Penned Up
August 22, 2020
From the fourth grade on, my school required us to use fountain pens for writing. These were plain Scheaffer cartridge pens, sold from the school supply cart. Last year I thought I'd see if I could still write with a fountain pen, or if it would be too much trouble. So I bought a basic black Pilot Metropolitan pen because it was cheap. I liked it, so now I use it when I write in my journal. I bought another, prettier, Pilot Metropolitan that I saw advertised on Amazon. I mean, cheap! (I found out later that the Pilot Metropolitan is on every "Best Fountain Pens for Beginners" list, so yay me.)
Well.
Since the plague kicked in, I seem to have developed a fountain pen hobby.
I didn't mean to. It's just that I'm susceptible to Facebook advertising. On June 28th, I saw a Facebook ad for the most gorgeous pen and immediately started drooling. Unlike the Pilots, it was not cheap. I have learned my lesson with Facebook ads, so I looked at the company's website, watched YouTube reviews, and thought about it.
See, one of my conditions for buying anything is to wait and see if the desire for the item stays with me or fades away.
This stayed with me. So I bought it, along with a bottle of ink in a nice turquoise-y blue. It arrived promptly. I love it. It is as smooth as silk. It's very light for a large pen, too. The ink is lovely and bright.
Then I saw another Facebook ad for another gorgeous pen - this one has a wooden barrel, and a brass cap and section. Sigh. I bought it. (And dig me - I now know fountain pen jargon.)
And then I started browsing Goulet Pen Company's offerings and watching Figboot on Pens reviews and getting hooked on Galen Leather goods at the same time and now?
Since I took that picture, I bought a Galen Leather Folio and - you guessed it - more pens.
Here we have a Jinhao Shark (can you see the cute little dorsal fin?), a Lamy Studio Glacier, and a TWSBI ECO.
Of course, I have also had to invest in a cleaning kit and several bottles of beautiful inks.
Luckily, my inner skinflint won't let me spend too much on a single pen. I think. I mean, this Montegrappa Winter is Here Games of Thrones limited edition is only $4,950.