My ADHD brain in blog form.
Posted in Fountain Pens
I’ve had a few questions, over the past year, about my pen statuses. Most commonly, I’ve been asked about “decommissioned” pens. Since that status appears to confuse people, I’d like to explain what the various statuses I use mean.
In Rotation: A pen I own that is in active rotation use.
On Break: A pen I own that is not in active rotation. Typically, these are pens I’m trying to decide if I want to sell.
Posted in Miscellaneous Information
I’ve been writing for my blog so much lately that I’m running low on ideas. I’m hoping you’ll help me out. Below are all the ideas I can think of. Please vote for anything you’d be interested in reading, or submit ideas in the “other” field.
The form will be active to accept answers for a couple of weeks, then I’ll deactivate it. I’ll add a note here once I’ve done that. The form is now deactived.
Well, it’s time to revisit my wish list. I’ve bought some pens, decided against others, and found new pens I want. My wish list still isn’t the longest it’s ever been, so I suppose that’s a good thing.
I’ve split my list into two: the “Tier One” that I’m actively looking to acquire, and “Tier Two” that I’d pick up if there’s a good deal, or if the stars align perfectly.
Another year, another overview of my collection. Last year, I used Adobe Illustrator and created vector images for each table — accuracy was a pain in the butt. This time, I went with Google Data Studio. I don’t have as many shape and display options as I do with Illustrator, but I can more easily separate and display data this way. I have so much fun playing with data that I went a little overboard with this, so you can click through the four pages at the bottom of the frame. Or, if it’s easier for you, you can view directly in Data Studio.
Posted in Fountain Pens
This is another adaptation from Theresa is Dead, this time, her OH 2021… | BEAUTY RESOLUTIONS TAG video. The Beauty Resolutions Tag originated with Mel Thompson. At first glance, I thought this one wouldn’t require much adaptation. It seemed as though most questions could easily apply to the pen hobby simply by changing one or two words. However, when I sat down to really answer each question, I realized that a lot more work was required. But I digress
I’ll have to revisit this in 2023 and see how I did with these resolutions.
I need to get better about putting off pen cleaning. I used to clean my previous week’s pens when filling the new week’s pens. But that turned a 10-minute activity into a 20+ minute activity, which annoyed me. So, I started cleaning my pens on Mondays, then Tuesdays, and, well, you get the picture. I usually get them cleaned by Wednesday, but a couple of weeks ago, I never got to them and had to clean 10 pens at once.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Surprisingly, I actually have a short post for you today. As I’ve discussed previously, I’m trying hard to ensure that I think through my pen purchases. I seem to have done fairly well with that in 2021. I sold 14 pens last year, and not one of them was purchased in 2021. That put me ahead of the same-year sales I had in 2020 (2), 2019 (3), and 2018 (4).
I disposed of less pens in 2021 than 2020 (17), 2019 (15), and 2018 (26). However, I only bought two more pens (42) in 2021 than 2020 (40) despite a significant positive change in our financial situation. I’m pretty proud of myself for that.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Non-Fountain Pens
DISCLAIMER UPDATE (6/24/22): TWSBI and Narwhal have released a joint statement which I cover in my most recent TWSBIgate post. While not completely satisfied with TWSBI’s response to the situation, I no longer feel the need to dissuade people from purchasing their products.
DISCLAIMER (5/1/22): Since writing this post, TWSBI has been involved in some unsavory actions, and I am currently boycotting them. For more information, refer to the #twsbigate tag page.
Both last year and in 2019 I wrote about my biggest pen wins and regrets. It was fun to look back on my pens, so I decided to do the same thing this year. However, with my 2021 Top Pens post, I basically already did that. So, I decided to do something I’ve seen in the YouTube makeup world — surprise, surprise — and rank all of my pen purchases.
Note: Some of the pens have already been discussed in recent posts. If a description looks familiar, that’s likely why. Also, where possible, I linked to an Instagram photo from the pen maker or store they collaborated with. When that wasn’t possible, I linked to a good photo on Instagram (consider following those fine folks). And, when all else failed, I linked to my own photos on Instagram.
Welcome to 2022! Once again, my first post of the year is about pens. And there are several more this month.
Early in 2021, I commissioned a Día de Muertos pen from Mr. Cypress. I wrote a 3-part series about that experience (part 1 | part 2 | part 3). At the end of the year, I purchased a second pen from Mr. Cypress, which also has a skull-based design. This puts me in the unique position to compare the two.
