More or less since the beginning of this year, I picked up two new interests, more or less in parallel, writing instuments (woodcase pencils, but also fountain pens) and pocket notebooks. Particularly the Field Notes collection (I also like Rhodia because the paper is top-notch)
Some of the FN notebooks on my desk
Mainly drawn by their design, I picked up the habit of carrying a pocket notebook with me. And I’m finding I write significantly more stuff than before. Where before I would get a cool idea, and acknowledge it mentally, now I actually record it in the notebook, which means I don’t forget it completely by the next week. Since the books are just 48 pages, filling them up doesn’t seem such a titanic task as with the moleskine-type notebooks with 90+ pages. It still takes me a good while to complete one, but I’ve already finished a few by now.
As for fountain pens, It’s kind of strange. My parents had them at home, and whenever I tried them they seemed unpleasant and scratchy to write with. They were probably old, cheap pens (as evidenced by my parents’ faces when I tell them how much I paid for mine, even though most are considered entry-level pens)
I don’t know what brought me to purchase a pen (first one the purple Lamy Al-Star, pictured above) and try for myself, but I really like the whole experience of writing with them. As whenever I pick up a new interest, I nerded out over nib types, filling systems and other details, and I guess I’m a fountain pen aficionado now.
One of my favorite things is the ritual. Like preparing tea, using bottled ink on a fountain pen has that old-school yet refined feel that contributes, however subtly to the experience. By now I actually have more ink bottles than pens!
Any other SBers with the same interests?
I was planning to open this topic a few days ago because I was just curious if someone shared the same interest, but seeing @schroeder post that TWSBI pen in the lusting over thread made me jump into it right now.
