It is sheathed in black lacquer and pitch as a prairie night sky, shaped like a large drop of oil coming out of a faucet in slow motion. It is my favorite inanimate thing: my pen. Pens, I know, are as ...

Pens frequently come up in my conversations, given my love of the physical objects as well as their purpose. It’s not unusual, for example, for someone to comment on the pen I use to sign charge slips ...