The pen! The ink is Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-kai, because I love that ink. Yes, the pen glitters.
I decided to buy an Esterbrook Camden in Manitoba Blue, because I couldn’t resist that the nib matched the pen. (Yes, I am that easy to sway.). It turns out that the pen is a pleasure to write with, and is extremely smooth. I’m keeping a journal with it now, and the way it glides over Clairefontaine paper is just magical.
Did I need another pen? No. Am I glad I got it? Yes. Will I use it? Oh, goodness yes – with eight active European pen friends AND so many members of my family suffering from arthritis, I’m on a spree.
I spent time this morning listening to the rain, and then opened up a souvenir of my trip to Japan to write with it. It is Takeda Jimuki Kyo No Oto ink in Ryokuyuoiro, which is a deep, grayish green with silver sparkle. The sparkle component clogged the first pen I tried, but I went with one with a wider feed, and enjoyed its beauty as I wrote.
My phone camera likes to increase the contrast when I photograph text (it wants it to stand out from its bright paper background), but hopefully you can see the silver glitter in the text, and the depth of the green.
It was pleasant to take the time to write with such lovely ink, and spill my thoughts after some time listening to rain. I needed it.
Finally out of the box: my first TWSBI fountain pen; its stub nib; a writing sample in Diamine’s Glacier ink. (It is too full of sparkles – I had to clean out the pen afterward, when it started to clog.)
My writing hand is in a mood to write, so I unpacked my TWSBI Diamond 580AL Fountain Pen in Iceberg Blue to start a new volume of my journals.
It’s lovely! It feels well made, is comfortable to hold, and the angle makes sense. I am switching to another Diamine ink (with fewer sparkles, so it will flow more evenly) for the rest of today’s writing.
Yes, every autumn I do gush about autumn. Yes, there are pages listing all the foods I love to eat. No, I don’t have to hold back – I’m writing for my own satisfaction, and there’s no such thing as too much gushy enthusiasm in a private journal.
I anticipate this pen will go into heavy rotation for letter writing, when I need a large pen I can hold comfortably for long letters.
The letter (in German) is about ordinary moments of joy: laughing with friends, enjoying the quiet of a Sunday morning, drinking fancy espresso drinks with my commute girlfriends…
I note that I enjoy such ordinary moments while I travel also, and that a favorite moment from a trip to Japan was appreciating a lovingly drawn carrot with luxuriant greens. Someone spent real time on drawing and painting it in their sketchbook (not as a final wall painting to impress others, but just a lightly colored sketch in their own sketchbook for themselves). It was made with such affectionate attention that I remain moved by the memory of it to this day. Anyone who chooses to invest hours in drawing the little lateral dimples and soft irregular greens of a fresh carrot is living life deeply in the present moment, and I can learn from that.
I like this ink, and if I let the pen sit for a bit, I can also achieve ombre effects over a page, as my writing gradually turns from black to silver. That’s nice.
A slightly shaky page from a letter to a pen pal about my fondness for San Francisco’s local version of autumn, and fondly remembering the gingko trees near my temporary apartment on Mission Creek; the pearly metallic black ink that came with the pen; the stub nib I chose; the ink in the bottle; the pen in its box.
I’ve been waiting to enjoy this special pen for a day when my writing arm isn’t sore. That day hasn’t come, so I decided to stop waiting and write anyway, with soothing ice pack breaks relieving my arm of its internal swelling.
My writing sample isn’t the best here – I’ve waited weeks to hold a real pen again – but this Monteverde “Innova Formula M Fountain Pen – Lightning (Limited Edition)” pen provides a smooth, pleasant writing experience. The ink’s silvery sheen is pleasant. It has some special wetting agents that made it feather on my usual papers (and I thought nothing could feather on Tomoe River!), but works well on ordinary paper. I like the softness of this black. It makes me think of my well-washed, favorite black denim jeans, but more metallic. (This gives me ideas of special effects I might like in my denim if this didn’t make them less soft...)
As the writing sample notes, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year, especially for food reasons, but also because of the delivery of dramatic skies. Oh, how I love them – they make mornings so moody, and sunsets so colorful…
I look forward to using this pen-ink combination on other papers for long writing sessions.
My very red Pilot Metropolitan. The ink is likely Diamine Syrah.
This Pilot Metropolitan (yes, another) is another satisfying, well-designed, reasonably priced pen. It writes smoothly and looks great. It has spent many hours in my hand, and that time has been pleasant.
My Monteverde Prima fountain pen; its nib; a writing sample about the our golden summers, and how strange it is that other places have green summers. Who knew? The muted green ink is Herbin’s ‘Vert Empire.’
The view out my east facing dining room window is of the deep green of a holly tree, and the brighter green of a juniper, which inspired me to fill my greenest pen and write about the color.
This Monteverde Prima is one of my earliest fountain pen purchases. I initially thought it was stingy with ink, but just happened to be using a drier flowing ink. I tried others and improved my paper choices, which help me appreciate this pen’s smooth writing and pleasant proportions. It is comfortable to hold, is reliable (doesn’t clog or dry out), and the way it catches the light is attractive. The nib is firm, and I am amused that Monteverde is so proud of it that they engraved their long name on it TWICE.
The ink is Herbin’s ‘Vert Empire,’ the color of a dusty green velvet, or leafy desert plants that must protect themselves from the sun by being a bit gray. The pen isn’t an exact match for any of my five or so shades of green ink, though it comes quite close to Herbin’s ‘Lierre Sauvage‘ (which the Herbin website associates with anarchy. Ah, leafy green anarchy…). A medium bright green with silver sparkle could also come close, though that might be difficult to read if too shiny. (If you are a fan of Herbin’s “Vert Atlantide,” you probably beat me to this.)
Yes, my personal true color of California in summer is the yellow-gold of sun-dried grass on our rolling hills, but our extensive agricultural regions offer many shades of green, from the yellow-greens of grape leaves through the pale, silver-greens of artichoke leaves.
I’m a big fan of night photography (which used to be much more complicated back in analog days), so I’m looking forward to these colorful and festive stamps. They’ll be available June 6, 2024.
Carnival Nights Stamps | USPS.com
Experience the thrills of a favorite American pastime with the new Carnival Nights stamps from the U.S. Postal Service®.
Essie in Sea Glass with an informal writing sample written with Takeda Jimuki Kyo No Oto Hisoku, my favorite celadon-colored ink.
Earlier this spring, I had a work anniversary, and bought myself an Esterbrook Essie fountain pen in sea glass with a stub nib.
It’s lovely. It’s a good size, and is easy to hold. It writes well – not that you’d know from this casually / hastily written page of notes, but it is a smooth writer. I’ve only tested one ink in it so far, and found that it got a little dry after a long writing session, so I’m making minor adjustments to ensure that it will put down consistent amounts of ink, even when I change writing speeds.
And yes, as the text notes, I’ve started to dream up scenes from science fiction stories I want to write, so we’ll see if I can get enough rest to do that.
