25 Days of Dupes – Day 2
Posted in Fountain Pens
My ADHD brain in blog form.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Posted in Fountain Pens
Don’t worry, I won’t be sharing spoilers today (or any day, technically).
When the Diamine Inkvent Calendar was first announced, I thought it was a cute idea, but didn’t plan to get it. As more and more photos and mentions of it appeared, I found myself experiencing FOMO to the highest degree. Eventually, coming across it in person at Bertram’s Inkwell, I decided to get one to satisfy my interest and curiosity.
I went home, and, initially, I planned to be good and open it in December like a proper advent calendar. But then I remembered that I won’t be available to open the inks during Christmas week. I considered opening it day-by-day in November instead, but ultimately decided to just open it up and swab them all one Saturday.
I’m comparing seemingly identical inks to see how similar they really are. This week: Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium and Organics Studio Bert’s Blue.
Posted in Fountain Pens
This past Saturday, I went to Bertram’s Inkwell to pick up the pen I won from Pensplaining with Corinne. While there, Adam mentioned that they had a bunch of secondhand pens. So, pen fiend that I am, I asked to see them.
Note: If you don’t want to read the story, feel free to jump down to the pen porn or the list of sites I mention in the narrative below.
Out came three big zip cases of vintage pens. I went through the cases, but I don’t typically love the look of vintage pens. They aren’t as pretty as modern pens, in my opinion. But, in the third case, there were a bunch of vintage Pelikans. Among those was a red and black pen. I love red and black, so I pulled it out.
Unfortunately, the nib was looking a bit rough. Out of curiosity, I took at look at each of the other Pelikans. Most of them were stubs or broad, which I know I don’t like writing with. But, this one was intriguing.
I’m comparing seemingly identical inks to see how similar they really are. This week: Diamine Soft Mint and Colorverse Photon.
I’m comparing seemingly identical inks to see how similar they really are. This week: Organics Studio BWIPS 2018 and Diamine Dark Forest.
Posted in Fountain Pens
I’m comparing seemingly identical inks to see how similar they really are. This week: Diamine Pansy and Lamy Dark Lilac.
I’m comparing seemingly identical inks to see how similar they really are. This week: Organics Studio Nickel Teal and Robert Oster Morning Mist.
I’m comparing seemingly identical inks to see how similar they really are. This week: Pilot Iroshizuku Ama Iro and Krishna Cool Breeze.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Reviews
Mid last year, I reached out to Yoshi Nakama of 18111 Pens about commissioning a custom pen. As the DC Pen Show was only a few weeks away, we agreed to discuss it at the show. At the time, I hoped to get a pen themed to my Exalted Bloodlines series.
I eagerly sought him out at the show. However, when I showed him the ideas I had in mind, he warned me it may not be doable.
The proposed roll stopper design, the blood drop I wanted scattered across the pen, and the moon and star I wanted on the top of the cap all have “sharp corners.” Apparently, 3D printing and laser engraving can’t produce sharp corners at that size.
However, I hoped we could reach a compromise with a modified design that I liked and could be executed. I agreed to modify the design before sending Mr. Nakama the files. He warned me that his waiting list was about 3 months long. Granted, considering the year+ waiting lists many pen makers have right now, 3 months is hardly an issue.
I’m comparing seemingly identical inks to see how similar they really are. This week: Bungubox Piano Mahogany and Robert Oster Australian Syrah.
While volunteering at the 2019 Baltimore Pen Show, I was gifted a lovely red, lever-fill, vintage Esterbrook pen. Admittedly, I know next-to-nothing about vintage Esterbrooks. I also have a penchant for finding out as much about my vintage pens as possible.
That said, it should be no surprise that I set out to identify and date (as accurately as possible) my new Esterbrook as soon as I was able.
Because I had fun doing so, and I found the information interesting, I figured I’d share it with you in the hopes that my research would prove useful to others.
Posted in Fountain Pens
As I mentioned in my last post, this was my first time as pen show volunteer staff. It’s an experience I look forward to repeating many times in the future.
When Corinne, the show organizer, put out a call to the DC Pen Crew for volunteers, I eagerly signed up. My reasoning, beyond wanting to help out, was that if I was volunteering, I wouldn’t be spending money.
That theory worked out well. When I received the schedule, I was happy to see myself listed for Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. That shift schedule worked so well that I’m hoping for the same next year.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Alright, my third pen show of the year. Allow me to start of by saying that the Baltimore Washington International Pen Show (BWIPS) is my favorite pen show. I’ll do my best to describe and rate it (since I haven’t done so previously) in an unbiased manner, but I don’t know if I’ll be wholly successful.
To start, this was a show with several firsts for me. It was the first time I’d attended a full pen show, the first time I’d stayed at the show hotel, the first time I’d attended a pen show workshop, and the first time I’d volunteered as part of the show staff.
I’ll cover my volunteering experience in another post. For now, suffice to say it was great. I’m eager to volunteer again next year.
I’m comparing seemingly identical inks to see how similar they really are. This week: Sailor Jentle Waka Uguisu and Robert Oster Jade.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Reviews
The Los Angeles Pen Show was the fourth show location I’ve attended (DC, Baltimore, Philly, and now LA). There were a decent number of tables, but the layout was appalling.
We arrived around 10:30, assuming that would allow us to avoid the opening crush of people we’d heard a lot about.
Unfortunately, we arrived to find a line that wound down the corridor, out the door, and about half way down the building. Surprisingly, the line moved fairly quickly, but getting into the show was less than half the battle.
An unconsidered side-effect of arriving after the show had started was a lack of street parking. There wasn’t much to start with, but it was all taken by the time we arrived. Parking at the hotel ended up costing us around $20 for the little time we were there. I don’t want to know what people who stayed the whole day paid.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Reviews
As I sat down to write my post about the LA Pen Show, I realized I’d never written a post about the Philly show. Therefore, even though it’s over a month late, allow me to share with you my experiences at the Philly show.
We drove up from the DC area with a friend of ours, and, thankfully, there was no real traffic. Upon arriving, I realized how fortunate I am to have the DC and Baltimore shows.
My immediate thought was that the show is overpriced for its size. We paid $13 online (it’s $15 at the door), a single-day price higher than DC, Baltimore, and LA. It’s also smaller than those other three shows.
I will say that the aisles were roomy, on par with Baltimore and far surpassing DC and LA. The selection was fairly evenly dispersed between vintage, new, expensive, and affordable. There was a decent selection of inks. And, for the overall size of the show, a decent number of nibmeisters.
I’m comparing seemingly identical inks to see how similar they really are. This week: Bungubox Kabayaki of the Hamanako Eel and Bungubox Nostalgia.
I’m comparing seemingly identical inks to see how similar they really are. This week: Diamine Aqua Blue and Montblanc UNICEF Blue.