I've been lurking a while but decided to come out and say hi to everyone and to thank you for all the great advice I've read here.

My pen 'collecting' has been on and off since I was a kid. (In fact, I just dug out and cleaned up three No-Nonsense Shaeffers, plus a burgundy white-dot Shaeffer something or other, and an Osmiroid that is, sadly, no longer among the living.) In the 80s, I bought (what I now identify as) a 144 MB in burgundy, a Noblesse in dark blue, a black Shaeffer that I think is a Targa, and a couple of Parkers. Late 90s saw me getting a few Shaeffers and a black Parker Sonnet and a green Waterman Patrician (my biggest pen).

Now, thanks to PT and here, I've really been branching out: a few Pelikans (200s, plus a new 400), a Parker 51 (plus another on the way), a Namiki VP, a Conklin, Lamy...

And on top of all that - I've become an ink junkie! I lay that problem entirely at the door of Noodlers and all their scrumptious colors. I had had some old Watermans Black and Blue-Black, some Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black, Black Quink, Visconti Burgundy, and - for some reason I cannot fathom - two bottles of MB turquoise, one the cool "shoe" bottle, but the other the conical gold plastic bottle. (I don't even *like* MB turquoise all that much - but I must've back when I bought it.)

I write and, though I use a computer for my fiction, everything else I write in longhand - notes, ideas, research, etc. The joy of using smooth paper (both Clairefontaine and Levenger's are my favorites) with a lovely fp is enough to get me writing. The biggest plus is that my hand doesn't get nearly so tired as it does when writing with a rollerball or ballpoint.

And, yeah, crazy though it is, most of my pens are inked and used. I've noticed there are a few that I don't reach for all that often, so when they next run out of ink, I may just clean them up and store them for a while. I gravitate toward M nibs, in large part, I think, because I can see the beautiful ink color more clearly.

Thanks to the postings here, I have *plans*! A couple of those No-Nonsense Shaeffers are destined to become eyedroppers - thanks, einv! And a couple of my recalcitrant pens are going to get a, uh, treatment.

It's nice to be in a place where there are folks even crazier than I am - and who have more ink. (But I'm catching up!)

Best to all.

Hi Tricia,

Golly, you are already well down the road... But, that's ok, this board will help you cope with your problem. Not by helping you beat it, mind you, but instead you'll be shown that there are even more troubled souls than you. You will feel better about yourself and happily go on adding to your accumulation. I'll bet you feel better, already.

Northern, Central or Southern CA coast? Daughter and her husband are up at The Sea Ranch, just sold their place, renting another there until they can build their next home, this time in a wooded lot instead of a seaside location. Boy, what decisions they have to make.

Hi,

Welcome to the board and have fun. When I joined I had one pen and one bottle of ink.

Dillon

Hi, Roger,

Thanks for the welcome. It feels great to be around such discerning folks. So easy to say yes to a second Parker 51 when there are those who have drawers full of them!

I'm on the Central CA Coast - northern end of Monterey Bay, to be sort of exact. (South of SF about an hour and a half, if you don't have a map, so a lot south of the beautiful area your daughter's at.)

Summer finally arrived here, so it's been wonderful to sit out and write in the sunshine.

Hi, Dillon,

Thanks for the welcome. Only one of each??? Oh, my... I'm such a packrat when it comes to pens that I think the last time I could say that was when I was eight years old. (And, yes, that was a loooong time ago.)

Although in the case of ink, being a packrat isn't all that great, especially since it means I have old Skrip cartridges that have about 1/4" of ink left in them - and they've never been used. But I keep them around because they're such a great excuse to buy more ink.

Hi Tricia and welcome to FPN!

My cousin went to university at CSUMB (Calif. State Univ-Monterey Bay) and lived in Seaside, CA. My husband and I visited her in 2000, and had a great time there. The Aquarium in Monterey is marvelous!

Anyway, welcome to FPN. Sounds like you've been collecting for a while. Nice eclective collection there (you own a Patrician? Wow, nice pen... ).
I started out with a Red "No Nonsense' pen in grade 6 and haven't looked back

Welcome Tricia! Glad to have you here. When I joined at the end of March, I had no FPs and no ink. Now I have . . . well, never mind what I have now. Glad you found us and look forward to seeing you around the boards!

Hello Tricia,

Glad to see another pen freak from California. I am probobly south of you by a few hours. I am about 15 minutes south of Pismo Beach right off of Highway 1. I have only 1 store in my area that sells fountain pen ink and that is in Santa Barbara, which is about 80 miles south of me!! I have to by 99% of all my pens and supplies off of the Net

You will meet some really fantastic people here and gain tons of knowledge, both useful and useless

TNS

Hi Tricia,

welcome to FPN, from just an hour drive North from the Monterey Bay. Make yourself at home

Denis.

Hi Tricia,

Greetings! Hope you enjoy FPN! When I joined ( which was Saturday) I had no fountain pens or ink. I still don't. That will soon, hopefully change.

Slush :bunny1: :bunny1:

Wow, everyone, thanks for the great welcome. I feel that I 'know' you from the posts I've already read of yours.

TNS and DR: Looks like the central coast here has quite a few great pen collectors. My collection, per se, is pretty random (as in "Oooo, pretty!") but as I'm trying out pens I've never even heard of before is it not only great fun, but I'm able to finally pay attention to what pens work best for me. The only pen store I've heard about anywhere around here is down in Monterey. Has anyone been to it? Like TNS, I've been getting most of my pens and supplies (read INK!) from the internet.

Maja: Just last night I fixed up one of my old No-Nonsense pens as an eye-dropper using the instructions here from einv (I hope I spelled that right). It works great! The hardest part was wrapping the plumber's tape around the threads. That stuff is tricky. (And I love the aquarium. The jellyfish tanks are so relaxing to just watch and watch - as long I never run into one in "the wild.")

Southpaw: Do tell about your pens! It's always great to hear about others' collections (not to mention a great way to find out about pens I didn't know about: "oh, I have to get one of *those*!").

Slush: How can you resist? By now, I figure swisherpens.com should have a /Tricia page 'cause I buy so much stuff there. (Just wait until you feel a smooth nib gliding over really great paper - you'll be hooked!)

Best to all.

You're welcome. I have already experienced that. It wasn't such a great pen. :doh: Anyway, I'll be getting one soon.

Slush

Welcome, Tricia--sounds like you've been enjoying FPs for years!...And I always like to hear of more ink junkies--makes me feel less like an oddball!

Best, Ann

Hello Tricia and welcome to the FPN, with the craziest and friendliest bunch of pen geeks you will ever find.

Like you, I am tempted to try a bottle of two of Noodler's ink after seeing some nice shades of blue in a letter I just received the other day ago. I think that the ink a person uses in their pens, tells a lot about them.

Someday, I need to visit a pen show and go wild, or travel out to Fort Madison, Iowa and go crazy at Sam's place.