Three months since I finished my Floofenstein series, I’ve got an update on how his life and integration into our clowder are going.
Floofenstein: Making Fans Everywhere
Posted in Cat
Author: Rachel
This post is inspired by emmmabooks‘s video TOTALLY SHOULD’VE BOOK TAG l ORIGINAL l.. In that video, they acknowledge that they were inspired by a previous tag, but this one is their own.
I’ve adapted the Totally Should’ve tag to stationery questions for funsies. I will admit I pick on Montegrappa in this post. I didn’t mean to, but their products kept coming to mind as I answered these questions.
1. Product that totally should’ve been made permanent.
This is completely self-serving, but I have to go with Pure Pens Platinum Jubilee ink. It’s such a gorgeous purple. I didn’t learn about it until well after it was discontinued, but I was able to get a sample from a friend, and it’s amazing. It’s such a shame I’ll never own it.
Pen Porn: Zek Pens
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 is one of two Zek Pens pens I picked up at the DC Pen Show this year. It was the first to catch my eye, so it’s the first I’m sharing. Zek Pens includes — but may not be limited to — a brother-sister team. The brother makes the pens, and the sister paints them. This design is hand-painted Turkish illumination on a resin body. The paint is sealed, so you don’t have to worry about scuffs.
12 Pen Person Questions
Posted in Stationery
I learned about the 12 Pen Person Questions tag from The Well-Appointed Desk‘s September 8 blog post. In it, Ana linked to Olive Octopus’s original post. I enjoyed answering their 17 Ink Questions, so I’m answering these questions as well.
Now, on to the questions! I plan to write this more “stream of consciousness” style so that the answers are more genuine, since Lise (Olive Octopus) indicates a goal of answering these is to learn more about yourself.
In last week’s post, I promised you an overview of my experience of the San Francisco Pen Show (SFPS). This is that post, and I promise it’s more positive than the other one was.
For anyone who didn’t read the review post, this was my and Jim’s first time at the SFPS. We’ve wanted to attend for 6-7 years, and have been planning to go for 3-4 years, but only just made it this year.
Jim’s initial interest in the show centered on the array of Asian, especially Japanese, vendors who go to the SFPS but don’t make it to the DC show. Over the years, a few have started attending, but we found out they bring a wider variety to the SFPS. For example, check out Bungubox at DC and at SF.
My interest was more focused on seeing the second-largest pen show. And, while the show was rather nuts, I’m happy we went.
2025 San Francisco Pen Show Rating
Posted in Pen Shows
Originally, I intended to only write one post about the San Francisco Pen Show. But, after restarting my post four times, I realized I needed to break it into pieces. Today’s post is my show review.
I already know, based on the categories I rate, the SF Pen Show will have a poor showing. However, it’s not a bad show by any means. I definitely would go back again if the stars align. So, keep an eye out for my follow-up post(s).
With that out of the way, allow me to share my impressions of the 2025 SF Pen Show.
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. 😉
Having shared my three Intwana pens — Chameleon, Seahorse, and Kitten — it’s time to share the pen Jim ordered, Renée Gerstner’s Penguins.
Before I get started, I want to make sure you know that, while the Koi, Phoenix, and Seahorse designs are not currently listed on the SPS website, the Chameleon, Dragon, Giraffe, Kitten, Llama, and Penguins designs are all still available.
2025 DC Pen Show
Posted in Pen Shows
Well, I went to the pen show with good intentions. But, I blew my budget completely out of the water before noon on Friday. I have zero regrets, but I had planned to be good. On the plus side, no one slipped a free case of COVID in my bag this year. Yay!
Before I get started, let me say, I had a blast. It was great to see everyone, especially friends I only get to see at pen shows. I must also acknowledge, though, that it’s also exhausting. I don’t socialize like that other than at pen shows, and it definitely takes a lot out of me.
Jump to a section: Show thoughts | ⇣ Classes | ⇣ Pen case prototype| ⇣ Preparation vs. reality | ⇣ Day-by-day | ⇣ My haul
Show thoughts
I’ve reviewed the DC Pen Show a couple of times now, so I won’t go into depth in this post.
Kittenses 5-year Gotchaversary
Posted in Cat
I can hardly believe we’ve had the “Kittenses” — Ritz and Dante — for five years! But, here we are, celebrating 5 years of thievery, roly-poliness, love, and cuteness.
Outdoor kittenhood
For those who don’t know, Ritz and Dante are littermates, born to a feral mom Jim named Moon. However, the boys drew the lucky card. By being born in April 2020, they were raised by the neighborhood. They got bottled water, canned and dry food, and treats from the day their mother let them out of the burrow she commandeered.
Nib Design Appreciation Post
Posted in Fountain Pens
While I write a lot about fountain pens, and even have 72 pen porn posts, I don’t feel I give enough credit and attention to nibs. They are, after all, the most important part of a pen. Without a nib, a fountain pen is just a stick of material — granted, possibly a very pretty stick of material.
That said, it’s long past time I dedicate a post to nibs and the beautiful designs they can carry.
Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for nib 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 have to start with the nib that means the most to me. This nib features Bumbledore’s ears, nose, mouth, fangs, and whiskers. It is the nib on The Right Royal Pen, my tribute pen to Bumbledore by Marian Binder and Stanford Pen Studio. I cut and smoothed it to a cursive oblique.
Pen Show Planning
Posted in Pen Shows
Somehow — seriously, how??? — the DC Pen Show is a week away!!!! I’m so far behind in terms of getting ready.
I missed quite a bit of the show last year with my haphazard way of dashing from one person I know to the next. I don’t want to do that again. So I need to plan.
Schedule
First up is to figure out my schedule. Everything revolves around the show. What time do I want to arrive on Friday? What classes am I taking? What times are the classes I’m teaching? What scheduled plans do I have? And so on and so forth.
Never Buying These Again
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.
Aurora
Review – How to be a Victorian
Posted in Book Blogger
How to Be a Victorian: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Victorian Life
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: ★★★★☆
View ratings overview
☆☆☆☆☆ – 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.
A Short Ritz Update
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.
Athena: 2 Years Cured
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.
Vet visit
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.
2025 Mid-Year Check-In
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.
Purchasing
My rules for this year are:
- Pens
- Add 30 pens max to my collection (including non-fountain pens and gifts).
- Limit mainstream brand acquisitions to 14.
- Don’t buy pretty ink sticks unless it’s a friend’s collaboration.
- Save up for pens rather than buying on credit and paying them off.
- Sell at least 10 pens.
- Inks
- Don’t buy any bottles without trying a sample first, or at least seeing a swatch in person when it’s not possible to get a sample.
- Get rid of inks I’m not using.
- Use every “for use” ink sample at least once.
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.
Floofenstein: On to Phase 2
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.
May 7 – June 24
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.
Stationery For Your Worst Enemy
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.