Being “the pen person” at work
My students and coworkers have come to see me as the “fancy pen person.” The identity started out as smirks and rolled eyes at the beginning of meetings. Students ask questions at the beginning of the school year. And, over time, fountain pens quietly emerge in the hands of the more adventurous Ravenclaws in my classes.
I eventually became the pen-fixer. Especially for those Ravenclaws. I love every minute of it. Tuning the nibs on students’ pens. Explaining why their eyedroppered Amazon purchase is leaking (applying silicone grease can be intimidating). Etiquette, young ones.
A prospective student visited my ancient world history class last Tuesday. He was part of our student-for-the-day visitation program. Our dear prospie sat at a table with some of my most outgoing students. As class began, he whipped out a Moonman C1. Like it was no big thing.
He uncapped it, placing the cap in-between his teeth, and took notes on the handout that I provide to guest students. The handout helps guests to notice key aspects of my — decidedly nonlinear — classes run. He would carefully recap his pen and place it in his Moonman case in-between jottings.
The students at his table lost their collective cools. Loud “no way” and “that’s a Mr. mnmlscholar pen” dove out of my students’ mouths through our first activity. Kid knew his pen.
Of course, I slipped him my TWSBI to experiment with during the class’ transition from the first reflection activity into our second activity. He lit up. He used it for a line or two and then carefully set the pen aside on his desk. It wouldn’t do to accidentally ruin a teacher’s pen. Brave and cautious.
The pink ink may also have been a hurdle
This week’s Inked Tines update includes my most recent currently inked writing tools.
Toolset
Pens. The Loft Highworth was, unsurprisingly, the star this week. Center stage, loud and proud. However, the standout combo has to be the Pilot 912, inked with Diamine Storm. So reliable that I wrote the pair empty. Smooth, reliable F line. Excellent pocket carry throughout the week, even on school copy paper. Main meeting pen. No clogs or hard starts. Winning.
Loft Highworth (EF) — Feed. Daily driver. Spit up and leaked within the cap three times during the week. Grew extremely wet as the ink level dropped within the converter. Wrote a true EF line. Solid pairing.
TWSBI 580-AL (B) — 1/3. Reliable, with only one hard start all week. The bright pink added flair to the week’s journaling. Party Time partied too hard for meeting notes and marking. The B line feathered on copy paper. Journaling, scratch notes.
Montblanc 146 (EF) — 2/5. Lovely pairing. Wet, smooth, and still offered a disciplined EF line. The muddy red-brown accented my writing well. Made for a suitable marking and editing pairing. Best of friends.
Mythic Aeschylus (M SIG) — 1/2. Dry pairing. Uncomfortable and sharp. Peach Punch balanced a whispy accent hue with being dark enough to remain readable. Lesson plans, journaling.
Pelikan m805 (F Architect) — 4/5. Wrote surpringly well during Monday evening’s journal entry. Dry, but comfortable. The Pelikan feed undoubtedly helped darken the beginnings and ends of words. A great highlighting duo. Would repeat as a highlighter, but with a broader nib.
Candle Light, helping words stand out since 2021
Notebooks. Work bujo. Musubi Cosmo Air Light 83 (A5). The week leading up to a long break is eccentric. Some weeks can be captured in a notebook. Others simply cannot. Last week was the latter.
A light week at seven new pages. They begin with the usual two page weekly spread. I built it out with Stargazer. The ink is dark enough to avoid distraction. Surprisingly, I appreciated Stargazer’s shimmer. It made my task lists easily viewable from odd angles. +1.
A little fabulous for a little productivity
The remainder are one lesson plan outline and four pages of meeting notes. All of the meeting notes were made with the Pilot 912. Because it was in my pocket. Victory of a pocket carry.
Journal. Taroko Breeze (A5). I filled the Taroko Breeze on Sunday evening. Diamine’s Party Time seemed thematically appropriate for celebrating my final entry. Other than a small clog at the outset, Party Time has performed reliably.
Oops
The final entry is a poem by Mary Oliver called How I Go To The Woods. For me, it’s about balancing introversion and spending time with those you love. In Peach Punch.
I started this notebook on my honeymoon in July. The first entry was July 2. Five and a half months is a healthy amount of time for a personal journal — especially in an A5 notebook.
More like 6 months of awesome
A new notebook entered the game on Monday. I turned to a smaller A6 notebook: Stalogy’s 1/2 Year Editor. The Editor is Stalogy’s planner series. The smaller size should help me finish the journal quickly, just in case I have an A5 coming from holiday season. You know, thinking hopefully.
The grid and pre-printed calendar along the top of each page offers a healthy amount of structure. The paper handles liquid inks well. And the toothy texture brings out the best in narrow nib sizes. A win all-around.
Mmhmm
21 new pages across five entries. Every pen and ink combo touched paper over the course of the week. I like it when a plan comes together.
Written dry. The Pilot 912 ran dry on Thursday afternoon. That pen and ink pairing proved a lovely pocket carry for the five days it lasted. Pilot’s soft fine nib made writing comfortable, even at odd angles. And Diamine’s Storm wrote smoothly, every time the pen was uncapped.
Unnecessarily intimate close up
Newly inked. Inking a new pen would run counter to the spirit of my ongoing Inkvent Challenge. So I tell myself.
The collection
Incoming / new orders. One of my advisees left a holiday gift on my desk on Friday. I unwrap gifts from students each night so I can return a thank you card quickly — while their gift is still on their minds.
A bottle of Parker Quink and a feather dip nib set. I dig a gift that captures what the person you’re gifting to is into. Well done.
Another perk of being the workplace pen person
This is my first bottle of Parker’s ink. My understanding, after some searching on the web, is that Parker’s quink line is designed to dry quickly. Excited to try this out in January.
Outgoing / trades or sales. No outgoing movement. Shucks.
Currently reading and listening
Fiction. Wrapped up Book of Atrus on Saturday morning. About 150 pages of reading. The story taught me, as a young teen, that not everybody has your best interests at heart — even family. But the people who matter will. Those are your true family.
Listening to Stephen Fry’s narrations of the Harry Potter series has made my morning and evening commutes enjoyable. Fry’s performance is well worth seeking out.
I started Deathly Hallows on Friday. Forgot how dark the story gets.
Nonfiction. I fell into citation mining an essay by Thomas Edsall. Leaned heavily on a black and gold Blackwing and my duo of Mildliners: grey and pale blue.
Altogether all together
Reading during workday hours was a fantastic change of pace. Plus, reading demonstrates that I actually use the reading strategies I ask my students to take up.
Music. Sigur Rós made a strong comeback in my listening this week. Takk played on repeat Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
There’s a joyful energy to Sigur Rós that helps me focus. Like when a friend meets up with you to read together. Present, fun and not distracting.
