School supplies

You're never too old for back-to-school

Other necessary back-to-school supplies for grownups: a new plant, enough coffee, a wee T. Rex

It may not be true that behind every writer, teacher, editor, artist, and librarian there is a childhood love of school supplies, but there are worse ways to choose a career. (I used to say that I entered academia because it didn’t require pantyhose. That may seem silly now but jobs requiring hose were a real threat in the early 1990s. When I was in college I waited tables at a “casual, family” restaurant that hired only women front of house and required that we wear knee-length navy-blue cotton skirts and the dreaded hose. Did the male cooks and managers have to wear pantyhose? What do you think?)

I have always loved an office or art supply store, especially before the advent of large chain stores and on-line shopping. Staples doesn’t make my heart go pitter-pat. But on the north side of Chicago, again in the early ‘90s—my college years—there was a large upstairs loft space in an industrial building, filled with brick and wood and natural light, that sold blank books, beautiful paper, every kind of pencil and pen, stickers, rubber stamps, stationery. I can’t remember the name, but that was a favorite place of mine. I still have paper and stamps I purchased there. (I just gave some of that paper, which I clearly am not using, to a 14-year-old artist friend. Look! Vintage!)

My only child doesn’t share my love of school things. ‘Tis the season for new school shoes and clothes and notebooks and pencils and planners and figuring out an organizational strategy . . . ! But he’s having none of it. His shoes still fit; he doesn’t want new ones. He’s happy with the tee shirts and shorts he’s been wearing all summer and his middle-school backpack. I went by myself to Staples to buy him three-ring binders and spiral notebooks in basic (sorry, kid) colors. At least he has a zippy pencil case that was a long-ago winter solstice gift. And he has good-quality pencils, because I am his mom. (FYI, I sent him with sharpened Musgrave Tennessee Reds. I dread the day he comes home asking for a mechanical pencil, even though I know I need to keep an open mind. Read all the banned books you want, but keep your woodcase pencils!)

(An aside. We were in Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago shopping for a game for a birthday gift. They had a display of banned books. “What are banned books?” he asked me. Oh my sweet angel child. Let me try to explain.)

A couple of weeks ago we were at the house of a friend of his, a theater kid with a flair for the dramatic and a love of nice things (in other words, she’s like me). She had been shopping for school supplies—everything in Barbie pink. She and I delighted in pencil cases, a lucite ruler, a pink calculator, different sizes and shades of pink notebooks. Do you know the kinds of decor they have for lockers these days? Chandeliers. Little rugs. A wee plastic succulent in a pretty clay pot that hangs with a magnet. A hanging plant for your locker.

As for me, I have no need of new supplies, alas. But if I did, this is what I’d get.

Decompostion “Rebottled” notebook

Impossible to find. Don’t even try.

This has been my favorite notebook for several years. I love the size (8.5” x 11") for scrawling, the spiral binding, the line spacing, and the quality of the paper, which is made from 100% post-consumer waste, yet seems smoother than the paper they use in their popular Decomposition notebooks. Unfortunately, Decomposition has been out of these notebooks for a couple of years. I stocked up on them last year, finding them online at a bookstore in Iowa. I really need to find a new favorite notebook though.

Blackwing Eras 2023 edition pencil

Blackwing has my number.

The Eras 2023 pencil is modeled on the Eberhard-Faber Van Dyke 601, first produced in Germany in 1900, but no longer in production. Look how good these look! Plus you know they’ll write like a dream, because they’re Blackwings.

Who am I kidding? I’m totally going to buy a box of these.

Carl Angel manual pencil sharpener

I have a blue one that you can spy in the top photo.

This is the best pencil sharpener for the money, bar none. Its only downside is that the grip leaves teeth marks on your pencils. I thought I would care about marred pencil enamel, but I don’t care. This sharpener is that good. And it’s 33% off at amazon right now. I may buy another one to keep in my other writing space. That would be the height of luxury.

Leuchtturm1917 notebooks

I love these. Everyone loves these. The Germans are good at paper.

I have used the A5 medium size classic notebook with dotted rule for bullet journaling. This year I’m using their branded Bullet Journal, which is the same size and rule, and I like it quite a bit, although I’m undecided about whether its extra features are worth the higher price tag; plus it only comes in black or pale pink. Perhaps I’ll try the A4 to replace my beloved weird Rebottled notebooks. I like to decorate my bullet journals with stickers (see photo at the top of this letter), because I am still 14 at heart. Or, rather, I’ve learned that I don’t need to give up such pleasures just because I’m a grown-ass woman.

Threshold desktop wood storage unit

I have an older version of this inexpensive yet very nice desk organizer. (This is not a great photo; it’s wood-joined and has brass reinforcements at the corners. It measures 13x5x5".) Mine holds smaller notebooks, boxes of pencils, a ruler, a hand fan, bookmarks, and my NY State bird guide. I should probably buy a couple more.

Pencil cases

Pencil cases are a necessity that will also remind you of (a romance of) your student days. It’s worth having many. My favorites are an undyed leather pouch I purchased in Dolny Kubín, Slovakia, when I lived there in 1995, and a sleek blue leather pouch I picked up in Lund, Sweden, in 2017. I don’t know what to recommend to you, except that pencil cases make great souvenirs. You want your cases to be nice quality and a joy to use, but ideally you won’t have to spend too much money. Don’t hit up Levenger or anything. (Ugh, I wrote that, and then I looked up Levenger for the first time in years, and they have a New York Public Library–branded canvas pencil case for $30, which is too much. Hold me back.) I prefer soft cases to hard because they’re more forgiving of freshly sharpened graphite (though pick up some inexpensive pencil caps while you’re at it). Etsy has a nice selection of cases; these are elegant and reasonably priced (and 30% off today only, apparently). If you absolutely must carry your favorite 40 pencils with you, then I recommend a roll-up case.

Good erasers

This is a good basic eraser, and you can pick up a 4-pack at Staples. They last forever.

Ironic boat-and-tote

If you need a new bag, why not get an iconic L. L. Bean boat-and-tote but make it ironic? The only reason I haven’t done this yet is that I CANNOT decide what to put on my boat-and-tote. I’m probably overthinking it. (Moi?)

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Any day now, this late-summer heat wave in central New York will break, and then we can talk cardigans and boots. Happy back-to-school to those who celebrate!