(These are my impressions of a mechanical pencil that I wrote because I thought it was very neat, but if I get anymore stationary I wanna talk about, I'll write about it)

I've recently begun my second to last college semester and have immediately run into a problem I've had since I was a little kid: I grip my pencils too firmly, and really dig the tip deep into the paper when I write. Because of this, my hand gets sore fast, and since I was little, I've had writer's callus. It's a big bump on my middle finger that makes writing painful and more uncomfortable. Though I've had this problem for a while, I had little means and/or no incentive to fix it, but after one of my last mechanical pencil snapped in half, I started looking into bougie alternatives.

The bump on my middle finger is what I'm talking about. It's very small now that I've been using this pencil, but it used to swell up ugly ugly.

That marks the beginning of my trek into the world of over-engineered mechanical pencils.

If you've ever had the YouTube algorithm recommend you something like an Uni Kuru Toga or a Pentel Orenz Nero, then you already know what I'm talking about (and if you haven't, search those up, they're cool but not specifically what I'll be writing about). If the name doesn't make it obvious, over-engineered mechanical pencils are mechanical pencils goated with some sort of mechanism or design that solves a sort-of nitpicky problem. For example, if you're annoyed with the fact a pencil lead tip can wear down and stop being sharp, there's mechanical pencils that rotate the lead every time you take the lead off the paper. Do you suplex your pencil and risk breaking all your unused leads every time you need to advance it's tip? Well there's pencils you can shake to advance the lead tip, and pencils that automatically let out more lead as you write. These mechanical pencils sound gimmicky, but for people who use them often or professionally, the little things these pencils provide to a writing experience make them worth it.

So as you can imagine, I was absolutely enamored with all the different ergonomic pencils I could chose, and the one I ended up picking is The Zebra DelGuard Type-GR Mechanical Pencil. I ordered it from JetPens along with replacement erasers, a Sakura Sumogrip Eraser, and Pentel Ain 0.5mm HB lead.

The Sumogrip eraser is super great too, I have to fix giant errors often when I'm doing Physics and Calculus problems, and it doesn't leave a big mess!

Being an ergonomic pencil, the Zebra DelGuard Type-GR is made to feel stupid good. It uses this gummy cushioning with a raised end towards the writing tip that keeps your fingers from getting to close to the metal part of the writing end. While I was initially hesitant to get a pencil with a rubbery grip, having this thing as grippy as it is sort of eases your hand into relaxing when you write. It's not something I realized right away, but as I was using it, my fingers figured out they don't have to squeeze the pencil as hard anymore to keep it from slipping away. It's honestly worked wonders for my hand fatigue, though that's not to say that I don't get it anymore. My writer's callus also hasn't gone away, but whereas it would get red, irritated, and stingy-feeling before, it just sort of turns a little red now. Compared to the purple bruising I'd usually get, that's an upgrade.

One criticism is that this thing attracts all kinds of lint, but I think that's to be expected with this kind of thing.

The body the DelGuard Type-GR has is also really spiffy, and works to lessen the strain on a writer's hand. This thing has a very thick body, about as thick if not a little bigger in diameter than a Sharpie. Because of this, my fingers didn't have to squeeze together as closely as they would a typical mechanical pencil. It's also noticeably heftier towards the writing tip, which makes it feel sturdy when I write. I've noticed that it feels a lot more controllable than using a lighter pencil which is weird because you'd think something more lightweight would be easier to work with. In the case of this pencil however, the weight made me feel more wieldy, and it had me lettering things with a lighter pressure. I guess the weight it has works to keep you from impulsively jamming the lead tip of this thing into the paper you're writing with.

A stationary lineup as a comparison.

Even if you still jam this thing into your writing canvas however, it's built with a mechanism that makes writing with it both smooth and safe. DelGuard pencils (not specifically GR) have a mechanism in the tip that lets the lead go back into the shaft if you press on it too hard vertically. And at angles, this thing will shift to protect the lead from breaking. It's a really wild looking thing, but it works big time and I've rarely had my lead break. With this pencil, the reason you push out more lead is if you wear the tip down to the metal shaft.

As you can see, vertical pressure causes the tip to retract, and diagnal pressure gets this plate thingie to come out and sheathe the lead.

Speaking of the shaft, it looks and makes you feel like you're writing with a ballpoint pen. I don't know if that's specifically because of the lead I bought, but even with the lead it came with, this thing felt like gel on paper. It also looks like gel on paper, but like I said, that's probably because of the lead I bought with it. This Ain stuff ain't bad, lemme tell ya.

I really love this design too, its so sleek and not so... manufactored feeling ig?

Overall this thing was worth it, and at a price of about ten bucks, I think its better than buying a pack of multiple pencils. Especially since it seems to be the more environmental and cost-efficient option since you don't throw this thing away when you run out of lead or eraser. In that case, buying more lead and more eraser tips is just easier to do. Plus, its nice getting attached to something like this. It makes writing things feel nicer in a sentimental way. The only problem I see with this is getting addicted to buying more over-engineered mechanical pencils, but with good restraint, this thing can last you forever and ever if you take care of it.

Example

Throwing these at the very end since this blog focused more on what this thing features and how it felt to use it rather than what you can do with it.

Some Calculus 1 notes and doodles. Guess what we're learning first instead of derivates?

A doodle of my OC, Lee Harper Makenzie. Using the DelGuard made me think about values a lot more because of pen pressure. Also, my lines felt a hell-of-a-lot more confident.

Some doodles of my roleplay group OC, Oon. I was trying to practice some more expressive stuff with him since his PuiPui Molcar face was feeling stiff.

Hello, I know it's real soon but I'm just about finished with the revamping of my personal website for now. From here on out, all I need is to make header art and a little portrait of myself to put in the About Me section. Gonna take me a minute like everything, but I found that editing together photographs to make stuff quickly wasn't really doing it for me.

Otherwise, the website is out. It can be found at https://maggnet.neocities.org/, and I'll be blogging there as well as Newgrounds. It's a good thing I finished this too since I want to move onto learning how to make video games. If you haven't guessed, I'm really trying to keep myself busy with programming. This is my last year of college before I come out with an associate's degree and either go find work or get a bachelors (I wanna say go find work though since I'm eager to start learning in the field). I don't have any CS courses this year however, so all this study is basically taking the place of that so I don't get rusty. I'm also gonna look into certifications, but it doesn't seem like anyone recommends them.

Like always, I'll be working on music and art on-and-off throughout the year. I wanna say I have something cooking, but I don't, I'm just going back and forth on stuff. A lot of stuff, as always, is just brewing, but trust me when I say I'm not gonna stop posting music/art. I've mentioned this before, but since I took that long hiatus, I've felt alone out here. Not tryna let that happen again, and more-so, I wanna get to know more people.

Imma keep updating these blogs with new posts, but for now, I hope y'all are having a good day (or night)!

Till next time!

-M. M

"Going to work on uploading the new tracks I uploaded to Newgrounds sometime soon. I should've been keeping up with that as music released, but I hit a snag with my video editor not working and getting me frustrated. May start using Tunes2Tube for releases here actually, but we'll see. I still have yet to think of new assets (I'm revamping my brand sorta) or even content to upload here that isn't music.

Meanwhile, you can listen to the tracks I uploaded (many I haven't uploaded here for one reason or another) on my Newgrounds (https://maggiejp.newgrounds.com/). I also blog a little bit on Newgrounds, but I'm gonna move that to a personal site I'm developing at the moment. Either that or post on both. I hope y'all having a good day, and living a good life. Buh-Bye!"

NEWGROUNDS EXCLUSIVE PARAGRAPH!!!!!!! I haven't worked on any new music lately, though I have been holding on to stuff I haven't released. I'm working on figuring out what to do with it since one song is a really experimental beat I want to actually rap to, but haven't developed anything for yet. On top of that, it needs some fine tuning and mixing/mastering. On top on top of that, it samples something from someone who passed away relatively recently, so I want to make it the best it can be. That may or may not be an excuse for my perfectionist tendencies.

I'm also still working on new assets to revamp stuff with (I mentioned this in the copy-paste), but along with that, I'm redoing my personal website to add more of a personality to it. I've hit a mental road block that hasn't let me come up with stuff. This is also why I haven't posted any art either, a lot of it is scribble doodles. Anyways, about the website: it will feature a blog section but rest assured, I'll be posting those same blogs here as well. I wanna get into the habit of updating it and adding new stuff frequently. School is coming up though, so let's see how that goes!

Once again, I hope y'all having a good day, and living the good life.

I am still alive, from M. M

Lately, I've been feeling extremely blocked up mentally. Not sure if its been my overall mood as of late or my living situation, but even when I felt I was fine mentally, I couldn't get myself to be productive creatively. I thought learning new skills as an artist (I started learning painting irl to see if it would help painting digitally) and putting out music again would help out, but all it resulted in was a brief resurgence of good-feeling progress then zilch.

I feel so disoriented and disconnected from what I'm trying to do that most of the time, I open up CLIP STUDIO or Ableton and end up doodling or whatever, but not starting on anything and committing with Ctrl + S. Sometimes I have plans and feel pretty confident in them, but they usually fall apart once my skill and uh... stamina? Yeah, stamina, go away. Worst thing is I worked pretty hard to try learning what I had before, but sometimes, it just brushes off like I never had it in me to create in the first place.

I have a feeling its part of a series of mental health issues I've been struggling with for a while but haven't had the right diagnosis for yet (I started therapy a few months ago and am now looking into a psychologist). I've been struggling with what I've called "procrastination" for a while now. I'm hoping I can resolve eventually, but it really takes a toll on a mf not being able to cobble things together. Not being able to socialize with a community of people I want to get into. That kind of thing.

Some might already know what I'm describing, so I'll leave it at that. Or well, lemme leave this off with I'm learning more about myself and learning to work with that. I don't see working through mental health as a bad thing, so don't wanna make it sound bittersweet lol. Just that I'm standing at the base of this hill, and I've got a ton of walking to do.

That and yes, I'm still alive! I feel like a geezer past his prime saying it, but after such a long hiatus from everything, I feel alone again lmao

Nice.

Hey everyone, so and so here and I just wanna say what a great year it is to be alive yeah? Political tensions are rising, ignorance is both a blessing and an honest-to-god annoyance, and ooh boy, what's that sound? Is that the increasingly stronger winds and climates we're getting over here in Chuco Town due to global warming? Well fuck me in the ass and pay me for it, we're living in a grand year already! I can almost already feel the rain at my fucking ankles in this desert town we call El Chuco!

Ahhh... Anyways, school's a bitch.

It's a good thing I'm already out because at the very least if I go to college, I can study something I'll actually enjoy! Now what that might be, I have no clue! I'm in a very tight spot between pursuing more animation classes to really refine my craft in both 2D and 3D medias and such or really giving into the harmonic style of the 18th century and going to school to really learn how music works composition wise. Either way, to me, is a good option as long as I can manage it but I'll just have to see. I already got accepted to my local college and have reached out to two others recently so depending on how that goes, we're just gonna have to hold on and carry on. Got to finish this year strong lest I have to take a break and miss out on opportunities coming straight out of high school. You know you have to redo things like SATs every year you attempt to apply? Also, after you leave high school and redo those, they make you pay for them! Crazy shit!

School's not the only thing bothering me right now, there's mental stuff but for the sake of not talking about it, I wanna talk about how energized I feel creatively. No really, I think I've finished 3 tracks this month, shit is crazy to me since school's been hounding my ass a lot recently. I'm starting to really get a grip on certain elements of this craft such as mastering, synthesizers, and processing. I've even started to try pushing myself to write more complex compositions. They aren't jazz musician special or anything, but I feel my work has really began progressing there. At the moment, I'm trying to hone my skills at piano so 1) I can really get into improvisation with it and 2) so I can have some sort of grip on it for if I go to college for music. Learning how to play the piano also really streamlines the workflow too, I mean programming all this shit gets really really draining. To anyone trying to up their game, I suggest getting a MIDI instrument like a piano or drum pads, practicing and learning them really pushes you to make your own conceptions on music, your own stylings I should say. I play a lot of triads and 4-note minor chords so that really reflects onto my song's harmonic and melodic content.

It's really fun getting into the nitty gritty of the craft, though what makes it hard is a lack of response to it. Idk bout y'all but I love getting criticized. I find it being the easiest way to know where you are when it comes to music but the thing is that no one really says anything to my stuff when I post it. Not unless its on YT but I'm not trying to build much of an audience there right now, especially since I have to make videos to accompany music if I do. Not even in Discord servers where I post stuff do I really get input so uhh.. If y'all wouldn't mind me asking, please leave a review on my stuff. I don't care if you rate it or if its positive or if its negative, just say something yeah? Are my kick drums displeasing? Is the mix too muddy for you? Is there not enough screaming? Please go on and say your piece, I'm desperate for it. This is one of the only things I'll ever beg of y'all, and trust me on that, I really hate to beg.

That being said, I hope y'all have a great rest of February and that the weather doesn't get any worse. If you can, donate to my Kofi to help me save up for equipment and, at this point, life, and enjoy the show.

So this might be late but Happy New Year... Scratch that, very late.

Usually I used this for letting y'all know what I'd been doing whether it be a remix or working on a mod. Right now, and probably not for a long while, I'm not really doing anything worth talking about. No big projects, no albums, none of that. I'm sort of just treading along right now so that being said, I'm gonna start using this bulletin as a simple status update/diary sort of a thing. Nothing too personal, just thoughts.

So what are my thoughts this time around? Nothing much, I just don't know what to work on right now. I'm thinking I should work on some more music, possibly try to Collab with other artists on here, just but I'm not sure. I've been teasing some sort of a webcomic on my Twitter in the past and keep putting it off due to my inability to do consistent and good art. I don't know if y'all knew but I'm pretty insecure when it comes to drawing. Lot of my shit is simple doodles. I don't like that but I don't know what to do about it. Not only that but I also get into trouble trying to set up the world and lore of what I want to write. I love to write stories and all that but setting up things for long term isn't my thing for as much as I've wanted it to be.

I've also wanted to do some cartoons or something of the sort, but my time is pretty limited and I'd rather not start something just to leave set it down and slowly lose interest in it. It is a lengthy process but the thing is my mind can only handle so much at a time. I'm on my last semester of my senior year of high school so I'd rather not get lazy. I hate high school so I don't want to spend anymore time than I need to there. I still need to go to college, and if not college, get to fuckin work.

My hobbies and life are a struggle to balance, but what doesn't help is having a bunch of hobbies. I still wanna try and do some voice acting someday. Funny shit ain't it? Either it's a lack of fulfillment in life or I just have too much time on my hands. Either way, it's... something.

Y'all tell me but anyways...

That's all I really have on my mind right now. I'll be trying to do this at least once a month, and (brace yourself for a plea) if you like the shit I do, please support it by spreading the word or donating to my Ko-Fi or doing both or doing neither hence is the opposite of supporting my work but isn't exact and thus is sort of a neutral choice and blah blah blah, I'm watching Squidbillies lol.

Go watch 12 Oz. Mouse by the way and also, Smiling Friends was a good :)

Also almost forgot but to whoever frontpaged me, thank you, it was a real dream come true and I hope my stuff is good enough to warrant another day on the frontpage in the future. Love y'all, NG forever

Hey losers, nothing is happening yet, go check my other outlets while this withers away to dormancy for a bit.

Hello peeps, it's Maggie J. more than a month too late to update this news post thingie. I'm gonna keep it short and simple this time so it won't be as long of a post as usual.

I haven't been making anything as of late, I'll be honest with you. I haven't been in a creative mood and just haven't had the willpower to really focus on music or art. Nothing's been clicking and I have a feeling it's because of school though who knows. Maybe I'm just burnt out.

So yeah, I'm not gonna teasing anything big this time around seeing that I have nothing however, I will say that the Scrapped Nutty Mod Collection has been uploaded long ago if you'd like to check it out. I've also uploaded singles and will continue to upload those whenever I can though it's gonna be slow.

That's gonna be all though I do wanna mention that I started a Ko-fi if you're interested in donating to help me get better equipment and software. If you like what you hear from me, consider it, any amount helps.

Anyways uhh, yeah. Cool? Cool.

Sup fools, it's the Muthafuckin Magkron back again from doing so and so and this is another monthly update coming to you live from a keyboard I'm having a very hard time getting used to. It's 35% smaller than my last keyboard and has mechanical switches so while it sounds and feels great, it sure is a workout on these small virgin fingers. Anyways, here we go, uhhh-

I've been working on mods for a long while now beginning from when Week 7 was released while I had COVID then going on from Week 83 to the Romp mod, a mod I composed one song for before my friend Bassya didn't really want to do it anymore or something to the Nutty mod that I've probably been released from. Probably not a lot compared to others, especially since other people actually get their mods released, but I've done some shit and now I have a bunch of unreleased songs. Because of that, I'm thinking of releasing them as their own compilation themed around scrapped songs. Thought it would be neat, though we'll see. If things go the way they seem to be going, then the compilation will include the one song I did for the Bassya mod along with whatever music is leftover to me if the Nutty mod peeps decide to use some of it at the end of the day. I'll also be including some other miscellaneous stuff as well along with some commentary. Nothing special really, I just like talking about how I made things and the little tidbits that go behind the stuff I do.

I'll be working on a few more things that are FNF related with some people, though after that, I'll be working on my own music. Maybe I'll even hobble together a mod of my own, I have some ideas .

With that being said, I've been working on something for a dude on Twitter named Ryissofly. Its a remix though I don't think it's gonna see the light of day for a while.

I also plan to work on a small album. You know how I keep changing my mind about things involving albums, well yeah, keep that in mind because I only have one song for it so far and the work name 'Stock'. Who fucking knows if I'll ever release my own album at this point, like for real.

Finally, I just wanna say thank you to y'all for supporting 'The Romp... OST' on YouTube, Newgrounds, and Bandcamp, I genuinely didn't think people would stay listening to it but it seems like many keep that shit in playlists which is uhh... humbling to say the least. I still think that shit was just lightning in a bottle but we'll see, I'm gonna keep practicing my craft. I'm in it for the journey baby, music is a beautiful thing.

Aight so uhh, that's all I really had to say so far. I'll be trying to draw and upload more finished art to the NG portal though I will say I am extremely rusty. Uhh... My birthday is on October 14th so I'm gonna be a consenting young adult... that's fucking stupid but whatever, time passes y'know.

And well uhh... Yeah, that's all really, I think that's all that needs to be said. So hopefully y'all read through the end and uhh.......uuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ye