A Portable Sanctuary
When I leave home, even for a short while, the five or six fountain pens in their case become my portable sanctuary, a physical manifestation of respite, endeavor, and dream.
Reconnecting with my Scribo Feel A Riveder Le Stelle
This post is about reconnecting with my Scribo Feel A Riveder Le Stelle. This was my first grail. At various points since March 2021, I said that I should sell it; yet I did not. There is no other pen in the Gathering which I wanted as much, which has meant as much, which caused me this much trouble. Kind of like my writing career.
What are we looking for?
What are we looking for? I am infinitely curious about what collecting reveals about the humans we are, what makes us feel deeply the way nothing else can. For this post, I discuss some broad categories of experience that lead us to collect writing instruments.
Eating my Hats: Diamine Early Dusk and Leonardo Andromeda
There are many advantages to adopting the spirit of the scientific method - that is, experimenting without the pressure of a predefined outcome. Mistakes pave a road for deep learning. Here are two of mine.
2024 Stationery Intentions
My 2024 stationery intentions focus on process and discovery. I’m entering the new year with the feeling that my pen cup is full. I don’t feel like actively pursuing pen acquisition, and I want to spend time with my collection before I expand or reduce it.
Year in Review: What happened with my 2023 Stationery Resolutions?
I’m taking a look at the pen plan I made for 2023 — it’s time to find out what happened.
Grail Feeling: Aurora Internazionale Orange
This post offers a review of the Aurora Internazionale Arancio / Orange, and it is also about grail pens in general.
What separates a merely expensive and well-executed pen from a grail is not the price point so much — it’s a feeling.
The Gathering and the Menagerie
Over the years, I have gathered quite a few animal figurines; and just as my fountain pens are the Gathering, the animal figurines are the Menagerie.
Whimsy is healing
Academia is not the only field where one is expected to perform seriousness. Whimsy gets a bad rap in quite a few industries. But my stationery habit does not make me bad at my job, and I am prepared to stick a sticker on that hill.
Pen frustration, pen magic
Our fountain pens and other stationery items are not just tools. They are artifacts, talismans against an overwhelming and cruel world. Pens can represent self-care and purpose, pens can bring delight and wonder. Pens are magic. That magic can come as a freebie gift, or in shape of a cheap, incredible, damaged antique-store pen.