The Ballpoint Pen is one of those amazing little inventions that everyone takes for granted. ABC Radio National posted a great article today with a little more information about where the original Ballpoint came from.
Sounding like something from a Tintin adventure, the Biro brothers fled from the Nazi persecution of Jews in Hungary and landed in Argentina in 1940. They immediately started manufacturing their patented ballpoint pen, which they called the Birome.
I recommend reading the whole article on their site. And a big thanks to Andrew at ABC for letting me know about the story!
Hey Everyone! Andrew here. First and foremost I would like to apologize for the lack of content on StationeryReview recently. My personal life has taken a turn which means I cannot devote the time and effort which is required to maintain this website by myself, however I don’t want it to fall into obscurity.
This is where you come in. Would you be interested in contributing to StationeryReview.com? It could be a once-off article about how much you love your favorite pen, it could be a series on notebooks or your Every-day Carry, or even a brand spotlight for your local stationery manufacturer.
All you have to do is contact me here: admin@stationeryreview.com with your name, a little about yourself, and what you would like to write about, and we can work something out. I would love to get one or two articles up a week, but anything is better than what’s happening at the moment! (And hey, if you live in Australia I might even have some samples for you to review!)
If you have any other questions, the comments are always open! Looking forward to hearing from you!
I love finding Australian companies which make interesting stationery. These notebooks by “Mi Goals” from Melbourne are no exception. When Adam (the creator) contacted me and asked me to review them, I was pretty excited to give them a look! He sent me a Notebook, Bucket List and 2013 Diary, all from their range. Check out their website for the full range.
This blurb from their site sums them up pretty well:
“Mi Goals is a lifestyle brand specializing in stationery that inspires. Founded in 2010, over the past few years Mi Goals has grown in leaps and bounds. Starting with a simple goal to create an all in one diary that allows you to write, track and achieve your goals all the while staying organised, Mi Goals has evolved into a brand that’s goal is to inspire and motivate you to reach your goals and live inspired happy lives.
Big or small, we all have goals and want to be happy, our goal is to inspire you to dream big, achieve and become who you want to be. Our stationery is the first step. By providing you with the framework to reach your goals we believe you can achieve anything…but we’re a little selfish too…we want to be a part of your journey.”
The first thing I noticed was the amazing package I received:
It was packaged in a Mi Goals branded box, with all the books sealed in plastic and some neat bookmarks included.
The first one I checked out was the Bucket List. Basically, it’s a notepad which lets your flesh out and keep track of your “100 things to do before you kick the bucket”. It has a fairly stiff cardboard cover, which feels like it would stand up to a bit of a beating (Handy when you will probably be using this book for the rest of your life!).
Inside, you find some inspirational quotes on the slip pages, an example list of items (some easy, some not so easy) then 100 pages of a goal-per-page, and a two-page blank list at the back. The goal pages are set up to allow quite a lot of information, including date of completion, inspiration etc. It’s a great idea, and I love the implementation of it.
Next up we have the Note Book. This guy has a similar cover to the bucket list above, however it’s a black-coloured card with embossed letters. Again, it has inspirational end papers, but inside it has a simple layout of blank/ruled pages, numbered, and headings. At the back it has a blank index page so you can find what you have written quickly.
And last but not least, the 2013 Diary. This one is quite impressive. It has a very solid hard cover, with flexible binding allowing it to open pretty much flat.
The diary has quite a few sections which you wouldn’t find in a normal planner, focusing on goals and achievements. First up, you have a “life rating” section, allowing you to have a base-line of your life before you start the year, an “In 5 years” section, pages for 10 goals, a to-do list, an overview of the year, and for every week there is a set of habits and goals, with check boxes.
There is so much in this diary to keep you motivated and on-target. It’s a really impressive piece of stationery.
And last but not least, there is a paper test. Here you can see the Mi Goals paper stands up to most pens fairly well. There is no bleed, but a little show-through with the heavier pens.
An exceptional product, well presented, and full of great ideas for keeping you on track. All the Mi Goals range comes highly recommended! Thanks Adam for the chance to try them out!
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