An Intro and a Shout Out:DigitalWritingDesk

My voracious readers,

I’d like to take a moment to introduce, if you have not already discovered this excellent blog on your own, the DigitalWritingDesk, a new blog by my good friend InkyIndi. (Note: this blog is permanently added to my blogroll under “Pen Pals,” so if you ever lose the bookmark, just come back here and get it again.)

If you go over there right now, you’ll see a terrific (much better than mine) review of the nifty Stone Journal that I recently did a post on. InkyIndi’s description of cutting this neat paper was spot-on. I really had trouble putting into words what an amazing experience it is to cut this paper, but read this blog, and it will give you a better idea. Also, there is a Smudge Factor test, which I didn’t do, and that will really help you determine what kind of pen to use for this fun paper. Because you have to try it. It’s not expensive; at about $3, depending on which size you get, and it is readily available at all kinds of Targets all over the country, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding it. AND InkyIndi is generously offering to send a sheet or two to the first 15 of the more timid writers who don’t know if they really want to buy it without trying it. So, if you’re very interested, hustle on over there and be one of the first 15! (Actually, I haven’t checked how far they are along with this list; my purpose is to get you over there to see the site yourself.)

Anyway, back to the blog. The tagline is “The best of the 18th century in the 21st.” As you can see, this is not a site specifically devoted to fountain pens, although I know that the writer is an aficionado. It is about, from everything that I can gather, all things literary, or perhaps all things scrivenerly. Also, I think that it is going to consist of a lot of re-purposing of things that are (likely) related to writing. For example, if you look back at an earlier entry, it is about using a booklight in a stand-up pencil case as a way to facilitate nighttime writing. Both InkyIndi and I are vivid dreamers, and anyone who is (and who, still in the throes of the dream even while trying to wake up and record it and not miss any of the details) can understand how totally handy this little invention is! Now I totally want to go out and buy the identical case and light! It would be so cozy, especially on cold winter nights when you do not even want to reach an arm out to turn on a nightstand lamp…you’ve got to check it out! And a previous post on a new way to carry inks.

This blog is definitely one that I am going to be keeping an eye on because it has to do with writing and stuff to do it, of course, but it also has a level of ingenuity and cost-effectiveness that makes it relevant to anyone who wants the best of everything scrivenerly but has to watch his or her budget. It is a unique idea to put those little inventions that work so well for oneself but that one doesn’t even think of sharing because there just isn’t the right forum for it. But now there is!

So go have a look, party people, and I hope that you benefit from the neat ideas as much as I intend to start doing!

12th Carnival of Pen and Paper

Hi, folks,

In case you don’t know about this already, head over to Goldspot Pens for the 12th Annual Carnival of Pen and Paper! There, you’ll see links to all kinds of postings and sites of the best of fountain pen aficionados out there! Don’t miss it!

An Organization Geek’s Dream

Hi, fellow pen nerds,

So I was browsing over at Whatever, a great blog for fountain pens and one that I haven’t been looking at enough lately (and this is why).

If you’re like me, your pen collection, as well as your ink collection, takes on a life of its own. Since there really is no limit to the number of pens that you can have, and there’s no such thing as “too many” pens (hahahah! I snort just thinking about it!), sometimes those of us who are neatniks wonder and worry about how to store our pens safely, yet accessibly, so we don’t have to unearth and disgorge a lot of stuff to get them. But we want to keep our writing area looking nice and classy because, after all, we do have an aesthetic sense; that’s half of our love of fountain pens, right?

Well, Julie, the Okami at Whatever, has posted a blog about the perfect solution: the Pen Cabinet Extraordinaire! Click here to see the blog!

And here is a link to Geoff Morris, who is the creator of these wonderful fountain pen display cabinets!

Here is a photo of one of these wonderful cabinets. This is from the Whatever site:

And, one of the nifty things is that Geoff Morris, who lives in England, will line the drawers with the felt color of your choice!

That’s a gorgeous cabinet. I hope that this answers the needs of some of you out there and that you give Mr. Morris a lot of business! And thanks to Julie for posting about it!

A Neat Idea: The Pen, Ink, and Correspondence Journal

I was over at Whatever (see my blogroll under “Pen Pals”) reading the Julie the Okami’s (proprietress’s) post on Levenger’s Circa System, Junior Size, when I saw a hyperlink to what she called her “pen, ink, and correspondence journal.” That looked interesting, so I clicked on it to see what it was.

Basically, this is what she said. In a nutshell, she uses it to keep track of what ink she has in what fountain pen and, at 43 fountain pens (at time of post), it’s not reasonable to think she could memorize all that, especially if she, like I, changed a number all at one time. Plus, she also prints out her own photos for postcards (unlike me) and does a lot of other things as well: cool creative things. (Check out the blog post yourself.)

Well, first of all, any new way to use a journal is nifty for me. I think that the way she’s using her journal just for the pen and ink alone is great, not to mention all the other stuff that I don’t do. In my case, a lot of my not-as-excellent pens are the mediocre-quality Pen&Ink fountain pens, so not only do I have a number of them (not nearly 43, though; not even 10, probably, but enough to not remember what ink is in what pen), but they look identical. So every time I change the ink in them, I tape a little piece of paper that reminds me of the width of the nib and the ink color. And I can’t stand it. The tape makes it hard to post the cap, and it scratches me when I write without the cap posted. It’s ugly, too. I haven’t yet found a way to write directly on the pen (without smudging) all of that info.  No pens, markers, metallic pens, nothing. But maybe if I used liquid paper and wrote on the top of the cap with liquid paper, and then just numbered them on the liquid paper itself, and then used a small journal to keep track via a numbering system, then I wouldn’t have all that ugly tape and paper on the pens. I hope to retire these pens as I get better ones in my new bamboo pen cup, and, as I get new pens, they’ll all be different, and I’ll be able to tell them apart, and then I will be able to keep a pen, ink, and correspondence journal more easily. A PICJ?

Something for all of us who have lots of pens and inks and don’t know how to keep track.

Incidentally, in the Levenger post (the one that led me to the original explanation of the PICJ), there is a description of how she uses this new journal for keeping things straight. It’s great, and I might copy her as much as I can without having the same Levenger book.

Thanks, Julie!

Just Makin’ Friends Left and Right! A Penchant for Paper!

Anyone who has “penchant” in their name has my vote. I’ve had this person’s blog bookmarked for a while, but I just haven’t gotten around to adding all of the people to my blogroll that I want to. I have many people bookmarked and not nearly enough blogrolled.

This person, like me, is a poet, which is really neat (and probably hence the use of the word “penchant.”) Unlike me, she is an artist. Like me, she does reviews, and she has a friendly little site. Despite her name, she does review pens as well, and she does more paper than I have done…yet.  So please visit her, and here is her address:

http://apenchantforpaper.blogspot.com/

In about 10 seconds, she will be added to my blogroll. One thing I wish I could find out how to do is get that “Followers” feature…then I could have actual, factual proof that I have more than one reader!

So go see what someone with a penchant for anything is like!

New Pen Pal: A Fellow Addict

As I was hovering over my blog hit count yesterday, I was shocked to find that I’d reached into the 400s. I jumped an amazing 139 hits in one day, so I hastened to find out where so many came from 38 of them came from an aptly named site called “The Pen Addict,” one whose nomenclature I can certainly get behind. Unlike many of the sites I put on my blogroll, however, The Addict reviews non-fountain pens, and since a lot of my friends and family do have specific tastes about their pens but do not go so far into anal-retentiveness as to use fountain pens, I highly recommend this site for you. The Addict reviews a very broad selection of easily available pens that you can find in your everyday shopping places (as well as the more esoteric bottled ink and such), so when you find that you’d like to make a change from your current pen, you can look on “The Pen Addict” and make an educated decision as to where you’d like to go next. If you don’t want to go toward fountain pens, of course, in which case I would expect you to write to me for tips!

I have added “The Pen Addict” to my blogroll, under Pen Pals, but here’s the URL, too:

http://penaddict.com/

Check it out!

Hello and Welcome to a New Pen Pal

I just got an e-mail fro Julie, the okami (proprietress) over at Whatever, a nifty little blog that focuses on “whatever” is related to pens, ink, postcards, letter-writing, journaling and other stuff that I am interested in as well. She said that she was adding me to her blogroll (which must explain my sudden jump in hits today), so I am adding her to mine. I checked it out, and she has some nifty pens and things on her site! So I invite you, gentle readers, if you have not looked at her site, to please check it out. She’s on my blogroll under “Pen Pals” but also, here’s her URL:

http://okami-whatever.blogspot.com/

Welcome, Julie, to the PenUltimate, Ink Blog family! And thank you for sending me the e-mail!

A Question for All You Calligraphers Out There

Dear readers,

For those of you who are calligraphers, I have a question. I have a friend who has asked me to help her find a good disposable felt-tip calligraphy pen–definitely not the metal nib with ink cartridges because she doesn’t like noodling around with all the messy ink, and she likes to write fast–so I’m asking you to recommend some good ones for me. Unfortunately, when I write calligraphy, I cheat; I just draw all the fat strokes in, so I don’t really use a proper calligraphy pen, so I don’t really know which is the best. She likes the Sanford brand, but here’s the rub: she’d like a nib that’s 1.5 or below in width, and she’s not been able to find anything beneath a 2 or 2.5. I’m going to check our local craft and fabric stores, and tomorrow, I’m going to Petaluma to Petaluma Art and Earth to buy myself some Calli ink for my new Lamy Safari, so I’ll check there, but I’d like to hear from any of you if you can tell me other good brands if I cannot find Sanford. Something that’s commensurate with a Sanford. I don’t want to buy a terrible cheap pen. Also, she doesn’t want to spend a fortune on it. Any recommendations?

Thank you!

A little funny for your day

A cartoon I found at   http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/b/biro.asp

A Big Honkin’ Thank You to Leigh Reyes!

We here at the PenUltimate Ink. Blog (all one of us) would like to thank Leigh Reyes over at My Life as a Verb blog for adding me to her blogroll! (Huzzah! Huzzah!) Hers is the first blog I’ve seen with mine on it, and I have to say that my stomach jumped and my heart went a-pitter pat when I saw it!

I’ve recommended her before for her beautiful calligraphy, and I was on the site now to drool over the pens she has for sale, when I chanced upon the name of my blog. (Waah waah! The crowd goes wild!)

Incidentally, I made the happy discovery that her “Pens for sale” page (click the previous link) has yet more examples of her calligraphy, ones that I have not seen before, so don’t forget to hop on over there if you want to give your eyes a treat.

And thanks, Leigh, for the vote of confidence!