Rolling dice downsizes me to a six pen desktop
I rotated both last week’s Able Snail (an accent brown) and Esterbrook Estie (my daily driver) off my desk as they’re down to only the ink in their feeds. Seems sensible to carry over only pens that are guaranteed to keep writing on passed Monday.
Downsizing from the Esterbook’s M nib to F/EF options that can write precisely in my small handwriting. The idea is to sub one of these narrower nibs in for my daily driver. I should see continued success writing my currently inked pens dry with only six traveling in my penvelope.
I pulled six pens with demure colorways and narrow nib sizing for this week’s return to a currently inked sextet. Blacks and greys, a murky, metallic blue, and rose gold.
And a six-sided dice to decide
I rolled a six-sided die to decide my daily driver for the week: assigned one through six, counted left-to-right. The dice deities elected the fourth from the left: my newest Platinum 3776, a special issue Uroko-gumo symbolizing the clouds surrounding Mt. Fuji.
And then I swapped a F nib in to downsize line widths
Grey/Black
Platinum 3776 Century Uroko-gumo (F). Monteverde Azure Noir. Yes. Azure Noir is a blue-black. A blue-black so deeply gothically slate that it reads a dark grey to my eye — a color that fits my blue and teal heavy color palette this week. Thematic victory. Platinum’s F nib is one of my all-time favorites. The narrow F lines help Azure dry quickly while balancing a moderately wet writing experience. Perfect for task management, driving even fast-moving meeting notes, D&D notes, and lesson plans.
Blue/Teal
Mr. Cypress Cone Micarta (EF). Papier Plume The Blues. The Cypress is a large pen — comparable to the Pelikan m805 when uncapped and in-hand. The size is comfortable during both short and long writing sessions. No cramping or hand fatigue from stretching around a narrow or wide section, respectively. The Blues is a dark denim that writes true-to-size EF lines in my custom mnmlscholar nib. Details in shortform. Creative writing and analytical reflections in longform. There’s joy in the blues.
Pelikan m805 Stresemann Anthracite (F Architect, by Custom Nib Studio). Franklin-Christoph Spanish Blue. Spanish Blue is the brightest ink in this week’s palette. My go-to accenting combo. Easy to distinguish against Azure Noir and The Blues and Rikyu-cha’s dark colorations. Excellent for highlighting tasks and important notes, margin notes, editing manuscript drafts, and creative reflections.
Franklin-Christoph 03 Ghost (B). Papier Plume Lake Michigan Winter. Lake Michigan Winter offers a wide damp teal in the Ghost’s stock B Jowo. The pairing has been plagued with hard starts, which quickly resolve after a moment of nib-on-paper. Slow, thoughtful reflections easily accommodate a patient dab of the nib to restart flow. Lesson plans and reading notes would also suit the fun pairing.
Earth Tones
Nakaya Neostandard Heki-tamenuri (M Naginata-togi, by Tokyo Station Pens). Diamine Meadow. Meadow is the second brightest ink color in this week’s palette. A mid-toned green with strong shading. The Nakaya’s Naginata-style grind provides the flexibility of writing both M-width lines for headings and longform reflections while also taking narrow EF-width detailed notes. The narrow lines are easily readable against dark inks and printed readings, which lends utility to marking papers, margin notes, and teaching reflections. Also: journaling and meeting notes.
Kaweco Skyline Sport Fox (EF). Sailor Jentle Rikyu-cha. The Kaweco Sport’s clip makes it a most-excellent pocket companion. The EF nib pairs with Rikyu-cha to provide a dry, toothy writing experience with rapid drying times. Smear free scratch notes and pocket notes for my pocket notebook in in-between spaces where colleagues and students tend to snag me for impromptu requests or questions. Rikyu-cha is also dark enough to fit in during fast-moving administrative meetings. Also: reading notes, margin notes, and D&D notes.
Wild Cards
I continue to live life awash in blues and teals and greens.
