Emergency $20: Ohto F-Spirit Fountain Pen.

I was once told by a very wise man that there are a few items that I (as a man) will need to have.

#1. An AMEX card

#2 A Tuxedo (owned not rented)

Solid advice. There might have been a third item,  but I took care of 1 and 2 so the 3rd was probably a Mercedes or something that I blocked out.  However,  I added to the list: I almost always carry an emergency $20 bill on me or in my car. It rarely gets used,  it is more of a safety blanket.  I will drive around looking for an ATM rather than break into the emergency Mr. Andrew Jackson. I found myself last week stumbling out of my hotel in San Francisco for a cup of coffee and BOOM,  I was standing right next to Maido.  Which is one of my favorite brick and mortar pen stores.  (Ok,  so I might have booked my hotel close to them on purpose, but anyhoo.)

I had some non-emergency money on me and  picked up some of the usual suspects,  then I took a look over at the disposable fountain pens that were above the really expensive fountain pen case and this hit me like a Venti Red Eye (black please)

Somehow, and I would need to check the security camera to be sure,  the 4 year old emergency $20 was on the counter and this pen was in my hand  and I muttered something about a national crisis. 

You see,  I sort of have a soft spot in my heart for sub $20 fountain pens.  I have been burned on this before. It's true,  an overly wet fake Hero can put a bad taste in your mouth.  But in this case... I regret nothing!

 Black and Silver with a fine point. (they make a gold version also)  It is just a classic in my opinion.

 I mean really...It should have a bad clip,  a steel tip or something.  But it doesn't.  It has a sweet little ball clip and that right there is iridium my friends.

The cap pops on with a satisfying pop and to be honest...if you handed me this pen  and asked how much I would pay for it... I would have said over $20...easy.

I don't always spend less than $20  on a fountain pen,  but when I do, I get giddy like a little girl with a new pony.

Oh, hey,  standard International short refills makes this easy.  It holds an extra cartridge in the back of the pen, but I noticed that it tends to rattle and that bugs me, so I don't keep it in there.

There is a  little bleeding on the Moleskine here so ignore that...If you don't find yourself slightly hungover and stumbling through the streets of San Fran...my good friends over at Jetpens sell this.  What's awesome?  You will still have a little change left over after you bust through your emergency $20.  It's only $16.50 here.

Who is this pen good for? (other than me?)  Anyone.  From the newest of fp newbs up through the crazy fountain pen junkies,  they can all find a place for this in their collection.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Seth

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