Last week’s collection of pens and inks collaborated well together. Having a bright accent and a dark accent (in a wider nib) proved useful — and fun. A working system is worth keeping. So I am keeping last week’s pens mostly intact — with three tweaks.

Rolling into a new school year is a tide of highs and lows. I’m eager to teach and work with my students again. As much as I will miss getting to spend daytimes with my partner. Sun and shade. Bright and dark.

This week, I’m leaning into the contrast between light and dark. I chose one bright ink and one dark ink color for each color family. For a total for seven pairings — because grey.

This week’s currently inked returns to basics. I have a pen and ink combination for fast writing while seated and for jotting notes while standing. All balanced against options for slower writing tasks at my desk.

Round nibs are well-suited to fast writing tasks — and at odd angles. The rounded tipping writes smoothly, even when the nib is mistakenly rotated.

This is the final week before academic meetings begin in earnest. My last week of summer calls for a little chaos of my own making — before the flurry that is schooling.

Dice rolls chose my new currently inked. Two dice, in fact: a four-sided die and a twenty-sided die. The same method used to play D&D. Entropy in the driver’s seat.