One of my first jobs was as a sales clerk at a small independent office supply store where we sold Waterman, Pelikan, Cross, Mont Blanc, and Shaeffer pens (also Fisher space pens and some Parkers). I've been into writing for a long, long time and always had an affinity for pens and papers. I lived close to a fairgrounds while growing up and the frequent flea markets always had old guys with cases full of fountain pens. I never really bought them, but always loved the look, color, and apparent class of them. But the seemed obsolete - the ballpoint superceded it for SOME reason, right? So I always dismissed them as a messy first attempt. Silly me.

Fast forward 20+ years...

So after stumbling upon this and other sites, I picked up a Lamy Vista (medium, Private Reserve Spearmint) awhile ago and fell in love with using it. I'm a law student (nearing mid-life, by the way, so it CAN be done!) and hate the wave of laptop key tapping that occurs every time the prof says something remotely important. We didn't have laptops when I was an undergrad and I find them terribly distracting and they seem to turn students into robots...The Vista lets me listen and make handwritten notes with some pleasure. My hand doesn't cramp up and the use of handwriting is, for me, a completely different way of listening and processing the class. I'm not a tech-hating dinosaur (my laptop rocks), and hand-written notes aren't for everybody. But it's definitely better for me, and the Vista made it a pleasure all over again!

I now have a Lamy Safari (fine; Private Reserve Midnight Blues) and was given a black Lamy Studio (fine; Private Reserve black velvet) recently as a gift. THIS is the ultimate. It's a tad spendy, but I really believe that it's something I'll give my young son someday when he goes off to college or ditch digging or however he chooses to make his mark...IF I can part with it! The weight and width is perfect. I can't think of a pen I've liked better than this.

I didn't know how much pleasure writing could be when attention is paid to all details, including the paper and pen (though I'm still a believer in focusing more on what is written and only secondarily on the tools to get it done!). In any case, IMO the written word (and world) seems more civil when electrons aren't involved in the record! I just need to be careful with the important stuff when around water!

Thanks for a great forum. It was really, really hard to believe that there are so many people devoted to fountain pens ... until I began using one regularly!

Hi wpb,

Welcome and there are lots of us Minnesotans that feel the same way you do. Stay warm.

Phil

Greetings, and ditto on all you said!

Welcome to FPN.

Welcome to the community!

Some law profs have actually banned laptops from their classrooms. They believe students frantically try to transcribe everything the professor says without actually engaging their minds to take well-considered notes.

Pick up some Noodler's ink to protect your notes against the sudden cloudburst!

Welcome to FPN.

Welcome to FPN.

*waves*

My one complaint about Lamy is they don't seem to accept those 'universal' cats.


I was in Minneapolis once. It was cold.

Hey there. I just graduated from U of MN law school. I didn't use my computer in class much; I book-briefed everything.

So, where are you going to school?

I know, I hated the cartridge thing, but that forced me into a converter, which is kind of fun

It's definitely cold here, especially now. But that's just part of the drill.

That's more or less what I do too. Some people love to type right into their outlines, etc., but for me that's a process best left for non-class time...

I'm a 3L at Mitchell and just left a clerkship in Minneapolis so I could spend my last year pondering fountain pen ink comparisons. At length. I assume you are prepping for the bar exam - good luck!

My first year classes REQUIRED a laptop in class (presumably to allow tax deductibility?), but that's a dead letter now, and I have a feeling many profs would rather not see the glazed eyes staring at the screens while they're trying to conduct class...

Noodler's it is!