12 Pen Person Questions

The #12Penpersonquestions come from the wonderful Lisa at Olive Octopus Ink. This set of questions has been out since August, and I have finally gotten around to answering them. It’s been a real joy to read everyone’s answers, please keep them coming. And thanks again to Lisa for providing excellent journaling prompts.

1. If you consider the different ways you can engage with pens and stationery—as a user, a collector, a hobbyist, a creator, a maker, a vendor—which roles fit best and what percentage of 100% would you assign to each? Are you happy with the balance?

I think it’s hard for me to assign a percentage without a methodology - I want to know how to determine which percentage to assign to each category. The answer to this one is most likely “eyeball it”, but that just makes my brain spin in the background: should I time the hours, should I have a control sample, should I use an excel spreadshe—- RB, STOP. I am just not going to use percentages :) qualitative descriptions will have to do :))

I am a user because I use my fountain pens all day, every day. I write a lot, I take notes with my FPs, I plan with them, they are in constant use. I am a collector because I spend a lot of time thinking about the Gathering not just as a lineup of writing tools, but as a collection, a cohesive set of pens that tell a story together. I love curation, and I love lining up my collection - I get a lot of enjoyment out of this process, which is separate from the process of using. I am a hobbyist because I engage with the hobby - the community, the trends, the blogging, even the FOMO - unlike the collecting side of this equation, being a hobbyist is not all that serious for me, it’s lighthearted and focused on enjoying being a part of the community. I am a creator in so many ways - I use my pens to create works of fiction and poetry, I also make art using my pens and inks, and of course, I write a blog. Love it, and always want to do more of this. I am not sure how being a creator is separate from being a maker, though perhaps being a maker is more about making for the stationery market - things like pens, inks, collabs. In this case, I am not a maker in the hobby space, although I would potentially like to be. As for being a vendor, nope! A methodologically solid 0% can be assigned to this one simply because I’m not doing it.

Montegrappa La Sirena on a gourd.

I think I can add a bit to these categories. I see myself as an art object appreciator in that I have a deep abiding love for art and for artistic process, and among all the art forms I especially appreciate sculpted objects in use, such as jewelry, tea vessels and other functional pottery, weaving, writing instruments, weapons, and ritual objects (and of course, animal figurines) - there’s an ancient impulse in all of this, but also just love for life expressed through and with beloved objects. Fountain pens fit perfectly with this desire to appreciate and to use artistic objects designed to assist with human life — whether or not I own the objects is not as important. I love going to textile exibits, I love Judaica and have a lot of deep knowledge about it, I love art pottery and have collected some really wonderful objects for tea. I cherish the moments I can spend with objects, whether or not I own them. In a similar vein, I am also an emotional support enjoyer - the emotional support stationery aspect of this hobby is very important to me.

2. What is something you want to understand better or develop more informed opinions about?

I want to understand whether I can do some making in this space without needing to do fulfillment. I love making, for example art cards that I produce with linocut/letterpress, but fulfillment makes me so incredibly anxious, and it feels like a whole new domain of skills that I could never master despite many, many attempts. I do not want to fail at fulfillment, and that affects my making aspirations. I think the solution is to collaborate with an existing vendor, where I for example create a set of artworks or similar, mail just one box to them, and they sell it for a share. And/or I need to figure out how to do collabs. I have a lot of artistic ideas, and I’d love for example to design a pen.

3. In the pen community, what's something someone has said or done that stuck with you?

One thing I love about the hobby is the community of writers, creators, users, makers, and just good friends. One of my biggest influencers in this space early on was Anthony Newman - I’ve written about his work extensively before. His writing makes me think deeply about the why of the hobby - why do we collect, what do we want - which goes well beyond the usual format of “new shiny pen/ink, here are the specs and the writing sample.” Interacting with his writing over the years helped me engage deeper with my own process. (Check out his new blog, Deliberate Objects). Another important thing I realized from reading Ant’s writing in the pen space is how much I value desire as an emotion that moves us to reflect and create. I also credit Joe/The Gentleman Stationer for giving me a reason to write a blog, and for his encouragement over the years. And of course, my pen friends are amazing.

4. There are now 25 hours in a day, a bonus hour is available to use however you like as long as pens or stationery are involved—how do you spend your hour?

More of the same - more writing, more notetaking, more doodling, more journaling, more plotting. Perhaps even more planning.

5. In the pen community yearbook, what would your superlative be? (i.e. "Best ______", "Most _______" "Most likely to _______")

Hm. Most likely to wax poetic about obscure little things?

In terms of pen knowledge, maybe “Most likely to know about Scribo editions.” It could be “most likely to know obscure factoids about Italian pens,” but I feel that many other people are more knowledgeable overall. I still have things to learn in this area, especially when it comes to vintage Ancoras. And my knowledge of obscure Aurora editions is not complete yet, although probably getting there. I also don’t care enough about various Omas afterlife incarnations. I am honestly not even that knowledgeable about Omas, for the most part. I’m just a Scribo nerd. Now my goal is to become very knowledgeable about those sculptural Montegrappa special editions from the 1990s and the early 2000s. I’m getting there :)

Most likely to scribble with a Scribo

6. How do you feel about your handwriting?

I feel great about my handwriting, which ranges from chickenscratch to well-disciplined cursive to calligraphic flourish, and back to chickenscratch. I enjoy my own handwriting in its many forms.

My quick writing is basically chickenscratch. I enjoy it.

The smooth cursive italic nib on my Visconti Homo Sapiens helps elevate my quick writing into something slightly more disciplined, but I’m not writing for display. (some questions I prepped for my graduate student class).

I honestly wish so many people in the hobby didn’t feel so self-conscious about their handwriting. It’s fine! It’s all fine! Enjoy the process.

7. What is something you are proud of doing, achieving, or overcoming?

In the pen community, not much; I do love writing this blog, and I appreciate a chance to engage with objects and topics I love, on my terms. In terms of my general life, I’m pretty proud of myself at this point, and it would take too long to elaborate on that, and I’m afraid it would all boil down to trauma dumping and/or bragging. But as long as we’re on the topic of bragging, I just won the World Fantasy Award for a strange little book about linguistics, trauma, and translation, and the book does very much feature a fountain pen, and all that’s pretty awesome for someone who had more naysayers than supporters for the first three decades of my life.

8. You're going on a writing retreat anywhere in the world—where would you go, what would you write, and what would you write with?

I considered this question extensively over the years. I love PNW, so it will probably have to be Oregon, although I wouldn’t say no to Washington or BC. I am looking forward to the start of the Le Guin Residency program, but that kind of hits close to home. I don’t know if I would even dare to apply to that one - a rejection would devastate me, and I already feel awkward enough after visiting Le Guin’s house earlier this year and talking to Theo. For years I’ve dreamt about staying to write at the beloved Sylvia Beach Hotel at Newport, Oregon and took many virtual tours of their eclectically decorated author-themed rooms. But the hotel changed owners, and chanded its name, and this summer the new owners sold all their charming antique and vintage decor and remodeled, and it now looks drab and corporate, feels like a betrayal, to be honest.

The library at the Sylvia Beach Hotel. Photo via Tripadvisor

deep breath I actually found out about this “remodel” while writing this post. It was a beloved local institution and I almost stayed there multiple times (and I should have done so, in retrospect). I checked some local outlets, and my feelings about this change seem to be common in the community. GAH! I guess I am adding this to my list of regrets in life.

Back to the retreat topic, I think I need to revisit my approach. I should apply for a residency! I’ve never applied before, so I guess it’s time to look around.

I don’t really care where I go as long as I have a place to sleep, a desk, and a place to walk around in non-sweltering temperature.

The pens I would bring - I have absolutely pre-planned this already:

• Scribo Feel Maddalena with the EF Flex nib - this is my traveling writer’s pen. It would be matched with Taccia Ainezu or a different grey ink.

• Conid Bulkfiller Wild Tiger - matched with Great Gatsby.

• Scribo Piuma Impressione - matched with Teranishi Antique Black.

• Three more wildcard pens, at least one of them a shimmer

Ready to go somewhere, anywhere with my pen friends and the accompanying BIRD

9. What's a current or favorite creative outlet?

Writing. Always and ever. I also really love making art, but given limited time, I prioritize writing.

10. What's something that causes you benign envy—the kind of admiration and desire that leads to inspiration or motivation?

In the past, I was craving some pens other people had - pens I felt were beyond my reach either because of price or because of rarity. Those days the cravings are behind me - there is a vast variety of pens to explore at every price point, and I am very happy with the Gathering as it is. So no envy here, benign or otherwise. I am not a jealous person by nature.

11. What's a comfort item, material, or color?

I love them all, but at this point I particularly love the figural silver on my Montegrappa. I’m also a huge fan of leather items such as journal covers and pen cases. Opening my Galen Leather Magnum Opus case for six pens is such a comfort for me - I love how my currently inked pens look in this case.

This crocodile friend enjoys lounging on my leather case.

12. What would be a dream collaboration, project, or partnership?

Following up on 2., I would love to collaborate with a vendor who would help me market some art-related project. I would love to design a pen. And I would also love to write something pen-related for an outlet. Beyond this I really don’t know what I want to do at this point - I can’t wait for the semester to be over so I can sleep, work on my novel, and make latkes. Can’t beat that.