Stationery can feed the imagination with its plethora of writing materials, clean adhesives and eye catching neon’s.
It also, one must add, reigns it in and tidies it away.
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I order stationery on Fridays.
An office has an insatiable appetite for stationery. Along with the regular weekly consumables are the special requests from my co-workers.
On this particular Friday there was a Blue Colarado Foolscap Box File amongst other items.
I flipped through the thick glossy stationery catalogue – ‘box file yes’...’colarado... yup’....’blue...ok’
With one index finger simultaneously pinning down the vast publication and underlining the item’s code, I used the other to type:
- 9021367, return tab, a click of the mouse and the box is ordered.
A seamless unity between man and machine!
What followed next was something of an ‘eureka’ moment. This blue file and a piece of writing I had read earlier in the day about an ant attack had now become united by the term Foolscap.
Foolscap.
Forgive me for misunderstanding but I had assumed, carelessly I admit, that the Foolscap signified a fool’s cap in this particular writing blog?
Yes? No? Who knows. But this is far more likely: -
- Foolscap: an archiving brand.
therefore
- Foolscap Files: an archive of writing.
The image of the dunce’s cone- shaped hat has now been replaced with a dignified filing system. A hush of embarrassment ensues while the change over takes place.
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Power Scissors
One would be foolish in thinking that a pen is simply a pen. Here are some of my favourite products that seem to belie the common notion that stationery has a limited capacity:
Pens – A LIFESTYLE CHOICE
BIC Atlantis Stic Ballpoint – Underwater cities, ancient Greece...this is the pen for dreams, adventures and historians
Bic Soft Feel Clic Grip
Uni Jet Stream SX-101 Ballpoint – be blown away by the force!
Penac Soft Glider Ballpoint – Sunday afternoons, letters to friends, time and a pot of tea
Penac Chubby 10 Retractable Ballpoint
Penac Sleek Touch Retractable Bullpoint – the Carte Noir of pens
Post – TO GUARD AND PROTECT
New Guardian Gusset Envelope
Paper Tyger Security Envelopes – the scarecrow of the urban jungle
Plempix Damper
Accessories – INNOVATIONS IN THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED
Tipp ex Pocket Mouse Correction tape – now you never need be without your correction fluid
Rapesco Puffa See Through Half Strip Stapler
Lipped Paper Clips – clamping down on the document like hunger bites into its favourite sandwich (granary bread, mature cheddar, mayonnaise, tomato, black pepper)
Fellows Earth Series Stackable Letter Tray – the desk is an ocean, awash with adrift papers like lost souls. Cultivate! Build! Give the papers a home, a stackable one.
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Stationary. Stationery.
Stationary = static, still, like a latent car.
Stationery = paper, office supplies and the like.
e becomes opposed to a
Stationery is rarely stationary.
Stationery has migratory characteristics.
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