January - April 2024: Four Months in Stationery
A retrospective of my stationery use and discoveries of the first four months of 2024.
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.
Diamine Inkvent 2023: A New Year’s Eve review
This year’s Purple Inkvent is probably my favorite, certainly par with the Red Inkvent. I love purples, and this inkvent has wonderful offerings. In this post I review the Inkvent inks, and also provide some comparisons to other inks. My top 5, in no particular order: Tranquility, Lavender Frost, Rainbow’s End, Velvet Emerald, and Blizzard.
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.
Year in Review: 2023 Stationery Highlights
A post of my stationery highlights of 2023, broken into inks, pens, and accessories.
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.
How pens leave and enter the gathering
It’s easy to see how a person who spends years collecting pens ends up owning many of them - even if you only buy a few a year, the numbers begin to add up. For those of us who own under 20 pens, and yet spend time in the hobby, I’m always curious how this happens. For me personally, it’s some combination of restraint, considering exactly what pens I want to add to the gathering, and letting go of pens that do not rhyme with the collection.