Two of last week’s pen-and-ink pairings did not work well for the kinds of writing I do during the school year. So, I’m playing it safe this week. With inks and pens I’ve come to trust to write unfailingly well.

A sparkling, shiny new sextet for the week. My students return to campus this week. A fresh set greets them.

Four new pen-and-ink combinations enter rotation this week. The KACO, Narwhal, Kaweco and Pilot all sport round, unground nibs. The first days of a school year a whirlwinds of activity. Quick jottings abound. And desk surfaces are not always available while writing. Round nibs are forgiving, even at odd angles.

This week is my teaching bullet journal setup week. My pen-to-paper time will be dominated by setting up headings, laying out columns and sections, and migrating reference information into my new teaching notebook: a 400 page dot grid Odyssey.

All three genres of information need to be direct and sans distraction. So this week’s palette includes three grey inks. Two EF line widths for columns and detailed reference information. And one B line width for facilitating scannable headings.

Two new pens enter this week’s rotation.

My Pilot Custom 74 steps up as this week’s daily driver. I’m excited to try this pen out. My first inking since All in the Nib customized the EF nib to suit my high writing angle and preference for pencil like feedback. I also introduced my Franklin-Christoph 03 in Ghost. This pen was last inked in March. A substantial stint in the pen trays.

So. Excited.