Tag: Pelikan

Fountain Pen Favorites for September 2019

Laura3 Comments

calendar image

I  used to do this every month, when the blog was new, and I enjoyed it. I have a strong nostalgic streak. And as you get older, well, the memory goes. I’m now firmly in the “What did I walk into this room to get?” stage. So looking back is kind of relaxing.

What were my favorite pen- and ink-related things last month?

1. The Pelikan Hub. I always enjoy these, and this year’s was no exception. Any chance to get together with pen and ink people is to be cherished. Thanks, Pelikan, for doing this.

2. Trying Every Edelstein Ink Again. I ink up every Pelikan Edelstein ink for the Hub, for people to try, and I’m both busy and disinclined to clean out 15 pens immediately. So I’ve been writing with a number of inks that I haven’t used in a while. Here are my nominees for the Peaches and Herb “Reunited and It Feels So Good” award: the steady Edelstein Tanzanite (a businesslike blue black), the perfect Edelstein Topaz (simply the finest ink I know in that cyan-cerulean range) and the underrated Edelstein Ruby (a lovely soft red).

3. Going Old School Blue Black. The pen I’ve used most this month has been my Pelikan Stockholm with Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite and a medium nib. I don’t usually write with something as paint-brushy as a Pelikan medium nib, so I’m mostly jotting notes with it. LARGE notes. I’ve liked using the old-school, non-fussy, blue-black Tanzanite ink. But the pen is starting to feel kind of fancy, and I’m starting to yearn for something more minimal. Maybe I’ll take the Blauhaus with its extra-fine nib out for a spin after all.

My First Look at the Pelikan M205 Star Ruby

Laura14 Comments

Pelikan M205 Star Ruby

I just got the chance to open my new Pelikan M205 Star Ruby, the pink sparkly Pelikan I’ve been waiting for. So, in real life, it’s not exactly the pink sparkly Pelikan I’ve been waiting for. But it’s a handsome, translucent dark ruby red pen that I think will find a lot of fans among those who would never want a more obviously sparkly, or a pinker, pen.

It is different than I expected from online photos. Darker. The sparkles are, I’m told, very visible in sunlight. But I didn’t get to open mine until late afternoon, in the cool light of early fall.

I’ll put up some comparison photos.

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My Favorite Pelikans

Laura10 Comments

Pelikan M620 Stockholm, Pelikan M600 Pink, Pelikan M710 Toledo

In the happy afterglow of a Pelikan Hub, I wondered what were my favorite Pelikans. On purpose, I didn’t look at my pens, didn’t sift through what I have, analyzing and attempting to rank them in any scientific way. Instead, I just thought about it, to see what came to mind. I ended up with a Top Four.

None are vintage. Oddly, of my Top Four, there’s only one I use very much. One I haven’t even seen.

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2019 Pelikan Hub Report

Laura16 Comments

Pelikan Hub 2019 Evanston

Ah, it was fabulous, as always.

But we have to call this one the “Knocking on Death’s Door” Hub, because our Hub (in Evanston, Illinois) got hit hard with a nasty respiratory virus this year. If you include me, ugh, who feels at least half dead, but had to go, as the Hub Host, fully a fifth of us were struck down. Is it the Pelikan Plague?

Well, it did not kill the mighty Evanston Hub. We had 31 registrants for Evanston this year, and I think 35 for our sister Hub in Chicago. A few registrants always end up having to cancel because of schedule conflicts, and then we lost five participants at the last minute because of this virus. But we dragooned some folks who switched in, or had forgotten to register, or were dragged there by relatives and friends — ending up with 30 lovely people, and a very good time.

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Mo Ink, No Mo Problems: Penlux Mò Tangerine and Plum

LauraLeave a comment

Penlux Mo Plum and Tangerine

My two Penlux inks arrived, and they are just lovely.

Obviously I’m over-inked, but I have to say, I’ve enjoyed the presentation of these just as much as the ink. The Plum, as I mentioned the other day, is a not-annoying shade of purple that purple fans are bound to really enjoy, since I, a purple foe, don’t mind it at all. The presentation, from folding box, to square Sailor bottle, to attractive label, makes a beautiful object that I’ve kept on my desk just because I like how it looks.

Penlux Mo Plum box

Tangerine is a very nice orange ink, not a color I use very much, but a color I love to see in  demonstrators, and even in the bottle.

Penlux Mo Tangerine

I put Tangerine in my Vibrant Orange Pelikan M600, and can attest that it’s a nice orange ink. This one I’ve actually been using. It’s good to circle the really important part of notes. No nib crud (so far), good flow and no hard starts.

I like a lot of orange inks, especially from Caran d’Ache and Sailor. But among orange inks, this is a very usable one. It’s mixed by Sailor, so I think I see Sailor’s lovely tints of yellow and blush pink in there, but it’s also darker and shades only a little. It’s easy to read and not even a little eye-searing.

Penlux Mo Tangerine writing sample

Even though I mostly use blue and black inks, and pens that are “good users,” it’s nice to also have some things that are less utilitarian than visually stimulating. I’ve gained much enjoyment from this lovely package.

Penlux Mo Tangerine

Pen Review: Pilot Kakuno

Laura11 Comments

Pilot Kakuno blue

I bought a gray and blue Pilot Kakuno with a fine nib, used, from someone in my pen club who didn’t like its narrow fine nib.

Well, I love the narrow fine nib. It’s my favorite part of the Kakuno. For the rest of the pen, my verdict’s more mixed.

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I Learn a Valuable Lesson About Fountain Pens and Inks, Set to Music.

Laura15 Comments

Apologies for my internet absence. Since we brought the 2019 Chicago Pen Show to a successful and happy conclusion, pens have been scarce for me. And, actually, even before the Pen Show. Almost no pen time. Hence, nothing to write about pens.

Eh, it happens. Life is fine. It’s just been busy. Life is bigger. Much bigger than pens. But it’s made the blog seem like a Colorado ghost town, with the dust blowing between abandoned mining shacks.

Only now, it’s almost fall. Time to clean things out, get cracking. We’re back to school.

So here’s what I was doing with pens during my summer vacation. Like the song at (almost) the very end, this will be long and boring. But there’s music in it.

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A Peek at the Pen Cup: The “I Am So Normal” Edition

Laura12 Comments

pen cup with fountain pens

Oh yeah, look at this pen cup. I only have five fountain pens going, and it’s good.

Nothing intentional: I haven’t been using the pens much lately. That’s because my recent work has been mostly on the computer, and I am not good at writing letters, so lately I’ve been cleaning out pens and putting them away.

I have to say, with five pens, I feel so normal.

The most recently inked is my Pelikan M605 White Transparent, because the temperature is nicely frosty here, and this pen feels wintery. It’s inked with Papier Plume Bayou Nightfall, an absolutely wonderful ink in my opinion. Pen and ink make a perfect pair, and I keep coming back to ths combination. This makes me wish I had something to write.

All my other pens have been inked up for a while. But I managed to put together a suitably Christmassy trio.

pelikan lamy fountain pens

Such a happy sight. Malibu Barbie Christmas.

The green pen is my Pelikan M205 Olivine, filled with Pelikan Edelstein Olivine — another great combination. I do have to clean this one out, because it’s been inked since I got it.

The pink pen is my Lamy Al-Star Vibrant Pink. It’s still loaded with a cartridge of Lamy Blue, mainly to keep cleaning out the feed after my Vibrant Pink ink disaster. But Lamy Blue is actually a very nice ink with this pen’s extra-fine nib, and I always like a blue ink, so this is a good combination, too.

The two pens that have been inked and re-inked the longest are what have turned into my core users. One is my long-serving Lamy Safari Charcoal with fine nib and black ink (currently Taccia Kuro). The other is a pen I bought this year and haven’t taken out of rotation since: a Sailor Professional Gear Earth with extra-fine nib, inked with Papier Plume Da Blue ink. I use these two all the time, the Safari because I can take it anywhere without worry, and the Sailor because its amazing extra-fine nib writes tiny scribbles with perfect smoothness.

I’ve actually been very busy, but it just doesn’t involve much writing with pens and ink. And frankly that’s been kind of … restful. Fountain pens and inks aren’t a job for me, just things that add a dash of delight and interest to the everyday. And that’s enough. So if pens and inks aren’t centered in my life, right now, that works. My pens and inks are easy-going; they will wait their turn.

I guess I’m using them when I can. In fact, I had to move this out of the way to take the pen cup photo.

field notes lamy safari cookbook

I was using the Safari to take notes there, because I’ve finally found the time to get into something that I’ve always wanted to do: serious bread-making. (Because people always ask: not with a bread machine, but just flour, yeast, water and salt, worked by hand and set on the counter to rise over the course of the day before being shaped by hand, and then popped onto an improvised hearth in the oven.)

So I’ve been up to my elbows in different kinds of flour, and experiments with different pre-ferments. (This cuts down on my texting a lot, too.) But I am trying to refine my technique, which means I’ve been making a lot of loaves of a basic hearth bread, tweaking a few things here or there, learning inputs and outputs, and writing them down. It’s very absorbing for me, and it’s really delicious. Also I’ve become more popular with the family. Winter’s a good time to heat up the kitchen and make food for people.

Today I’ve been hovering over my brand new sourdough starter like it’s a new baby, searching for life and activity. I should know better, though. If it’s really like a baby, that sourdough won’t start bubbling and fussing until I try to take a shower, or start a movie, or go out to dinner. And as it grows, it’s going to do the opposite of what I want. As it should! So, grow big, little sourdough, and grow free, and grow as and how you will. In the meantime, I’ll just leave this here: I’m going to go walk the dog now, then I’m going to start a movie….