WIYB with J, 19

One half of the duo that is behind the wonderful site strangepencils (or try pronouncing slicnepegnarts just for fun!), you’d never have guessed that J is only 19 and am sitting for her A’ levels this year!

“Hopelessly random” is what her friends call her, but it is this exact wild streak of spontaneity that spurred her to open a little online shop under the equally random name “Strangepencils”. Expect out-of-the-blue & quirky items such as gummy “bacon”, pop watches, Quad cameras that would have easily passed off as a Lomo – and! – “toast” wallets! If it ain’t extraordinary, you won’t find it on Strangepencils.

Constantly seeking inspiration and waiting for bursts of creativity in between moments of people watching, J & her partner are always thinking of ways to break the norm. Grand plans are in the bag for them as they entertain the notions of having their own label & a possible brick + mortar store sometime in the future.

What’s in J’s Bag:

• Baggu Backpack

I got this of the web a couple of months back and it was considered one of my best buys! Teal is a very easy colour to pull off and I’m able to match it easily with most clothings that I own, so extra brownie points for that!

• Grey Knitted Cardigan

I make it a habit to bring a cardigan along with me whenever I head out as I can’t handle cold places very well. At least this means that I don’t have thick skin?

• iPod Touch

Most of the time I’m caught with this gadget in my hands and you can’t blame me as it’s considered one of my prized possession (given that I bought it using my first measly paycheck). I’m guilty for my heavy reliance on technology because it allows me to check my emails & perform internet transfers.

• Nokia E72

Got this during the earlier part of the year when there was the invasion of qwerty keypad phones! Nothing much about this, ‘cept that I text more than I call.

• Moleskine 18-Month planner

I bring this along with me almost everywhere, be it classes or outings with my friends. I like to jot down my schedule, as well as random thoughts and ideas that strike my head at that instant! I like the feeling of flipping through my old journals and reading through what I’ve penned down. So for myself and whoever’s reading this, I hope that we’ll all have eventful days ahead!

• Muji pencil case

What’s an organizer for if you don’t have stationeries to pen details down? I prefer to keep all my stationery in a pencil case as I have a bad habit of misplacing them if they were kept individually.Oh, and I have a preference to write in pencil rather than pen, so i only have 1 pencil, 1 pen and a few other colour markers!

• iBanking device & my thumbdrive

The formers for checking my bank account while I’m on-the-go while the latter’s out of paranoia… My thumbdrive contains tons of important personal documents, unglammest photos, strangepencils stuff, etcetc so I bring it along with me everywhere I go! And of course, I keep them in safe compartments in my bag in case it slips out.

• Accessorize coin purse

A simple coin purse which holds my cards, cash, coins and keys! Almost perfect for a person like me who doesn’t owe alot of cards at this age.

Q) What is one item you can’t leave home without?

Cellphone! Strangely I’ll feel very estranged from people and handicapped, as though I lost a functional part of me (as dramatic as it sounds).

Q) Tell us one thing we don’t know about you

Only my partner’s aware that I (as well as him) are the creators of strangepencils!