Okay, it’s a slim haul, but I’m sure you’ll identify with me saying that I still spent more than I intended at the Ohio Pen Show. I didn’t really intend to buy anything. And, yes, feel free to be aghast: there aren’t a lot of fountain pen things in the pile.
That’s because I went to the show with my 16-year-old daughter, and there is no way she could have spent two days shopping for fountain pens. Which is fine. I actually like other pens and pencils, too.
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Sheaffer Targa Laque Green Moiré. I brought this home from the Ohio Pen Show. Wow.
You may remember that I fell hard for my friend’s Green Moiré Targa a few weeks ago. But I never expected to find one for myself. I certainly wasn’t looking. I’m in a quiet period with pens: I feel more like selling than buying.
But the Green Moiré breaks through my “no new pens” ennui. It is the perfect pen for an “ooh shiny” person like me. Since it was dark when I got back home, these photos don’t show it at its best. But the Green Moiré lacquer is shimmery, flamboyant and fun. while also being elegant. Look how beautiful the lacquer work is.
I got very lucky because this Green Moiré has some scratches, so I could afford it. Also because it has a stub nib. And finally because my daughter (a) approved of it and (b) won the auction for it.
And I’m also lucky that my friend gave me the perfect ink for it. He had purchased a bottle of Bookbinders Snake Ink in Blue Coral that day, and had given me a vial to take home. He put Blue Coral in the pen he bought at the pen show, and I put it in mine. I think that makes Blue Coral the official ink for cool Ohio Pen Show purchases.
Blue Coral is a very appealing color. It’s a bit darker in real life than you see below, but the blue hue and nice shading are accurate.
I’m getting ready to pack up for the Ohio Pen Show. This is my first “away” pen show. And actually I’m looking forward to three days being around other adults more than any pens I might come across. Holiday!
But I do have a feeling the pens will end up being interesting, too.
October has been awesome, but also has passed a blurry haze. Fountain pens and inks are all very nice. But baseball playoffs have been the bomb. So it’s a little surprising to look back and realize that October was full of fountain pen highlights. This is practically the World Series of Fountain Pen Favorites.
1. Sailor Kin-Mokusei. A gorgeous orange.
2. Sailor Waka-Uguisu. A great yellow-green. And I don’t even like green.
3. Kaweco Light Blue AL-Sport. Icy blue; I love it.
4. Field Notes. My Field Notes box runneth over. Literally. My daughters did steal ask for some of my new orange and pink ones, which I shared with unworthy mixed feelings understandable mixed feelings. But I’m still flush with Field Notes. I better go write some things down. Like, how to be a better mother. You know, for next month.
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You know what I like? I like the reflection of the window in the cap medallion of that Lamy Safari.
My pen cup is reasonably full again, but it’s mostly full with pens I’ve already talked about. Pens of the past. I really haven’t had the time or the oomph to think about new things. My brain is just overstuffed. We’ve had two big family birthdays in the past week, while work has been crushing. Then there’s been baseball to watch.
At first nervously, then merrily. The Cubs did the nearly unbelievable, winning the pennant for the first time in 71 years. Thus ending the failure and futility that has been Cubs fandom for longer than my lifetime. It’s like when you come out of a movie theater into the blinding sun: everything looks nice and bright, but you do have to reorient.
So about pens, I can’t really say I’ve spent too much time thinking about them.
Looking at the pen cup, there are a lot of Lamy Safaris and Pelikans, and a few Kawecos. All good. But I’m going to have to clean out some of these pens of the past and try some different pens and inks. Once baseball releases its hold on my brain.
Maybe that will happen during the Ohio Pen Show. Or when the new Pelikan M405 Stresemann comes in — that intrigues me.
If only they had a Pelikan M605 Stressedwoman — now that would be my pen. It would be hot pink, or maybe orange, and it would come with a giant coffee mug.
We do what we can, here at Fountain Pen Follies, to cheer on our favorite baseball team. And this year has been magical. On Saturday night, the Chicago Cubs baseball team won the pennant for the first time in 71 years. Tonight they will play in the World Series, for the first time in 108 years. What in the fountain pen world can commemorate that? How about a Chicago Cubs Lamy Safari.
Cubs colors are blue and red with white, and a baseball is white with red stitching. My Chicago Cubs edition Safari is made from the cap of a white and red Safari, and the body of a blue Safari.
It’s inked with J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage (“Wild Ivy”), in tribute to the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley Field, the Cubs home park.
Go Cubs, go. And thanks for a great year.
Light Blue is the newest color in the Kaweco AL-Sport lineup. The AL-Sport is one of my favorite pens, blue is my favorite color and so I couldn’t resist.
It’s an ice blue that looks silvery in some lights. The look is extra sleek. The finish feels textured or powdered. But the Light Blue sparkles and dazzles in the light.
So, I have four AL-Sports now: the Stonewashed in black, the Grey, the Light Blue and the raw aluminum.
The AL-Sport has my favorite steel nib (by a mile), comfortable weight and size, and a look I love. But it’s also my Green Eggs and Ham pen: it took me forever to try an AL-Sport, because the aluminum models are pricier than the plastic Sports, and I had heard bad things about metal pens. Silly rumors, so wrong.
Now that I have four, I have an urge to rank mine.
1. Raw Aluminum. Pure form. Shiny. And it proudly shows the scuffs and marks of use.
2. Light Blue. Chic, ice blue, textured, gorgeous.
3. Black Stonewashed. The one that looks so cool, non-pen people ask about it.
4. Grey. Understated, smooth and restrained. And mine has a great medium nib.
Here’s a look at three metal fountain pens at opposite ends of the size spectrum from Kaweco — two Liliputs and a Supra. The Kaweco Liliput is a mini-fountain pen even smaller than the Kaweco Sport, while the new Supra is an expandable super-sized version of the Liliput.
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The newest Lamy x Line Friends Safari, called Brown in the Red, just arrived at Fountain Pen Follies. It comes with the caution “too cute.” Because it is.
I had declared the first three from Line to be the cutest Safaris ever. But this new kid on the block is challenging for that crown. Here they are all together.
The new set is called “Brown in the Red.” In the Line world, “Brown” is the name of the bear character. This set contains two full-size versions of Brown, one that slips on the clip, as in the earlier sets, and one that sits on top of the pen. There’s a swanky red metal case.
Here are all our Line Friends, with Bear on the top of the cap, just chilling.
And here’s Bear on the clip. It looks like the Line friends invited their friend Joe Cool, the Pez dispenser, to join them this time.
Truly too cute.
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