Month: July 2017

What I’m Doing on my Summer Vacation

Laura7 Comments

I’ve been taking some time away from the blog. Because it’s summer.  Here are some things I’ve been doing instead.

1. Anything but pens. I haven’t picked up a fountain pen for more than a scribble in weeks. I’m just not feeling it. No inspiration to write. No real interest in pens, either. I’m recharging. I might start a different writing project.

2. Pen Show. Actually, I have been doing pen things, just that they all relate to the Chicago Pen Show. That’s of course the 2018 show, which sadly isn’t until next May. We’ve got some fun things in the works, though. Everyone should come.

3. Gardening. I’ve been gardening a lot. But not genteel or picturesque gardening. Rambo gardening. While redoing one of the borders, I scratched up both arms muscling a Zebra Grass on a day that was so hot I couldn’t wear long sleeves. Teaching me that there is no day in the garden so hot that I shouldn’t wear long sleeves. But that wasn’t the best part of the Zebra Grass Battle. The best part was when I realized one large clump of Zebra Grass was actually too firmly rooted for me to divide it with a spade. Even standing on the top of the blade didn’t provide enough oomph. It was so hot, too. I considered just lying down on the lawn and expiring from weakness, right there. The dogs would have found my remains. And everyone would have felt badly. “Why didn’t we think to bring her an iced tea? Or help out? We’re monsters!” That would have been good.

4. Bunnies. Nothing makes you realize, “I’ve lost the innocent bloom of youth,” like coming to see Mr. McGregor in a completely different way, not as the villain of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but as the everyman hero. Because no matter how cute bunnies seem when you’re little, when you grow up and begin to till your own small square of earth, you realize rabbits are voracious eaters and rapid breeders, and the enemy of all plant life. If not all life on earth. So every summer, I battle to humanely protect the plants they target. And every summer, I lose. Plus, our younger dog, Gus, is an avid hunter, and not humane, so every year I’m also battling to keep him away from the baby bunnies. This year has been especially grisly on the Gus front. But there’s a little baby bunny out there now, who’s somehow survived. He’s an adorable little sprite who just hopped out and obliviously began munching on our back lawn the other day. Right in front of our french doors. While on the inside, my dogs howl at the tiny, blithe provocateur and hurl themselves murderously against the glass. I know, one way or another, this is going to end badly.

5. Movies. We’ve been watching a lot of movies. There is no hockey in the summer. This is the only bad thing about summer.

6. Books. I’ve been reading actual books. All the way through. Yeah. Next step, world domination.

7. Cursing Photobucket. Without warning, or even after-the-fact notice, @$&*%$# Photobucket cut off all photo-links, unless you want to pay some blackmailishly high annual fee. As a result, many photos on this blog were disappeared, and I have to try to figure out which ones, then try to find them on my computer, then put them back. Great use of anyone’s spare time. Photobucket can be rhymed with some pretty bad words, let me tell you.

Update: Testing Platinum Classic Line Iron Gall Inks with a Stainless Steel Nib Fountain Pen

Laura13 Comments

Pilot Plumix

Platinum’s 2017 release of six colorful iron gall inks, called the Classic Line, has made me very happy. I love iron gall inks for fountain pens, and appreciate the gentler ones, which I call “modern iron gall inks,” after KWZ Ink’s low-maintenance iron galls.

The new Platinum lineup seems very nice, and very low-maintenance. There’s an overview of all six here. I’ve used three of these on an extended basis, and reviewed those three here: Citrus, Sepia and Cassis. I got my samples from Dan Smith, the Nibsmith, who sells ink as well as pens, luckily for me.

I’ve recently been testing one of the Platinum Classic inks — Cassis Black — for an extended time in a Pilot Plumix fountain pen with a stainless steel nib. I wanted to really see just how safe these inks are with any pen. To see if the ink would react with the pen’s stainless steel nib, or clog or stain, and if so, how long would it take.

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A Second Look at KWZ Red #1

Laura3 Comments

KWZ Red #1 writing sample

You know how we’re always focused on new, new, new? (Of course we are. That’s fun. And new!) One of the good things about pens and inks is that there is always something new to learn, or try, or want to buy. But then we sometimes realize that we’ve forgotten about all that stuff we already have.

And you know how it’s summer, and we don’t like to exert much more energy than that required to pop the top off a cold beverage?

And you know how we used to have brain cells, long ago, but now have misplaced them, or perhaps squandered them. Or maybe they just gave up on us and walked away, without even saying goodbye, because we could swear we walked into this room for some reason and yet ….

Okay, so all those things are why I’ve had KWZ Red #1 inked up for the last few weeks. The initial impulse was that it looked like a good ink to review. Until I wrote two words with it, and realized, um, I’ve used it before. In fact, I wrote a long review of KWZ Red #1 in March 2016, which you can read here if you like. Let’s all do that. Perhaps in the future I should reread all my old reviews before I open a bag of samples and think, “This one looks nice.”

That would be a nice thing to do. But then, you know, it’s also nice to be reminded that everything doesn’t have to be new. Also, sometimes we change our first impressions. Would KWZ Red #1 still be #1 for me?

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Papier Plume Red Beans and Rice: The Newest Ink in the New Orleans Collection

Laura3 Comments

That’s the song “Red Beans” from the late, great Professor Longhair of New Orleans, which is what I used to think of when I thought of red beans and rice. (Also, yum.)

And now I also think of ink. The classic Creole dish red beans and rice is the inspiration for the newest ink from Papier Plume of New Orleans. It’s going to be part of Papier Plume’s New Orleans Collection of inks, which I briefly reviewed here. I haven’t been using much else since I got these inks, honestly.

Here is the baby of the family.

Papier Plume Red Beans and Rice

I’ve had a tester bottle of  Red Beans and Rice since early June, so I’ve been lucky enough to put the ink through its paces for nearly a month. Verdict: delicious! It’s a very attractive burgundy ink with an nearly irresistible name. It really does remind me of red beans and rice, too.

As a darker color, Red Beans and Rice makes a nice addition to the other five New Orleans collection inks, which are more summery. Red Beans and Rice is a good strong color, and warm. It has nice shading and the color is both legible and engaging. Best of all, it can give a different look in different pens.

Papier Plume Red Beans and Rice

I’ll put up a more detailed review before the Fourth. Papier Plume will be debuting the ink on July 14. The first batch will be available from Papier Plume online and at the Miami Pen Show both.

I would point out that it took a lot of willpower for me not to slip into this post the sentence “Red Beans and Rice is extra nice.” But if you’re a regular reader, you know that willpower is a great strength of mine. Nor did I call myself “a secret agent of ink.” Even though it’s (a) accurate and (b) should be said. After all, I did not spill the beans. But, no, I am too mature. A small sacrifice, for Red Beans and Rice.