November 2, 2016. Some day for Cubs fans.
That Writing Thing
“I don’t know what I think about certain subjects, even today, until I sit down and try to write about them.”
– Don DeLillo, interview in the Paris Review, The Art of Fiction 135, Fall 1993
Fountain Pen Favorites for October 2016
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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Photo by Dafne Cholet, Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.
Pen Snippet: Kaweco ICE Sport Black Fountain Pen
A Peek at the Pen Cup: Dazed and Distracted Edition
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.
Seriously, What Do We Do With Rubber Bands?
Life’s deepest questions, pondered right here.
I tend to end up with a fair number of rubber bands. As I think we all do. I got that nice black one from Field Notes as a gift with purchase. The red and white ones must have come with broccoli.
These thick ones seem excellent for serious banding needs. It’s just that I don’t have much call for rubber bands. (I already have a jar opener, and I don’t want to give away his job.)
Basically, there are only a few things I use rubber bands for:
1. Tying up unused extension cords. That adds up to two.
2. Flicking at people.
3. Threatening to flick at people. (More fun, actually.)
4. Pulling nervously during baseball playoff games. Useful, lately.
But … I’ve got nothing else.
What in the world do we do with these things?
Lamy Safari: The Chicago Cubs Version
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.
Fountain Pen Follies 