Goodies From Jet Pens

Received some goodies from Jet Pens this week.

The Midori MD Notebook paper is very promising with no show-through, bleed-through or feathering from nine inks tested so far. There is a small degree of ghosting on the back of the paper, but it’s very acceptable, even attractive. The plain cover begs for decoration and I have washi tape and Decopatch waiting in the wings. The simple grid allows for any use. More on this no frills journal in future. However, of the three grid format journals I’ve tested this year, the Midori MD Notebook is the most fountain pen friendly of the lot.

The Midori stickers are tiny and about twice the height of my handwriting or one to two 5mm grid blocks in the MD Notebook. Cute for putting a little charm to a journal entry. I purchased a small Kuretake Waterbrush to try my hand at some lettering and for small doodles in my daily journal. The Kyoei Orions Shitajiki Writing Board will be used to protect underlying pages when I use any sort of brush in a journal. This is the A5 size which should work in most of my notebooks. For larger formats, it can be turned sideways to cover half a page at a time. I would have preferred a grid style, but was unable to find one in suitable dimensions.

A small order to be sure, but one that hit all the right notes to encourage writing with a fountain pen.

Mnemosyne Word Cards And Fountain Pen Ink

More cataloging of fountain pen inks…

Writing from a fountain pen makes the color much darker in most cases, but for comparison purposes, the swatches are just fine.

My Core Four Plus One

My desk is always a disheveled mess except for my fountain pens. Those I keep tidy and at the ready for whenever the muse strikes. However, with product testing, the number of inked pens can grow well beyond anything manageable, so I’m separating the lot into two groups with my Core Four Plus One the most accessible. Others employed mostly for testing purposes have a tray in which to snooze until needed.

Core Four Plus One is a name for four of my most used fountain pens plus one mechanical pencil. The four pens are the mostly likely to get used either for the ink or the fun factor of using that particular pen. The Platinum #3776 music nib is the anchor. For now the other three pens are the Noodler’s Standard Flex, the Pilot Prera Italic and the Sheaffer Taranis Medium. Those four provide a good variety of nibs and pen sizes and changing between them is good for my hand. The inks are Diamine Sepia, Noodler’s Black Swan in Australian Roses, Noodler’s Black and Diamine Steel Blue. Again this is a good variety for maximum appeal though all of it is subject to change on a whim.

The Autopoint mechanical pencil is the Plus One. It gets more use than any fountain pen since it doesn’t need to be uncapped, can write on any paper, and is erasable, an important benefit for a fickle writer.

When I head out with pens in tow, I have a two-pen case for an intrepid duo or a four-pen case for the whole lot. An Autopoint MP is always in my handbag along with a black Sharpie Pen so I am never caught out without writing tools. A small Rhodia pad completes the ensemble. An inkophile should be prepared, yes?

Do you have something like my Core Four Plus One? If so, what’s in your primary rotation?

Links From Moleskine To Neil Gaiman To Doctor Who

If ever there was an eclectic group of links, this is it.

• Nock Co. – Pen Cases Hand Made In The USA
• Jean Madden “Winter Jewels” – Watercolor meets realism
• Neil Gaiman and the Lamy
• Goldspot Pens Pen of the Year
• Cult Pens: Pens for Kids
• Mitografia makes best use of a Moleskine here and here
• Nibs.com: Waterman Carene Black Sea Gold Fountain Pen
• Sarah Perez: Gmail’s “Quick Action” Buttons
• Ed Jelley’s Trading Post – for inkophiles who want to trade inks
• Cathy Johnson makes good use of a Noodler’s Creaper and Lexington Gray
• How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
• Cult Pens: Diamine Ink Competition
• Posting negative reviews can get you in deep doodoo
• Art journal pages
• inFORM – Interacting With a Dynamic Shape Display
• Tissue Animals (h/t Cynthia Niklas)
• A Neil Gaiman-penned short film about a girl who tries not to fly
• The entire alphabet, photographed on butterfly wings
• Steampunk bunny is soooo cute!
• Gentian’s art at auction to benefit typhoon victims
• Best Doctor Who and Companion
• Jean-Claude Van Damme and the backstory on the epic split (Over 17 million views in under three days.)

Sunday Links From Geeks To Siri To Martha Stewart

No rhyme nor reason to this lot save they all made headlines somewhere this past week.

• Patent troll Lodsys demands $5,000 from Martha Stewart. That was a bad idea
• TheMarySue: 10 Characters Whose Genders Were Swapped in Production
• Incredible examples of ancient writing found in lost city in Iraq
• The true voice of Siri
• Are you a geek or a nerd?
• RoseAnn Hayes: It’s like my own form of doodling.
• A 3-D fountain pen?
• Ed Jelley: Nock Co. – “The Lookout” Pen Case Kickstarter Launch

Links From Yogi To Pens To A $1000 Rat

No lie. The rat costs more than $1,000!

• Yogi Berra Quotes (Met him years ago. Super nice and unassuming. Very impressed by him.)
• London Pen Club: Saturday Pen Club Theme – Demonstrators
• Chris Hadfield’s series of videos showing how various activities work in space
• JustDaveyB: Pilot iroshizuku inks dip penned
• Leigh Reyes: Snug as pens in a rug.
• Flying Steampunk Rat
• Marginalia: A Dying Art In An Increasingly Digital Age?

Noteworthy For Early Spring At Levenger – Free Shipping Ends 2/24

Free shipping with promo code SHIP2013 ends February 24, 2013.

• Work & Play iPad Folio – for the split personality
• Circa and more in spring colors of celadon green and celestial blue – mood setting
• The Shades Collection in Mediterranean hues of aqua, lavender, sienna – limited edition so grab ‘em fast
• Waterford Kilbarry Emerald Isle pens – the Pantone Color for 2013
• Sit-to-Stand Rolling Workstation – so you can do it anywhere
• En Vogue Quilted iPad Envelope – especially in champagne beige