market in spare ink cartridges. If yours ran out in class and you didn't have another one, you had to be prepared to haggle (quietly, so the teacher didn't hear) with the kid sitting next to you over exactly what you would give in return for getting one of his spares. (It usually entailed a combination of money - a dime, typically - and the performance of some service, such as fetching a book from his homeroom desk, or the exchange of another commodity like ten sheets of looseleaf paper, depending on how desperate you were.) My school absolutely insisted that all schoolwork be done in fountain pen if you were in grades 4 or above. Woe be the kid who turned in work done in ballpoint.
I don't have any of those old ones anymore (we're talking about a half a century ago) but I have managed to pick up a few pristine NOS pens from dealers online that I keep squirreled away. As collector pens go they are dirt cheap, but nevertheless are valuable to me because they are so loaded with memories and personal significance. We used the version that had tinted transparent polystyrene barrels (opaque ones in the last couple of years), usually with the conical ends for most years. But my absolute favorites are the older version with rounded Balance-style (bullet-style) ends. These were the ones we used in the first couple of years after switching to pens from pencils and I always liked them the best. They are also the hardest ones to find, especially the one with the totally clear barrel. That one is the Holy Grail.
I also have many others, of course, with my faves being my Snorkel and my Pilot Vanishing Point. After getting too many funny looks and weird reactions I stopped using a fountain pen in public. Now I carry an extra-fine point Pilot or Uniball roller ball. They use actual liquid ink and have some of the same feel as writing with an FP.
Well, sort of, anyway. On the increasingly rare occasions when I get to use it ...
BTW I am just blown away by how few people these days even know what a fountain pen is and can recognize one when they see it in the wild. Damned Millennials.
Were you able to buy pens with your school name imprinted on the barrel? I tracked down a few from a school in Chicago and presented them to a prof in med school. People say she still tears up about them.
No, they were stock. The school had a school supply sale every year on the first day of school in September. The pens were on retail cards just like they appeared in the stores and they had no personalization on them. Which reminds of another little tidbit: we used to write our names on tiny slips of paper and stick them into the barrels before we put in the cartridges. Since the barrels were transparent (but usually tinted) you could plainly see the paper all the way up in the distal end of the barrel. If you did it just right and make your name slip small enough, you could even read it as it sat up there in the barrel end. Needless to say, this worked better in the older Balance- (or bullet-) ended pens because there was more room in the elongated end. (Do a Google image search for "Sheaffer Balance pen" to see the shape I'm talking about.)
"distal end" Where/are you in medical practice?
Oh, yeah. Ballpoints suck.
I was reading some pen reviews recently and that was a term he (Richard Binder) used.
Keep your pens out of his hands. I sent him some work and they ended up worse than when I sent them in. I've used John Mottishaw and a retired surgeon in San Francisco. And Penopoly in the East Bay.
I'm still pissed the Bills didn't try to sign him.
Peyton heals amazingly fast from a severe procedure like neck fusion surgery, for an old man. He did indignantly deny all charges against him as vehemently as a Bill Clinton or Lance Armstrong, so I guess he's innocent?
:poop:
So there are people out there who believe that football players aren't dosing on a regular basis?
I've heard that Manning is to the right of Atilla the Hun, so he would like the cut of Fleisher's jib. Whatever that means.
Certainly his cozying up to 'Papa' John Schnatter doesn't help his image with anyone having a conscience....
I hadn't thought about before but guessed it might have some seafaring association and sure enough per dictionary dot reference dot com:
In the 17th century the shape of the jib sail often identified a vessel's nationality, and hence whether it was hostile or friendly.
If I were allowed to comment I'd say: "The entirety of the NFL and all sportsball is doped to the gills STILL"... so who cares what PeePee did. And, I might add: " the Broncos suck." Holier Than Thou Tebow involved in both those topics as well.