Fountain pen Heaven

[sun_set_bravely]

I can smell a new obsession approaching. It's all eleanor's fault.

This morning, I had the pleasure of meeting her for the first time in "real life." We visited at her apartment over coffee (and an adorable and enthusiastic Morgan), and then she took me to the Fountain Pen Hospital. Oh dear. I like it. A lot.

As I suspected, they couldn't fix my Aurora (though I found out that I can send it back to the company with a $15 check and they'll fix it). But my oh my, I found two pens that I like:

This is the Monteverde pen I bought. This little pen is super-cool, and was surprisingly inexpensive. I couldn't resist it. I bought the Sky Blue fountain pen (not pictured).

This is the Waterman Charleston I bought, in the navy blue.

I probably could have gotten away with just the Monteverde, but I couldn't shake my fixation on a pen that can use bottled ink, and this one feels so nice in my hand. There's something so fun about filling the converter and imagining that it's an exotic drug that I'm about to inject. Okay, so I don't pretend that very often, but I am often tempted to flick the pen like a syringe.

I had a great time looking around the shop with eleanor. Yet another LJ person who is just as delightful in real life as she is online! She said it well, "I have the best imaginary friends!" Me too.


~ ~ ~

In other news, it's my mom's birthday today! I got her the Kit Cat Klock that she's wanted for a while (shhh, don't tell her), but what I really wish is that I were home to give her a big hug.

Comments

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

the navy blue pen is gorgeous! how wonderful that you got to meet eleanor. what a treat for you both. :)

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I had a good time. It's so fun to put a face and physical presence to all these words out here on LJ.

[eleanor.livejournal.com]

It was lots of fun! I just put a new cartridge in my modern Parker, and have decided not to use the Tanzanite ink until the Shaeffer Balance arrives.

(I used to have a Kit Cat Klock and loved it, bought a second one when it died, am now thinking about a third.)

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

I'm interested to hear how that Tanzanite ink looks on the page. I've put a turquoise cartridge into my Monteverde, and I'm ready to go!

Ooh -- when you get a moment, will you post those fountain pen websites you recommended? I'm so excited to learn more about these wonderful little creatures.

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

I'm using the Tanzanite as my default ink in the current journal volume. You could always come out to Rose's, or perhaps The Gate or Barbes one night, and look at it, she said ever so casually, and meet a few more of us.

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I may do such a thing. You know, your proximity and kind description from Eleanor makes you next in line for me to meet.

In fact, we're cooking up a little plan now... she'll tell you about it tonight. :)

[curmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Bwaaaahahahaaaaaa! One Of Us!

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

yes indeed! Never to return to the old days of cramped hand and thin, weak lines!

i'm not an addict

[freak1c.livejournal.com]

Yet another of my diabolical plans worked!

those pens are beautiful. I've looked at the orange Monteverde before, lemme know how you like it.

happy birthday to your lovely mother!

baby, that's a lie

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

I adore the Monteverde so far. It's adorable, sleek, sexy, and it fits well. It's the perfect weight for my hand. I'm in love!

it is not a habit it is cool

[freak1c.livejournal.com]

It's not an IV pen right?

I've found that i like both. The neatness and portability of the cartridge and the ritual, messy wetness of the ink bottle.

i feel alive

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

IV?

trying to type the grunting noise she makes...not working.

[freak1c.livejournal.com]

"...imagining that it's an exotic drug that I'm about to inject...I am often tempted to flick the pen like a syringe." - j.g.

thus. IV. Wow. You're right. I must be getting way too cryptic.

bwhahaah. now i exceeeeeed cool!

The deeper you stick it in your vein

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

Ah, now I see. Yes, you have passed beyond obscurity into La-la land, my friend.

Come back to us. It's nice here where we live, in the land of not-so-cryptic remarks.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

So many of you people are into fountain pens now that I can hear the siren song. But it simply doesn't make sense to me given that I write in sheer volume. It seems a waste to invest in an expensive pen that would need only constant refilling, and which I would have to worry about in the pit that is my room.

Having said that, I will press my nose against the window and gaze adoringly at the pens you are all buying. Very nice!

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

I do understand your reluctance to get a nice pen and then misplace it, or worse, loan it to someone and then never get it back.

But as far as the price goes, that's the amazing thing! You can find a good fountain pen for around $25 that will last you for a while. My Aurora was about that, and with a bottle of Pelikan ink ($6) lasting one full year (keeping in mind that I wrote many drafts of the screenplay, plus 50,000 words, plus six journals) in that time -- well, I'll never go back to ballpoints. Or even gel rollers!

Oh my goodness, I'm pushing fountain pens now, aren't I? If I'm not careful, you'll find me going door to door with the Fountain Pen Hospital catalog and a big grin on my face.

I'm leaving now.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

I am far too selfish to ever loan anyone a pen for which I paid more than $2.50. Call it a failing, if you will; I call it practical. So that is not a concern.

Your tallying of words brings me dangerously close to slipping onto the dark side. Help me.

Help me, I say!

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

A failing? I wouldn't call that a failing. I'd call it damn smart. I get far too attached to my nicer pens to loan them out, too.

By the by, I love the new userpic!

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Thank you, it's one of the cryptic signs I saw in Japan. Every time I look at it I want to scream, "Anything!"

besides

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

I think I have a crush on that screaming yellow Monteverde in your link.

HELP ME I SAY!!!

Re: besides

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

I actually squealed a little giggle when I read this. Join us, Join us!! The yellow one is adorable, and the gentleman showed me a Tiger Eye (which doesn't look as good on the monitor as it does in person) that was tempting as well.

a haiku

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Its medium nib
may be too mighty for my
cheapass thin pages?

Re: a haiku

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

Why let me test it out! I believe that my Sky Blue is also a medium nib (I think that's all they had left), and I happen to have a National Wholesale Warehouse spiral notebook in my bag, so....

*scuffling around of notepad and fabulous new pen, scratching of pen on page*

*examination of back of cheapass page, then front, then back again*

*scuffling back to computer*

I'm happy to report that there's only a very slight shadow of ink on the back of a page. Not enough to keep you from writing on both sides of the cheapass pages.

But, as LeVar always said, Don't take my word for it (http://www.bromfieldpenshop.com/catalog/brands/?detail_sku=MONV-INT-FP). (Their prices are higher, but you can drop by, test it out, and then, if you fall in love with it like I did, you can order it from the FPH.)

Re: a haiku

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm.

Thank you.

Your dedication, how shall I say, scares me a little. I work dangerously close to Bromfield. Help.

Re: a haiku

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

Heh. My dedication isn't meant to be scary. It's just -- enthusiastic. The smell of these new fountain pens has gone to my head, kind of like the smell of new books. I will withdraw all urgings and ennablings (ennablings?), and remind myself that no one likes a fanatic.

Mea culpa!

Re: a haiku

[curmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Medium is kind of one-size-fits-most. If you bear down hard when you write, you don't want a fine point, because it will skip -- but you also might not want a broad point, because it'll write really wet. Slide on over to Bromfield St. on your lunch hour and test drive a few things.

[curmudgeon.livejournal.com]

It's all about the ink cartridges, baybee. Just carry a couple in your bag and your pen is always ready to go.

Give in! Feel the love!

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Will the ink go through the thin pages of my shitty, $3 Buck-A-Book journals? I won't buy anything good with thick pages because I go through about a book a month now. Is there hope for me, too, to join your cult?

Dare I dream?

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

I find that my pen works fine in the El-Cheapo Staples brand spiral notebooks, as well as the nicer pages of gift-journals. Even my mauve, rose-scented ink didn't bleed through the notebook pages. Especially if you buy a fountain pen with a thin nib size, it should be no problem.

The dream is still alive!

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

In a completely unrelated dream, I just signed up for a SiteMeter, and am trying to get it to show up on my user info page, like yours does, but am having no end of trouble. Help?

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

And by typing this question, my Site meter magically appeared. Nevermind!

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Ah ha!

[nickelchief.livejournal.com]

Y'all are scary.

But you convinced me to take out my old Cross pen, which I got as a gift some years ago from a theater producer in London. I'm not sure if that makes me a poseur or not.

It had been so long since I used it that the converter was completely dried out, and after a morphinesque refilling it took a solid two minutes of empty flourishes before the ink flowéd.

Mrs. Ant, as I know you are a rapid scribbler, I feel compelled to say that I find that it's very hard to write quickly with my Cross pen, which either means that my Cross pen sucks or that you may find yourself writing more slowly with your own stylo.

[curmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Spend some quality time filling and emptying the converter with cool water. If possible, unscrew the nib and soak it overnight, too. That should make a huge difference.

I write really fast and most of my pens stand up to it with ease.

[curmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Depends on the ink and the amount of pressure you use when you write. Or you can just trade up to $5 Caslon hardcover sketchbooks.

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

The one thing I recommend against when using fountain pens is notebooks made of recycled paper. For some reason, most of those bleed and have a lot of show-through.

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

I find that I usually have to refill my pens only once a month-- but I carry four or five fountain pens with me, most days, and switch colors daily. And if it stays in your bag, you don't have to worry about losing it as much.

Not that I'm trying to corrupt you....