Expensive Pencil

On March 15, 2026 6 Comments - Gear, Toronto, Uncategorized

I like to write with a pencil.

I like the way a pencil feels warm between your finger tips and resting in the crook of your thumb. When I write with a pencil, I feel resistance. Pencils push back a little. They let you know that you are not alone in your writing or sketching. They are right there with you.

In contrast, ball point pens feel slippery to me, like walking on wet ice. My writing is naturally sloppy so a pencil slows me down enough to keep the letters a little more legible. I also think pencils smell good and I enjoy sharpening them to a fine point.

There is a lot to like about a pencil.

Stationary Shops

I find it hard to walk by stores that sell writing tools without going in to have a quick look around. Even though the feature displays of high end fountain pens are beautiful, I immediately gravitate towards the pencils. And sharpeners. And erasers with all their different materials and colours and stickinesses. White polymer is my favourite. It cleans up my messes the best and it has a chewy texture that I like, softer than the raspy pink ones.

Today I found myself in the Junction area of Toronto where I was surprised to find 3 well stocked stationary and art supply stores within 2 blocks. They all had a great selection of writing tools and very little overlap between them.

In the last shop I visited, I found a pencil that I had to bring home. It’s this one:

There wasn’t a price on it so I brought it up to the cash register to see. I found out that it cost around 2 dollars. TWO DOLLARS!! This is a Tombow brand pencil, made in Japan by a small factory. The barrel is cedar, the graphite core is the highest quality, and it is finished with more than a few coats of rich black lacquer. There is even a cute silver dragonfly embossed onto the barrel (Tombow means dragonfly in Japanese). This pencil is a skillfully made tool and it is a pleasure to write with. It makes rich, dark and consistent lines without excessive pressure. It is perfect. And it costs 2 dollars!

Think about what else you can buy for 2 dollars…

Nothing…you can’t buy anything for 2 dollars. Not even a bag of chips. Not even at the “dollar” store.

I left the stationary shop with my brand new shiny black-lacquered Japanese-made super-high quality cedar-barrelled premium graphite-stuffed cute dragonfly-embossed pencil feeling pretty good about myself. I knew that I got an amazing deal.

What can you do with a 2 dollar premium-grade pencil?

draw a picture of your cat.
write down something that you know you will forget (make a memory out of paper, as an elementary school teacher once told me).
write a poem about something that took your breath away.
write a love letter to a person you have been thinking about non-stop to the point that the rest of your life has ground to a complete halt.
take out a pad of paper and write a message to the person sitting next to you on the subway…you KNOW that they are reading over your shoulder. Make them smile.
leave a note to your partner (or your parents!) before you leave the house telling them how important they are to you.
write a paper letter to someone. Nothing in the digital world can touch the intimacy of pencil (or ink) on paper. Instant gratification in nearly every aspect of our lives has all but erased the joy of discovery, the excitement of anticipation. Imagine the thrill and surprise of finding a handwritten letter addressed to you in your mailbox.
make a list of things that you want to do…things that will make your life richer.
make of list of things you never want to do…this kind of list is also surprisingly helpful.
you could write a long letter to someone explaining why you have to leave them. A pencil can break somebody’s heart too.
the list goes on and on

That seems like a lot of joy, a lot of potential, a lot of power for 2 dollars…

Yes, of course, you can do a lot of these things on your computer or phone BUT…they will soon get lost and forgotten among all the other junk on there.

A warning I found on the Tombow Pencil website:

I think this is a direct translation from Japanese:

In elementary school I seem to remember more than one kid that got stabbed in the hand with a pencil by a pissed off classmate. Maybe it was just my school… maybe Tombow knows something about this too. Anyways…boys will be boys etc…

Tombow Pencil Company Limited seems to recognize the power of their product…. here is a link to their website if you want to check out their super-pencils.

A scientific case for pencil use

I recently read a study that looked at dementia in very old people. Specifically, it looked for commonalities among seniors who have managed to maintain perfect brain function even though they are well on their way to 100 years of age. Across all cultures, across all socio-economic backgrounds, looking at everything from education to physical fitness to diet, there was only one thing that all of these sharp minded ancient people had in common: Every single one of them wrote by hand, everyday. Diaries, letters, notes…whatever. Pencil or pen on paper. Thoughts and ideas…flow through complex muscle movements in the arms and hands coordinated with vision to make written language on paper. Powerful.

Happy writing!

If you would like to visit the shop where I got this pencil, check them out here: Articulations.

If you enjoy reading this stuff or find the recipes useful and would like to contribute towards website maintenance and development, you can make a donation here. Thank you for reading TigerSalad.

Farewell JW

On February 12, 2026 4 Comments - Uncategorized

This morning I received a message telling me that a person I worked with a long time ago had taken his own life. I had not seen this person in many years but I actually thought about him quite often. JW was one of the most unique people I had ever met. He was at least as tall as me and skinny as a rail. He had some of the biggest and wildest hair I have ever seen. And an unforgettable face. A movie star face…a face that always looked handsome in photos. Like Adrian Brody, or Daniel Day-Lewis. A face that would have looked perfect on the back cover of a best selling novel. A face that would have made sense in a visual dictionary next to the word “poet”.

JW was outwardly sarcastic and funny and sometimes a little mean in a harmless big-brotherly way. But, he was also tender and sensitive and deeply caring. I always liked him and I always enjoyed his company when we worked together. I remember that he liked bicycles and umbrellas and had a tattoo of at least one of those. He liked Edward Hopper paintings, especially the ones depicting night windows from outside.

Rabelais and Don Quixote

A few days ago, I unknowingly read his last instagram post…the one he wrote on the day he died. He talked about how many times he had tried and failed to get through reading Rabelais. I was surprised because, other than myself, he is the only person in my whole life that I had ever heard mention that book.

We already had some kind of literary thread between us. I knew that Don Quixote was his favourite book and I loved it too. I had read that book in my 20s, the same age JW was when we worked together. And, in this case too, he was the only other person I knew who had read it.

When I think about JW and Don Quixote now, it makes so much sense. He was an idealist. I think he always had poetic and romantic notions of how the world should be. I think he believed that people were capable of kindness, of courtesy to strangers, of chivalrous acts. That they should strive towards that ideal and had a responsibility to do so. JW was quixotic, through and through.

I bring up his last instagram post about Rabelais for this reason: I think I saw it very early in the morning, right when I woke up. I remember smiling to myself and thinking “Only you JW…would try so many times to read and understand that impossible book”. I wanted to write to him in the comments about how I had also struggled so many times to read it and always met with failure. I think he would have laughed. Instead…I slid out of bed and started my day. I thought that I would get back to it later but..I didn’t.

If I had left him that comment, would it have made any difference? Probably not…but possibly. It may have given him the idea that some distant friend still thought about him. He may have been surprised and smiled at that. It may have gotten him through that one day. And in that one day…something else might have happened to get him through the next day…and so on. Who can say? All I know for sure is that my words had zero impact because I didn’t say them. Maybe it was already too late.

Thank you JW. I feel fortunate to have known you while I did. I was happy to work with you at such a special place and time. When I first read your Rabelais post..i paused for some reason..and I felt…something…maybe it was already your absence. Knowing what I know now, I feel your absence all the more. Even though we had not talked in a long time, I thought about you often.. especially when I was out walking at night peering into the lit windows of houses I passed by. I promise I will keep doing so. I wish I had told you these things when you were around to hear them.

This is yet another reminder for me that tomorrow is not promised. If you are thinking about someone, tell them. If you care about someone, let them know. If you are worried about someone, get in touch. No harm can come of this…it costs you nothing. But it may make all the difference to someone else…maybe just for one hour or one day…but maybe for a lifetime. Don’t wait too long.

February 17th, 2026

Today was JWs funeral. I won’t say much about the service itself. It was sad..and more difficult than I thought it would be. Not so much at the service itself where I was surrounded by other people.. but more so when I was walking home alone through the city, and later that night as I lay in bed reflecting on what I had seen, unwilling to close my eyes.

It took around two and a half hours to walk home from the cemetery. The route was familiar but the weather was strange. The entire city was obscured by a weird yellowish fog, the air was thick with humidity and the sun was a weak halo of light buried in layers of cloud. I have never really seen that kind of weather here before. I thought that JW would be happy to know that on the day of his funeral, the weather was so gloomy and dramatic. I think he would like that.

East side of Bloor Viaduct looking over St James Town through the orange haze.

Simple Kombucha Recipe

On February 7, 2026 0 Comments - Cooking, Fermentation

What is kombucha?

In it’s simplest form kombucha is black tea fermented by a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) in the presence of sugar. There are probably thousands of good articles out there that explain this process in great detail…so I won’t add to the pile. In this article, I only want to provide a simple recipe with a clear process for myself and anyone else who might want to try making kombucha.

Why kombucha?

In addition to having a long and mythical history, kombucha is purported to have many health benefits (the final ferment contains live probiotic bacteria). I make it because it is fun, it makes my kitchen smell interesting and funky and it is delicious and refreshing. It is a terrific substitute for soda when you are eating anything heavy or greasy. It’s great with pizza and burgers but even works with more delicate flavours like sushi and sashimi.

Ingredients:

1 SCOBY
6 black tea bags (I am using orange pekoe)
1 cup regular white sugar
12 cups of water

You can’t really “make” a SCOBY. You will have to buy one online or get one from someone who is brewing. Once you have one, it will grow with every batch and you can peel off layers to share with fellow brewers. I got mine from my lovely downstairs neighbour.

You can just use cheap everyday tea bags. I am using orange pekoe bags from the grocery store. Use black tea and avoid anything flavoured (for now). I like these round Tetley brand ones…they are very strong and brew up to a nice colour and aroma.

kombucha scoby — Sugar, SCOBY, cheap tea bags….a simple recipe for fermentation magic.

kombucha scoby in tea — A side view of my SCOBY. It is a jellyfish-like collection of bacteria and yeast suspended in a mat of cellulose. You can see a few layers here. Every time you brew, a new layer forms.

Top view. I keep my SCOBY in a round wide-mouthed storage jar. The SCOBY will grow into the shape of whatever container you keep it in. I think it looks like the planet Venus.

Process

fill pot with water — In a clean pot, bring 12 cups of water to a rolling boil.

add tea bags — Once the water is boiling, drop in the tea bags.

steeping tea for 15 minutes — Turn off the heat and let the tea brew for 15 minutes. It will be quite dark.

removing tea bags — After 15 minutes, remove the tea bags and discard.

adding sugar — Add sugar and stir well to dissolve.

cooling brew in ice bath — This brew needs to cool down to room temperature. Now is a good time to fold the pile of laundry in the corner of your room, call your mom or take a nice long walk until the brew cools off completely. If you don’t have time or patience to let this happen naturally, you can use an ice bath like I did above.

pouring brewed tea into fermenting container with kombucha scoby — Once cool, pour the sweet tea into a fermenting container (usually the one in which the scoby lives).

side view of full container — Here it is…scoby meets sweetened tea.

shows breathable cloth and elastic band used to close top of container — Cover with a breathable net or piece of fabric. Secure it with an elastic band to keep out insects. As with any ferment, insects (especially fruit flies) will be interested in launching a full investigation.

Make sure that the ferment can breathe. I use a cork to keep this lid open and circulate air. You don’t have to use a lid at all. I just happen to have one around. Let your kombucha rest for a week and then start to taste it daily. When you can barely taste the sugar and it has a slight tart flavour, it is ready for bottling. My apartment is cold in the winter so this usually takes around 2 weeks. If the environment is warmer, it will ferment faster. Taste it!

Time to bottle

finished brew in container 2 weeks later — This tastes and smells a little sweet and a little sour.

removing scoby — Remove the SCOBY. Make sure you wash your hands and that your bowls etc are clean. This is a very robust collection of beneficial microbes…you don’t need to sanitize everything but make sure it is freshly washed with soap and water.

removing 2 cups of brew to keep scoby in later — Measure out about 500ml (2 cups) of the fermented tea from the brew. This is the SCOBY’s home. It will need to be in this liquid to survive.

adding brew back to scoby — Add the 500ml tea back to the SCOBY and set aside for now.

shows glass bottles with swing tops — Prepare clean bottles for the brew. I am using glass, but plastic soda type bottles are probably safer. I know that my brew will likely not ferment much more in the bottle. Not enough to break glass anyways. If your brew has more residual sugar than mine, it may continue to actively ferment in the bottle and cause it to burst. If you do choose to use glass, these swing top beer bottles are designed to withstand a certain amount of pressure.

Additional Ingredients / Second Ferment

You can bottle your fermented tea just as it is. It will be delicious. Or, if you like, you can also add some aromatics as you bottle. I almost always add fresh ginger and dry hibiscus flowers to mine. The ginger adds a little sweet snap to the brew and the hibiscus add a little tang and a beautiful rosey colour.

Over the years I have tried citrus peels, cinnamon sticks, all kinds of herbs and spices and I always come back to ginger and hibiscus. It is a winning combination with the fermented tea. You can usually find whole dried hibiscus flowers in any spice shop, asian grocery store or Mexican grocery (where it is called Jamaica). It may also be under the name Rose of Sharon. It is all the same thing and definitely worth seeking out.

sliced ginger — Peel and slice the ginger. One thick slice per bottle (around a teaspoon).

ingredients portioned for bottling — Cut the ginger into matchsticks. It is much easier to get it into and out of the bottles in this shape. I have enough brew for around 5 bottles so I like to sort my aromatics into 5 piles to make sure they are more or less evenly distributed.

adding fresh ginger to bottles — Place the aromatics into the empty bottles.

adding brew to bottles using funnel — Fill each bottle leaving a little space at the top.

shows bottles full, 2cm from top — Like this…

bottles are closed — Make sure caps are clean and tight. These bottles are going to stay at room temperature for another 3 days. During that time, the sugar in the ginger or any residual sugar in the brew will reinvigorate the ferment to some degree.

storing bottles in metal pot — Because I am using glass, I keep my bottles in this deep metal steamer basket just in case one bursts.

Cover on too, just in case. There is not much of a risk of a bottle rupturing but, if one of them is chipped or cracked, it is possible. And it makes a huge mess.

Store in a cool place…I keep mine in a lower kitchen cabinet out of the way. You might consider setting a reminder in your phone calendar so you don’t forget about them. Mine will stay in here for 3 days or so.

Scoby Storage

putting scoby back into washed container for storage — Give the fermenting jar a good wash with hot soapy water, dry it and put the SCOBY back in.

Add back the 500ml of fermented tea from the brew.

shows scoby in liquid in container on shelf for storage until next brew — Cover and store at room temperature. I usually brew at least once a month. At that rate, the SCOBY stays happy and healthy at room temperature. If you are going to leave it for longer, brew up a small amount of sweet tea to refresh the liquid every 4 to 6 weeks.

3 days later…

After 3 days in the bottle at room temperature, place the bottles in the fridge. The brew is done.

shows finished kombucha sparkling in a wine glass — This turned out well. The colour is a nice rosy amber, it smells sweet and tart and the flavour is potent but also refreshing. It’s just a little fizzy. I am not the type of maniac to drink kombucha out of a wine glass, but these are the only clear glasses i have to show off the colour.

The finished brew is perfect as is but, feel free to add a squeeze of lemon or a few drops of honey or anything else you might want to try. If the flavour is too intense, you can cut it with bubbly water. I often do this if I am drinking this with more subtle flavoured foods.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please leave them below. I always look forward to hearing from you. If you enjoy the content and would like to contribute towards website maintenance and development, you can make a donation here. Thank you for reading TigerSalad.

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