Going to St. Louis Pen Show!

I’ve been in the hobby for five years, and for the last 2 I’ve been wanting to attend a pen show. This is a strange yearning for me, as I abhor crowds, am easily overstimulated by loud spaces, and prefer my gatherings extremely small. As an author, I find it difficult to attend writer conventions and have stopped going altogether, and that is even without touching on COVID/post-COVID issues with attending crowded spaces as an exhausted COVID long-hauler.

So, why a pen show?

Well — I love pens and stationery… I want to attend classes, and hopefully connect with people. Unlike a writer convention, a pen show does not (yet) feel like work, more a vacation. I’ve been considering DC, but I’ve seen pictures of these crowds and no, I can’t do it - and I do not feel good going to DC in the current political climate. SF Pen Show was also tempting, but the timing is not good for me with the beginning of the semester, and that one is also huge. I think trying a smaller/midsize convention which is within driving distance from me is going to be the way. I’m going to try St. Louis and see what I think.

Travelers insert, pocket pen, and a box of inks I’m bringing for the pay-it-forward table.

Here are the things I want to do while in St. Louis:

Attend classes. I’ve registered for two classes! I want to do even more, but not sure how much energy I will have.

Look at many pens. This a big motivator - I am driven by curiosity and discovery, and going to a pen show will be helpful. I’ll go to a vintage pen tasting, since vintage is an area in which I have almost no experience. I also want to try a few earlier Montblanc special editions from the Writers series to understand if I want to save up for one, or give up on this idea entirely. Montblanc pens have not been a win for me so far, even though I love their inks and am fascinated by some of the vintage editions. I also want to look around for vintage special edition Auroras, especially the Dante, which has been on my wishlist for a while.

Nib work. I have an appointment with Kirk, still figuring out what exactly I’m going to ask him to do in the available time. Matthew Chen will also be around, so I’ll see what he has to offer.

Purchases: I have a budget and will do my best to stick to it. I’m leaving the rest to serendipity. Let’s see what happens.

Trade, sell, and/or offload some inks. I might be driving an inkmobile to STL. I want to make room in my ink drawer for things that truly interest me, which is a very short list focusing on Teranishi, Montblanc, and J. Herbin.

REST. I’ll be exhausted and plan to take many breaks.

I’m excited and a bit worried, so let’s see how this goes. :)