About

Howdy! I’m Alex, the one-man show behind Odds and Pens.

This site is where I write reviews and share stuff I think is worth your money. It was born out of an obscure superpower of mine—having way too much fun researching, reviewing, and writing about products I love and find useful.

I hope all the time I’ve spent researching will help you make an informed decision.

My niece and nephew playing flour while I pose with my first ever batch of homemade playdough.
My niece and nephew playing flour while I pose with my first ever batch of homemade playdough. And of course I researched the best homemade playdough recipe beforehand. 😛

Where does the name come from?

In college, one of my friends used to tease me about my OCD-tendencies to overly research anything I bought. I was never content just buying something off the shelf. I needed to know it was best-in-class. It got to the point that my friend jokingly told me I wouldn’t buy a pen without researching it first.

Little did he know, that was a true statement. 😉

I had already done some research on the ideal pen for pen spinning while still being usable for note taking.

So the name of this site is a tribute to my friend and his pen comment. And I like to think it’s a clever play on “odds and ends.” Especially fitting since I’ll be reviewing random things without any specific focus.