Month: May 2025

May 30, 2025

An Instant Burst of Happiness

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.

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What breed(s) is Floofenstein?

May 28, 2025

Rachel

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What breed(s) is Floofenstein?

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.

Feature: long-haired chocolate coat

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.

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Confronted by Privilege

May 26, 2025

Rachel

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Confronted by Privilege

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.

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Ink Battle: Taccia and Colorverse

May 23, 2025

Rachel

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Ink Battle: Taccia and Colorverse

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.

Ink Battles Explained

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.

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Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Seahorse

May 16, 2025

Rachel

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Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Seahorse

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. 😉

And now it’s time to share the second Intwana pen I ordered, Lisa Strachan‘s Seahorse.

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.

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Floofenstein: Happy Indoor Boy

May 14, 2025

Rachel

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Floofenstein: Happy Indoor Boy

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.

April 16

Last time, I left off with Floofenstein back home after his misadventure. Unfortunately for me, it was my “in-office” day, and I couldn’t change it on such short notice. Jim kept me up-to-date, advising me that Floof was stinky — makes sense, as who know what much he got into outside — and that he seemed cranky — possibly due to pain from his injuries.

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A Quick Reflection

Posted in Fountain Pens

Work has been intense lately, leaving me without much brain power to work on my blog in the evenings. I’m hoping that will change soon. But, for now, I give you this quick look back at the pens I’ve owned the longest.

Lamy Safari Dark Lilac

Of the pens still in my possession, the Lamy Safari Dark Lilac — Lamy’s 2016 special edition — is the one I’ve owned the longest.

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FIV: Feline Immunodeficiency Virus

May 7, 2025

Rachel

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FIV: Feline Immunodeficiency Virus

Posted in Cat

As I mentioned in one of my Floofenstein posts, I knew as soon as the vet said she was calling to give us Floofenstein’s bloodwork results that something was wrong. That something was FIV, or feline immunodeficiency virus. Thankfully, our vet put my mind at ease right away by letting me know that cats with FIV commonly live average life spans.

While that alleviated my immediate concern, I still had some questions: does he need any additional vaccinations? Should he have more frequent vet appointments? Do we need to worry about keeping him separate from our other cats? Is there anything special we should know? And, of course, I wanted to know more about FIV. So, with this post, I’m sharing my research with you, and providing my vet’s answers to all of the questions I’ve asked her so far.

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Paper Systems and their Uses

May 2, 2025

Rachel

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Paper Systems and their Uses

Posted in Paper

I’m sure most of you have experienced either being known as, or knowing someone as, the “[insert item here]” person at work. I’m the pen person to many who have worked with me. Some of my closer colleagues have thought of me more as the stationery person.

Because of that, I’ve recently had several conversations with my colleagues about paper systems. Perhaps because the world is so crazy right now, there seems to be a greater desire to “get organized,” to have better control over your own little corner of the world.

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