Fountain Pen Quest Trail Log – April 24, 2022

I’ll be taking a hiatus from posting to this blog, so this will be the last post for a indeterminant period of time. There are various reasons, including time management. Also, it’s been nearly six months since I’ve done a non-Trail Log Sunday post, except for a currently inked post related to the Atlanta Pen Show. I seem to be in a rut, and I feel like I’m about to just phone in the trail log posts. I’ve had a couple articles pending, but they don’t get very far. So I think it’s time for me to take a break.

I have no real desire to accumulate new fountain pens, but I’m really enjoying the ones I do have. Even the new Opus 88 from the Atlanta hasn’t forced me to use it all the time. It’s an enjoyable pen, and I do like using it. But, it’s not one I reach for instead of other pens. I have reached over it to pick up another pen.

I’ve been using fountain pens far longer than this blog has existed, and I’ll continue to use them. I just won’t be writing about them.They’ll settle in as a useful tool. A tool that I’ll enjoy using.

I may revive the blog in the future, or have intermittent posts as the mood strikes me. The first real deadline isn’t until November 2022 when my WordPress plan needs to be renewed. If I don’t renew it the content will stay online (I think) but using the WordPress free plan, which will break some (many?) things, and will no doubt make the site messy and all but unusable. The blog will have existed for ten full years at the end of August, so I may get nostalgic around then.

Thanks to all of you who read, commented, and linked. I’ve truly enjoyed and appreciated it.

Back to the usual programming:

My total pages written, at least for notebooks where I count pages written, was exactly the same as the previous week, with 27 pages filled each week. The mix was a little different, with fewer journal pages (A5), and more pages in my Oasis Light (B5) this week compared to last.

Inked Fountain Pen Status Saturday Evening

Current Reads, Watches & Listens

Listened: Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey. The seventh Expanse volume. I gave this 5 out of 5 stars. I debated between 4 and 5, but considering how quickly I devoured it (despite a slow start), even though it’s a second reading, I went with 5. The story transitions to what is obviously moving toward the end of the story, although there are two full books left.

Listened: Tiamat’s Wrath by James S.A. Corey. The eighth and penultimate volume in the Expanse series. The POV changes were all among the major characters, unlike some previous books, and all made sense. Yet, I found some of them jarring and I had to pause and think about them in order to place them in the right time-frame. I had the rewind and re-listen to the beginning of several chapters. It’ not a time-travel book, but things happen fast in places and the POV changes were jarring, at least for me, as the same events were retold. The story is darker in this one, and I didn’t like several of the events and character arcs. That’s more an emotional response, not a criticism of the story, so I rated this one a solid 5 out of 5 stars.

Listening Next: Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey. I’ll be starting the ninth and final Expanse book later today.

Reading: Manhatten Noir by multiple authors. A collection of Noir short stories, edited by Lawrence Block, set in New York City. I’ve only read one so far and enjoyed it. My plan is to read one a night, before going to sleep.

Outgoing

I did a rather big sell-off this past week. I used Reddit Pen_Swap and priced the pens to sell. So, the following pens and nibs have left my accumulation:

1. Lamy Safari Dark Lilac
2. Lamy Safari Petrol
3. Lamy Safari Mango
4. Lamy Safari Green
5. Lamy 14K Gold Extra Fine Nib
6. Lamy 14K Gold Oblique Medium Nib
7. Sheaffer Crest Nova Green
8. Sailor Full Size Realo
9. Esterbrook Estie Evergreen

Out of Rotation

1. The Diplomat Aero Volute with a custom (Mark Bacas) oblique fine nib was inked with Waterman Mysterious Blue and went dry last Sunday.
2. The Pilot Custom 823 (Fine) was inked up with Montblanc Bordeaux back on December 19th.
3. The Esterbrook (Kenro) Estie Oversized Seaglass (Needlepoint) was inked up with Waterman Mysterious Blue back on April 1st. It was only a partial fill. It’s not quit dry, but there’s no free-flowing ink in the converter. I’m going to clean and refill it with an ink I haven’t decided on yet.

Into Rotation

None

Links

With the upcoming hiatus I wanted to included a trio of sites which provided links every week:

Sunday Reading – The Gentleman Stationer

Link Love – The Well-Appointed Desk // Every Wednesday

Misfill — The Pen Addict. In addition, the Member newsletter provides weekly links (and more) every Saturday.

And now the usual links:

A Waverley Nib – Goodwriterspens’s Blog and Just a Pen – Goodwriterspens’s Blog // My favorite vintage pen blog.

My analog task migration system, for when life lives outside of my plans — mnmlscholar and New earth tone inks and finding efficiency in spring — mnmlscholar // One of my favorite What I’m using and why blogs._

Keeping a Notebook PERFECTLY | Comfortable Shoes Studio

special occasions: sheaffer imperial

Heat Setting an Ebonite Feed Without Burning Down the House – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen

Woody Guthrie’s Notebooks – Notebook Stories

World Stationery Day 2022 – Pam Alison Knits

Fawning Over Flora — Penquisition

JetPens View Corona 52 gsm Paper Review — The Pen Addict

Video: Steph’s Top 5 Green Inks! | Anderson Pens Blog

Emotional Support Pens, Stationery, and the Return to Campus – Chicana Writes