Im a student. I use fountain pens for notes and homework. Are there any more daily writing activites i can do with my fountain pens? Thanks.

I use mine daily for anything that involves writing....notes at mettings, journalling, filling out paperwork, etc. My daily users include a P51, an assortment of Lamy Safari's (though they haven't seen the light of day for a while), a Pelikan M600 (medium nib) and my Pelikan M800 set. My Pelikan set includes the fountain pen w/ a fine nib, a matching rollerball and ballpoint as some of the paperwork I deal with isn't very FP friendly ....

As far as my desk goes, I keep an assortment of pens that I knock around or loan out...Pilot Varsities, a Pelikano or two, a few of the freebie ED pens from Noodlers or whatever I might find in the cheap stationery section at the grocery store....

One of my co-workers said somthing to the line that he was going to help be break my bad habit of buy FP's all the time.....I think my response was he could wrench them out of my cold, dead hands....lol

I use mine by the phone to scratch out notes. I started journaling and use different pens and ink every few days. I used my Lamy 2000 this morning to take notes in Sunday School and Church. And of course, you could write your own novel.

You could...

~ draw/doodle
~ write letters (surprise a friend or relative!)
~ keep a journal of your thoughts, joys, and concerns
~ practice your writing...experiment with different styles
~ rewrite your mom's grocery lists
~ i'm running out of ideas

~Jasper

I use mine to practice my handwriting while watching TV. Makes the watching less of a waste.
Sometimes, if there is a really good documentary or story on the Discovery, History or Animal Planet channels, I will take notes of things I want to remember, quotes, stats, books mentioned, names of speakers or contributors to research or write to, information on historical figures or documents, unique wording or descriptions that catch my ear.

??? Well, anytime I would have used a ballpoint in the past, I now use a fountain pen. Simple as that. I use them for writing everything.

This is an excellent opportunity to practice rationalization and making excuses. Those are valuable skills by themselves. Just invent reasons for writing; soon you'll accept them as necessary and you can invent more. After a while you'll be able to work in a few new reasons to buy another bottle of ink.

definitely a good idea....especially because i need to improve my handwriting...are their any websites that give directions/tips on improving handwriting?

Two words: Daily diary.

Substitute a fountain pen for all other pens your use, if possible. MY best advise on what to write on a daily basis would be a journal or diary. When I started journaling a long time ago, I was timid about what to write but just started jotting notes about my thoughts during the day, week, month and year. Your personal style of journaling will evolve in time and you will be richly rewarded by the experience. /Craig

ps: I also doodle a lot when I am idle and practice handwriting. It is soothing and relaxing.

Yup. There is one right here. It is called "Penmanship", one link down.

As for more uses for fountain pens that haven't been mentioned already, try clipping one in your shirt pocket. Put a small notebook in there with it. Use the combination as a goad to memory.

Paddler

I get tons of joy just writing praises, thanks and "I love you"s to God. I use several inks and pens on the same page and overlap the phrases. It's fun, relaxing, rewarding and it makes you feel like a kid drawing a picture for an appreciative parent.

any suggestions on how to start journaling? I tried once and didnt really know what to say and how to start

1. Start by listing all the things you think are not appropriate to journal about, what you could write that would be embarrasing if the "wrong" people read it, what someone might think if they found it and read it 150 years from now, how awful your handwriting is, how much trouble it is to decide what pen or what ink to use, etc. In other words, you might find it helpful to get all the negatives down on paper and out of the way and leave the next clear page for positive enlightening thoughts. One thing you might like to do is to start your journal entry by quoting a bit of poetry or a pertinent newspaper headline. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is write the first sentence.
2. As far as other things to "write", get involved in the postcard exchange on FPN or even find someone to snail mail with. Both are great fun.
3. Freak someone out. Send them a handwritten thoughtful letter instead of an email. Even your grandma, she may remember how to "do it."
4. Write haikus or off-color limericks. Compose lyrics to a sad-sap Country/Western ballad.
5. Limiting yourself to 5 sentences each, write a description of each of the toenails on your left foot.
6. List all the important characteristics of the ideal lifetime male/female companion. Compose the longer list of deal-breakers.
7. Draw a map of all the important sites in your neighborhood. Annotate each one.
8. Compose a prayer.
9. List synonyms for LOVE, i.e., Love is like......
10. Write a list of the 50 United States indicating the capital city of each as well as the state flower, song, and bird.
11. Write a letter to your yet-unborn descendent describing the moral values you hope he or she maintains.
12. Create the ideal, funds are no limit, menu for your ideal wedding.
13. Write down your favorite recipe from your mother/grandmother/other older relative.
14. List the name, occupation, and birthplace of each of your ancestors that was the first to move to your current location.

...are there any websites that give directions/tips on improving handwriting?

http://www.quamut.com/quamut/calligraphy/p...lic_script.html

http://www.iampeth.com/index.htm

http://www.iampeth.com/books.htm

http://jp29.org/itdr.htm

http://jp29.org/itbasics.htm

For journaling, start by just writing about your day. Something that simple may be useful later on. "What day was it that I fell and hurt my toe?" etc.

Then work on writing about things in your day that were particularly affecting to you. Things that made you happy, sad, impressed, jealous, whatever.

Then, if you feel like it, you can move on to whatever you have been thinking about. Journal about your response to the latest political flack. Your thoughts about the gender "war." Whether the Mets will make it to the Superbowl this year. Whatever.

Eventually you will just get used to it and the words will flow.

Right now I use my daily journal for:
1. Events of the day
2. My mental state (I suffer depression and it's good to keep track)
3. My creative output or endeavors
4. Anything else that comes to mind.

Also, spend a few extra dollars and get yourself a nice notebook. A Clairefontaine, a Rhodia, whatever you really like. It's more enticing to journal when you also just viscerally enjoy writing in your journal.

Some of that is really funny, some of that is really interesting.

Another possiblity is starting a family bible or a family records book or something. Not that I have one, but they're nice things and the entries are all done by-hand, so you may as well use a dip-pen or a fountain pen in the 21st century and-so confuse your descendants 200 years later when they try and date your entries via the type of writing-instrument used...

The only thing I have found so far that dosn't work well is signing thermal paper on receipts everything I've been using FP's since my conversion.

I find I forget a lot of the small details as time passes: I remember the general era of my life but I've forgotten about the little store down the street, and the name of the lady I bought a sandwich from every noontime, and the name of the local brand of lemonade I liked, and the little white dog that barked at me every time I passed its high-fenced yard, and the way humidity gathered before a thunderstorm in that part of the country, or the exact way the air smelled in the Fall. At the time, when I wrote about such things, they were mundane, repetitious details. Later they become things I am glad to remember, as neither I nor those around me often remember them, now.

Write even the ordinary things.

-Kushana

Words of wisdom...

I use fountain pens pretty much for everything. In fact, I really hate when I'm forced to use a ball point... but that really only happens when I have to sign a receipt on that nasty thermal "paper". There are a couple areas though where my FP use has really been a wonderful thing. I have ADD (diagnosed at age 39!) and narcolepsy. Thankfully, Ritalin helps both... but I still have to deal with not being able to remember and/or keep track of things. So now I take lots and lots of notes. At first it was just an excuse to use a pen, now a handy pad of paper is a vital part of getting any work done. I also retain an awful lot more of what I get at church!

Tim
(with favorite Skyline ready for some notes)

Writing in a journal or diary is both therapeutic for the present as well as for the future. I suggest you write in one recording your daily thoughts no matter how simple, absurd, intimate or mundane. I tell you, you will draw a lot of laughs and wonderful reminiscence from that notebook in the future and your fountain pen will have gained more value as a companion in the recording of your life.


Dr. Jeff

I've just been writing thank-you notes to old friends that have helped me out in the past few months. It's a pleasure to write them, and I know the notes will be appreciated.


One of my favorite limericks: