5 May 2008
I do most of my writing in pen, but depending on personal preferences or field of study, a pencil might make a lot more sense to use. In undergrad, I did all of my engineering homework in pencil. For a little while, instead of using mechanical pencils, I went through a phase where I only used real wooden pencils. I liked the way they felt while you were writing in comparison to mechanical pencils. Mechanical pencils don’t write very dark, and they have somewhat of a “scratchy” feel to them - it’s hard to explain unless you’re sensitive to it yourself.
But real pencils have a lot of downsides as well. They need constant sharpening. The erasers stink - they either don’t do a very good job of erasing or they run out too quickly. And when I stuck them in my school bag, the tips always broke. Honestly, these drawbacks were enough to force me to use mechanical pencils. The other day though, I saw a pencil by Faber Castell that looks like a super duper pencil called the “Perfect Pencil”. It’s a cap that goes on the pencil to keep it from breaking inside of school bags, and the cap has a built in sharpener. Pretty snazzy if you ask me. It’s a bit expensive, but I think it’s a nice step in the right direction for the long neglected, classic pencil.
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writing | Tagged: analog, pencil, writing | 
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Posted by paperdan
4 May 2008
Two Handy Book Holders:
Bookweights are a pretty simple thing, though I’m not even sure that ‘bookweights’ is the proper name for them. Essentially, it’s a weight that you can set on a book to hold it open. They’re pretty handy. Sometimes I’ll use it to hold a book open while I eat cereal in the morning. It beats having to hold a book in one hand and spoon in the other. They’re also useful for reading while taking notes without having to keep one hand on the book to hold it open. A bookweight is usually pretty inexpensive (about 10 bucks) and available at the big book stores like Borders or Barnes and Noble.
Portable bookstands are even better if you’re reading textbooks. Staples carries a great one. It folds flat, but when you open it, there’s a fairly large surface for the book. They work best with heavier books, like textbooks, since their weight will naturally hold them open. Some bookstands come with little catches that can keep the pages open (the Staples bookstand does). I like using a bookstand for reading since it elevates and tilts the book to almost eye-level. Instead of looking down, which can strain people’s necks after several hours, elevating the book makes it a lot easier to read for extended periods of time (hey, some people really need to read for hours and hours to get their work done!). They’re also pretty inexpensive, so they make a worthwhile investment for studying. Maybe it’s purely psychological, but bookstands seem to make it a lot easier to read dozens of pages at a time.
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Reading | Tagged: Reading, Studying | 
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Posted by paperdan
1 May 2008
It’s sad how distracted people can get with technology. I’m sitting at a Caribou Coffee writing a paper for a class, and this girl in front of me is texting/emailing constantly via her Blackberry and her Sidekick. Meanwhile, her books just sit untouched.
Ironically, I too had to take a break from my paper to write this post :)
Update: all that texting has worn her out, she just put her head down to take a nap.
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Thoughts | Tagged: distractions, random | 
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Posted by paperdan
29 April 2008
Everyone should have a good idea of how much sleep they need. I’ve been trying to cut coffee from my diet completely, and as a result, some days, I just can’t do any more work than what I’ve already done. Here’s a hint about what to do if your body’s tired and you can’t think straight anymore: get some rest. I know, nothing too earth shattering there. But, if your mind is exhausted, it’s silly to think that pumping yourself full of caffeine will magically get all your neurons firing like normal.
I know, I know, some days, you can’t afford to stop working. That happens to all of us, and we learn to deal. If I know I have something really important to get done, the adrenaline will sometimes be enough to keep me going through the night. On others, it’s just really tough to get through. You need to make a decision then. Are you going to push through or get some sleep? I find that a short nap can rejuvenate me enough so that even if I lost 1 hour to the nap, I more than make up for it through my increase in productivity. The worst feeling is trying to push through tiredness only to find that it took you 2 hours to accomplish what would normally take you 45 minutes with a clear head. Additionally, when you finally *do* make it to bed, you’re probably only getting a few hours, so your sleep feels lousy anyways. Make the decision when you notice a steep drop in your alertness, and you’ll be able to avoid nasty stretches of doing-nothingness.
No Comments » | Memory | Permalink
Posted by paperdan
27 April 2008
After a day of long interviews, I usually wind up with a stack of business cards. Since my memory isn’t photographic, after I receive the business card, I’ll usually jot a few things down on it about the interview. Of course, don’t do this in sight of the person that gave you the card - you want to seem like you magically remember moments of the conversation. Then, when you go to write thank you letters, you can just reference the business card, which will have the contact information as well as a few handy facts.
You can also do this outside of interview settings. It would be useful anytime you receive a business card: conventions, meetings, weddings, etc. Nicknames that a person prefers would also be good to note.
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Posted by paperdan
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