I had a joyous, pen-heavy day today. I joined a few folks for a beer at my local pen meet (and got to play with a 1.9mm F-C music nib!) ...reinked a couple of pens with fresh beautiful inks, did my version of adult colouring by writing up a Currently Inked on an A3 sheet … Continue reading The simple joy of mucking about with pens
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Quantifying greatness: going deep down the rabbit hole
A while back I made an attempt at a scoring methodology for pens. It was a way for me to take a bottom-up, step-by-step approach to working out what I liked and disliked about the pens I owned, and to see whether the cumulative total resulted in a ranking that actually reflected my gut preferences. … Continue reading Quantifying greatness: going deep down the rabbit hole
“Optimal stopping” and the Namiki Urushi 20 / Yukari Royale
I read a book recently on algorithms, and it discussed a category of problems called "optimal stopping". Optimal stopping is all about finding out when to, well, stop in a pursuit. How many candidates do you interview for a job before making an offer? How many new restaurants in a city do you try before … Continue reading “Optimal stopping” and the Namiki Urushi 20 / Yukari Royale
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So far this year 43,000 visitors have made their way to this blog, leaving 360 comments and 368 (much-appreciated!) likes, while reading about Montblanc's new releases, my hard-learned lessons in the hobby, nine must-try factory nibs, and most recently my love of Nakaya, which makes the 240th post here. It takes time, energy and money … Continue reading Enjoy the blog? Please donate.
The magic of Nakaya
Spend any time on pen blogs and forums and you'll find someone mention "Nakaya" and "grail pen" in the same sentence. There's something about this Japanese brand that really gets people by the soul and won't let go, in a way that Sailor and Pilot don't. Maybe it's the mystique around the brand itself: staffed … Continue reading The magic of Nakaya
Inky fingers, June 2019
I've had a few requests recently for ink-related posts. Despite my mediocre photography, I thought I'd share a few inks that I'm really enjoying at the moment — and a few that disappointed. Winners Edelstein Star Ruby After the faded sadness that was Edelstein Ruby, Star Ruby is simply fantastic. Vibrant, well-behaved, non-staining, and a … Continue reading Inky fingers, June 2019
State of the collection: June 2019
Another month, and more change in my pen squad. Instead of running through the whole list, I'll focus on what's in and what's out since last time. As always, my goal is to keep my collection small enough to fit in this drawer. I'm pleased to say that it does. Just. What's outVisconti Van Gogh … Continue reading State of the collection: June 2019
Nine factory nibs you have to try before you die
I'm in the lucky position of having owned, borrowed or reviewed something like 135 different fountain pens in the last few years. For me, when I use a pen the experience all comes down to the nib. And wow, what variety is out there! From hairline to paintbrush, nail to wet noodle, silky smooth to … Continue reading Nine factory nibs you have to try before you die
Quick post: more for sale
As of this morning I am back up to 32 pens, which is more than I can fit in my pen drawer. Time to make some tough decisions. These are all good pens that I like and enjoy, but some don't suit me or I simply prefer other pens in my collection. I've updated my … Continue reading Quick post: more for sale
Going on a diet (recalibrating to smaller, cheaper pens)
My pen hobby has, at risk of generalising, broadly trended towards larger and more expensive pens (I covered this in 'boiling a frog'). I started with "normal" pens like the Pelikan M205, Lamy Al Star, Platinum 3776, Sailor Pro Gear, Kaweco Sport and Pilot 91, and have escalated to rare and costly giants like the … Continue reading Going on a diet (recalibrating to smaller, cheaper pens)
