Get on it, Dyson

I try not to be a snob about much of anything, but I do have preferences about some things, and, it turns out, I have distinct preferences about the tools I work with.

I can adapt to pretty well any kind of keyboard or software, but I'm kind of "that way" about pens. I don't write a LOT with pens -- definitely not production work -- but I do write with them often. Just about every day I do spend time writing "by hand," as we now must specify, and I sometimes sketch zentangles.

Generally, I like felt tips and fine points. In the world of ballpoint technology, I have recently enjoyed using Paper Mate's InkJoy pens (and no, they're not paying me to say so). I originally picked up the package because it had all different colors of pens in it, and it said something important on the package: Effortless Writing.

Effortless! Writing! In a rainbow of fun colors! Who could resist that?

But every time I get on a plane, my pens explode in transit. Even in my carry-on. Sometimes it's overt (and I have the stains in my carry-on bag to prove it), but sometimes the process is sneaky and the pen lies in wait for me to use it. Then I sit down with my pen and a blank page in the notebook and suddenly there's ink everywhere.

Which is NOT fun. And then I either have to hunt down my most favored pens there or make do with pens that do NOT provide effortless writing. (In my head, my mother says, "Oh for pity's sake. Does it write? That's good enough. And go sharpen that pencil." Et cetera.)

Yes, this is a small thing. Yet isn't the world made up of them?

So, what I really really want is a pen I can take on a plane. Would you get on it, Dyson?