My ADHD brain in blog form.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Once again, I’m sharing my current top pens. Last year’s approach to my top tens worked well, making me actually stick to lists of 10. I swear, this post gets harder every year. The nibs aren’t too hard, but the pens! It takes me more and more time to narrow down to ten, and then actually figure out the order.
Since I’m keeping to the same format as last year, I’ll compare my lists
But without further preamble, enjoy my top tens of 2023.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Ink
This is a yearly tradition, now, so I HAVE to do it. If you’re curious, you can check out the 2021 and 2022 entries. This idea was originally based on the “New Makeup Releases | THE TAG” video from Angelica Nyqvist.
This tag is about evaluating the releases — in this case pens & inks — from the past year.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Non-Fountain Pens
As I mentioned in my Time for a Change post, I did my best to do a brutal declutter of my pens. With Jim’s help, I pushed past some of the, “it’s pretty, I need it.” Overall, it may not be a massive declutter of pens, but it’s a significantly larger one than I’ve done before. Of course, that means I now need to sell them. The below pens are for sale and have videos on my Instagram stories.
You can reach out to me on Instagram if you’re interested in purchasing a pen. If you don’t have Instagram, leave me a comment and make sure to add your email address in the specified field so I can reach out to you. Don’t worry, the email address won’t show up in the posted comment.
Please note, prices are in USD and do not include shipping.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Ink
This post is inspired by Angelica Nyqvist‘s video Too Big, Too Repetitive, Ugly Packaging? | Eyeshadow Palette TAG 5000. In that video, they credit Chic Geek with coming up with the idea.
For so long, my main choice for this type of question was my Prisma 88. But now, I have my Analog Notes Precious Petals that remind me of the first bouquet Jim gave me when we were dating.
Posted in Fountain Pens
The Goulet Pen Company posted a Q&A Slice video on YouTube Can These 5 Pens Cover ALL of Your Needs?, with the answer to a question from user Adams1030.
If you had to curate a standard 5-pen collection that in theory would cover almost all of a person’s fountain pen needs, what would that collection be?
The question is interesting, and Drew’s answer was fun. While I wouldn’t be happy with just the five pens I list below — I enjoy variety — I think they would satisfy most of the general pen desires. So, allow me to share my version of the 5-pen collection. My goal was to provide a wide range of writing experiences without breaking the bank on any one pen.
Posted in Fountain Pens
If you’ve been a fountain pen person for any length of time, you likely know that their prices have a VERY wide range. But, if you aren’t married to a name brand, you can get the feel of more expensive pens for a small fraction of the cost.
Granted, I make no promises on the quality of the various pens and nibs. Some may be great, some may be crap. But, these let you have that expensive look without the dollar outlay. And, if you’re saving enough on the pen, there’s little a good nibmeister can’t fix.
Note: I’m NOT talking about knock-offs today. That will be in a future post.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Once again, I’m sharing my current top pens. I took a somewhat different approach this year, so that I actually choose a top 10. I’m judging my pens based on appearance and the way they write. So I have two different top ten lists. Because of this, I won’t be comparing to last year’s top pens, which ended up being a top 28.
This was just as hard as I expected it to be. I’m fortunate enough to have an absolutely fabulous pen collection, so narrowing it down to my favorites grows increasingly difficult each year.
But without further preamble, enjoy my top 10 pens of 2022 by appearance and by nibs.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Non-Fountain Pens
While it was difficult to do last year, ranking my pen purchases was a useful exercise. So, I decided to do it again. I have to say, I’m embarrassed by the long list of pens I purchased this year. I was hoping to buy less pens this year, not more. But I’ll discuss that in another post.
I realize that this is a long block of text. But, if I added a photo of each pen, it would take absolutely forever to get through. So, for pens that I’ve already discussed in a dedicated post, I’ve linked to that post (and the photos contained therein). For the rest, where possible, I linked to an Instagram photo from the pen maker or store they collaborated with. When that wasn’t possible, I linked to a good photo on Instagram (consider following those fine folks) or one of my own Instagram posts.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Today’s post is somewhat inspired by a YouTube video. “Weird pen collabs” seemed like a fun topic, at least until I realized the only one I could find/think of was the Montegrappa & Harry Potter series. And that’s only weird for what Montegrappa chose to draw inspiration from. The Quidditch pitch, really? But I digress.
So, I modified the idea to ridiculous pens. The pens I chose are either ridiculously bad OR ridiculously good. On the bad side of things you have poor design and pricing. On the good side you have amazing showcase of materials and skill. I’m sure there are many other ridiculous pens I’ve missed, but I tried to go for a variety, and I think I succeeded.
Side note before I begin: I’m not judging the artistry or craftsmanship on the “bad” pens, just the decisions.
Now, let’s start small and work our way up, shall we?
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 haven’t created a pen porn post on a non-new pen in quite a while. So, today I present to you my glorious Platinum Izumo Kurikara-ken. It depicts a scene of the epic battle between Fudo Myo-o — whose name means the immovable or unshakable one — one of the Five Great Wisdom Kings of Japanese Buddhism, and a threatening dark demon. As the struggle progresses, Fudo Myo-o transforms himself into Kurikara, his own sword, in order to do battle with the demon. When the demon also transforms into a sword, Fudo Myo-o then transforms into a dragon to swallow and destroy him. It is this conclusion that the pen shows.
Posted in Pen Shows
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. 😉
Although I purchased and received several non-pen items, I’m only going to review the pens and nib in this post and the Jinji chocolate in a later post. Feel free to jump down to a specific mini review: Analog Notes | Namiki | Platinum | Mayfair Pens | Gravitas Pens | Nahvalur | All in the Nib
Posted in Fountain Pens
I don’t remember where the idea for this post originally came from. I may have read something somewhere, it may have just popped into my head one day. I don’t know.
Regardless, in the way I discussed 10 pens in my Would I Buy Them Again Today? post, I chose 10 pens I’ve gotten rid of to discuss why they are no longer in my collection. I’m sure some of my answers will be expected, while others will likely be surprising to some. I hope you enjoy, and that my reasoning may help those who are trying to sell some of their own pens.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Alright, we’ve made it to the fourth, and final, part in this series, my “always inked” pens! Hold onto your hats, because the really expensive pens are in this grouping. Just keep in mind that I purchased several at steep discounts and received some in exchange for work.
Once again, please use the form at the end of this post to vote for pens you want to see “pen porn” posts about.
I store this group differently than the rest of my pens. These have a display case away from direct light. That way, I can see them when they aren’t in use, and there’s no worry of damage.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Non-Fountain Pens
I’m back with Part 2! Once again, please use the form at the end of this post to vote for pens you want to see “pen porn” posts about.
Like the “less expensive” pens, I keep these categories in rainbow order.
DISCLAIMER UPDATE (6/24/22): TWSBI and Narwhal have released a joint statement which I cover in my most recent TWSBIgate post. While not completely satisfied with TWSBI’s response to the situation, I no longer feel the need to dissuade people from purchasing their products.
DISCLAIMER (5/1/22): Since writing this post, TWSBI has been involved in some unsavory actions, and I am currently boycotting them. For more information, refer to the #twsbigate tag page.
After the fun I had with The Fountain Pens Tag post, I decided to jump on the round 2 version that’s been going around. Except this time I’m just focusing on nibs.
This post is inspired by Heather Austin‘s video THE PALETTE TAG ROUND 2 | ALL ABOUT EYESHADOWS! In that video, she credits Samantha March and Allie Glines with coming up with the idea.
Posted in Fountain Pens
DISCLAIMER UPDATE (6/24/22): TWSBI and Narwhal have released a joint statement which I cover in my most recent TWSBIgate post. While not completely satisfied with TWSBI’s response to the situation, I no longer feel the need to dissuade people from purchasing their products.
DISCLAIMER (5/1/22): Since writing this post, TWSBI has been involved in some unsavory actions, and I am currently boycotting them. For more information, refer to the #twsbigate tag page.
This post is inspired by Angelica Nyqvist‘s video One Wasn’t Enough… | Products So Good I Went Back and Bought More!!. In that video, she credits Lauren Mae Beauty with coming up with the idea.
While the idea is pretty straightforward, I’m taking a specific facet of it. I’m not examining all pens I had to have more than one of. Instead, I’m only taking a look at those pens that I purchased more than one of the same model because I loved the way it writes. Maybe later I can share pens I bought more than one of because of the way they look. Would you be interested in that?
Anyway, that’s enough blathering, let’s get to the fun stuff.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Non-Fountain Pens
DISCLAIMER UPDATE (6/24/22): TWSBI and Narwhal have released a joint statement which I cover in my most recent TWSBIgate post. While not completely satisfied with TWSBI’s response to the situation, I no longer feel the need to dissuade people from purchasing their products.
DISCLAIMER (5/1/22): Since writing this post, TWSBI has been involved in some unsavory actions, and I am currently boycotting them. For more information, refer to the #twsbigate tag page.
Both last year and in 2019 I wrote about my biggest pen wins and regrets. It was fun to look back on my pens, so I decided to do the same thing this year. However, with my 2021 Top Pens post, I basically already did that. So, I decided to do something I’ve seen in the YouTube makeup world — surprise, surprise — and rank all of my pen purchases.
Note: Some of the pens have already been discussed in recent posts. If a description looks familiar, that’s likely why. Also, where possible, I linked to an Instagram photo from the pen maker or store they collaborated with. When that wasn’t possible, I linked to a good photo on Instagram (consider following those fine folks). And, when all else failed, I linked to my own photos on Instagram.
Posted in Fountain Pens
DISCLAIMER UPDATE (6/24/22): TWSBI and Narwhal have released a joint statement which I cover in my most recent TWSBIgate post. While not completely satisfied with TWSBI’s response to the situation, I no longer feel the need to dissuade people from purchasing their products.
DISCLAIMER (5/1/22): Since writing this post, TWSBI has been involved in some unsavory actions, and I am currently boycotting them. For more information, refer to the #twsbigate tag page.
My planning from last year has paid off. This year, I’m revisiting my 2020 Top Pens and seeing what differences there are in comparison to my 2021 top pens.
As I said last year, I tend to sell or trade pens that don’t make me happy to own. I’m getting closer to all of my pens being favorites, but I made myself narrow them down to a top 10 and top 20. I kind of cheated with the Always Inked section, but don’t judge me too harshly.
This was so much harder than I expected it to be. I slightly adjusted my judging criteria this year. I did my best to put these pens in order of which ones I’m most disappointed to un-ink (clean out). And so, I give you my top pens as of the end of 2021.
Posted in Fountain Pens
DISCLAIMER UPDATE (6/24/22): TWSBI and Narwhal have released a joint statement which I cover in my most recent TWSBIgate post. While not completely satisfied with TWSBI’s response to the situation, I no longer feel the need to dissuade people from purchasing their products.
DISCLAIMER (5/1/22): Since writing this post, TWSBI has been involved in some unsavory actions, and I am currently boycotting them. For more information, refer to the #twsbigate tag page.
Ink Journal’s September 10th Flex Nib Friday issue included a link to ukfountainpens.com‘s article The Three Pen Collection for £1,000. The idea was based on a series of posts on the watch blog Worn & Wound called the three watch collection for $5,000. UK Fountain Pens adapted the idea to pens, dropped the budget to $1,000 because “watches are much more expensive than pens” — *chortle* some watches are much more expensive than some pens — and limited picks to pens you can go out and buy today.
It’s an easy enough premise. My problem, however, is that the pens I’d choose don’t work out well with the budget provided. So, I gave it some thought and decided to curate two collections, one with the adjusted $1,000 budget and one with the original $5,000 budget. As a note, I did not include taxes when figuring out my choices.
Posted in Fountain Pens
DISCLAIMER UPDATE (6/24/22): TWSBI and Narwhal have released a joint statement which I cover in my most recent TWSBIgate post. While not completely satisfied with TWSBI’s response to the situation, I no longer feel the need to dissuade people from purchasing their products.
DISCLAIMER (5/1/22): Since writing this post, TWSBI has been involved in some unsavory actions, and I am currently boycotting them. For more information, refer to the #twsbigate tag page.
In working on blog posts for the new year, I wanted to revisit last year’s favorite pens, only to realize I hadn’t previously written such a list. So, to have something to revisit next year, I give you my top pens as of the close of 2020.
I tend to sell or trade pens that don’t make me very happy to own. I’m hoping to eventually get to a point where all of my pens are favorites, but I was able to come up with a top 10 and top 20 this year. It was difficult to do, but these are basically the pens you’d have to pry out of my cold, dead hands.
