Inked Tines — October 31

I found a much better balance between writing for myself and writing for work this week. I journaled most nights. Journaling always makes a week brighter.

My pen usage was higher than last week, mostly due to writing more journal entries. Worth it.

Toolset

Pens. The EF reverse side of the Pelikan m805’s Architect nib was surprisingly dry with PP’s Oyster Grey. Wetter inks should make it a better multitasker. Worked just fine for meeting notes using the A side of the nib, though.

• Nakaya Neostandard — Yes. Great shading (halos) from the excellent feed. Only used for journaling. 2/3 empty.

• Mythic Aeschylus — 1/4 used. Birthday Cake without all the shading is like birthday cake without icing: still sweet, but without decoration.

• Lamy 2000 — 1/2 used. So smooth you can’t feel the paper at all. Sometimes I can’t tell if I’m on the paper it’s so smooth.

• Lamy Safari Blue Macaron — Empty. Got a lot of use up and down hallways, for lists on errands and such, as my pocket pen. Rikyu-cha looked great in an EF.

• Karas Kustoms Decograph — Empty. A great combo for lesson plans. It’s basically a B. Worked well for reviewable notes with a colorful ink like PP’s #13.

• Pelikan m805 — Empty. Daily driver. Died dramatically at the tail end of the workday on Friday. Drama queen.

• Lamy Aion — Dumped. The EF nib was lovely. Platinum Blue-Black is the wrong side of indigo for my taste.

Notebooks. Added 12 pages to the work bujo this week: the two-page weekly spread, five lesson plans, three meeting logs, and the rest were notes on my readings. Additionally, a good third of my pocket A6 saw ink, all with the Lamy Safari.

The Musubi housed four journal entries, totaling 17 pages. I like to end journal entries with a poem that speaks to me. This week’s entries wrapped up with poems from Federico García Lorca, Jim Harrison, and Brian Warner.

Written dry. Quite a few pens ran dry this week: the Pelikan m805, the Karas Kustoms Decograph, and the Lamy Safari. And by “this week” I mean Friday.

My pocket pens run empty quickly. I write most everything down. The Lamy Safari this week was no exception.

Newly inked pens. A good friend from the local pen group loaned me his Lamy 2000. This week is my first real experience writing with a Lamy “2k.” It came to me filled with one of my all-time favorite inks: J. Herbin Orange Indien.

Talk about an enabler.

The M nib easily puts down enough ink to show off the shading and darker tones of Orange Indien. It’s a smooth combo.

Collection

Incoming / new orders. My family gifted me another of the new special edition TWSBI Vac 700R Iris. Since I don’t need a second Iris, we came to an arrangement: the second Vac will go to my mom. She and I can compare pens and each take the coloring variation that suits us best. Everybody wins :)

I ordered a Prussian Blue TWSBI 580 ALR in the Vac’s place. Mark Bacas at NibGrinder seemed a great choice as he can double grind the nib into one of his predator hybrids before sending it out to me. It will be an EF on one side and a M/B on the reverse. My first ground TWSBI nib and my first grind from Mr. Bacas!

And my first ALR.

The 580 is a solid pen. The faceted barrel prevents the pen from rolling on your desk. The nibs are easily swappable. And the pen comes fully apart for thorough cleaning - a process I enjoy.

Generally, TWSBI’s color choices are great, too. Seriously: TWSBI’s design team deserve raises.

Outgoing / trades or sales. Nuh-uh.

Currently listening

Hidden Orchestra while writing and driving.