New Twitter Account

Feel free to click on the Twitter icon on the right and update your account.  I will be switching the sethgoodling Twitter account over to work stuff and re-organizing.    http://twitter.com/#!/goodpensblog   will be for all the fun pen and paper stuff.  Thanks and sorry.  

(Unless you care to see where I had lunch and Technology stuff) 

Seth

Haven't put this down all day.

Kinda impressed:  more to follow.

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs.

You might remember this post where a small local welder was giving away fountain pens as advertising for his business.  I still yearn for those days, but wanted to expand a little on the idea.

I have tons of unusable cheap old ball points.  (Don't ask, it's a known issue.) Going through an old box of them the other day- I found some real gems.  Not all advertisements,  but messages as well. Like this one:

Who in the hell was Ruth?  Doesn't anyone else really want to know?  Click for a clearer picture but it says "Thinking of you Ruth." Oh, ok, that makes sense...wait! What does that mean?  That you are in my thoughts in general, or you got mauled by a bear and are in the hospital?  And shame on me for never wanting to put a message on a pen to give to someone instead of a card or a note.   Or was the pen from Ruth and she hands them out?  Like  "hey!  Thinking of you!"  Regardless,  Ruth...feel better or stop being so vague,  either one.

"This one says" "First Prize For Best Speech Dale Carnagie Course in Effective Speaking"  I wish pens had VIN numbers like cars with a Carfax report so I could take a peek into who had this pen in the past.  I can still imagine the sweaty palm reaching out to accept this after fumbling through 5 minutes of Sales 101 in a dark classroom in the 50's. ( Eww,  sweaty palms,  I am going to go wash up after typing this) and then after 6 weeks of being proud about it... getting tossed into a drawer for me to find.

How cool is this little one?  Other than almost guaranteeing (naysayers will say you can retract the whole way) that you will get red or yellow lead on you if you put this in your pocket...it rocks.  A multi-pencil. I would give this guy my business if he was handing these out to me.

A Company called Crest Air was even handing out Sheaffer's Mechanical pencils. (I actually have 4.. again.. you are better off not asking.) Heck, yes.. I will take some Crest Air!

And finally...What's better than this?  Have a happy day. It's a disposable world now out there and I think the pen lovers are at least trying to maintain some sense of history.  I know most of these were made before I was born,  but I will do what I can to preserve them for another day. Good Pens.

-Seth

Hero 616 - Made in China

What does this pen and this car have in common?  Yep... made in China. If you have spent anytime at all on eBay drooling over Fountain Pens...these must have come across your browser.  Well, I fell for it.  Bought a 6 pack, or a 10 pack...I am not sure which anymore.  All I remember is they were about $1 a pen. In red black and I might have a green one floating around.

The goal was definitely to make this bad boy look like a Parker 51. At first blush they pass the test.  They do look like a Parker... until you pick one up.  If you ever picked up a 51,  you know this one does not feel like a Parker.  It's eerily light...even with ink in it.

Don't cheat....which one is the Parker 21 and which one is the Hero?

Filling is...twist off the body...dip (ink is preferred) , squeeze a few times and wipe off the nib.  That's it.  Keep it simple right? Here's the guts.

In this case,  I don't think it's suicide,  or flattery.  More doing what you have to do to get by.   "It is what it is" comes to mind here.  For a $1 you get a very workable fountain pen that across the conference table looks like a more expensive model.  The nib might not be as smooth, or the metal quite as shiny.  But again.  A buck.

Ebay links:

http://cgi.ebay.com/10-X-PIECES-HERO-616-CARBON-FIBER-FOUNTAIN-PEN-H19-/150340204103?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2300f97647#ht_3447wt_754

http://cgi.ebay.com/H33-10-X-PIECES-HERO-329-CARBON-FIBER-FOUNTAIN-PEN-/350366537827?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5193791863#ht_3813wt_754

http://cgi.ebay.com/3X-HERO-616-Fountain-Pen-Vintage-Style-Classic-Pen-NEW-/180580306069?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a0b6ccc95

I don't have any affiliation with these sellers...just passing along the info.

Pen News!

I added a new column on the right hand side that I plan on keeping updated as news related stuff comes flowing in.  I am tempted to put it in the body...and I might eventually but in order to keep the noise down I will tuck it over there.
Enjoy!

If you are interested in this sort of thing, let me know and I could start putting more in the main part of the blog... up to you. Feel free to leave a comment.

And I started putting my missing links back in,  shoot me an email if you want a link exchange.

Pentel Graphlet 0.4 ... a good non-pen

Who has two thumbs and cannot stop using his new .4 mechanical pencil? This guy. Larger pictures if you click...
















I think like most people... I had natural progression down to smaller leads from when I first started using non-pens. (everyone calls pencils "non-pens" right?) You had your Yellow #2 and it stayed as sharp as you had the energy to walk to the pencil sharpener for.
Years later...I remember my first .3 pencil. It was almost perfect. There was the occasional scratching and lead breaking and paper tearing but for the most part... It was near perfect. However...I found some really good feeling .5's that a solid grip that made up for the thicker lead. Now I think I have found my happy place....

















Each different lead thickness has a different color cap!

Then I discovered the .4. OOOOH baby. It's kinda like chewing on a old pieces of leather for all your life and then someone handing you a piece of gum and saying "Here, try this."

"Thank you... where were you 4 cows ago?" (you have to excuse me today-I had a fresh new brand of espresso this morning and I might have gone overboard.)

















If lead ever had a small family reunion and some of them got together for a distant cousin portrait... this would be it. That's a .3 on the left then a .4, 5, 7, 9 and up to a who knows what that size is on the right. Oh...and that is a Parker 61 Mechanical pencil that I need to review (second from the right.)Love.

















Jetpens sell these for $7.50 a pop. Before you go start a rally about it...it's a very fair price for the quality. I will be picking up the entire series.

Oh, I cannot stop listening to The Avett Brothers. Anytime punk and folk are blended give me a shout, I would be in... Enjoy your day.

1944 Parker 51 Mustard with Empire Cap

It's a little dreary in Boston today, so I decided to break out the good china to liven things up a bit.  Nothing can inspire you like a nice pen.   I have seen this exact pen model on the cover of books-so to be able to have one in my collection is a true dream.

I have probably picked up this pen about 30 times to actually blog about it,  but I sort of liked that it was my secret. But in car talk... it compares to leaving a GT40 in your garage and just dusting it off every now and then and imagining how fast it would go.  No,  this one does not travel,  but it is worth sharing.  There were some old pictures floating around on Flickr that got some attention  (and offers) but this one remains with me.

It was build in 1944 and the two dots on either side of the 4-like this ".4."  let me know that is was build in the second quarter of 1944.  Sweet huh? 66 years.  I kinda want to have a reunion with everyone that has owned this pen.  We could all get together and hug... unless they are all creepy people,  then maybe just coffee and crumpets or something.  yeah... skip the hugging.  Thanks.


As always...click for larger pictures.This pen was built the way that pens were supposed to be built. I have reviewed a few 51's before, but this one is special. People's eyes tend to glaze over when they see or talk about Empire caps.

I kinda realized that blogging is a winter thing for me.  During the Summer,  I just have too much stuff going on.  I want to thank everyone for your patience and caring and keeping me in your readers.  Stay tuned for more frequent updates and more fun pens.

Dr. Grip....Meet Mr. Dremel.

If you have a second... go back and read this post.  Trust me,  it will all make sense in the end.  Scan even if you like.  But the idea was that I REALLY like this version of the Pilot Dr. Grip.  Not everything,  but I saw the potential.

I liked it,  but did not like the ink.  So...I did what most pen lovers....errr... guys would do and I made it work for me.   Please forgive me,  but I sacrificed a Zebra Sarasa 0.4 in Black for this project.

Mr. Dremel...meet Mr. Pen.  The Pilot ink is on the right,  the Sarasa needed some serious whittling and about 1/2 inch hacked off the back. Shaved done,  tested...shaved some more...shaved some more.  I sort of was careful.  After all there is ink in there and I do have carpets....

I think i had to go back one more time after this picture  and then it dropped right in and started clicking like it was made for this pen.

So now a pen that's been sitting stale in my desk drawer will go into the rotation.  So here's the lesson... Pen you don't really like + power tools + favorite other pen = Nice solid usable pen.

Oh,  and I threw the first pitch out at Fenway for the Red Sox the other week.  That's cool also.
Enjoy your weekend.
Seth

Haven't used these but they seem like a good deal!

https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.40564

0.3mm Black Gel Ink Pens (12-Pen Pack)



Anytime I can buy a 12 pack of pens I tend to get a little giddy.
No they are not a sponsor or have I ever considered buying anything from them before,  but they showed up in my feed.  Let me know if you order them and if you have a review to share.  Yes... this is my first post in a long time.  The summer was for my bike and my family. Colder weather means blogging.  

Journal 21...a planner review!

The good folks over at The Quo Vais Blog sent this planner out late last year and I bet they thought that I forgot about it. No way. However...here's a preface to this post. I am not a daily planner guy in the traditional "write it all down" sense...because of my work, I have to be tied to an electronic calendar. There aren't enough Getting Things Done seminars in the world that could figure out a way for me to accuratly keep two separate calendars matched if one is written with a pen. I simply don't have that functionality. That being said, what I do have is a need to track lots of items. Like: miles and expenses and calls and how many times a day Janet goes to the bathroom. (that would be funny and hurtful, except that I work from home.) Ehh...still funny.

But here I was, saddled with a journal that impressed me from the start. 1. It has some heft to it. It just feels substantial. 2. The paper is magical.

I will let the experts go over the details:

16 months monthly, September 2009 to December 2010
12 months daily, January to December
8 AM to 9 PM schedule
Soft green tinted vellum paper
72g, acid-free and pH neutral paper
Annual planning calendars for 2010 and 2011
Current and following month calendars
Elegant round corners — tear-off corner opens to day in progress
Sewn binding, lays flat when open
Full line per half-hour
Blank space for daily notes
Bound in address book
Refillable

You know what, there isn't one of those things that I disagree with. (and I have a little man crush on a few of those up there.)


So I don't tend to fill it up. I add things daily, but I am not sure I am using this as it is intended. Sure it reminds me of things and tracks items but I see this as a planner for someone who REALLY uses a planner. Like...life starts to crumble if the planner gets lost. Those people are still out there.

The good news is...that it is vacumatic and I love it. (no that's not the good news.) The good news is that it works on this paper. It's true, a journal that you can use your sloppiest fountain pens on. So go nuts! You can make this picture larger and try to figure out what I do during the day, but it's mostly like Nicholas Cage in Windtalkers....some sort of Navajo-like clicky sounds that would be impossible for the enemy to decipher.  (Whew, that took a bit longer to explain that I needed.)

So, pop quiz...you are called to a meeting in D.C. and you have 5 minutes to pack for a day trip. (not tottly unrealistic for me) What do YOU take? Here are the 4 things that I would grab to handle the meeting. Maybe a power cord also, but if I am limited to 4 items I can handle it for a while.

Bottom line, great journal, you can buy it here and I am glad I get the chance to use it.

I didn't have a quote in the journal so I will leave you with this one:

A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble at his door.
- Confucius

Planning...get it?

We have a winner (in my best carnival voice)

Jamie at Waterhalo is the winner.  I was going to get creative with cats or a monkey or something to determine the winner randomly,  but some people freak out about stuff like that,  so I picked the most boring option ever.

Jamie,  shoot me an email and we can sort out the details,  congrats.

And how could I not give the bonus prize to A Quiet mind for bringing Buddha into the mix.  I don't need that kind of bad karma on me,  so I will dig into the vault and pass something along to you as well.  Thanks for all the comments!

Seth

It's a tool...silly and a giveaway.

Going through some of the fountain pen blogs and reading some of the comments that people write about their pens kinda drives me nuts. Maybe it's a personal thing, but pens to me were never meant to be put in a box and never inked or drooled on. I suppose if all I had to do was burn money--- I would buy pens and forget I had them... but I don't see why people do it. If it's art, then call it art and not a pen. I'll write with my pens.

This Cross likes to write as well. Fat, long and full of inky goodness and the weight of this monster reminds me that it is in my pocket or jacket and I appreciate that. The gold nib and chrome body isn't my favorite combo but Cross can get away with it somehow. While I admit I do have a few pens that I don't take out of the house....I still ink them up and write with them. It's more me knowing that I could always lose a pen and there are a few that I do not want to lose.

I might have used this quote before. It's one of my favorites. Doing some research about Mr. Maslow I learned that he married a woman named Bertha. That's no big deal except for the fact that she was his first cousin. Did you know it's legal in all 50 states to marry your SECOND cousin? Hmmm. It might be me, but I always felt that the last place to look for a hot date/future wife is at your family reunion. Of course there's a website http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=states in case you are curious.

Here's the giveaway. The usual rules: Leave a comment on this post and I will come up with a silly yet completely random way to determine which number wins the 24 pack of Sharpies. As always, there could be a bonus prize if you make me laugh so hard I spit my morning ceral on my keyboard.  You have till Monday at noon to leave a comment.

Good luck and thanks for reading.

The Perfect Pair - Rhodia and a 616

So this addiction usually runs in waves. Meaning...if I like a pen and paper combo, I will stick with until it runs the course and I move on to the next journal or pen or even ink if needed. Depending on the day, this could almost be hourly. Oddly enough, these two little gems came together quite nicely and the have remained friends for a long time now. #1 is the Rhodia 5 x5 and #2 is (oddly enough) a very low end Parker knock off (616.) These two came together like Starsky and Hutch and have been my "go to" for almost everything lately.

As always..click for larger pictures. Sometimes pen and paper combos surprise me. I normally would not throw these two together- but with a little good ink added in.. I am a happy man. These pens seem to last a very short time. Believe it or not I almost consider them disposable at less that $1.00 each. They have been "testy" to say the least...but this one at least for now... is working very well.

"Did you ever get the feeling that the world was a tuxedo and you were a PAIR of brown shoes" George Gobel. Pair...get it? I am getting into a rhythm with this combo and they are working for me right now. Sure tomorrow... I might make the switch, but it's a about staying fresh and excited about what you do. If that means changing inks or pens often. So be it.

Tomorrow is giveaway day so I will see you then!

Seth

The Pilot Plumix (fence sitter)

Pacifiers do make good pen holders. It's true.

Wow, I don't think that I have ever been more on the fence over a pen than with this one. The nib just throws me off a bit and believe me, I have written with every kind of nib (almost) known to mankind. I am pretty sure this was a Target purchase that has been sitting in my pen cup filled but unused for a while. I thought that I didn't have a use for it till I picked up an envelope (nice paper) to test this and it actually flowed pretty nicely and in all CAPS turned out okay for me.

The thins are just a little to thick to do any seriously nice work, but I could use this for Christmas cards or to write that letter to my neighbor asking them if they wouldn't mind peeling that Scott Brown sticker off of their car. (seriously, we get it.) It just sort of feels like a cheaper version of this pen http://goodpens.blogspot.com/2009/03/pilot-fountain-pen-tee-hee.html  and I would much rather use that one.  (Because I friggin love it.)















So let's not dwell on time or timing.  I know I need to blog more.  Thanks for the support/emails and kind works on Twitter and Facebook.  I am going to go pen shopping right now so I have some fresh new stuff to bring to the game.  Oh, and I have a journal or two and some new inks,  so stay tuned.  Oh, and why not,  let's do a giveaway this week.


Seth

The Pilot G-knock 7

This one showed up in my Christmas stocking of all places. It's funny because before Christmas I wrote:

"Dear Santa, All I want is a 1984 Honda CB750 Cafe Racer Motorcycle like this for Christmas. That is all, nothing else, thank you, you are great and say hey to the Elves for me"

....and I got a 3 pack of .7 pens. That aside... I had a wonderful Christmas and I am adding the motorcycle to my birthday list (damn you Santa.) I kinda "mehed' on these pens when I first saw them. They had a couple things against them.

1. They were .7's
2. They were not a motorcycle (bitter much? Obsessed much?)


But after busting off the plastic and using these, they were not that bad. They felt skinnier than a .7 and I found myself reaching for them every now and then--which surprised me and even writing the quote before I was a little taken back at not horrible it is. Still not in my top 10 (I can't believe you brought that up.) But not bad.

So, don't be afraid to pick up those pens in a store you might pass over because they do not fit into your category... branch out... try something new, but you will always have your Good Pens.

Cheers, Happy New Year!! And thanks to those who offered to donate for my ride!

Seth

I really suck at Countdowns

Learned my lesson, countdowns sidetrack you. Here I was rolling through the countdown and life came in at number 3 and said "hey, you... you are busy now." So, let's get this out of the way and then get back to the silliness.

#2


And #1



That's a 0.38 by the way. Ta DAAAA! The Countdown is over, Refresh your browser and let's move past this.