Rhodia in your bag? Show us!

Ever since I discovered the Flickr photo group “What’s in your bag?” I’ve loved seeing what kinds of stuff people carry around with them. I do believe it’s how I came to buy a Lamy Safari as my 1st fountain pen – everyone seemed to own one so I had to get one too. This image was submitted by Ann Elkington for our photo page: “In Your Bag” where Rhodia fans can show off their goods. (Psst…. send me yours!)

Julie’s Favorite: Webbie and a B2P

Our friend Julie sent us this image to be shared on our “Favorite Pens” photo page and speaking of which,  have you sent me a photo of your favorite pen yet?

“Right now my favorite pen is the Pilot B2P (Bottle 2 Pen). I’ve been using it with my journals now for about three months. I came across them by chance one day when buying supplies. They are made from recycled water bottles, and are refillable, so, I feel a little more earth friendly & minimalist when using them. They also write pretty smoothly. The B2P’s don’t have the sleek look of the metal or aluminum, but they have their own unique look. The cool thing is, no one else carries them at my job, so if i misplace my pen, it always finds its way back to me. Same with my notebook, because no one at my job rocks Rhodia Webnotebooks, either!”

Will Facebook’s IPO be a historic event?

Like it or not, this man in a hoodie has made a permanent dent in the history books for (quite aggressively) changing the way we humans interact with one another.

He has worked to create a platform where we can create large networks of “friends” to interact with on a daily basis in ways that could not have been perceived a mere 10 years ago. Through these activities, we have pretty much given away a large chunk of our privacy through our “likes” our “check in’s” and via a multitude of third party sites sharing our activities to Facebook for our extended friend network to see. While we have the ability to control what we share, many users are not aware of how to put those controls into place and it is because of things like this that our beliefs about our privacy are being eroded.

Today Facebook becomes a publicly traded commodity and as much as I want to buy in, (because I do not believe FB is anywhere near its tipping point) I face a number of ethical dilemmas surrounding what this company is actually selling. In my mind, the whole Facebook concept as it continues to progress will either be completely genius or the biggest con of all time.

So…. are you going to buy some FB stock?

Mandala Doodling on a Rhodia dotPad

These days I work in lots of different kinds of art media but I still consider myself a doodler.

It was about 5 1/2 years ago that I first started doodling mandalas- a circular art form typically represented by concentric circular patterns radiating from the center outward. For the first 4 years I drew them almost constantly in sketchbooks, tablets, notebooks, etc., typically with a fountain pen or marker. Sometimes I’d draw up to ten in a single day just by sitting and doodling one after another… this became my meditation.

Do you doodle? Do you do it just to kill time/keep your hands occupied or do actually you make the time to do it?

Write This Down: Smoked Paprika

I am a decent cook. Mom was a decent cook. Gram was a very good cook. (It was her job for 18 years to cook for the elderly at an extended care facility.) I watch lots and lots of Food Network programming and shows with Gorden Ramsey. I am not afraid to try new things and typically throw things together rather than follow recipes. I also tend to shop without a list which means that sometimes, things can fall by the wayside. Continue reading »