Final

Had to rush a little to finish... But here we are.

Chalk Menu

Just a quick glance at what I have been up to tonight.  "Create a quick menu" she said... I am over two hours in so far with a couple more courses to go.. Pen people do tend to be a little nutty.   I will hopefully post completed pictures tomorrow.

Seth

Sailor DE!

I am not even going back to look at the date of the last post.. Typical blogger...build us up and then let us down.  Yep, guilty. So, if you are reading this and you are happy- you need to thank Robert. Robert (only using first names here, people) was kind enough to shoot me a quick email and just kindly ask "Hey,  where are you?" Within 30 seconds of reading that email I had a plan- of sorts.

I reached over here. (see above)  Closed my eyes and grabbed a pen. My mind was set,  even if it was already reviewed, I was going to blog. I grabbed  the camera, searched the whole house for my tripod (never found it) , cranked up The Eels and grabbed a Lagunitas Maximas tro start the process. (And I did miss the process)  Oh yeah, it's on. One or two of you might stop to ask where I have been. Funny you should ask.  I have become slightly obsessed with Squash. Like.. sit in a dark room at night watching Squash videos learning strategy obsessed. I traveled through most of the US, started cranking out a ton of art that is  mostly just  for me and my friends. I did  put up an Etsy store (I know, I know...but everyone knows I am a dude right?) and have been building up some ideas and some of those will start popping up here. (Linocuts are coming)  Enough about me,  here's what I grabbed. (wait, was that still about me?)

Ready for the embarrassing part?  This pen was hard to Google and  I couldn't remember where I had bought it and the Sailor website wasn't helping me. (That also might be because I haven't had any dinner and the Lagunitas is starting to kick in.  "Blog Drunk.. Edit Never" might be my new motto! I finally found it on the Jetpens website but I am not sure I bought it there. It's possible, but I didn't think I would spend $16.50 on this when I am normally an XXF fountain pen guy. Regardless...I have it and there is a really good reason why this is still inked up. It is like butter.

And it's cool, that's why,  long, green and different.  The nib has a 55 degree angle that  looks like someone dropped a rounded nib on the floor and ruined it. The best part is still to come though...

 (looks scary right?  click on the picture for a better view) Officially it is the 

Sailor DE Brush Stroke Style Calligraphy Fountain Pen - Bamboo Green - Nib Angle 55 Degrees (whew.)

IT IS SMOOOOTH!   Writing with this reminds me of a worn down and well loved Sign Pen.  It's ridiculously smooth even on the cheapest of paper. It makes you feel like a cartoonist, or a graffiti artist or a rock star. I might not have used this for a month or two, but when I fired it up for the shoot... it flowed like a beast and I love it.  I wish I had more reasons to use it.

 But sadly I do not have enough reasons to use it.  

 If nothing else,  this thing served a purpose to get me back in the game. Next week I am visiting on of my favorite towns and in that town is a tiny little pen shop that seems to be able to leave me without any money in my pocket and I plan on going out to stock up on goodies for the blog.  So, keep an eye out, I might be changing the drapes a little bit and cleaning up the site but for n ]ow, you can thank Robert.  (and I will as well.)

Good Pens

Muji to Go

Seriously. Do yourself a favor. Next time you are passing through Terminal 5 in JFK, swing by "Muji to Go" and pick up a few good pens.  I don't want to say that I have purposefully flown through New York just to go pen shopping...so I won't actually say that.  However,  I have suddenly found myself in Terminal 5 with a itch and a twenty in my hand. Usually later...the flight attendants are wondering why I have a silly smile on my face while crazily switching pens back and forth in my journal. This is the Gel-Ink Ballpoint in 0.38. and you can buy them online for $1.25.  That hurts to say. It's not fair.  Good Pens like this at this price point make me want to buy handfuls of them. (I have.)

There's the goodness above. 0.38 might be my happy place when it comes to pen widths.  Pens that help my handwriting better are always welcomed and this one is just right for me. There are other flavors if that's not your bag,  but the skinny ones work for me.

 It's a really lightweight pen- but not so much that it bothers me to write with all day.  If you are saying to yourself that you do not want a pen that has a cap but you like the idea of this pen...fear not- they make a clicky version that I will post about later.

 Here's a link to get some of these: http://www.muji.us/store/stationery/pen-pencils.html if you aren't lucky enough to get to NYC.   I doubt you will be disappointed.  I think that I have seen You've Got Mail...but I don't remember the line.  Good one though.

So,  if you have been on the blog lately.  You will notice I have been making some small tweaks.  I got rid of all the pay to click ads (Amazon and Google).  They were just distracting and I was always donating the proceeds anyway. I added a Paypal donate button in case anyone wants to keep the lights on for me.

Back to shoveling.  Elmo was a little nuts.

S-

Pilot Penmanship Tip!

If your Pilot Penmanship is acting up and not giving you a proper flow of ink...pop off the cartridge and take a look.   There is a little disk (that stays in the cartridge) that could possible block the ink,  take a needle or something and just make sure that the disk is turned sideways and not blocking the cartridge.  I refill mine and just noticed this.

Enjoy!  This little thing is still one of my favorites.

Winner Winner

Leo Mitchell!  Ping me,  you are now the proud owner of a Baltz Mincey!  Congrats! and thank you to everyone that donated.

The race was awesome,  I set a personal record and if you are a runner, the Philly Marathon is spectacular.

Seth

Win a Baltz Pens "Mincey"

This is going to be difficult one to giveaway.  The extra fine gentlemen over at Baltz Fine Writing Instruments (earlier review here)  were willing to jump in and help out with the donations for my Philadelphia Marathon charity run which is in less than two weeks.  (Yes, I am running another marathon.)

With a tear in my eye, mainly because I cannot tuck this one into my shirt pocket and go show it off in the office, I am offering this one up to you:  the faithful and loyal readers of Good Pens and the money is going to support a Childrens Cancer Research Foundation.  Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.  All for a great cause.

The great news:  if you haven't seen it yet, Baltz Pens has launched a brand new pen line and they are busy cranking them out. You can get all the details on it here: http://baltzpens.com/exemplar-plus.php but I can offer a sneak peek of un-wrapping one of the models.

In my opinion...no one packages a pen up better than Baltz. Not only is the pen well protected during shipping,  it's presented in a way that makes the received feel like they are getting something special (and they are.)   If I were graduating, or celebrating a big win or needed something nice to add to my Christmas list and this showed up on my doorstep, I would be very happy.

Did you notice the subtle little tweak here on the "B" from the last line?     Nice touch.  I thought just  having the engraved  B was a nice touch,  but highlighting it is even nicer. Oh, and it's 22 ct. gold by the way, oh and these are numbered pens. Amazing.

So...do you want a chance to win a $280 pen? It's simple.  For every dollar you donate to my page at Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation...you get 1 raffle ticket to win this pen. On November 19th,  I will put every one's name in a randomizer and pick a winner. Make a two dollar donation and get two chances to win.  Simple.

The link to donate is here.   Please enter Good Pens in the field or shoot me an email (goodpensblog@gmail.com) to let me know you donated and I will get you in the running and if you have already donated you are on the list as well. It's for a really good cause people.  Anything helps and a dollar could win you a very nice pen.

Thanks again for looking and good luck!

Seth