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School exists to enrich your mind, expand your horizons and help you graduate with a thorough knowledge of obscure feminist painters and Latin American piñata cultural theorists. But there’s no sense in suffering through lectures with a boring old HB pencil and some pathetic, limp lined white paper at your side. Keep yourself amused with sassier school supplies, because, really, if you fail, at least you got a Powerpuff Girls thermos out of the deal. (Thanks, OSAP!)
A PhD dissertation at York U has revealed that if you have cute pencils and pens you will take better notes (1, Laurentian scented coloured pencils and erasers, Curry’s, 344 Queen West, 416-260-2633, $4.79 and $1.46).
2, Pez pen (Red Pegasus, 628 College, 416-536-3872, $70). 3, Badtz-Maru stationery set (L&M Trading Co., 434 Queen West, 416-504-8666, $12). 4, Powerpuff Girls thermos for your after-class coffee or your during-class beer (L&M, $7.50). 5, Paul Frank pencil toppers (Red Pegasus, $20). 6, Motorola’s V101 wireless “device” lets you send out pomo text-message love notes and e-mail and even — egads! — make phone calls (Rogers, various locations, $99 plus $20 monthly subscription, $24.99 with a one-year subscription or free with a two-year subscription).
7, Hello Kitty stapler (L&M, $7.45). 8, A Hello Kitty address book lets you keep track of all your cool new friends, even the ones who are kind of embarrassed that you have a Hello Kitty address book (L&M, $5.50). 9, Funky bookmarks (Red Pegasus, $1.25 for 4). 10, Funcut scissors (Curry’s, $2.79). 11, Mini-notebook (Curry’s, $2.45). 12, An airmail journal, to dream about all the places you’ll go once you leave goddamned school (Alkatraz, 475 Queen West, 416-504-3609, $16.99). 13, Paul Frank plastic pencil case (Red Pegasus, $20). 14, Hello Kitty skipping rope (L&M, $5.99). And, of course, something to put all your darling new supplies in, a Betty Boop tin lunchbox (15, Alkatraz, $29).
With files from Joy Kittredge