It's usually a good sign when there are a bunch of Sharpies lying around, as it means things are in full blown fabrication mode and ideas for bike builds are flowing, that is, unless the ink isn't flowing as freely as the ideas because the cap's been left off the last damn Sharpie. Again. ...

I'm not sure how it's possible to be in disbelief every time another one dries out, particularly when I am the biggest repeat offender, but I find myself drawing and redrawing the same line, over and over, hoping said sharpie can be brought miraculously back to life. Sadly, its like adding water to the last drop of dish soap and hoping it will get the dishes clean forever, or adding water to the last sip of beer and thinking it will still get you drunk? ... Yes, I still occasionally dip dead Sharpies in water... and if you haven't tried it already, don't.

Sharpie have always been a force to reckon with in my world, but one that has lacked a quantum leap in innovation since 1964. Sure, there were the little key chain Sharpie, the crazy wide Sharpie, the fine Sharpie, the Sharpie "industrial" series, the Metallic Sharpie, and an ever widening color spectrum -but nothing that has dramatically modernized the horizon of the Sharpie universe, until now.

I derive great pleasure from perusing familiar salvage yards, the aisles of my favorite hardware stores, vendors stalls at my trusted swap meets, hoping that some magic fastener, amazing old machine, or a new chipotle chewing gum for cats will suddenly materialize and possibly change life forever. It seldom happens, but is so memorable when it does, as on a recent trip to Staples.

This particular visit my basket was filled with endlessly satisfying, fresh Sharpies. I couldn't decide if those industrial ones really lasted longer so I kept debating between the OG Sharpie or the fancy industrial one, the OG, the industrial, the ... then all of a sudden my vision went blurry and I saw this crazy shaped object in a Sharpie package. It was nothing like the others — bordering on arrogant in it's snazzy packaging... until I spotted "Retractable!" stamped jauntily on the front. Could it be? Was this just a gimmick? Nope, I am happy to announce that in fact, Sharpie has entered a new era ... the era of the fantastic, awesome, retractable, life altering Sharpie.... I've had one running solid for about a week now.



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