Free stuff is overwhelming my desk. It’s created a level of clutter that’s actually begun to mess with my brain. I could solve this problem rather easily, but I’m not actually ready to review any of the stuff.

One of the curses of getting free stuff and then deciding to do long term use reviews of it all is that 1) you have to use the stuff, 2) you have to use the stuff a lot, 3) you can’t use all the stuff at once, and 4) you have to leave the stuff out where you can see it so you don’t forget to use it.

Because of this, both sides of my desk are currently occupied by clutter. The left side has a stack of notebooks, most of which I got at the ISOT and a few I bought because I saw them at the ISOT. The right side has pens, most of which come from the ISOT, but a couple that I bought have bled over to the left side.

The two piles merged into one giant pile of clutter.

To test the pens, as I’ve mentioned before, I write morning pages and random notes with them so I can see what happens to my writing hand if I use the pen a lot. I also use different kinds of paper to see what happens to the pen and the ink on expensive paper, ordinary copy paper, and reused paper. I carry them around to see how well they handle travel and abuse.

With the notebooks, I test them with different fountain pens and different kinds of ink to see how much they show or bleed through. The problem with this is I then have to keep them out on the desk so I can remember to take pictures of the results. Taking pictures involves other steps that get put off.

I’m also pondering a way to test durability by carrying the notebooks around for no reason and writing in each one every day to see how well the spines hold up.

But, that’s a future plan. Until then there are just the piles and the possibilities.