What did she bring me #4 Pilot Frixion

What Did She Bring Me? usually involves asking my wife to go out and "pick up a pen." No questions asked and at this point now she just rolls her eyes and throws a new pen on my desk in a day or two. I think with this one, she was kind of messing with me.

You lefties will appreciate the way these pens are facing. In fact, this might be a first, I usually face my pen points to the left. In this case, it would have made the writing on the cap upside down. (odd) The tribal graphics seem a little out of place to me, but apparently the marketing works, because she bought them.

When I first opened these I didn't notice the little nub here. But I am a smart(ish) guy and I quickly realized that's the eraser (palm to forehead.) Oh... cool, these are eraserable. I should have read the packaging. I had my doubts.

So I took the three pens and started writing "This is a mistake" and then began erasing words. I was pretty impressed with how well the ink just disappeared. I erased these about 10 seconds after writing and yes, that pink is pink...like bubblegum pink. My kingdom for some blue ink. It's rare that something in the new pen world impresses me...but this actually worked.

My favorite eraser chewed through this ink with no problem as well. I am not sure if and or where these will fit into my daily pen world. I might actually go back and buy some blue and black to have because these colors are a little strong (by strong I mean horribly bright) for me, but overall, I am glad these showed up on my desk.

My Red Pens (or some of them anyway)

I won a red pen in a giveaway this week and I was thinking about some of the red pens I own. I don't necessarily go out and gather red pens, but taking a quick inventory, I have a few. I loved the image that was floating around a while back of that woman in a circle of her pens and it inspired me a little.

I don't think this is all of my reds, but its what I gathered for the shoot. There might be a few oranges and a maroon or two in here (nitpickers) and a few Parker 51's that might be my favorite red(ish) pens, along with the Sheaffer in the picture below. Wiki tells me that several studies have indicated that red carries the strongest reaction of all the colors, with the level of reaction decreasing gradually with orange, yellow, and white, respectively. Sort of why stop signs are red and not a safe shade of tan.

Again, if there were a fire in the house and I only could grab a handful of my red pens these would definitely make the cut. Oh, hey, cool, the fire truck would be red! Well I am off to paint the town red but first I have to cut through the red tape and I hope everyone has a red letter day.

Parker Vector and site updates

The Parker Vector might actually be my least favorite Parker Fountain pen that I own. That being said, it still is an OK writer and fairly reliable because it is a cartridge filler. I find that I just need to clean it a bit more than my similar pens to keep it smooth.

Parker started making the Vector in 1981 and there is a pretty cool Vector calligraphy set, but overall, I am just "meh" with these. I own a few and and they all put ink on paper, but I have never been inspired or jumped up from my chair and said "wow, this pen rocks and it won't leave my hand till you pry it from my cold dead fingers."

Funky long cartridges that (of course) I refill myself.

Dedicated readers (actually mostly just my mother in law) have been asking why I have missed a few days of blogging and there are several reasons. Life sort of got in the way last week. I had some red-eye flights and was a little backed up from travel. I also realized after 171 straight days (week days) of posting I needed a few days to chill and catch my breath. Lots of good stuff coming including a giveaway and a new W.D.S.B.M. I am also working on getting this on a real site up and running so I appreciate your dedication.

Osmiroid 75 Piston Filler

Yes, I love my cartridge fillers, but compared to a good piston filler ...cartridges just seem so archaic. The combination of interchangeable nibs and a piston filler makes this a fun little pen to have. Then add in the Fine Oblique nib and you have things that dreams are made of.

Dreamy right? Indeed. Happy belated Mothers Day everyone! There are an estimated 82.8 million mothers in the United States (in 2004.) So let's not make them angry. The could revolt and we all could be grounded for the next two weeks.

This is of my few pens with bite marks, again, if you missed it...I do NOT bite my pens. I picture some angry calligrapher in the late 70's struggling to get invitations done and biting away here. (ew, I am going to go wash my hands.) I had a few travel days last week but I am back in the game.

The Discount Bin : Panache Calligraphy

Times are tough and I am never afraid to go through the discount bin at my local art supply stores for a few bargains....and a bargain is what I found. Yes, this was marked down from $12.99 to $3.99 and that makes me happy. Any port in a storm right? I also picked up a few Expresso pens for .99 that are fun as well.

So that is $4.00 for two bodies and 4 different calligraphy nibs and 8 ink cartridges. Yes, thank you! I know that these are not the most awesome calligraphy pens ever made in the world, but I have been grabbing wide nibs for doodling and it's been kind of fun lately. I have calligraphy pens that I love and I am not sure how much use these pens will have but I will get some writing samples out for a better review soon. Enjoy your day!

The Container Store Rules

More on my organizing... The container store sells these really cool shoe boxes that seal tightly and are pretty inexpensive. Perfect for pens, inks, etc. I bought about 6 and I am a better person for it. here's a link if you are curious. I now have my pens organized "by category." or I am working on it at least. Rollers, gels, pencils, markers, mechanicals, all have a fresh home. I couldn't stand putting my fountains in there. It just feels like they are left behind if I do that.

I also love that my inks have a spill proof home now. I will repost once I am completed, but stacks of pens in my office have now been gently put away in a clear organized fashion. Yeah!

This also makes me very curious how everyone else stores there pens outside of the traditional pen boxes and cups? Feel free to post and let everyone know. Have a great day!

Cartridge Filled Fountain Pens!

I was doing some organizing over the weekend and part of that was making sure I had clean pens in storage. Crusty inky nibs are not a friend of mine. I started to pile up my cartridge fillers to separate from the other types of feeds (don't ask) and took a quick shot. I probably rely on at least one of these pens everyday and keep an empty cartridge in all of them ready to go.

I clean the cartridges the same way I fill them, after they are done, I turn them upside down, and spray in warm water with a syringe until it runs clear, let dry and pop back in. It keeps from having to search for cartridges.

When motivation strikes I grab the syringe and whatever ink inspires me and off I go with a refill. I usually only fill them up halfway unless i know I am doing a ton of writing or want to keep that pen inked for a while. These are mostly Sheaffer's with a few Esterbrooks and Scripto's included but I love them all equally. (that's not true, I have favorites!) Have great Monday everyone.