Journaling is a non-comparative hobby
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of traveling to interviews, interviewing, drafting applications materials, last-minute lesson planning for demonstration lessons, and follow-up interviews. Life existed beyond the pages atop my desks. I made two 4-hour drives between my home and schools which invited me for on-campus interviews.
The energy for personal writing proved lacking. I know, rationally, that comparing quantities of journaling across weeks is unfair. For me: successful journaling is about starting again — whenever “again” happens to be.
But the feeling that I messed up continues to nag at me.
It feels good to be back at it again. Feet firmly on the ground. Pen to paper. I wrote what I could, when I could, on what I needed. And I started again this past weekend. That is definitely journaling done right.
This week’s Inked Tines update includes last week’s currently inked writing tools.
Toolset
Pens. The Lamy Safari All-Black stood out this week. 1/2. My pocket carry throughout the week. The Safari’s snap cap made for rapid notetaking during interviews. And the all-black plastic composition of the pen was unassuming for interviewers who aren’t “pen people.” The Cursive nib wrote reliably, even at unfair writing angles. Ten out of ten. Meeting notes, interview notes, lesson prep, and teaching reflections. 1/2.
Carolina Charlotte (F SIG) — 1/5. A nib swap brought additional life to the Charlotte. The pen’s sizable step-up serves as a thumb rest over long writing sessions. No small wonder that I nearly wrote this pen empty over the course of the week. Lesson planning, reading notes, scratch notes, interview prep notes.
Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black (F) — 1/4. The week’s daily driver. The F nib is a glassy-smooth writer when paired with Black Ash. Too narrow for fast-moving in-person interviews. Excellent for tracking tasks, lesson plans, preparing meeting notes, and reading notes.
Mythic Aeschylus (M Long Knife) — 1/3. Sharp, dry and precise. Yong Quan dries in only a second in this pairing. Excellent for quickly annotating meeting notes and closing the notebook. Meeting notes, reading notes, journaling, and some doodling.
Pelikan m805 (F Architect) — 1/2. Moderately wet, whispy-grey-purple lines. The line variation adds flair such that Hindi’s purple undertones stand out at the edges of my letterforms. Teaching reflections, reading accent notes, lesson plan outlines, and interview notes.
Platinum 3776 Nice Pur (B) — 5/6. I like the look of this pairing. The B nib brings out both shimmer and some haloing from Heart of Gold. However, the 3776 lived in my envelope all week. I wrote with it once. Hmm.
Notebooks. Work bujo. Odyssey Neptune 200 (A5). The final week of classes led to seven new pages in my work bullet journal. Classes ended on page 94 of this excellent 200 page Odyssey notebook.
Nearly, almost halfway.
The last teaching weekly was, as has become my habit, a two-page spread. I used a sky blue Mildliner to mark asynchronous class periods in my course schedule.
The weekly is followed by two pages of meeting notes. I accented an affinity group meeting’s notes with Robert Oster’s pasty Barossa Gilt. The pale purple is easily discernible against Black Ash.
Muddy Swamp’s teal-grey drove my other page of meeting notes. An onboarding meeting for the last new hire I will support before the end of my current teaching contract. The Lamy’s Cursive nib is speedy, soft and precise — perfect for fast moving dialogues.
Murky, messy and definitely grey-tinged teal
The remaining pages are chock full of urgent scribbles from a fast-paced reflection activity in my ancient history classes. Students reflect on what they would do the same and what they would change about how our class was taught over the school year. A great strategy for encouraging students to think about whose stories are left out of our curriculum.
Journal. Midori MD Grid (B6 Slim). I added four pages to my journal over the past week. One three-page reflection and a one-page brainstorm. A comparatively small amount of writing.
However, journaling is a life raft, not a speed boat. My journal is a space to think through possibilities and recent histories. To record successes and failures. To make plans and mark plans. And to doodle.
I wrote the lone journal entry with my Mythic Aeschylus. The Kaigelu Long Knife nib is sharp, which kept Yong Quan a bright sky blue on the page. And the large pen kept my writing comfortable across all three pages of writing. A straightforward recap of how last Saturday went.
A bright ink for recording happy memories.
And the list was a brainstorm for last week’s currently inked palette. Because squiggles are fun — and reference lists make life smooth.
Written dry. All six of the week’s business-safe pens survived the week with ink to spare.
Endurance is the secret sauce.
Newly inked. Beep boop, nothing to see here.
The collection
Incoming / new orders. Three new Jinhao 82s joined the herd last week. Each is a peaceful shade of cool blue, one each in: Blue, Sky Blue, and Snow. A lullaby of colorways.
A hint of translucence makes for a mysterious lullaby. And a fabulous Galen Leather pen rest makes for a solid bed.
My first fude nib and the EF wrote perfectly as they arrived. Both had blue ink in their feeds — and so were clearly nib tested before shipping.
The F nib was borked upon arrival. The left tine was torn along the underside, where the nib meets paper. Tolerable in a two-dollar pen.
My old Delike EF nib came to the rescue. It fits and writes a lovely, generous EF line. Silver lining.
Outgoing / trades or sales. I shared out the final mL of my tweo favorite inks: Diamine’s Earl Grey and Sailor’s Yozakura. I heard tale just today that my care package arrived safe and sound.
The only thing better than using great inks is sharing great inks
Two more empty bottles adorn my bookshelf. Monuments to that too-elusive hope that I stand a chance of using up all of my fountain pen ink.
Currently reading and listening
Fiction. Long days of driving left me with little energy to write, and plenty of interest in escaping into the science fiction world of Howey’s Wool. I finished the first book last week: 130 pages of iOS sized pages.
A gritty story that got better as it wore on. Juliette proved a protagonist I wanted to root for. A protagonist I was happy to have over such an exhausting week.
Nonfiction. Pulling demo lessons together last minute creates a window for reading histories that are new to me. Learning about the 2020-2021 Farmers’ Protest was just such a learning adventure.
I hunted down a reputable history of modern India for my lesson, Metcalf & Metcalf’s (2006) accessible A Concise History of Modern India. I printed out the two final chapters, which cover 1950 to the early 2000’s.
My trusty Mitsubishi pencil and duo of Mildliners saw me through both chapters in an evening.
Reading for a lesson is a targeted affair. Far from reading every word, I scan for the heart of the authors’ argument. The argument is marked in pencil. Key examples — stories I can explore with students — see the loving embrace of my highlighters.
Teamwork most-academic.
And then the hunt for primary sources, which warrants its own post. Local folks should tell students the story in their own words.
Music. Chillhop is running a live stream of the lo-fi songs from their past playlists. I played the live feed frequently throughout the week — and for a good duration portion of my driving marathon. Excellent season-themed background soundtracking.
