My ADHD brain in blog form.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for pen envy or impulse purchases resulting from viewing this post.
Per usual, you can click on the images to view them larger. I do my best to provide you with high-quality pen porn. 😉
This will be a unique pen porn post. This material is nearly impossible to capture, but I’ve done my best. However, because capturing its full beauty proved illusive, I don’t have too many photos.
Posted in Fountain Pens
NOTE: These are new indie makers I’ve learned about since posting my Indie Pen Makers Update. All of these makers will be added to that main post, but I want to feature them, since the previous makers got their “turn.”
For the purposes of these posts, I’m putting the following limitations on the term “Indie Maker”:
Even with the addition of these new makers, that list will not be comprehensive, that’s virtually impossible. However, if you know of a maker who meets the qualifications above and is not included, please let me know. Also, if you know the location of a maker that doesn’t have one listed, let me know that, too.
Keep in mind, I have not purchased a pen from these makers, so consider this an informational list, not an endorsement.
Posted in Fountain Pens
NOTE: This is an unexpected post based on current events. Rather than postpone my scheduled post to next week, it will be up at noon today. Enjoy a double-post day!
Well, after nearly two months, there is an update to TWSBIgate.
A DC Pen Crew member shared a link to Narwhal’s most recent newsletter, sent out on 6/23/2022, which contained a joint statement from TWSBI and Narwhal. I’m not sharing the link, as I don’t know if it’s actually meant for public dissemination. However, I’m including the images and a transcription below.
Update 6/24/2022 at 7:30am: It appears TWSBI did, indeed, send out an email, specifically to retailers. I say appears as the “evidence” is an image from Reddit, which I’m including below as well, rather than a link to the email sent out, as was provided for Narwhal.
Posted in News
It’s been several years since I last updated my blog design. It’s time I fix that.
Unlike my previous site update, however, I’ve decided to work with a pre-built theme. It should save me time with this update and make future updates easier.
The downside to choosing that course, however, is that I can’t stage everything and then port it over without some extra hassle for me. Instead, I’ll be making incremental changes over the next month(ish).
So, I hope you’ll “pardon my dust” during “construction.” I’ll be working on changes to my website around my full-time job, creating blog posts, and having a life.
Posted in Book Blogger
by Amy D’Orazio
Genres: Regency, Romance, Pride and Prejudice Variation
Release Date: October 11, 2021
Pages: 382
Purchase from: Amazon
My Rating: ★★★★☆
“If the thought of us being destined for one another is what caused you to laugh, then I shall laugh with you. Ours is more a story of mutual desperation than of love.”
MATRIMONY IS THE LAST THING on Elizabeth Bennet’s mind when she arrives at Netherfield Park to tend to her ill sister. When proud Mr Darcy acts rashly to thwart a compromise and tells her that the entire household believes they are engaged, she dismisses him outright and refuses his offer of marriage.
BUT MORE SURPRISES AWAIT her at Longbourn. Mr Collins is ready with an offer of marriage and it is not only her mother who thinks it a fine match; Mr Bennet is willing to press the point until Elizabeth makes clear such a connexion is impossible—because she has accepted an offer of marriage from Mr Darcy.
IT IS AN INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNING, an engagement neither desires, driven to by the machinations of others. Yet what begins as a forced alliance soon changes into something quite different. Will it be enough to lead them into love?
Posted in Fountain Pens
I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, as it was one of the posts you all voted on. But, better late than never, right?
It’s a little difficult to re-research a pen after I’ve identified it, mainly because I want to just type in what it is. But, I managed it. Today I’ll be walking you through the way I research pens, in this case, my vintage Sheaffer.
Posted in Personal
It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since I started this blog. I originally considered writing some great retrospective with a side of holy crap, I kept this going for 5 freakin’ years!! But, then I found a tag to do instead. While I haven’t posted consistently for the full 5 years, I am pretty happy that I’ve stuck with it this long. Here’s to another 5!
This post is inspired by Angelica Nyqvist‘s video Well This Has Been Quite The Journey…. In that video, she credits Erica Conger and notyourbasicsteph with coming up with the idea.
Posted in Book Blogger
by Lucy Marin
Genres: Romance, Regency, Pride & Prejudice Variation
Release Date: April 18, 2022
Pages: 374
Purchase from: Amazon
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
“You can sell Pemberley and settle as many debts as possible. Or you could marry a wealthy woman and use her fortune to restore it.”
Fitzwilliam Darcy, heir to a mountain of debt, a tarnished family name, and a crumbling estate finds himself confronted by an unthinkable choice. Knowing it is a last chance to save his birthright, he agrees to an arranged marriage with Miss Elizabeth Bennet, ward of her wealthy but vulgar uncle, Mr Gardiner. Despite entering into the marriage understanding what he is giving up, he soon finds himself resenting the actions of his forebears and the choices he feels he was forced to make.
Elizabeth Bennet knows that marrying a gentleman of high birth would allow her to reclaim the social status she lost when her father died. Having been approached by men falsely proclaiming their affection for her, she embraces the opportunity to set the terms of her marriage openly and honestly. After meeting Mr Darcy and his sister, Elizabeth is determined to give them the home and care they deserve. Believing she and Mr Darcy have a common understanding of what their union will be like, she has high hopes for a happy future.
A friendship between them soon promises to bloom into something more romantic but Darcy has unresolved issues in his past that will not remain hidden. Dismayed, Darcy at last confronts his errors…but is it too late for he and Elizabeth to find happiness together?
The Marriage Bargain is a forced or contracted marriage variation of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice and will be enjoyed by fans of Georgette Heyer’s A Civil Contract and other regency romances.
Posted in Fountain Pens
I’ve been on a major custom-ground nib kick for the past year or so. At the DC Pen Show, I picked up two cursive italic nibs from All in the Nib. Since then, I’ve picked up four more custom-ground nibs. In that intervening time, I’ve also had multiple discussions with people about nib grinds and the differences between them.
Those conversations taught me that many people aren’t aware of the differences in the way each grind writes. So, I decided to compare the different “common” nib grinds I have.
