Wander through the pendemonium of pens, papers, and inks unleashed by the opening of the Pendora's Box.
Recently I had an one-day trip to New York City for a series of meetings. I didn't have to worry too much about packing luggage but I thought long and hard about what fountain pens and stationary to pack. After much deliberation, I settled on the Namiki Vanishing Point Raden Galaxy (M), Lamy Studio (14k EF) and Platinum 3776 Sai (M).
Read MoreI had got a Noodlers Ahab fairly early on for flex writing. At the same time, I added a set of Goulet nibs so that I could try different size nibs. The Goulet nibs also now come in stealthy black. Here I swapped out the Ahab flex nib for the Goulet 1.1 stub.
Pen: Noodlers Ahab Goulet 1.1 Stub
Ink: Noodlers Bad Blue Heron
Paper: Rhodia No. 16 Grid
Read MoreI really enjoyed the movement and rhythm of writing with a flex pen after getting the Noodler's Ahab. Soon after, I was looking for more flexible fun so I decided to get the Pilot Falcon. I know both these aren't true flex pens but I think they are good instroductions without getting into vintage.
Pen: Pilot Falcon SF
Ink: Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo
Paper: Rhodia No. 16 Grid
...
Read MorePendora's Box went live on February 1, 2016. The blog is still in infancy but I thought I would reflect a little on the past month. I don't foresee that I would do this every month but I think it would be interesting to look back on how the blog came to be, is doing and what else I want to do with it....
Read MoreThere's lots of Internet chatter these days about the demise of Omas. I, for one, am sad to see this venerable pen maker go under. I was introduced to Omas thanks to Brian Goulet's wonderfully in-depth videos when the Goulet Pen Company started carrying Omas. I was also extremely curious about the 'Extra Flessibile' nib so that's what I got...
Read More
Pen: TWSBI 580 EF
Ink: Noodlers Plains of Abraham
Brush: Platinum Natural Weasel Hair Brush Pen
Ink: Noodlers Ravens Black
The first Franklin-Christoph I got was the Model 66. I got it with the ice body expressly to eye-dropper. However, the one pen I had my eye on was the Model 20 Marietta which was just being pre-released at the time that I discovered it and was only available in black. Still, I admired the Model 20 for its simple clean lines and the convenient slip cap. I liked the idea of a slip cap for quick access. But I really wanted to eye-dropper a pen with a translucent body so that's how I opted for an ice Model 66.
My second and third Franklin-Christoph pens were purchased at the same time from MassDrop: Pocket 40s in ice-blue violet and blue violet-ice. I love the portability of the Pocket 40. I gifted the ice-blue violet to my sister-in-law who is also a fountain pen aficionado. And so, I was left with 2 Franklin-Christophs.
A couple weeks ago Wonderpens dropped hints that they were bringing in an exclusive Franklin-Christoph pen. I was so stoked that my favourite family-run Canadian pen shop was bringing Franklin-Christoph pens to Canada.
When the Franklin-Christoph Model 20 in a dark, smokey Translucent Bronze was revealed I knew that I had to get it. I knew this one would be spectacular as an eye-dropper pen....
Read MoreAround the time that I discovered fountain pens, I also came across Midori Traveler's Notebooks. I was fascinated by the many ways that MTN users used their notebooks and the multitude of ways in which the user experience could be customized. I absorbed many blog posts on the subject including Brian Goulet's series of Midori videos. My little guy, then 6 years old watched quite a few of these videos with me so he got to know Brian and Midori quite well...
Read MoreEver since I got my first Edison Pen, the Goulet exclusive Edison Nouveau Premiere Lilac Spring 2015 LE, I've been looking to add to my collection with something from Edison's Signature Line. I'd love to get one with one of Edison's unique filling systems such as the Menlo Pump Filler Or Beaumont Pneumatic Filler.
I also knew that Edison does a group buy LE pen once a year. When I saw the LE Mina group buy for 2015 I knew it was time to pick up another Edison pen. The hard part for me was choosing between the Denim Ebonite or the Silver Amber Acrylic. I think both pen bodies look great. After some deliberation I settled on the Denim Ebonite because I prefer the silver-coloured nib over the gold-coloured one that's on the Silver Amber...
Read MoreThe review I wrote on the Vanishing Point Raden Galaxy was featured on the Penman Post. Thanks for having me Chris! Check out all the the great posts on his blog while you are there. I always find some interesting posts from his Weekly Inkage and his recent review of the Visconti Venus has me pining for a Visconti of my own.
Read MorePen: Platinum Natural Weasel Hair Brush Pen
Ink: Platinum Black
Paper: Rhodia No. 16 Grid
I've posted a fair number of "Chinese Cacography" posts now. They all feature the Platinum brush pen. I was fascinated that they made brush pens that used ink cartridges. I picked one up as I thought it would be a fun way to extend the use of fountain pen ink.
Read MoreOver the past couple months I've found that I have a hard time keeping track of what ink I have in each of my inked pens. It probably doesn't help that I could have up to 15 pens inked at any point in time. (Addiction, what addiction? Seriously, though, paring down the number of inked pens I have is a post for another day and is not something I'm ready to tackle yet).
Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to track my pen and ink combinations each month in a central place. This central place will now be a Tomoe River Notebook bound by Coach House Press for Wonderpens in Toronto. It was easy to select this notebook because I love using Tomoe River paper, and, Wonderpens did a good job making notebooks from this paper. The notebook is A5 sized and contains 64 pages covered in light card stock, staple bound and is very light and easy to carry around...
Read MorePen: Lamy Studio 14K EF
Ink: Sailor Jentle Oku-Yama
Brush: Platinum Natural Weasel Hair Brush Pen
Ink: Noodlers Ravens Black
The Pen Addict podcast is one of the few podcasts that I selected as 'priority' in my Overcast app. It's also the only podcast I allow notifications for in my Relay.fm app even though I love many of the shows on the network.
This is because I've chosen to be restrictive with notifications on my devices so as to control my #inboxaddiction. I learned this from Shawn Blanc's The Focus Course and also listening to the Mac Power Users podcast...
Read MoreIn last week's Throwback Thursday I posted a first impressions look at Noodler's Ahab with the stock flex nib with Kon-Peki. So, it seems a bit redundant to do this one just swapping the nib for the Goulet 1.1 italic. Then, again, maybe not.
Read MorePen: Lamy 2000 Extra Fine
Ink: Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Kai
Brush: Platinum Natural Weasel Hair Brush Pen
Ink: Noodlers Ravens Black
This one is for all the neighbourhood ladies who rock on the court
Chinese Cacography (i.e. chicken scratch) is my attempt to combine using fountain pens and Chinese characters writing practice. Unless otherwise noted, the paper used is always Baron Fig Apprentice Dot grid.
What has to be said about the Vanishing Point must have been said already. I will share my experiences with my VP from the first time I wrote with it until now. This pen has been in my pen collection for the entire time of my pen habit. While I encountered some foibles with it, I continue to keep it inked up week after week.
To start, it was the first fountain pen that I ordered after many months of deliberation and enabling by Brian Goulet's videos and the Pen Addict podcasts...
Read MorePen: Lamy Studio Wild Rubin 14K EF
Ink: Sailor Jentle Oku Yama (Deep Mountain)
Brush: Platinum Natural Weasel Hair Brush Pen
Ink: Noodlers Ravens Black
Let's step back for a moment. 9 days earlier I was listening to the episode of Penaddict with Azizah Azgarali as guest and Brad was going on about the great deal on the Platinum 3776 Sai. I only have the Platinum Cool in my pen collection so the 3776 on my 'later' wish list. After hearing the deal and doing some homework, I found myself putting one into my shopping cart. Well, I couldn't just order one pen and have it shipped from the US...I had to put something else into the cart. I debated and decided to put a bottle of Sailor Jentle Shigure in the cart.
Read More