hello, my name is dave r. i live in rockville, md, not far from dc. i've just recently caught the fountain pen bug, although i had an interest in pens for a while - mostly roller balls such as parker duofold, delta dolce vita, lots of tombows, etc. as a clumsy overwriter lefty, i've always had a fear of fountain pens, fear of smearing, and fear of ink bottles tipping over. i did buy a stealth black namiki vp fountain pen about 7 years ago, and i used it for several months, and then put it away and went back to roller balls and bic stics.

my interest in wristwatches probably had something to do with my renewed interest in pens - there's some cross coverage of fine writing instruments in many watch publications, not to mention lots of pens ads.

i think i get a lot of pleasure in some old fashioned things. for example, i love the tactile feeling of winding a nice mechanical watch, starting and tending a live fire in the fireplace, grilling and barbecuing with charcoal, writing a snail with a fine pen, filling a pen from bottle, etc. these things are no doubt more time consuming, messy, expensive, and inefficient compared with their modern counterparts, but certainly hold more charm for me.

i'm a pen newbie. at this point, i only have modern pens, but would like to eventually branch into vintage stuff. i love a good whisky, good food, the cinema, God, and my wife; not necessarily in that order.

ok, i've rambled enough. it seems like everyone here is very helpful and courteous, not the same as elsewhere. so i'll stay here.

dave

Hey Dave. welcome! Don't fret about your lefty status, we've got lots o lefty's here and they love their pens. Much discussion about nibs and ink that are more suitable for lefties (obliques and fast drying, that is...)

Vintage... my collections is evolving that way ( and toward japanese pens too!). Try a snork! love em.

Anyway, put your feet up and stay a while.

Hi Dave and welcome from southern Maryland (St. Mary's County)

Bill

Welcome aboard! I'm a lefty too, and you just need to make sure you have the right nib/ink/paper combo! I write in such a way that I drag the side of my palm across what I've written, so smearing is a concern. There are quite a few lefties here, so you've got plenty of company.

Still got the Namiki VP? Old style or new?

Glad you found us, and see you around the boards!

Dave is that your brain in your avatar or are you just happy to see us?

kendall:


i think snorkels are the coolest looking filling solution! and don't get me started on maki-e pens...



heh heh, no, thank God it's not my brain...if you look closely (pic probably too small), there's a cyst at the base of the brain, causing hydrocephalus (so called water in the brain). your typical case of cysticercosis - pork tapeworms. thats why your mama always said to eat only fully cooked pork!

bill: st mary's, never been down there, but i'd imagine it's quite pretty down there. i lived in havre de grace, harford county, md, for a while. it's at the junction of the chesapeake with the susquehanna river. how far are you from the bay?

southpaw: smearing's definately still a problem for me, esp since i love extremely wet ink flows and broad nibs. the vp is i think old style, with a matte black stealth finish (it scratches easily). it's cartridge only at this point.

thanks for the welcome.

dave

Havre de Grace is a beautiful town

I live on waterfront on a creek off the Patuxent River. The dock is just down a couple of flights of stairs. It's about 5 miles by boat out to the Bay

Do you collect watches? I love mechanical watches, but my budget can barely handle my interest in pens

cheers,
Bill

bill: hmmm, looking at your profile and interests, which lists all things concerning boats, of course you must be real close to water. what kind of boats are you into? so jealous of you, cause here in montgomery, we're basically landlocked. wanted a river-front place so badly, but anything along the potomac is so pricey.

watches are my first love, although i know what you mean about budgets. pens seemed to be so much cheaper than watches that when i first got into them, i was snapping them up like there was no tomorrow. and then i looked at my credit card bills the next month and discovered, no, pens are not a cheap hobby .

best,

dave

The other thing your list of loves has in common, and which I think is more important than being "old-fashioned," is that each of them makes a much more sensual, kinesthetic, and mindful connection to the action and result than "modern" alternatives does. Each of them requires you to choose to do them, to monitor your actions and the reactions of the things you're using (not overwinding the watch, the relationship of the ink to the page and the nib to the pressure of your hand, the placements of items atop the grill). And in a world where speed and multitasking is considered normal, being a person who is, in effect, saying, "I will take time to mindfully do these things, and focus on them," says much about how you interact with the world.

By the way, welcome!

Velma- That's a very nice post. I think it expresses what many of us here feel.

Dave- My parents bought this property 40 years ago. There's no possible way I could ever afford to buy a place like this on the open market. I am very lucky!

I sail. My wife and I bought a 37 foot catamaran this summer that we hope to travel on after we retire in 5 to 10 years. In the meantime, I have a 35 foot monohull to finish fixing up and sell to help pay for the catamaran :doh:

Boating is an expensive hobby, although it doesn't feel like a hobby to me

Bill

(and who is in your avatar, Bill? It looks like Tom Baker of "Dr. Who" fame!)

Welcome to FPN, davyr!
Sorry I am a little late in welcoming you <insert feeble work-related excuse >
but it's nice to have you here. I really enjoyed reading your recent pen reviews and photos so please do keep on posting