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I’ll be taking a hiatus from posting to this blog, so this will be the last post for a indeterminant period of time. There are various reasons, including time management. Also, it’s been nearly six months since I’ve done a non-Trail Log Sunday post, except for a currently inked post related to the Atlanta Pen Show. I seem to be in a rut, and I feel like I’m about to just phone in the trail log posts. I’ve had a couple articles pending, but they don’t get very far. So I think it’s time for me to take a break.
I have no real desire to accumulate new fountain pens, but I’m really enjoying the ones I do have. Even the new Opus 88 from the Atlanta hasn’t forced me to use it all the time. It’s an enjoyable pen, and I do like using it. But, it’s not one I reach for instead of other pens. I have reached over it to pick up another pen.
I’ve been using fountain pens far longer than this blog has existed, and I’ll continue to use them. I just won’t be writing about them.They’ll settle in as a useful tool. A tool that I’ll enjoy using.
I may revive the blog in the future, or have intermittent posts as the mood strikes me. The first real deadline isn’t until November 2022 when my WordPress plan needs to be renewed. If I don’t renew it the content will stay online (I think) but using the WordPress free plan, which will break some (many?) things, and will no doubt make the site messy and all but unusable. The blog will have existed for ten full years at the end of August, so I may get nostalgic around then.
Thanks to all of you who read, commented, and linked. I’ve truly enjoyed and appreciated it.
Back to the usual programming:
My total pages written, at least for notebooks where I count pages written, was exactly the same as the previous week, with 27 pages filled each week. The mix was a little different, with fewer journal pages (A5), and more pages in my Oasis Light (B5) this week compared to last.
Listened: Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey. The seventh Expanse volume. I gave this 5 out of 5 stars. I debated between 4 and 5, but considering how quickly I devoured it (despite a slow start), even though it’s a second reading, I went with 5. The story transitions to what is obviously moving toward the end of the story, although there are two full books left.
Listened: Tiamat’s Wrath by James S.A. Corey. The eighth and penultimate volume in the Expanse series. The POV changes were all among the major characters, unlike some previous books, and all made sense. Yet, I found some of them jarring and I had to pause and think about them in order to place them in the right time-frame. I had the rewind and re-listen to the beginning of several chapters. It’ not a time-travel book, but things happen fast in places and the POV changes were jarring, at least for me, as the same events were retold. The story is darker in this one, and I didn’t like several of the events and character arcs. That’s more an emotional response, not a criticism of the story, so I rated this one a solid 5 out of 5 stars.
Listening Next: Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey. I’ll be starting the ninth and final Expanse book later today.
Reading: Manhatten Noir by multiple authors. A collection of Noir short stories, edited by Lawrence Block, set in New York City. I’ve only read one so far and enjoyed it. My plan is to read one a night, before going to sleep.
I did a rather big sell-off this past week. I used Reddit Pen_Swap and priced the pens to sell. So, the following pens and nibs have left my accumulation:
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With the upcoming hiatus I wanted to included a trio of sites which provided links every week:
Sunday Reading – The Gentleman Stationer
Link Love – The Well-Appointed Desk // Every Wednesday
Misfill — The Pen Addict. In addition, the Member newsletter provides weekly links (and more) every Saturday.
And now the usual links:
A Waverley Nib – Goodwriterspens’s Blog and Just a Pen – Goodwriterspens’s Blog // My favorite vintage pen blog.
My analog task migration system, for when life lives outside of my plans — mnmlscholar and New earth tone inks and finding efficiency in spring — mnmlscholar // One of my favorite What I’m using and why blogs._
Keeping a Notebook PERFECTLY | Comfortable Shoes Studio
special occasions: sheaffer imperial
Heat Setting an Ebonite Feed Without Burning Down the House – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
Woody Guthrie’s Notebooks – Notebook Stories
World Stationery Day 2022 – Pam Alison Knits
Fawning Over Flora — Penquisition
JetPens View Corona 52 gsm Paper Review — The Pen Addict
Video: Steph’s Top 5 Green Inks! | Anderson Pens Blog
Emotional Support Pens, Stationery, and the Return to Campus – Chicana Writes
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My fountain pen usage was up a bit this week when compared to the previous week. I wrote 24 journal pages two weeks ago, and only 22 this week. But, I did a lot of non-journal writing compared to two weeks ago, and wrote another five full pages, in addition to the usual lists and notes.
I decided to reduce the number of inked pens and concentrated on using the ones that had the least ink. I was able to write four pens dry. That got me down to a less-anxiety producing dozen pens. I spent Saturday rotating through the inked pens, picking the ones used least recently.
I also went through and wrote with all the inked fountain pens on Saturday morning. My intent was to remove any pen that had a hard start or wrote poorly. Despite many being unused for over a week, all of them wrote immediately and just fine. Even the Sailor 1911 Ringless wrote well after siting idle for 10 days. This was the pen that failed to write at the Atlanta Pen show, a mere day after being inked and tested.
But, I couldn’t leave it there. The Atlanta Pen show was two weeks ago, and there’s still two nib grinds that I haven’t inked up yet. So I filled them up Saturday afternoon.
I also finished off a Seven Seas Writer, which I used as my journal. The first entry was in January 2021, so it has been around awhile. It’s been replaced by… A Seven Seas Writer.
Read: Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. Recommended to me, and seemingly popular at my library, but I didn’t really know what to expect. The main character is Carney, a furniture salesman. Also a reluctant crook, who’s only slightly bent. It’s not really a compelling story, and not a rally a crime/mystery novel. It’s more a story about the characters lives in Harlem. I rated in 3 out of 4 stars.
Listened: Babylon’s Ashes by S.A. Corey. The sixth book in the Expanse series. I increased my listening time and finished this one off in short order. I rated this one 4 out of 5 stars, and that’s when rounding up. It gets off to a slow start. Parts of the story is retold from the point-of-view of minor characters. It would be a much tighter story by sticking to the POV of the major characters.
Listening: Persepolis Rising by S.A. Corey. The seventh book in the Expanse series. Another slow start. Another 20 hour audiobook.
Watched: Suddenly 1954 Noir movie staring Frank Sinatra as the villain. I’ve been watching a lot of old movies lately, and don’t usually bother to mention them here. And it’s not the movies that’s worth mentioning, rather the viewing experience. I watched it on IMDBtv which is free to watch with ads. It’s not the ads that were annoying, they were very reasonable. Rather, whenever a characters cigarette would go to their mouth the area around their mouth would be blurred. The cigarette would be very visible right until it reached their lips. This was made and set in the 50’s – there was a lot of smoking. It’s a film about assassinating the President,six people are killed and several others are shot, yet it’s the smoking that gets blurred. Most of the smoking is by the bad guys. I found it bizarre. FYI – I watched this in preparation for listening to an Incomparable podcast episode.
I couldn’t wait any longer. I inked up my two remaining Atlanta Pen Show nib grinds.
Guest Post: Two Writer’s Boxes, A Cautionary Tale via The Gentleman Stationer
Advice from a Reformed Ink Hoarder | Anderson Pens Blog
The unusual suspects — mnmlscholar
News: M605 Tortoiseshell-Black Special Edition « The Pelikan’s Perch
Pen Nibs, More than Just A Type, its Geometry – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
Video Lisa’s Top 5 Rebel Pens! | Anderson Pens Blog
Pennonia Cheerio Waterbus Ink Review — The Pen Addict
Another Forward Pen – Goodwriterspens’s Blog
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The eight pens I've picked to use first as the week begins.
List of inked pens from Fountain Pen Companion
Pens drying out after a bath.
My fountain pen usage was up this past week. I ended up writing 23 pages in my journal during the week. This included eight pages on Friday as I tried to write the Pilot Elite dry. The pen seemed nearly dry when I started, only a drop or two visible in the cartridge. I figured it would die on the first or second page. When it didn’t go dry it became a battle or wills. I wasn’t going to stop writing and it wasn’t going to go dry. That took up a nearly two hours of my morning. Eventually it went dry and I moved on to my Friday tasks, and another fountain pen.
I don’t like having so many pens inked up, sixteen at the moment. I may start transcribing again, as a way to use ink. So far, stream on conscious journaling is working well. But, even with more writing than usual, I only wrote one pen dry. So I picked seven fountain pens for my pen wrap and will concentrate on using them this week. There’s a nice variety of nibs, and some of the pens were purposely given short fills of ink, which means they should go dry soon. This past week I managed to keep any pen from going seven days without being used, but just barely.
In my Atlanta Pen Show Trail Log I mentioned that I was having terrible ink flow issues with my new Opus 88. My apologies to Opus 88. My faith in Montblanc ink was misplaced. I was in a rush to replace Sheaffer Red at the show. I liked the color when swatched, and I like Montblanc ink, so I bought it. I switched to Pilot Blue-Black, a nice, well-behaved ink I’m very familiar with. The pen wrote great. I found reviews of Montblanc Modena Red which called the ink one of the worst. I didn’t hate the color when swabbed. But, from the nib, when it did flow, it was completely washed out. Not an ink for thin nibs. Actually, not an ink for any nibs. I’ve enjoyed almost every Montblanc ink that I’ve used, and have not found any to be truly bad. I didn’t like Montblanc Golden Yellow, but it wasn’t terrible. Montblanc Modena Red is a truly terrible ink with no redeeming qualities. I ended up dumping the ink down the drain. I would never use it again, and I wouldn’t inflict it on anyone else.
I couple of weeks ago I wrote about when a pen qualifies as _used_. I shouldn’t have done that. Naturally there’s been a change. It’s small, but I keep the TWSBI Swipe in a Nock Co. Sapelo Penvelope (2017 Kickstarter) along with four pockets notebooks that I use to keep track of various things throughout the day. The Swipe, or whatever pen is in the Sapelo gets credit for being used if I’ve taken notes with it during the day. The volume of ink used rarely equals a full size page, but keeping track, and moving the pen around seemed pointless. If I use those notebooks then the pen qualifies are used.
Read: The Escape by David Baldacci. This is volume 3 of his Puller series. This is typical Baldacci. A sprawling crime story, where everyone except Puller is a potential criminal, and most eventually are. This one features Puller’s brother, who’s already been convicted of espionage. It’s not much of a spoiler to say the escape refers to his brother. I debated between three and four stars. I decided the three stars was more because I’m tired of Baldacci at the moment. So I gave 4 out of 5 stars.
Reading: Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. Recommended, and seemingly popular at my library, but I didn’t really know what to expect. I’m enjoying it so far. It’s set in Harlem in the 60’s. The main character is Carney, a furniture salesman. Also a reluctant crook, who’s only slightly bent. It’s not really a compelling story, and not a rally a crime/mystery novel. It’s more a story about the characters lives.
Listening: Babylon’s Ashes by S.A. Corey. The sixth book in the Expanse series. I took a short break and have now returned to my re-listen of the Expanse series. Only three volumes left before I listen to the ninth and final installment for the first time.
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Lessons from Saturday’s in-person pen group meetup — mnmlscholar
My Col-o-ring Is Full! – Adventures in Ink Swatching – Chicana Writes
Vintage Vs. Modern: Why Go Old School? — The Pen Addict
Ink-choice-by-group-consent … or, the peer pressure palette — mnmlscholar
Safety Caps and Pens – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
Aquarian April – Pam Alison Knits
Pen Case Review: Lochby Quattro Four-Pen Case — The Gentleman Stationer
Use Case: Field Notes Signs of Spring (Not a Review) – Chicana Writes
2022 Atlanta Pen Show Recap and Report Card — The Pen Addict
The three line progress tracker — mnmlscholar
When You Find a Specific Pen You Like: Atlanta Pen Show 2022 — The Gentleman Stationer
The New M800 Black-Red’s Surprising ‘Old’ Look « The Pelikan’s Perch
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Spurred on by the Atlanta pen show running this weekend, I had a fountain pen heavy week. Not necessarily using them, but much of what I did was fountain pen centered. In fact, while they got daily use, my fountain pen usage was down from the previous week.
On Tuesday I spent the day cleaning the pens leaving the rotation, and inspecting my vintage Sheaffer pens. I water tested all the Sheaffers and found three that wouldn’t take in water. I already had two pens in the queue for new sacs, so I resaced those two. Seven that caught my attention are in the photo up top.
On Wednesday I tested the newly repaired pens, after letting them sit overnight to make sure the shellac is really dry. Then I moved on to inking up the pens I want in the rotation. I got caught up in playing with pens, and inked up more than expected. I wrote about my pen selections here.
I’m not a heavy watcher of videos, but I did watch the Pen Addict Twitch Live Stream on Wednesday. Well, watch may be a bit strong, I listened to it in the background. This week’s streams had a pen show theme.
Thursday was spent packing for the pen show and getting ready. Plus, doing the non-pen stuff that I had been putting off so I could have more pen time.
While it wasn’t my plan, having my hands on so many pens close to the show helped suppress my urge to buy every pen that caught my eye at the show.
I’ve been a nomad since mid-January, and was able to plan a stay that was local to the Atlanta Pen show. For reference, my past pens shows have been Long Island and The Commonwealth Pen Show (Boston), both of which are smaller shows. I’ve also been to the Washington DC show, which is huge. The Atlanta show website had 47 vendors listed on the vendor page.
I arrived at the hotel a little after 8am on Friday. I bought my weekend pass and then headed next door to have breakfast at Waffle House. I was back shortly after 9am, when the show floor officially opened for weekend pass holders.
I’ve never been to the Atlanta show in the past, so I can’t compare it to past shows. While larger than Long Island, it’s still a small show. I was surprised by the number of nib workers that were here. I was also surprised to see three of them from Colorado and California. I counted five, plus Pendleton Brown who’s a niche nib worker these days. Several vendors had what I would consider a significant trip. From my memory, Anderson Pens (Wisconsin) was the only non-local vendor I saw at the Long Island show. In this case, I define local as within a three hour drive.
Foot traffic seemed light on Friday. Talking to a couple vendors they said Friday was slower than past shows. One attributed it to the local offices being closed or having fewer people working in them. Saturday morning also seemed slow to me, although I left before lunch.
This show had a much bigger social aspect than the other shows that I attended. Washington had far more people and vendor volume which helps make that one social. But for a small show Atlanta was very friendly and social.
The show puts on a Friday evening cookout for weekend pass holders and vendors. This was a good time and I got to meet and talk with several folks. Later that evening a bunch of folks hung out around the bar and lounge, having drinks,talking about, and sharing pens.
The show itself was spread across three rooms, with Yafa having a table stretched out the length of the entrance hallway. My bad guess would be about 10 Yafa tables along that hallway. It seemed like this could get congested if it got crowded. Between folks looking at Yafa pens and people moving between the three rooms along that hallway in both directions, there wasn’t a lot of extra space, One of the rooms was small and cramped, and seemed to get a little warm as Friday went on. The other two rooms were much less cramped, making it easy to get around. It’s worth pointing out that many of those 47 vendors had multiple tables.
There were also three seminars on the schedule, although I did not attend any. They were: Fountain Pens 101, American Cursive Handwriting, and Copperplate Script.
I would certainly consider traveling to Atlanta for a future show. Although the last time I tried to budget for travel to several pen shows, including Atlanta, the pandemic hit.
Now on to the material aspects of the show.
Going into the show I knew that my primary focus would be getting nib grinds. By the time I left late Saturday morning I had four nib grinds done, and purchased a new nib which I consider the fifth grind. Several nib workers had an option of making appointments through email, although I decided not to do this and wing it, despite want to get several done.
Vendors were sparse Friday morning, but Mike Masuyama was grinding away, so I got on his list and had my first nib grind done a short time later. I had him thin one of my Lamy factory oblique medium gold nib down to an oblique fine, but with the same oblique angle.
My second nib grind was done by Damien Alomar on Friday afternoon. I’d never come across him before. I think he said that he is from Delaware, but my memory could be faulty. I had a fine nib ground to a needlepoint. The result was a nib that put down a thin line and was a lot smoother than I expected. By their nature, I expect needlepoint nibs to have more feedback (or catch on paper fibers) than a wider nib. This one was nice and smooth. I may notice more feedback as I use it on different types of paper, but kudos on the smoothness. According to his website, Damien has also done events at Betram’s inkwell in Rockville, MD. So it seems possible to have him do nib work without going to a pen show or sending him pens through the mail.
While not a grind I had done there, the Esterbrook _Needlepoint _ nib arrived late Friday afternoon and I picked one up. They are a bit expensive, but I wanted one to keep up with the Esterbrook nib collaborations. They’re $90, and also available on their website. If you figure a typical nib unit cost is $25, that leaves $65 for the grind. The needlepoint nib is done by Kirk Speer, who was also at the Atlanta show. Kirk lists a $50 price for a custom Needlepoint grind. This isn’t a complaint, just an observation. I imagine it has to do with limiting nib-only purchases (like I did) so that they are available to sell with pens. Plus, I’m sure it’s a pain in the butt stocking and tracking the nib. Generally, when included in the pen sale, the collab nibs have had a price bump in line with the cost of a custom grind, roughly $50. Direct from Kenro may be slightly more since they don’t want to undercut their retailers.
That was it for my nib work on Friday.
I headed down to the show floor early Saturday morning to get on a couple of lists for nib work. My timing was right and Matthew Chen was able to do the work right away. I had him put a left oblique on my vintage Sheaffer Marine Green Oversize Balance. I showed him my Diplomat Oblique as an example that I really liked. The result was nice and smooth, with just enough angle, which I like. I haven’t inked up this pen (or the next) because I simply have too many inked, so it’s only been dip tested.
My final nib work was done by Kirk Speer of Pen Realm and it was also for a left oblique on a vintage Grey Marble Sheaffer Balance Oversize. I showed him the same Diplomat Aero example. While I haven’t inked this one up either, it feels smooth and cut at the right angle.
I brought along the Diplomat as an example because it’s one I really like, but it has a rather shallow angle. Obliques can be open to interpretation. I like the nib because of the way it sits naturally in my hand. I’ve found that I’m a very visual person when writing with a fountain pen, and use the nib to orient the pen. I tend to naturally rotate the nib slightly. I’m not using an oblique as a way to get a lot of line variation, so more obliqueness is not better for me.
I haven’t inked up either of the vintage pens. But they are in the queue to be inked and I look forward to a comparison between them.
Pendleton Brown was there also, but his BLS nib just isn’t a nib for me.
Mark Bacas was there also. I actually added myself to his list, but then soon crossed my name off. He’s done all my pandemic nibs, so I have several examples of his work. He does great work, but I wanted to try some new (at least to me) nib grinders.
I think that covers all the nib workers that were at the show. I now have examples of all their work, except for Pendleton Brown, who’s BLS nib is not my jam.
One unexpected benefit of bringing so many pens to the show with me is that it as easier to avoid buying new pens. If I was tempted by a pen I could open my pen case and ask Which one would this replace? But as Friday rolled on I decided I wanted an Atlanta Pen Show pen.
I ended up picking up an Opus 88 Demo Red from Droomgle’s. It’s a translucent red body with black end caps and clip. I generally don’t like translucent colors, but this one wasn’t too translucent. It didn’t look cheap, with is my main complaint with translucent colors. It was a toss up between this one and a clear version.
This pen didn’t make a good first impression when I inked it up. It’s a Japanese-style eyedropper filler, meaning it has a valve that can be closed to seal the pen. My particular copy doesn’t seem to require the valve to seal it shut. I filled about 1/2 the barrel and put the section back onto the body and the ink is slow to reach the feed (as in hours, with some assistance). The slit between the tines seems a little too narrow, but I’ll do some other troubleshooting steps first. I did the obvious first step if flushing/cleaning the section, but the rest will have to wait until later in the week. My lesson learned (or re-learned) is that even new pens need to be checked, especially when in such an easy environment to do so. Instead I waited until I left the show.
I also got a TWSBI Swipe in Pear. This isn’t so much a new pen, as it is a replacement for my current Swipe since it’s green. I haven’t inked it up yet. I’ll write my current Swipe dry first since it’s almost empty.
I had wanted some Sheaffer Red and Waterman Mysterious Blue (Blue-Black) bottles. I also wanted a wider variety of ink cartridges. With my traveling, bottles are inconvenient and a potential mess if one breaks. I don’t have a lot of variety among international cartridges.
But, I only got two boxes of cartridges, Kaweco Sunrise Orange and Herbin Lierre Sauvage (They dropped the “J” from the labels.)
I ended up with 5 bottles of ink, 4 of which are new to me. Maybe all 5 are new to me. I wanted to see the new Sheaffer bottle and intended to get Sheaffer Red. When that wasn’t at the show (new or old ink) I got Sheaffer Very Verde. Sheaffer, now owned by Cross, is slowly rolling out new Sheaffer inks and packaging. The packaging doesn’t call it “Strip” anymore and I’ve seen websites that call it “reformulated.” The bottle is smaller (now 30ml, was 50ml) and the new bottle is a couple of bucks more.
When I couldn’t find Sheaffer Red I went looking for a replacement. Something along the lines of fire engine red. As is my way, I couldn’t decide and ended up with two, Montblanc Modena Red and Diplomat Red. Based upon online ink tools (easier for me than flipping through swabs), both are close to the red that I want.
I haven’t used the Diplomat yet. The Modena Red is in the problem Opus 88, so I’m withholding judgement.
I also got Herbin Bleu Mysosotis, which is a lovely purple and I’m enjoying with my oblique fine Lamy nib in the Savannah Safari.
I also got another green ink. It’s a boutique ink made by Karen Anderson under the Anderillium Inks name. I picked up a nice bright green called Spirula Green. I matched it with my green Fisher of Pens Hermes. It’s nice and bright, even with the new needlepoint nib.
Reading: The Escape by David Baldacci. This is volume 3 of his Puller series. For some reason, the second volume had over 30 holds at my library (for two copies) so I skipped it and took volume 3 which was available immediately. It’s been slow progress on this one. There have been days I haven’t touched it. It’s time for me to take a Baldacci break and switch to another author after I finish this book.
See my currently inked post for a full list of my inked pens. Here are the pens inked or changed at the Atlanta Show.
I now have 18 inked pens. Although, to be honest I need to verify that. I’ve been lax in recording my ink and pen pairings during the pen show. This means I have to use three a day if I want to have each pen used at least once a week. I get anxious so many inked pens I want to write some dry This causes an internal argument: Use many pens a day to see ink moving, or use a pen until it’s dry in order to make room in the pen roll. This unnecessary, self-inflicted angst is why I don’t like having more than six or seven pens inked.
See this earlier links post for most of this week’s links. Like I said in that post, I was tired and making mistakes. Here are couple more links that should have been included.
Enough is Too Many is Just Right — The Pen Addict // I hyperventilate just looking at this. I tried a few active notebooks at once and it drove me nuts. Now I have a journal, which is deskbound 98% of the times and a catch-all notebook for everything else.
An exciting new start for ukfountainpens.com | UK fountain pens // Good to see that the old posts will remain online and there will be new posts in the future.
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Lamy Safari OF with writing sample
Lamy14k custom oblique fine nib.
Hermes Needlepoint nib close-up
Esterbrook Needlepoint writing sample
Esterbrook Needlepoint closeup
Opus 88 Demo Red fountain pen
Inspired by the Atlanta pen show running this weekend, I had a fountain pen heavy week. Not necessarily using them, but much of what I did was fountain pen centered. In fact, while they got daily use, my fountain pen usage was down from the previous week.
On Tuesday I spent the day cleaning the pens leaving the rotation, and inspecting my vintage Sheaffer pens. I water tested all the Sheaffers and found three that wouldn’t take in water. I already had two pens in the queue for new sacs, so I re-saced those two.
On Wednesday I tested the newly repaired pens, after letting them sit overnight to make sure the shellac is really dry. Then I moved on to inking up the pens I want in the rotation. I got caught up in playing with pens, and inked up more than expected. I wrote about my pen selections here.
Thursday was spent packing for the pen show and getting ready. Plus, doing the non-pen stuff that I had been putting off so I could have more pen time.
I figure I need to cut this off here (Thursday evening) to schedule it for Sunday morning. I’ll schedule the post for the usual time, and add any new links before it actually publishes. Personally, I like having the links for Sunday reading so I can read them with my Sunday morning tea. Any Atlanta Pen Show related posts, or any additional recap of my fountain pen week will occur sometime after this publishes.
Reading: The Escape by David Baldacci. This is volume 3 of his Puller series. For some reason, the second volume had over 30 holds at my library (for two copies) so I skipped it and took volume 3 which was available immediately. It’s been slow progress on this one. There have been days I haven’t touched it. It’s time for me to take a Baldacci break and switch to another author after I finish this book.
Anything new from the Atlanta Pen show will be covered in a future post.
See my currently inked post for a full list of my inked pens.
A defense of the partial ink fill — mnmlscholar // I’m a whole-hearted supporter of the short fill.
Keystone: A Brand, A Model or Wearever – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
[#OneWeek100People: day 12 – Writing at Large](https://writingatlarge.com/2022/03/29/oneweek100people-day–12/ “Jump to the article”)
Adapting my sentimentality to function at work — mnmlscholar
SchonDSGN Natural Ultem – Newton Scholarship | Peaceable Writer
My Traveler’sRoterfadenLochbyPlotter Notebook “System” — The Gentleman Stationer
Vintage Pencils on National Pencil Day – Writing at Large
Enough is Too Many is Just Right — The Pen Addict
Enjoy Your Local Libraries (National Library Week is starting) – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen // Almost all the books I read are from my local library, via the Libby app.
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I spent a lot of time today selecting, and inking up pens for my trip to the Atlanta pen show. As is usually the case with me, the number of pens kept growing. I’d touch a pen and it would beg me to allow it to make the trip. I can’t say no. I quickly outgrew the Franklin-Christoph Seven Pen Wrap. Not all the pens in the photo are inked up (only 14 out of the 22). Twice as many as my original plan.
I picked pens that fell into two groups. First, pens that are my favorites, at least at this moment in time (I am fickle). And pens that have a unique or rare feature people may want to see or try. Although, being a pen show I doubt these will be unique in the room. The pens on the left side of the photo., plus the two in the center, plus the two in the bottom right are inked up. Short Fill means I only pulled in enough in to be just visible in the converter. I do have a 15th pen inked, the Pilot Custom 823 (F) with Montblanc Bordeaux ink. I forgot about this one when I took the photo. It’s in my journal, and is staying home.
A lot of pens have Montblanc Bordeaux. It’s my favorite ink and I have a lot left. Combine this with my dearth of bottled ink and it was an obvious choice. If I used cartridges I’d either dump a lot of ink of have the pens inked up forever.
So starting at the top left of the photo, and working down the left side:
Pilot Custom 912, Posting Nib, in basic Black with a Pilot Purple Cartridge: I decided to go with purple, even though the ink would probably look better with a wider nib.
Esterbrook (Kenro) Estie Oversized in Maraschino, Journaler nib with a Montblanc Bordeaux short fill: I love all three of my OS Estie. I’m bringing this because of the Journaler nib by Gena Salorino, who Esterbrook partnered with. More importantly, I love the pen.
Esterbrook (Kenro) Estie Oversized in Scarlet, Scribe nib with a Montblanc Bordeaux short fill: I love all three of my OS Estie along. I’m bringing this because of the Scribe nib by Josh Lax, who Esterbrook partnered with. More importantly, I love the pen.
Fisher of Pens Hermes in Vintage Web Green, Fine nib with a Montblanc British Racing Green short fill:. It’s been far too long since I inked this one up. I gave it a short fill because there a chance I’ll have a nib grind done on it. So, less ink to dump.
Kanilea Kona Cherry, Extra-Fine nib with Montblanc Bordeaux ink: My favorite pen and ink paired together. I worked to get every drop ion ink possible into the converter. The pen took awhile to break me in, so it was a bit rough a first. It finally got me trained and it’s been my solid #1 since them.
Sheaffer Legacy with a Custom Blue Fleck body,and a Blade Turk (XXF) nib by Marc Bacas and filled with a Sheaffer Green cartridge. I’m not a fan of blue pens, or gold trim. Except with this pen for some reason. Probably because it’s a Sheaffer. The body was made by Franklin-Christoph for Jim Rouse, which makes it more special, although he was still alive when I bought it.
Diplomat Aero in Green with a 14 kt. Fine nib with a Montblanc British Racing Green short fill. I’m bringing the pen in case someone wants to try a stock Diplomat gold nib. I like the pen and the nib, but I don’t think it’s worth the price bump. At least not for a fine nib. I was never a Green Arrow comic book fan, but I do refer to this one as the Green Aero.
Diplomat Aero Volute with a Oblique Fine nib and Waterman Mysterious Blue ink. The aesthetic of this pen fires on all cylinders for me. The Mark Bacas oblique fine nib elevates this pen so it writes as good as it looks.
Pilot Elite Steel Lined Pocket Pen with an 18 kt Fine nib and filled with a Pilot Blue-Black cartridge: Even I was surprised by how much I like this pen. While too small for me to use in extended writing sessions, it’s fine for an hour or so.
Sailor Pro Gear Regency Stripe with an Extra-Fine 21 kt gold nib and a Sailor Shikiori Chu-Shu ink cartridge. Another small (for me) pen, but the metal gives it weight which makes it usable for me. I love the thin Japanese extra-fine nib.
Then in the center is the Pilot Vanishing Point Red Bamboo with a XXF gold nib and a Pilot Blue-Black cartridge. which will be in my shirt pocket during the show.
The **TWSBI Swipe which still has the Sheaffer Red ** that was loaded into the oversized converter last year. It’s nearly empty, but I forgot to clean in. It’s staying home.
Now we move to the bottom right side and work our way up.
I just re-saced the Grey Pearl Striated Sheaffer Balance Oversize with a 14kt Fine nib and Montblanc Bordeaux ink. This is the first fill with the new sac so I was hesitant to carry it on the trip. It’s been a few years since I replaced a sac. I love the grey & black aesthetic and Sheaffer nibs are great.
Sailor 1911L Ringless in Epinard with a 21 kt. Gold Zoom nib and a Sailor Shikiori Waka-Uguisu cartridge It’s my play pen. Not at all suitable to my writing, but I like doodling with it and varying the lines. I’m bringing it in case someone wants to try a zoom nib.
That’s it for all the inked pens.
The other pens in the case, continuing up the right side:
Edison Huron Grande in Flecked Red/White/Blue and with a Extra-Fine nib I’m bringing this for self defense, since I can use it as a club. I can’t believe I used to eyedropper fill this pen.
The next two are the Franklin-Christoph Model 02 v2 in Gemstone with an Extra-Fine nib and the Franklin-Christoph Model 02 v1 in Emerald Green and with a Needlepoint nib. Both of these were in my Next to ink queue but didn’t make the cut this time. I’m bringing them because they were already in the case, and in the event anyone wants to see the different between the OG Model 02 and the current Model.
Lamy Safari Petrol with a Medium steel nib I’m bringing this one as a possible sale, although the nib on it is a grind candidate. It’s one of my least favorite (relatively speaking) Safaris, and prices are high. So it’s possible I could sell it.
Spoke Icon with a British Racing Green Barrel and a Brass insert and an extra-fine nib. I wanted to ink this one up, but had too many pens inked up by the time I got to it.
Sailor King of Pen (KOP) Royal Tangerine with a Oblique Medium nib: This is still a favorite of mine.
Esterbrook (Kenro) Estie in Evergreen with an Extra-Fine nib: This pen has long been a sale candidate since I prefer the Oversized version, but I haven’t been that aggressive. It’s possible I get this nib ground to a needlepoint and then swap it among my OS Esties. That would leave this pen nib-less. This depends upon the availability of Esterbrook’s Needlepoint as a nib-only purchase. I don’t want another Estie pen.
Esterbrook (Kenro) Estie in Seaglass with an Extra-Fine nib.: I wanted to ink all three OS Esties, but held this one back. It will get a Needlepoint nib and then some ink.
I’m also bringing three Lamy Safari pens, each with one of my Lamy gold nibs. Each is a candidate for a nib grind. The two obliques would be thinned to fine obliques and the extra-fine to a needlepoint.
I don’t feel any urge to buy new fountain pens. But I have so many potential nib grinds that I could go broke. I need to force myself to make decisions and do one oblique fine and one needlepoint. Obliques are rarely (never) done as Fine nibs, but I love the ones that I have.
If you’re reading this on Thursday (March 31st) and want to see another pen I have, contact me either through the contact page or Twitter @fpquest anf ask. I’ll be at the show Friday morning, depending on when I wake up and how traffic is, and also on Saturday.
My decision to attend was recent, but I’m getting more excited excited about going back to a pen show..
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Photo of the pens I'm bringing to the Atlanta Pen show.
My fountain pen usage felt like it was lower this week than last. I don’t keep track enough to be sure. I suppose I could go back and count pages, but then that would make it more like work. My habit of writing in the morning has become ingrained. I had a busy Saturday and want to get an early start to beat the crowds, and I woke later than usual. So I was going to skip the morning journal entry, but I couldn’t do it. I had to write one page before setting out. Then I wrote another page when I got back. So while it feels lower, it still a daily habit which makes me happy.
A better indicator of my lower writing output is that my average “last used” has gone from a high of 1 day ago last week, to a median of 3.5 days ago this week.
I will be attending the Atlanta Pen Show this coming Friday and Saturday. Even though I’m only about 45 minutes away I decided to make a reservation for Friday night. This will give me an opportunity to socialize Friday night and not have to worry about a drive home. This can also be worded as the bar is not off-limits. I do plan to get a weekend pass, so I can return on Sunday if I want to. Or, less likely, extend the reservation.
I don’t have many specific plans.
I’ll try to get appointments for a couple of nib grinds. I have a Lamy Oblique Medium that’s even wetter than my original Lamy Oblique Medium. I want to get that one ground down to an oblique fine. I also want to get a needlepoint nib, although the pen is undecided. I have to avoid the urge to get multiple nibs done. Often, when I can’t decide on pens, nibs, inks, or many other things, I often say “I’ll take one of each, please.”
I’ll see what’s available with the new Esterbrook needlepoint nib. Although, I don’t really want another pen. I do see that Esterbrook sells just the nib on their website, but I’m more likely to get one of my two Esterbrook extra-fines ground to a needlepoint if I get a chance at the show.
I know I just wrote I don’t really want another pen, I could be tempted by the new Pear Green TWSBI Swipe. At about $27 it doesn’t really count, does it?
Finally, I’ll look around for some ink cartridges. I don’t have enough color choices for my standard international cartridges, especially when compared to the number of pens that can use them. This will be even more true if Faber-Castell cartridges give me more problems.
It’ll be interesting to see what else catches my eye.
My last in-person pen show was the Long Island Pen Show in March 2020, just as pandemic shutdowns were about to begin. I have to admit, I’m a little hesitant to join a crowd, even at this point, but barring bad news, that is the plan.
Since I’ll be attending the Atlanta Pen Show next weekend the Trail Log may be delayed. I may also just post links on Sunday morning, and then do a more detailed followup later on Sunday or Monday. I usually do most of the Trail Log on Saturday afternoon, so there will be an impact for sure. I won’t be traveling to the show with my computer, and using my phone will result in even more typos than usual.
Listening: Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey. Book five of The Expanse. Thanks to a lot of driving, I was able to finish this one off. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
Stopped Reading: Dutch Girl by Robert Matzen. A biography of Audrey Hepburn during the five years of the Nazi Occupation. Last Sunday I said this book was mediocre so far, about 25% through it, but that I’d keep going. That became a lie by the end of Sunday. After enjoying a David Baldacci novel Saturday night and Sunday, finishing it off in two days, I decided to return Dutch Girl. I’m in no frame of mind to read about war atrocities. I may borrow the book again, when I’m in a suitable frame of mind. Yes, Baldacci novels have bad people doing bad things, but it’s fiction and my brain knows that.
Read: Zero Day by David Baldacci. Yes, another Baldacci novel. This is volume one in his Puller series. I was in the proper frame of mind to read a book last weekend (mostly Sunday) and I completed this one in two days. I’ll give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Reading: The Escape by David Baldacci. This is volume 3 of his Puller series. For some reason, the second volume had over 30 holds at my library (for only two copies) so skipped it and took volume 3 which was available immediately. I did borrow volume 2 as an audio book and will listen once this one is done. Two Puller books at the same time would confuse the heck out of me, even if they’re in different formats.
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Today I Got To:__________ | From the Pen Cup
How I end a journaling notebook — mnmlscholar
Icon, maker or lux? | UK fountain pens
currently inked i – ink between the teeth
Going the full sentimental — mnmlscholar
Country of Origin – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
Vintage Pen News: John Holland and aluminum
On Keeping a Commonplace Book – Notebook Stories
Early thoughts on the Delike New Moon bent nib fude pen. | Fountain pen blog
A Telescopic Eyedropper Filler – Goodwriterspens’s Blog
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My inked fountain pens as listed in Fountain Pen Companion.
In last week’s Trail Log I mentioned that I was getting tired of transcribing while on my second page. By Wednesday I was restless on the first page and just wanted it done. I only made it through that first page because I had problems with the Pilot Custom 823. The 823 is a solid writer, problems are unheard of until now. The nib just dried up. And yes, the plunger was open to allow ink to reach the nib. I was able to prime the feed, which is a thrill on a vacuum filler. Ultimately it was mess free. That gave me an incentive to at least finish the page in order to test the pen. The 823 was also problem free when I used it again on Saturday.
I didn’t even attempt any transcription when Thursday rolled around. I’d been transcribing every morning so by then morning writing had become an enjoyable habit, at least until recently. So I kept writing every morning. My journaling has increased a couple pages every morning. I’ve also been making progress on my next pen review by writing one or two pages each morning. Both these tasks have me using my pens while doing something I consider productive, unlike transcribing.
I’ve been using my pens more frequently. As the Fountain Pen Companion screenshot (below) shows, all my pens had been used in the last two days. Part of this is because I’ve been writing in smaller A5 notebooks rather than the large writing pad. In addition, at least for the review, I use proper paragraphs when writing. For my journal and transcription, I just write a wall of words.
Read: A Gambling Man by David Balducci. Book two of the Archer series. I finished this one in short order. Like all Balducci books, the crimes tend to sprawl over time. Overall, I like this series better than the Memory Man books. But, I’ve only read two of these, so they haven’t had a chance to become repetitive. I like the post-WWII setting, which reads as realistic. (I’m not so old that I can judge based on personal experience.) I give this 4 out of 5 stars. The next book in series isn’t due out until next month.
Listening: Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey. Book five of The Expanse. A little progress this week. I’m still enjoying it, but my time available for audiobooks has been limited. I’m just over two-thirds of the way through it.
Reading: Dutch Girl by Robert Matzen. A biography of Audrey Hepburn during the five years of the Nazi Occupation. The book got off to a slow start. A lot of words were used to cover her family history. Then it spends considerable time covering the initial German Invasion and Netherlands’ life in general. I set it aside, I just didn’t find it that engrossing. So far it’s been more about the extended family and town’s people than Audrey herself. Not unexpected since she was only 11 when Germany invaded Holland. I do plan to work my way through it. Some people complained that it was a Bait & Switch since Audrey is a minor character in the story. I don’t agree with the Bait & Switch. But, it’s not a Audrey Hepburn focused memoir, at least not yet. It does cover events that certainly affected her life. Such as the brutal execution of her favorite uncle in retaliation for an underground sabotage attempt, even though he had already been locked up as a hostage when it occurred.
Reading: Zero Day by David Baldacci. Yes, another Baldacci novel. This is volume one in his Puller series. I just started, so I don’t have an opinion, just expectations.
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Deciding what I want in a new gel or ballpoint pen — mnmlscholar and The ‘last inked’ column is pretty dope — mnmlscholar
The unburdening – Pam Alison Knits
State of the collection: March 2022 | UK fountain pens
Blogiversary – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
Consult the Doctor Episode 43 | Hey there! SBREBrown // I generally don’t watch videos, but I’ve always like Stephen’s videos. I don’t watch too many of his videos anymore, but the first question intrigued me. His answer lined up with my views.
Another Shade of Green: Welcoming a New Pelikan – Chicana Writes
1935 Parker Challenger – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
2022 Baltimore Pen Show Recap and Report Card — The Pen Addict
Travel Carry, Part II — The Gentleman Stationer
Fountain Pens From My Collection: Namiki Vanishing Point | Fountain Pen Love
Paper – Goodwriterspens’s Blog
Off-Topic:xkcd: Consensus Time : Sounds like it could be fun. Let time we tried permanent DST, in the 70’s, and eliminated it a year before the experiment was to end, it was so unpopular. Personally, I like the idea. But, I don’t have kids or head out to work in the morning. I like writing in the quiet and darkness of early morning and having daylight to get outside once I’m done with work for the day.
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I’m still doing book transcriptions for most of my fountain pen usage. But this week brought a new experience. On Thursday and Friday I got really frustrated about half way through the second page and just wanted to get it done or stop. I only did one page on Saturday in order to avoid the entire issue. It’s rather sudden. I going along, enjoying the pen and ink, then a switch flips and the frustration immediately appears and I just want to be done.
I did reach a minor milestone on Saturday – I finished a Doane Paper Writing Pad. It took about 3 weeks. I only have one left.
My journaling also suffered recently. I skipped 4 straight days, which I don’t like. I got back into it and have actually been writing slightly longer entries.
I need to come up with some other reason to do writing. I have a bit of writers block when it comes to writing pen reviews these days. Rather than transcription, I may start forcing myself to write one or two pages about a pen, and eventually try to turn those into a review.
I still managed to keep rotating through my fountain pens. One pen did reach “Last Used: 7 Days Ago” and others reach 6 days. But I managed to get through them.
I get a tad obsessive about when I can mark a pen as used, and think about that definition far too much.
It would be far easier, and make more sense, if a pen was used when I uncapped it and put ink on paper, no matter what amount. I tried that, but then I couldn’t remember the pens I might of used during the day which would bother me.
But, I can be obsessive about things like this. For example, I’m keeping track of what I eat and their calories. But I can’t use an app. If I do I will obsess over the nutrition data and spend a lot of time making it match food labels. Even though I know, in my brain, that the nutrition info isn’t all that precise. Keeping it in a notebook is far less accurate, but I don’t obsess over it.
Read: Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams. Historical Fiction. Spy thriller that runs from WWII into the 1950’s. Again, I’m in the minority and found this book to be a slog. While it eventually stopped ping-ponging between the three timelines, it took a little long for my tastes, as the present timeline is the only one I found slightly interesting. Even that was ruined by the book basically telegraphing the ending. Definitely not a thriller, but a unique perspective on spying in the 50’s. I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. 12k+ other Goodreads members have an average 4.1 star rating.
Read: Leave No Man Behind by Tony Brooks and Bob Welch. Tony Brooks’ autobiographical account of the 75th Army Ranger’s rescue mission in Afghanistan. It was a quick read. It’s hard to rate this book. It needs better editing to avoid repeated introductions to the same men and tighten up an already short book. Yet, it’s a compelling story. It also feels like a healing process for Dr. Brooks as the majority of it is his biography, feelings and opinions. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars because it is worth reading, but from a purely technical view I’d say 3 stars.
Reading: A Gambling Man by David Balducci. Book two of the Archer series. This had been my transcription book. After transcribing 4 chapters, I started reading it this weekend with Chapter 5.
Listening: Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey. Book five of The Expanse. All the character are in this one, although many are off on their own adventures, and the Rocinante crew is split up (by their choice). My memory says I really enjoyed this one, and after getting through about a third of it my memory has been accurate. No progress this past week.
Transcribing: Dutch Girl by Robert Matzen. A biography of Audrey Hepburn during the five years of the Nazi Occupation.
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Home via Chicana Writes
Russian Invasion of Ukraine and Benu Pens | dapprman
Four and a half hours at a pen show goes alarmingly quickly | UK fountain pens
Lightening the load – Pam Alison Knits
#OneWeek100People2022: Day 1 – Writing at Large
Nib Expectations — TooManyPelikans
The color-matched and the complimentary — mnmlscholar
The Turkish/Persian Divit – Goodwriterspens’s Blog
The color-matched and the complimentary — mnmlscholar
A Guest Post From Chloé: My First Pen Restoration – Goodwriterspens’s Blog
Spring 2022 London Pen Show | dapprman
Crónicas Estilográficas: Eboya’s Eyedroppers
The color-matched and the complimentary — mnmlscholar
Your Questions Answered: Flying with Fountain Pens — The Gentleman Stationer
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My transcription was down a bit since last week, but other usage was up, so my fountain pen usage probably remained about the same. I’ve managed to use three or four pens on most days, so they all get used a couple of times per week. I have a nice mix of pens and inks, so I never hesitate to pick up the least recently used pen.
The Atlanta Pen Show is coming up April 1st -> 3rd. I’ll be close enough to Atlanta that I’m considering going to this show. I really don’t want to get any new pens, but a re-supply of ink cartridges (yes, cartridges) and paper would be in order. BUT, Esterbrook has a new nib offering, and I love their pens and have enjoyed both their custom nibs so far. Needlepoint is right up my alley, so I may break down if I see one there. Although, the nibs don’t seem to be in the retail channel yet, and ot on the OS Esties even direct from Esterbrook. I’m mainly sticking to cartridges, except for my ink stalwarts: Montblanc Bordeaux, Montblanc British Racing Green, and my blue-blacks: Waterman Mysterious Blue and Pilot Blue-Black.
Although, my real incentive for visiting the show is to try and sell my vintage pens. I haven’t been using them, so I really need to consider passing them on. I’d much prefer selling them in person so that the buyer can inspect them. I don’t have a lot of confidence in my vintage knowledge and don’t want to innocently pass along a pen that has hidden (to me) issues or bad information.
My pen sale page is back up with a few pens. I’ll add more as I get a chance.
I’ve noticed that many of the images aren’t appearing in my posts. If you click the text where the image should be you will get the image in most cases. I’ll fix them as I come across them. If you come across a post and want to see the missing images, leave a comment on the post and I’ll fix it as soon as possible.
I was bitten by WordPress. It appears changing my theme, and image sizes, at the time I migrated was a bad idea. WordPress resizes images behind the scenes, and somehow things got screwed up. The original images are all still there.
Listened: Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey. Book four of The Expanse. I finished this one early in the week. Since it’s my second time through it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I found Holden less annoying than the previous book, I give it 5 out of 5 stars. No need to break for a Holden cleanse before moving on to the next book
Stopped Reading: Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandell. Civilization is destroyed by a virus. This is the story of a small group of survivors, about 20 years later. The story does jump between pre- and post-apocalypse. I gave up after getting about halfway through the book. It was a different take on a post-apocalyptic story which was refreshing. Yet the story kept jumping back and forth in time. While I don’t mind flashbacks, this seemed chaotic to me, and just made it hard for me to follow. Plus, I didn’t really care about the characters.
Read: One Good Day by David Baldacci. This is book one of his Archer series. Like Baldacci’s other books, the story grows from a seemingly simple crime, to a web of crimes. Unlike the Memory Man series, these crimes are all related and don’t involve nearly everyone in town. I rate this one 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed it and have moved on to book two.
Read Billy Summers by Stephen King. After bailing on Station Eleven I considered switching the The Stand by Stephen King, but I didn’t want to tackle such a long book, but wanted to stay with Stephen King. I really enjoyed this one and consumed this 500 page book within two days. Not your typical Stephen King horror or supernatural. It’s a thriller. 5 out of 5 stars.
Transcribing A Gambling Man by David Balducci. Book two of the Archer series. I may be transcribing this awhile, since I borrowed another book that has a long waiting list and won’t be able to extend my loan for them. I forget what I already read if I need to wait long for a second loan on a book.
Listening Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey. Book five of The Expanse. All the character are in this one, although many are off on their own adventures, and the Rocinante crew is split up (by there choice). My memory says I really enjoyed this one, and after getting through about a third of it my memory has been accurate.
Reading: Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams. Historical Fiction. Spy thriller that runs from WWII into the 1950’s. To be honest, I don’t see it as much of a thriller (I’m about 45% into it.) The writing style took some getting used to. Yet another book that ping-pongs between a few timelines. I did get used it. Each chapter switches between twin sisters as the perspective used. Another woman, a Russian intelligence agent in Moscow, provides perspective in a few chapters.
Nelson’s Weblog: Goodreads Lost All My Data via Macdrifter
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The Baltimore Pen Show is coming up on March 11th through the 13th.
Fountain Pen Review: Esterbrook Estie Pink Sands | Rants of The Archer
White-Dot Lifetime Flattop – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
It’s a new month, what’s in your pen cup? – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
Fearlessly downsizing to two pens with grey inks, for the week — mnmlscholar
Yarn + Ink Palette: Spring is Coming – The Well-Appointed Desk
News: M800 Black-Red (Psst, It’s Back!) « The Pelikan’s Perch and News: Souveräns Go From Translucent To Opaque « The Pelikan’s Perch
The Queensway Dainty – Goodwriterspens’s Blog
Fountain Pen Primer 104: Cleaning and Care – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
Be Bold And Decorate Your Journal Pages | An Inkophile’s Blog
RSVP: Use the Good Stuff | Comfortable Shoes Studio
Responsibility for Nibs | dapprman
TWSBI PIPE – Is this really necessary? — The Pen Addict
How Does Nib Size Affect The Look Of Your Handwriting? | Fountain Pen Love
My plan for the London pen show this weekend, March 2022 | UK fountain pens
The many faces of shading inks, or my love affair with dry inks — mnmlscholar
Pen Show Prep 2022: Back to Baltimore! — The Gentleman Stationer
Off-Topic:Never Change Your Password – TidBITS // My pet peeve whenever I receive a “time to change your password email”.
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