School’s out for summer — so returneth the Nakaya
School is out for summer. This first week of break is nearly meeting free. Almost all of my writing is for me, at whatever pace I choose. And practically all of my writing happens seated at a desk.
Two goals shape my day-to-day for the coming week. First, I am migrating all of my documents into a new iPad Pro. A process involving copious temporary scratch notes — and learning DEVONthink.
Second is making progress on my backlog of reading notes. I now have three books that are read but not as-yet recorded in my commonplace notebook. This is slow, enjoyable writing.
Three bright inks carry over from last week: Koiame (orange), Bondi (blue), and The esteemed Yama-Budo (purple). All three make great accent writers in reading notes. All are F nibs: two italics and one round.
Two less saturated colors round out this week’s accents palette. A lovely dry blue-black from Akkerman should liven up my scratch notes while preventing smudges. Rose Noir’s gritty pink-purple is just fun. These colors are too unsaturated to make scanning reading notes easy, but both are favorites for journaling. A fair balance.
Lastly, the new ECO sports a round EF nib and a piston full of grey ink to ensure I don’t run dry while notetaking. :: Bond villain evil finger tapping ::
Grey/Black
TWSBI ECO-T Mint (EF). Montblanc Oyster Grey. Daily driver. The combination of a round nib and medium-dry ink makes for fantastic task management and quick notetaking. Oyster Grey dries quickly. The true EF line on this nib is disciplined and smooth. Together, no smudges — unless I’m exceptionally impatient. Task management, reading notes, scratch notes.
Blue/Teal
TWSBI Vac700R Iris (F CSI, by Pen Realm). Robert Oster Bondi Blue. Bondi is great for weeks when I’m already excited about my work. The sheen is minimal, and will pop up sparingly on coated paper. Just enough play to keep my writing interesting. The blue shading from Kirk’s smooth CSI grind is enough to keep me reading. Reading notes, journaling, list making, pocket carry.
Pelikan m805 Stresemann Anthracite (F Architect, by Custom Nib Studio). Akkerman Koninginne Nacht-Blauw. The EF side of Gena’s Architect grind will liven up scratch notes. The F side is smooth, but sharp. Slower writing, like journaling and letter writing is best. The dark blue ink and suit-like color way also make this a great pen for virtual meetings — for the few on my calendar. Scratch notes, journaling, letter writing.
Earth Tones
Franklin-Christoph 03 Ghost (F SIG, by Franklin-Christoph). Taccia Ukiyo-e Sharaku-Koiame. I’m adding this pen and ink combo to my daily task management. My slower, more deliberate summer pace affords time to accent my task list with Koiame’s lovely burnt orange. Category headings, and marking the status of tasks are assigned to this pair. And reading notes. The orange is easily scanned for amid Oyster Grey’s middling-saturation.
Wild Cards
Visconti Homo Sapiens Silver Age (F). Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo. I’m digging this combination. Yama-Budo pops as a colorful contrast to the Homo Sapiens’ muted black and white color way. The wet Visconti feed brings out plenty of gold sheen. Journaling was a true pleasure last week. This pair will continue to be a journaling go-to, in addition to accenting reading notes.
Nakaya Neostandard Heki-tamenuri (B). Monteverde Rose Noir. Summer break is here, and so returneth the Nakaya. The B nib will bring out the best of Rose Noir’s shading. The pair will be too dark for accenting reading notes but will be perfect for journaling and slower, more thoughtful planning as I migrate computers. Journaling, scratch notes.
