The Joy of My 2nd Pen Meet

Earlier last month, I attended my second pen meet at Cravings, Shangri La Mall in Ortigas. Incidentally, my first pen meet was also at Shangri La in late December last year, only that was held at The Dome. Like my first pen meet, I was very excited that I couldn't sleep the night before. In place of sleep, I re-inked my empty pens, especially the new ones, and arranged them neatly and properly in their slots inside my blue flannel pen wrap. I also thought of bringing my fountain pen-friendly notebook finds so I brought along the Paperchase notebook I got from Booksale and the new Eagle notebook I found at Office Warehouse.

There was a very heavy downpour as I was about to leave the house and I got delayed for almost half an hour. Then I was caught in a traffic jam somewhere along Sucat, so I was already more than an hour late, so I sent Sir Butch D. a message to let them know I'll be joining them shortly. When I got there, it was lunchtime and most of the FPN-P people have arrived.

The long table was near full, and I got seated near Sir Butch, JP Reyes, and Kurt Uy. It's an FPN-P pen meet tradition to try other people's pens and notebooks, but I have my own tradition: I try all the pens I could try but on my own Moleskine pages. I do this so I am able to try pens, write down what they are, what inks they carry, and who owns them. Neat.

Pens and inks from my first pen meet, December 2008.

Before I made the rounds of trying pens, I showed my Indian pens to Sir Butch, JP, Sir Nestor, Sir Chito, and later to Leigh. I think for most of them, it's a first to see (and try) both the Camlin and Chelpark pens.

The first set of pens I tried were those of JP's. He let me try his Pelikan M450 and two Mont Blancs. Woo-hoo!

Then I moved to the other end of the room and tried the pens of couple Vic and Cyn Icasas who are just as accommodating with their pens. I tried Cyn's Lamy ABC which is just awesome. Then I moved to Vic's pen case. *Grin.* I tried his Sheaffer No-Nonsense with a BB nib. OMG. That one is bold, broad, and wet. After that, I was able to try a pen with music nib for the first time - it's Vic's Sailor Sapporo Mini. But I did not stop there - I did not pass the chance to try the other residents of his pencase, too: Pelikan M215; a Laban pen; 2 Waterman pens: the Harley Davidson he just got from Sir Chito Limson, and a Phileas; 3 Pilots: M90, Volex, and a no-name Pilot pen; 3 Lamys: Safari (inked with Leigh's CDA Caribbean Sea), Studio, and Vista (both inked with Purple Mojo). Phew! Dami pens!

I also tried Sir Chito's pens: Danitrio, Visconti, Baoer Eight Horses, a Jinhao Sailboat Commemorative pen, and a white Parker Duofold! That last one had me drooling.

Then I tried Caloy Abad-Santos's pens: his Frankensnork from TAO, Danitrio Raw Ebonite Prototype, Platinum Longshort, Sheaffer Legacy, and a Moore Safety pen.

Dami talaga pens!

Pens and inks at my second pen meet, April 2009. This list goes on to the next page. Ganun kadami pens ang na-try ko!

After lunch and amidst the chatter, the raffle began. Yey! Raffle items included a large ruled Moleskine, a Rhodia notebook, several pens (including a Cross ATX set, a Lamy Joy Calligraphy set, a Waterman, green and orange Pilot petit), and inks. Ang daming raffle items! The raffle was done twice because there were more raffle items than the number of people to receive them. Ahem.

During the first raffle round, I got a blue M&G Joy Box pen courtesy of John Raymond Lim. I was ecstatic over that pen already, but the bomb came during the second round. As Nigs de Paula and Sir Chito raffled off the Lamy Joy Calligraphy set, I said a tiny prayer, and alas, my name was called! Huwow! I got myself my very first Lamy! Oh, boy. The set is courtesy of Johannes Sia. I didn't know what to say... Until Sir Butch joked, "hindi ka siguro makakatulog ngayong gabi nyan!" What he didn't know was that I've already lost sleep the night before. Hahaha!!!

And now, meet Joy. My very first Lamy, and it had to come as a set!

Opening the box reveals then pen, the cap with its red clip, a box of ink cartridges, a Lamy converter, and the nibs: 1.1mm, 1.5mm, and 1.9mm.

A closer look at the nibs, though this photo is way too blurry.

A closer look at the cap, clip and barrel end that also bears the LAMY logo.

And because I had a new calligraphy set (the first one is the Schneider set), I just had to learn the art now. So I got myself a Speedball Textbook pronto, and several packs of Oslo paper. I remember envying my brothers when they were learning calligraphy way back in high school and they each had their own Speedball Textbooks, inks, and Panache nibs. Now I have my own.

Below (and topmost, first photo) is a writing sample of my Lamy Joy Calligraphy set.

As Lamy says, Joy inspire creative writing. Mine isn't that creative, but I'll get there. I'm sure I will. *Wink.*

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I Got Green Pens Too!

I was rummaging through my pen wraps last night looking for a Hero when I realized something: several green pens are peeking out of their slots. Whoa. With six fountain pens and two gel pens, I seem to be getting them faster than those white pens I'm trying hard to build on to a collection. But I'm not complaining. Who knows I may just move on to green pens later when I get my fill of those whities. And these green pens remind me of the green Conway Stewart Dinkie pair I saw at Leigh Reyes' blog yesterday. My pens, are of course worlds different from Leigh's and from those in her collection. *Wink.*

Green pens abound.

From left: Chelpark Moti (Fine, inked with Parker Quink Blue-Black); Inoxcrom Agatha Ruiz de la Prada (Extra Fine, uninked); Hero 332 (Fine to Medium, inked with Private Reserve Copper Burst); Youth 208 (Fine, just cleaned, I also got this in teal); MonAmi Gel Love Pets; Schneider 0.5 XTRA 892; M&G Joy Box (Fine, inked with Waterman South Sea Blue); and Schneider Zippi (Fine, inked with Schneider Black).

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DKNY Made My Day

The rains came early. It's only April and while we're supposed to get hot, dry summer yet, we're getting hot, humid summer weather. It's so humid after these summer thunderstorms that being outside can make you sweat heavily like someone poured water over your head. And that's what happened to me yesterday when I happened to go home early after a heavy downpour. I rushed out and was met by humid air and before I got home, I was sweating profusely.

I went to shower as soon as I got home and tried to splash on some cologne to freshen myself up. But the cologne I used was very strong and after I washed myself up again, I craved for something citrusy that will refresh me. Luckily, I had DKNY's Be Delicious Fresh Blossom (review found at this new perfume blog) which is just the perfect scent to wear on a humid afternoon like yesterday's. This perfume blends freshness and brightness from its sprakling mix of different notes from grapefruit, cassis, apricot, muguet, rose, jasmine, apple, blond woods, and smooth skin accord. I felt so refreshed that I was able to clean most of my pens until midnight!

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The Coffee Table of My Dreams

When I told my family I’ll be moving to my own apartment, they were all against it. They said a lot of negative things about living solo but I just reasoned with them that indeed, at this moment in my life, living apart from them is what I needed. And so I moved out.

After moving to my apartment, I tried to get new stuff, though slowly, as I’m being a bit picky. I didn’t want to just hoard stuff for the sake of getting them and so I tried to get not only what I really want but stuff that will also last, not to mention look good inside my home.

The first piece I got is a four-seater dining set. I got the set before a new living room set because I realized I tend to spend more time in the dining area than in the living area. It’s on my dining area where I enjoy writing the most, with a cup of tea or coffee. I also read there, sometimes, or sketch, while something is cooking.

Lately, I’m looking for stuff to fill the living area. There is a large bench there, the one that I had custom-made for me two years ago, and I feel that it needs two tables for company. I think it needs a corner table and a coffee table to give the living area a “homey” look that I’ve been trying to achieve. I’ve found the coffee table I like the most at Scenic Furniture, a place for excellent rustic furniture, and it’s just so beautiful! Its length and width is just perfect, and the fact that this piece is fully handcrafted from the finest tiger maple makes it most special. My only wish is that it could have been a little higher. Its height of 16 inches is quite low for me. Maybe the manufacturers can make this available in different heights, maybe in 16, 20, and 24 inches? There are a lot of coffee tables out there, including one at my parents' house I've been trying to get, but this tiger maple coffee table with the red-brown latewood lines is the one I'll save up to get in the future. For now, I'll do away with a faux ottoman as my corner table.

Who says apartment living isn’t fun? It is.

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Lights and Snow

Great! Today I got my first postcard from Finland with a photo of the Northern lights, more popularly known as Aurora borealis. It's beautiful and I'm ecstatic over today's postcards, because I also got one from China. *Wink.*

Here's the one from Finland:

And here's the one from China:

The sender said the postcard reads "The Winter Solstice: It means cold winter is coming." Postcrossing is truly enjoyable. I get postcards with beautiful stamps, I meet friends from all over the globe, and I get to use my fountain pens when I write to them. Cool!

To view my postcards, visit my postcard wall at Postcrossing.com, or click on this link: http://www.postcrossing.com/user/diarcher/gallery

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Rediscovering Old Inks

After my first pen meet last December, I (surprisingly) started to have a dislike for black and blue-black inks as new ink colors began to interest me. At that time too, I had the luck of owning several bottles of new non-black/non-blue-black inks (Private Reserve Copper Burst and Avocado, and Waterman South Sea Blue and Florida Blue). And so the move to colored inks became a wonderful experience. And because of my exposure to fellow fountain pen collectors, I began to crave for more non-black inks to add into my stash. Who wouldn't be in awe when one sees colorful strokes of sepia-like brown, avocado green, turquiose-like blue, and almost royal blue inks on one's Moleskine's pages? For days, I rotated several pens inked with different colors on my Moleskine, who must have had a heart attack with all those hues after having been used to the monotony of black. But not for long.

Last month, during an international workshop sponsored by my organization, a friend from India brought me four pens: a Camlin Trinity, a Chelpark Moti, and two fancy Montex pens. I postponed inking the pens for a week as I was also very busy at that time. When the time came to ink it though, I took my chances and went back to my previous loves: Parker Quink washable black and permanent blue-black.

I used black on the Camlin Trinity and she was an instant hit with me. "We hit it off right away," is what I'll say if I am to describe my initial impression of the Camlin. I was so smitten by that pen that I temporarily ditched my two Schneider Base pens. She's got a Fine to Medium nib, but she is such a wet writer. She's got some scratch when I write with it though, but I want to think that such flaw adds to her character.

Here's the Camlin Trinity fountain pen with a Fine to Medium nib. Its maroon barrel is made of plastic, and brushed metal for its cap.

Note the unique clip of this pen.

This is the closest I can get to its nib.

And here is a writing sample of this beautiful pen.

For the Chelpark Moti I used the permanent blue-black ink. It wasn't a hit at first, but after some strokes and doodles on paper, she showed me what she's got. Like the Camlin, she's got a Fine to Medium nib, but she's wetter. And so she's smoother as a writer. Which is just wonderful. And while the Camlin fills through a converter, this one gets hers through a piston filling mechanism. Her nib and feed can also be removed so it's easier to clean. And she's got a window to show the ink inside. Cool.

Here's the Chelpark Moti fountain pen with a Fine to Medium nib. Its green barrel is made of plastic, and its brushed metal cap has some signs of brassing.

The cap and nib of the Moti. Her nib is more elaborate than the Camlin's. Note her ink window.

And here is a writing sample of my Chelpark Moti.

Now that I'm into Parker inks, I got myself a box of cartridges of Parker Quink Ruby. It's like burnt red, or red-purple, and I imagine seeing red wine droplets on my Moleskine pages when I write using this ink. I used it on my white Parker Vector as a tiny surprise for anyone who wants to try my white pen. This ink is beautiful, and the photo below cannot do its beauty justice.

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