Like much of the Midwestern US, we got hit this weekend with an early storm, meaning snow, ice and sub-freezing temperatures. It’s pretty early for this: there are still leaves on the trees.
But let’s not despair. If life gives us ice and snow, let’s make snow cones. Here are ten good things about winter.
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Someone asked on the Fountain Pen Geeks forum for “Fountain Pen Confessions.” Genius! Here are a few confessions, all true, and some a little embarrassing, as confessions should be.
1. I don’t really use the inks that are popular.
Super-saturated, super-dark inks are all the rage. Maybe add “super bright.” I have to confess I’m out of step there. Those types of inks haven’t been good for some of my nice pens. Moreover, I find them uninteresting. Give me shading, give me variation, give me something that invites and rewards close attention.
Yes, you probably will stop reading here.
2. I don’t care about cursive.
I haven’t used it since high school. With relief. Printing does the job just fine. The smart parents I knew were a little put out that our kids were taught cursive that instead of keyboarding, which most of us use daily.
You definitely will stop reading now. Which is good, because …
3. I think fountain pens (which I love) are just things.
“Do I contradict myself? / Very well, then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes.)”
I really like fountain pens, and I spend a lot of time using them and talking about them. Even writing about them here. But there can be a degree of fetishism about fountain pens and ink that turns me off, not to mention cupidity and its sibling greed.
This is just stuff. I love some of my stuff. I keep finding new stuff that I love, too. And I would throw it all overboard, in a second, for any person I know.
And I don’t think those are contradictions.
Sigh. Sometimes I think we should all just read poetry instead.
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Image courtesy of The Tango! Desktop Project
The leaves are falling faster, bare branches are showing and chilly November arrives tomorrow. What better time to look back at my personal fountain pen highlights from October.
1. Aurora Optima 365. I really did luck out getting this pen. Just wow.
2. Fall Color Inks. So much fun to use these. Oranges, yellows, browns and reds were very October.
3. Caran d’Ache Inks. The ones I tried this month were fabulous. Just fabulous.
4. Architect’s Nib. I loved playing with Dan Smith’s broad Architect’s Nib grind. I’m going to add one soon. I’m debating between a medium and a fine. I’ll miss that broad nib, though.
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Photo by Dafne Cholet, Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.
Thanks to Random.org, here are the winners of the Diamine Shimmertastic samples.
Blue Pearl: Daniel
Sparkling Shadows: plume145
Magical Forest: rhyming is fun
Night Sky: Dronak
Thank you to everyone who commented. If you are one of the winners, please use the Contact form to email me your name and mailing address.
It is hard to believe that this is already the last day of September. But I guess it’s sinking in. Chicago’s weather just turned from summery to frosty, too. To console myself about summer’s end, here are a few pen and ink favorites from this month
1. The Pink Pelikan. I still can’t help marveling at my luck. Pelikan made a pink M600 fountain pen. And I have one.
2. All of the Shimmer Inks. I am so impressed by every one of the ten Diamine Shimmertastic inks, all of which I tried in September. And those came right on the heels of J. Herbin’s 1670 Emerald of Chivor, another new favorite. I never would have thought I’d like these so much.
3. Postcards! That vintage postcard of the old Chicago Stadium really made my day. I wish I had time to learn more about vintage postcards. With the photography, the history and the occasional kitschy appeal, these are right up my alley.
4. The Never-Ending Story. Try this. Take a pen with a Japanese extra-fine nib, insert a large ink cartridge, and see how long it takes you to empty. I inked my Platinium Carbon Desk Pen with Carbon Black ink before Labor Day, and it still looks three-quarters full. I won’t be shocked if I am still writing with it on Halloween. Oh heck, I won’t be shocked if I’m writing my Christmas list with it.
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Photo by Dafne Cholet, Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.
A friend sent me this vintage postcard depicting the old Chicago Stadium.
I love seeing the old stadium. The stadium was opened in 1929 for the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team, who would later share it with the Chicago Bulls. The stadium was known as the “Madhouse on Madison” because there were three close-in tiers of seats full of cheering fans, with a large organ providing sound effects. It was the loudest, most exciting stadium I’ve ever experienced.
We call it the old stadium now, because it was demolished in 1995 and replaced with a newer building just across the street, the United Center, with an exterior modeled on its predecessor.
The old stadium hosted more than just sports, and it was one of those events that prompted the sending of this postcard. In July of 1940, the 1940 Democratic National Convention was held at the Chicago Stadium, and President Franklin Roosevelt was nominated to run for his third term. The situation in Europe was dark: the Nazis had marched into Paris in June and were preparing for the imminent launch of the Battle of Britain.
Here’s the reverse of the postcard.
“Greeting from the Convention,” from Arthur P. Schalick. The postmark is July 19, 1949, the day after the convention ended. Arthur P. Schalick turns out to be a local official from New Jersey who would later have a high school named after him. I like the green ink he used. I also like the trick of writing big when you have less to say. That got me through a few exams in my student days, so I recognize a kindred spirit. I imagine he sent a stack of these to supporters and contacts back home.
It’s very nice to meet Arthur P. Schalick. I’m glad to have his postcard. It makes me think of those days, and that great old building.
American football kicked off its season this week, just in time to inspire this post. Since the NFL has traditionally played its games on Sunday, we call post-game insights and criticisms “Monday morning quarterbacking.” After all, hindsight is always 20/20. But that can be helpful, too. So maybe it will be useful to look back at my pens and inks last week with a little hindsight.
1. Luckiest guess. Putting Diamine’s Shimmertastic Brandy Dazzle into a Pelikan Ibis with broad nib. The vintage Pelikan has a lot of ink flow, and the nib has a bit of flex, and both those characteristics really showed what Brandy Dazzle could do.
2. Luckiest break. I am very lucky to have a great friend who sent me six Shimmertastic ink samples to play with. They were all such fun.
3. Undeserved criticism award. Diamine took a lot of internet heat for putting the name “Shimmertastic” on its forthcoming ink line. And, yes, “Shimmer” would have been fine. But the truth is, after you use the word “Shimmertastic” a few times, you kind of forget that it sounds silly and just go with it. Heck, the inks do shimmer. And they are sort of fantastic. The power of suggestion worked for me here.
4. Deserved criticism award. Pelikan took a lot of internet heat for its M600 Pink Pelikan box design. And maybe Pelikan should have listened. Though it turns out I liked untying the bow, I think just a bow would have been quite enough to set the box apart. The corset lace design felt a little “ick” to me. And even if you like it, it does seem out-of-step with what is actually a fairly classy and professional pen.
5. Unluckiest break. In 2005, the Chicago Bears had the fourth pick in the NFL draft, which they wasted on a running back whose ignominious Bears career would be over by 2008. Among the players the Bears passed over was Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback of my beloved University of California Golden Bears. Worse, Rodgers was drafted by none other than the Green Bay Packers, arch-rivals of the Bears. Rodgers has gone on to become probably the best quarterback in football, a fact that he demonstrates to Chicago fans twice a year by stomping on our Bears. As he did once again yesterday. Sigh.
I was talking with a fountain pen friend the other day when we discovered that we both, at different times, have gotten into Marie Kondo’s organizational book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. We both responded to Kondo’s concept that you should seek to be surrounded only by the objects that bring you joy.
Coincidentally, I had just that morning been staring at a pen cup full of fountain pens, thinking, do I have too many Safaris? Ha, well, yes, of course. I had seven Safaris and Al-Stars inked in the pen cup at that moment. And that is but a fraction of the number I actually own.
But I looked at them with only satisfaction: pink and reds and apple green and black and charcoal, and a Vista, right there, filled with ink. And I thought, they make me happy. So it’s perfect.
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I use a planning and organization system called a Bullet Journal. It is inexpensive, easy and flexible. It can be as low-key or as high-intensity as you want.
I take a very low-key approach to the Bullet Journal, and that’s what I’ll outline here. But it’s completely personal, and you could do it differently. For example, mine is always scrawled in haste, but yours could be carefully written and employ attractive ink colors if that is more motivating.
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Summer brings warm weather and good cheer, but where I live, also fierce storms. Due to a lightning strike last week, our power went out, and stayed out most of the day Sunday. The good news is that it’s now back. Hello, internet. Welcome back, air conditioning. But the bad news is that some of our appliances were fried. So things are a little busy here just now. We especially miss the refrigerator and freezer.
Fountain Pen Follies 