Mildly Relevant Reviews – Pilot Varsity Fountain Pen
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Review – Zebra Sarasa Colors – Hunter, Fuchsia, Cobalt, Light Green, and Violet
After the first five colors in the ten-color pack of Zebra Sarasa pens, the colors get a bit less conventional and a bit more extreme. Let’s look at the Zebra colors Hunter, Fuchsia, Cobalt, Light Green, and Violet.
First Hunter, which is a dark bluish-green, a bit more blue than usual hunter greens, which seem a bit warmer. The color is very deep, and in some places could easily be work-friendly. It is a very natural color and could easily fit an artist’s needs for a deep green. It lifts the most when exposed to water, but like the rest of the colors here, it doesn’t really budge to smear once it dries.
Next Fuchsia, which I’d call rose, but that’s just me. It sits on the fence for me between a deep pink and a light purple. I can’t really tell which it is. As far as either one goes, though, it is a very appealing color that, unlike other pinks or light purples, doesn’t hurt the eyes. It’s more of a flower color than anything else.
Third is Cobalt, which is a very grey blue, though I’m almost tempted to say it’s the other way around. It’s a dark and dim color that gives off a wintery feeling. Artists could find a use for it in many winter themes and its color is just subdued enough that it would likely be a good office companion and still let you stick out.
Fourth Light Green, which is almost lime. It hurts the eyes a little, but it isn’t terrible. I’ve certainly seen worse. It doesn’t look very natural, and it’s slightly hard to read. It might make a good color for marking mistakes, but otherwise its uses are limited.
And finally, Violet, which is bright and indisputably purple. It’s a flowery purple and that’s the only really natural parallel that I can think of. It also might not be work-appropriate because of its brightness. But it is superb in readability, not dark enough to blend in in low light, and not light enough to disappear on the paper. For casual writing, this one would be a keeper.
And that’s it for the ten pack of Zebra Sarasa Gel pens, I think they’re great little things, with an interesting color set in which some aren’t often seen, let alone this common. They’re nice inks, and I’d go for them if you like the pen.
Mildly Relevant Reviews – Rough Rider Tiny Trapper Pocket Knife
Book Review – The Pig that Wants to be Eaten
The Pig that wants to be Eaten (By: Julian Baggini) is a moderately confusingly titled book that is exactly what its subtitle says it is, 100 experiments for the armchair philosopher.
I think the cover I got is the best design-wise
These experiments are mostly one-page summaries of philosophical dilemmas, followed by two pages of explanation. Usually the explanation covers both sides of the problems that are usually one way in and two-ways out. There are a few of them where three options will get you out, but that is generally discouraged. And in the context of the book, if you can find four or more ways to solve the problem, you’re thinking about it too much. These experiments are meant to force you to solve a specific problem to your satisfaction, not skirt around the issue.
To the author’s credit, he does provide a generally non-biased explanation of either side, and good comparisons to reality where one is not often present in the more abstracted and fanciful way the stories are placed. They are very metaphorical, and a lot more fun to think about that way. Their parallels are oftentimes difficult to guess, and aside from a rather heavy-handed abortion metaphor, this can make guessing where this would apply in one’s life part of the fun. And the book is quite fun. I hope it wasn’t meant to be very serious, because if it was it failed.
Its simple language and short section format make it easy to understand. And it still makes one think rather deeply about things that seem quite simple. While some of the topics may be absurd, that is the point. By eliminating a factor, and all natural variations that would occur, one can present a scenario that gets to the real heart of the problem being discussed, and since it is all in one’s mind, the usual methods for getting out of a hard decision are gone, and one has no choice but to provide an answer within the guidelines of the question.
If you read the book and do not question what each person in their various scenarios should do I’m not sure why you picked up this book. Though the limitations of presenting these “experiments” in a single page can be frustrating, the amount of complexity is surprising for the small size.
In other words I quite liked the book, and if you fancy yourself an armchair philosopher, or would like to look a little deeper into why you make the decisions you do I’d give it a try. Philosophy is something everyone can dip their toes into. I might even look into getting the sequel.