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 one ..read more

The first eight pens for the week ahead My fountain pen usage was up a bit this week when compared to the previous week. I wrote 24 journal pages two weeks ago, and only 22 this week. But, I did a lot of non-journal writing compared to two weeks ago, and wrote another five full pages, in addition to the usual lists and notes. I decided to reduce the number of inked pens and concentrated on using the ones that had the least ink. I was able to write four pens dry. That got me down to a less-anxiety producing dozen pens. I spent Saturday rotating through the inked pens, picking the ones used leas ..read more

My fountain pen usage was up this past week. I ended up writing 23 pages in my journal during the week. This included eight pages on Friday as I tried to write the Pilot Elite dry. The pen seemed nearly dry when I started, only a drop or two visible in the cartridge. I figured it would die on the first or second page. When it didn’t go dry it became a battle or wills. I wasn’t going to stop writing and it wasn’t going to go dry. That took up a nearly two hours of my morning. Eventually it went dry and I moved on to my Friday tasks, and another fountain pen. I picked these seven pens for the we ..read more

Spurred on by the Atlanta pen show running this weekend, I had a fountain pen heavy week. Not necessarily using them, but much of what I did was fountain pen centered. In fact, while they got daily use, my fountain pen usage was down from the previous week. Some vintage Sheaffer that caught my attention when reviewing pens.The first and last one got nib work done at the show. On Tuesday I spent the day cleaning the pens leaving the rotation, and inspecting my vintage Sheaffer pens. I water tested all the Sheaffers and found three that wouldn’t take in water. I already had two pens in the queue ..read more

Just the links this morning. I’ll have a full Atlanta Pen Show Trail Log out in a day or so. A defense of the partial ink fill — mnmlscholar // I’m a whole-hearted supporter of the short fill. And I admit, getting every last drop into a converter isn’t my priority these days, since I like to rotate through my pens. canetas e coisas: HONGDIAN Keystone: A Brand, A Model or Wearever – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen #OneWeek100People: day 12 – Writing at Large Adapting my sentimentality to function at work — mnmlscholar SchonDSGN Natural Ultem – Newton Scholarship | Peaceable Writer My Traveler’sRot ..read more

My original goal was seven pens. I have no restraint. But only 14 have ink. I spent a lot of time today selecting, and inking up pens for my trip to the Atlanta pen show. As is usually the case with me, the number of pens kept growing. I’d touch a pen and it would beg me to allow it to make the trip. I can’t say no. I quickly outgrew the Franklin-Christoph Seven Pen Wrap. Not all the pens in the photo are inked up (only 14 out of the 22). Twice as many as my original plan. I picked pens that fell into two groups. First, pens that are my favorites, at least at this moment in time (I am fickle ..read more

My fountain pen usage felt like it was lower this week than last. I don’t keep track enough to be sure. I suppose I could go back and count pages, but then that would make it more like work. My habit of writing in the morning has become ingrained. I had a busy Saturday and want to get an early start to beat the crowds, and I woke later than usual. So I was going to skip the morning journal entry, but I couldn’t do it. I had to write one page before setting out. Then I wrote another page when I got back. So while it feels lower, it still a daily habit which makes me happy. A better indicator of ..read more

In last week’s Trail Log I mentioned that I was getting tired of transcribing while on my second page. By Wednesday I was restless on the first page and just wanted it done. I only made it through that first page because I had problems with the Pilot Custom 823. The 823 is a solid writer, problems are unheard of until now. The nib just dried up. And yes, the plunger was open to allow ink to reach the nib. I was able to prime the feed, which is a thrill on a vacuum filler. Ultimately it was mess free. That gave me an incentive to at least finish the page in order to test the pen. The 823 was al ..read more

I’m still doing book transcriptions for most of my fountain pen usage. But this week brought a new experience. On Thursday and Friday I got really frustrated about half way through the second page and just wanted to get it done or stop. I only did one page on Saturday in order to avoid the entire issue. It’s rather sudden. I going along, enjoying the pen and ink, then a switch flips and the frustration immediately appears and I just want to be done. I did reach a minor milestone on Saturday – I finished a Doane Paper Writing Pad. It took about 3 weeks. I only have one left. My journaling also ..read more

My transcription was down a bit since last week, but other usage was up, so my fountain pen usage probably remained about the same. I’ve managed to use three or four pens on most days, so they all get used a couple of times per week. I have a nice mix of pens and inks, so I never hesitate to pick up the least recently used pen. Inked pens, and how long they’ve been unused as of Saturday afternoon. Atlanta Pen Show The Atlanta Pen Show is coming up April 1st -> 3rd. I’ll be close enough to Atlanta that I’m considering going to this show. I really don’t want to get any new pens, but a re-supp ..read more