My ADHD brain in blog form.
Posted in Fountain Pens
If you’ve been here for a while, you know I like to keep this space as positive as possible. But, every once in a while, I let in some snark. Today is one of those posts, which you probably already knew from the title.
I’m sure some, or all, of these will be unpopular opinions. However, I have valid-to-me reasons for my opinions. So, I hope you enjoy the honesty and sprinkles of snark I chose to indulge in for this post.
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s most of it.
Posted in Book Blogger
by Ruth Goodman
Series: How to Be
Genres: History, Non Fiction, Victorian, English History
Release Date: October 6, 2014
Pages: 473
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Books | Kobo
My Rating: ★★★★☆
☆☆☆☆☆ – Did not finish
★☆☆☆☆ – Hated it
★★☆☆☆ – Disliked it
★★★☆☆ – Okay
★★★★☆ – Liked it
★★★★★ – Loved it
Read the full explanation of my book rating system.
Lauded by critics, How to Be a Victorian is an enchanting manual for the insatiably curious, the “the cheapest time-travel machine you’ll find” (NPR). Readers have fallen in love with Ruth Goodman, an historian who believes in getting her hands dirty. Drawing on her own firsthand adventures living in re-created Victorian conditions, Goodman serves as our bustling guide to nineteenth-century life. Proceeding from daybreak to bedtime, this charming, illustrative work “imagines the Victorians as intrepid survivors” (New Republic) of the most perennially fascinating era of British history. From lacing into a corset after a round of calisthenics to slipping opium to the little ones, Goodman’s account of Victorian life “makes you feel as if you could pass as a native” (The New Yorker).
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. 😉
When we backed the Stanford Pen Studio (SPS) crowdfunder last year, I ordered two pens, and Jim ordered one. Imagine my surprise when Jim’s pen arrived with a stowaway! I’m honored to have been gifted one of the Intwana Kitten models with Brandon Lodewyk‘s art on it. Thank you so much to Di, Dave, and Brandon.
Not only is it a great fit for me — as a cat-themed pen — but it also means I have a pen with Brandon’s art now, putting me one step closer to having a pen with each partner artist’s work.
Before I get started, I want to make sure you know that, while the Koi and Seahorse designs are not currently listed on the SPS website, the Chameleon, Dragon, Giraffe, Kitten, Llama, Penguins, and Phoenix designs are all still available.
Posted in Cat
After Ritz was so sick at the start of the year, I thought it would be good to follow up.
As I mentioned in my BWIPS post, Ritz, almost miraculously, got better, possibly aided by antibiotics, but likely on his own. It was a huge relief after how sick he had been, as I’m sure you can imagine.
4 months on, Ritz is strong and healthy. He’s still a walking stomach, always trying to steal food from the future. He sticks a paw up the automated feeder chutes and jiggles the mechanism that turns. Since the “wings” that separate each feeding are bendy, he can often get a few kibble to drop from the next feeding.
Posted in Cat
Today, Jim and I are celebrating another anniversary of a momentous occasion. Two years ago, Athena was declared cured of FIP. Our little goddess is still living the good life.
Let’s get the “business” out of the way first. Her most recent standard vet visit — May 15 — went fairly well. Beyond the standard check-up items, she was also having some eye infection problems, which have continued. At the time of her appointment, her left eye was on a second infection, just two weeks after finishing medicine to get rid of a previous infection.
She only had one eye test this time, the Schirmer Tear Test to follow up on her past eye issues. Her tear production was very low on both eyes again, 8mm on the left and 9mm on the right. However, it’s likely that the decrease was because she had an infection in her left eye.
Posted in Fountain Pens
After how slowly the first quarter of the year went by, it’s almost incomprehensible to me that we’re already half-way through 2025. But, here we are on day 183 of 2025, and that means it’s time for a mid-year check-in on my purchasing resolutions and wish list.
My rules for this year are:
So, how am I doing?
As a reminder, this is my new format for ink dupes posts. Where, previously, my ink dupes posts were more like double reviews, now they’re about art. I know that isn’t a perfect translation to writing with the ink, but I’m doing my best to include “wet” sections with a lot of ink and “dry” sections with less ink to simulate broader and finer nibs, respectively.
Today’s post features Sailor x Disney Belle Yellow, Platinum Mixable Sunny Yellow, and Pilot Iroshizuku Daikokuten.
These three inks are all incredibly similar. While there may be minute differences in how they shade, unless you’re using them side by side in pens, I don’t think you’d notice the difference.
Posted in Cat
Welcome back to Whisker Wednesday! There’s a good chance you’re here because you want to know more about Floofenstein. But, if you’re new, I’m sharing our newest family member’s story from how he joined us until he has fully integrated into the clowder.
Last time, I left off at Floof’s second spa day, cleaning him up after his misadventure.
It’s been a while since my last Floofenstein update, and this is the final part of his “initiation” series. My next update will be once he’s fully integrated into the household, and I’m not sure how long that will take.
Posted in Fountain Pens
This post is inspired by Angelica Nyqvist‘s video Products I Would Recommend To My WORST ENEMY… 😈. In that video, they credit Kelly Gooch and Kackie Reviews Beauty with coming up with the idea.
In looking through my notes on blog post ideas, I almost discounted this one because I was certain I’d already written it. But, there wasn’t a post on my blog, and I couldn’t find notes anywhere in my binders or a draft post. So, I’m finally writing this post I’ve been planning on for at least a year.
This is, of course, all in fun. I thought it would be a good laugh. If you love any of the products mentioned, that’s great. It means you didn’t waste money like I did.
Posted in Book Blogger
by Caroline Weber
Genres: History, Fashion, Biography
Release Date: October 2, 2007
Pages: 703
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Books
My Rating: ★★★★☆
☆☆☆☆☆ – Did not finish
★☆☆☆☆ – Hated it
★★☆☆☆ – Disliked it
★★★☆☆ – Okay
★★★★☆ – Liked it
★★★★★ – Loved it
Read the full explanation of my book rating system.
In this dazzling new vision of the ever-fascinating queen, a dynamic young historian reveals how Marie Antoinette’s bold attempts to reshape royal fashion changed the future of France
Marie Antoinette has always stood as an icon of supreme style, but surprisingly none of her biographers have paid sustained attention to her clothes. In Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber shows how Marie Antoinette developed her reputation for fashionable excess, and explains through lively, illuminating new research the political controversies that her clothing provoked. Weber surveys Marie Antoinette’s “Revolution in Dress,” covering each phase of the queen’s tumultuous life, beginning with the young girl, struggling to survive Versailles’s rigid traditions of royal glamour (twelve-foot-wide hoopskirts, whalebone corsets that crushed her organs). As queen, Marie Antoinette used stunning, often extreme costumes to project an image of power and wage war against her enemies. Gradually, however, she began to lose her hold on the French when she started to adopt “unqueenly” outfits (the provocative chemise) that, surprisingly, would be adopted by the revolutionaries who executed her.
Weber’s queen is sublime, human, and surprising: a sometimes courageous monarch unwilling to allow others to determine her destiny. The paradox of her tragic story, according to Weber, is that fashion—the vehicle she used to secure her triumphs—was also the means of her undoing. Weber’s book is not only a stylish and original addition to Marie Antoinette scholarship, but also a moving, revelatory reinterpretation of one of history’s most controversial figures.
I hope you’re enjoying Pride Month! Since I didn’t get to a bisexual (bi) pride flag rainbow last year, I’m making sure to do one this year. Depending on which definitions you go with, bi and pansexual could both apply to me, but the bi flag has prettier colors.
I’ve done my best to not include any pens that were in either of my previous pen rainbows.
Today marks eight years and 795 posts — including this one — since I started my blog. Surprisingly, this is my first non-tag blog anniversary post — I answered some questions for my blog’s 5-year anniversary. I don’t know why I haven’t shared one before, but better late than never.
And while on that track, allow me to divert for just a moment to announce that I have — finally — posted an About page. Also, in response to a few questions, I’ve added a Ko-fi button to the left (desktop) or below (mobile device) — you may have already noticed. I don’t intend to make any changes to monetize my blog. I dislike visiting a website only to be bombarded with ads, and I won’t do that to you, either.
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. 😉
I don’t know if the first post I saw of the Maki-e Goldfish was the first time Cypress posted it, but I knew, instantly, I needed it, and left a comment to that effect. I received a message with an offer to hold one for me, at which point I discovered it wasn’t as expensive as I thought, and bought it. I have zero regrets.
Posted in Cat
Over the past 15 years, I’ve adopted 7 cats, 4 of which have had health issues. During that time, I’ve learned a lot from our vets. While it’s always best to have at least annual vet visits to catch any potential problems early, I know from first-hand experience that that isn’t always possible. So, I’ve put together this post with some information that can help with some basic issues when a vet visit isn’t possible. For additional, supplementary information, you can take a look at the Veterinary Definitions and Resources page for useful links and information
I want to reiterate that a vet visit is best if you’re able to take your furbaby to the vet. Please don’t take this information as an alternative to a vet. While the information has come from our veterinary office, it was specific to our cats, and every cat is different.
Note, none of the links included below are affiliated links.
Today’s post is a bit different for me, but I’ve been planning it since my first Intwana pens arrived in mid-March. Since the size of the Intwana surprised me, I wanted to share a comparison between Stanford Pen Studio‘s (SPS) original painted pen model, the Jabulani, and their new painted pen offering, the Intwana. But, life got in the way, like it does. Better late than never, though, right?
For those completely unfamiliar with SPS’s pen models the two I’m comparing today are the Jabulani and the Intwana. They are the two models SPS offers with hand-painted and/or hand-drawn art on them. Allow me to share SPS’ own words on each model.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Happy Pride Month! It’s time for another pen rainbow. I made sure to only choose pens that weren’t in last year’s pen rainbow, which was difficult for the black pen. Would you be interested in seeing another post later in the month with the Bi flag colors? I didn’t get to that last year, but I could do it this year.
Like last year, I’ve included plenty of pen pictures, so this is a bit of a pen porn post, too. I kept the brown, black, and white pens, because who doesn’t want more pen pictures?
Posted in Stationery
Brad Dowdy — AKA The Pen Addict — posed an interesting question in last week’s member newsletter: Do you have any pens, pencils, or other stationery that gives you that instant burst of happiness, or a sneaky grin just for yourself? It was intriguing enough that I want to answer it in a post.
Honestly, this is precisely what I want my entire collection to be, both pens and ink. My goal is to get to a point where any pen I ink up gives me a burst of happiness. Of course, I’m still a ways away from that goal, especially with my inks.
That said, I do have a couple of general things in my collection that give me extra joy.
Posted in Cat
Floofenstein has such a unique look that I can’t help but want to know what breed(s) he is. So, I set out to research the possibilities. This post compiles what I found. Keep in mind that every cat is unique, and what I’ve found listed online isn’t going to be true for every cat.
Because “Domestic Longhair” isn’t actually a breed, I haven’t included it in my research.
Floofenstein has luxurious fur, getting to about 3″ long at its longest. Depending on the lighting angle, he can look mostly black, dark brown, or a bright orangey chocolate.
Posted in Personal
Last week, I was able to attend the GSA Interagency Accessibility Forum (IAAF) virtually. I learned about it while doing research for an accessibility series I’m putting together for work. This was my first year attending.
Because I found out about it on Section508.gov, I expected it to be a more learning-based event. Instead, it was more like a professional conference.
I did learn a lot, including about some very interesting technology and tools in the works. But, I was also smacked in the face with my own, unacknowledged, privilege.
Posted in Ink
This ink battle is between Taccia Light Washed Jeans and Colorverse αCnc. Both inks are in a pens fitted with a Jowo #6 M nib. The paper is Muji loose leaf dot grid A5 paper.
Today’s ink battle is another bout of bottle versus sample. It determined if my sample of αCnC got to stay in use, or get relegated to the “for dupes” baskets. Were I to keep it in use and go through the whole sample, then I’d consider getting a bottle.
I love pale, desaturated blue inks, but they have to be bright/dark enough to read easily, even in F and EF nibs.
Between myself and Jim buying inks, we own far too many. This means I have some inks that are incredibly similar in color. And, because of that, I need to figure out which inks to keep and which to dispose of. Sometimes, I have samples of two or more similar inks that I'm trying to decide which to buy, or if I should buy one ink when I already own a bottle of a similar one.
Enter ink battles. I put the similar inks into pens with the same nibs (two Jowo #6 M, two TWSBI F, etc.), or I create ink splats and doodles, to test them out to see which I like better. Or, I may find out that they’re sufficiently different to keep.
You can assume I have no problems with any ink that appears in an ink battle. I may find, when using the inks side-by-side, that there are performance differences, but the point of the battle is to choose a favorite ink, a "winner". These choices are often subjective, and you may disagree with me.
An ink battle — unlike ink dupes — is between inks I like. I enjoy using them enough to have them in my "for use" ink collection — as opposed to my repository of inks for testing dupes. If an ink performed poorly or caused problems, I wouldn’t keep it. And, if that were the case, an ink battle would be unnecessary.
Reminder: You can find all of the ink battle posts on the tag page.
