Purely Whimsical

It’s probably a little weird, but I like pens. I’m not a fan of roller ball pens, but I do like fun gel ink pens (as long as they don’t leak). When I worked in a call center for business customer service, I would take notes in multiple different colors, a different color for each call.

It made what could quite often be a boring job a little more fun, and it also helped to keep my notes for each customer of the day (or hour) distinct. Since my notes would range over the page, and was often accompanied by doodles, it made it very interesting at times to go back to my old notebooks.

Once I started working at a customer oriented network operations center, I gave up the cool pens at work. They just walked off. Since I was quite often doing three things at the same time, it was very difficult to keep track of my pens - even the cheap bic pens that I really dislike.

Eventually what I ended up doing was what many of us have seen around small shops; I bought some silk flowers and attached them to my pens. That was 3-4 years ago - I still have the pens. NO-ONE would use them.

My favorite type of pen is a fountain pen. I have slight arthritis in my left thumb, and I have read that fountain pens are easier on your hands than roller balls. The theory is that with most modern pens, you must press down on the paper to lay down the ink. With a fountain pen, to lay the ink on the page, you brush the nib rather than pressing down. It seems to work.

You can actually buy a disposable fountain pen for quite reasonable prices - around $2-$3 - made by Pilot, called a varsity pen. I have bought a few vintage fountain pens; a couple of Mabie Todd Swans, an Esterbrook, and a Parker 51. One of my favorites is the iconic Parker 51. It has a hooded nib, so you can keep it uncapped for longer than other fountain pens, and it writes quite nicely. I also have a few modern fountain pens, 2 Lamy’s, a Pilot Varsity, and a Platinum Preppy pen converted to eyedropper.

One of my favorite things about fountain pens is that you have an extremely wide variety of inks to choose from. Pretty much all I have bought at this point is a brand called Noodlers, which manufactures an ink (in a variety of colors) they call “bulletproof". It’s indelible on cellulose. I’ve seen tests of this ink on paper; the only way to get rid of the ink is to scrape away paper layers. This is really cool until you realize that cotton is also cellulose. Keep it away from your t-shirts.

Still, one of my favorite inks by Noodlers is one they call “Heart of Darkness". It’s a very black ink, the blackest produced on the market today. With a fine or medium nib, it puts a very nice dark line on your page. I’ve also got green, red, a true grey, white, and yellow highlight ink. All are bulletproof. I’ve been using the green for almost six months now - it’s in a 3 oz bottle - and I haven’t even used a quarter.

Theoretically bottled ink is more economical than cartridges, or disposable pens. Also - it’s easier on the environment since you are not throwing away plastic at every refill. So it’s a more environmentally sound choice (if that matters to you).

Fountain pens do take a little more care. You want to make sure they are never pointed nib down, as gravity will have it’s way. Often you will get ink on your hands during refills. Dropping a pen can potentially throw ink in a distressingly large arc (especially if you just refilled with bulletproof ink!).

Writing with a fountain pen is easier on your hands. Also, your writing is (potentially) more pleasing to the eye. There’s a variance to your writing that doesn’t exist with a typical roller ball pen, due to the varying pressure of your nib on the page.

Don’t even get me started on paper… My new favorite is a Rhodia notepad I found at Borders. Vellum pages are so smooth with fountain pens. My aunt got me turned on to note cards, and I have a variety at home.

I have carefully avoided seals and sealing wax….