An Inky Penance For Lent!

[Arkanabar]

I am taking up a particular penance for Lent. I shall not write with colored ink. I will only use black ink for my writing. For notes, journaling, correspondence, and other writing, I shall use only black ink from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Any pens with colored ink (other than Widow Maker; see below) get flushed on Ash Wednesday, if I don't do it Shrove Tuesday. And other than for flushing, the pens with colored ink don't get uncapped once Ash Wednesday starts.

The sole exception is that I'm going to keep my Plaisir filled with Widow Maker (a color I don't enjoy using) for purposes of markup. I need to mark up a document I produce daily at work, and the markup has to be immediately apparent whenever I look at it. My wife may also ask me to look over some of her homework, and I will use it for marking that up also.

[sombrueil]

A noble sacrifice. Doubt I would be capable of it myself.

[Davros]

Um. Well. That sounds unpleasant. Good luck? (what is the appropriate response to self-inflicted deprivation?)

[Arkanabar]

Um. Well. That sounds unpleasant. Good luck? (what is the appropriate response to self-inflicted deprivation?)

"God give you grace."

[Wheatflower]

That's a great idea, Arkanabar. One of the things I'll be doing is observing a pen- and ink-buying fast: from Ash Wednesday to Easter I'll have to be content with what I have. (This will get painful if Massdrop runs another buy-in for Lamy Studios.)

 

And may God grant you grace!

[Davros]

"God give you grace."

Thanks! I grew up in a tradition without Lent.

[Arkanabar]

It's a season of penance. Self-mortification is supposed to separate one from the things of this world that draw one away from God.

[seanruss]

now, it would just to decide which black to use? there are many? Zhivago, graphite, dark matter, and many more to choose from

[RudyR]

Self mortification is not part of my culture. Neither is color deprivation. To be confined in using black ink solely is cruel and causes the brain to languish and eventually lead to ossification. Don't do this to yourself.

[Pensfan]

Will you be celebrating the Feast Days (Sunday) with bold colors in all your pens?

 

[Maurizio]

Wow this is so much worse than giving up chocolate. I couldn't do it.

 

May God grant you grace.

[transcend]

That would be hard. Interesting. I hate it, but that's the point. ugh, why did i come here. why did you put this evil thought in my head???

[Paddler]

Hey, cool idea!

 

You could take it a step farther. Buy a fresh bottle of ink in your favorite color and save it for midnight on Good Saturday. Then you can repair to the scriptorium and have a little ritual for "Opening the New Ink".

[Arkanabar]

now, it would just to decide which black to use? there are many? Zhivago, graphite, dark matter, and many more to choose from

I have access to the following: Noodler's Borealis Black, Bad Black Moccasin, and Heart of Darkness; some old Parker Quink Permanent Black with Solv-X, and some Montblanc-Simplo Black with SuperCleaner SC21. I'll be trying all of them in the same pen over the Lenten season, and plan to write reviews as I go along.

 

Will you be celebrating the Feast Days (Sunday) with bold colors in all your pens?

 

Nope. I would lose discipline. To put ink in a pen, and flush it at the end of the day, without writing it out? Or to leave it in front of me all week, drying out? I couldn't do it. I will probably indulge myself from my OTHER Lenten fast on feast days, however.

 

Hey, cool idea!

 

You could take it a step farther. Buy a fresh bottle of ink in your favorite color and save it for midnight on Good Holy Saturday. Then you can repair to the scriptorium and have a little ritual for "Opening the New Ink".

Nope. Amberlea gifted me with a satchet of Blackstone Blue Cashmere, in return for providing the epithet "Elegant" for the fifth series of Blackstone powdered inks. While I MAY consider mixing that up on Easter Sunday or Easter Monday, no promises. And I might buy myself samples of Bilberry and/or Yama-Guri to try out once the Easter season has started.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Arkanabar

[SeeksAdvice]

Hmm, I think during this season I shall use whatever ink I so choose, like I do every other "season". I will, however, eat the Friday fish fries.

This weekend though, I'm at the Lutheran Church cooking a whole different kettle of fish.

[bone215]

God give you grace, an excellent answer.

The other option, as I understand my faith's teachings, is you can do without something, or you can add something, e.g. service to the poor or other acts of kindness.

As I grow older, I believe in just being nice to everybody.

[SeeksAdvice]

Doing "good things" or acts of kindness tends to come back and bite me in the ***. As the line goes, no good deed goes unpunished.

Just seems silly restricting ink use to one color. Perhaps it can work in arenas that aren't terribly picky, but in my line of work, sometimes you need blue sometimes you need black. Besides, in the end, is it that much of a sacrifice? Black is an excellent utilitarian choice anyway. Now, Iroshizuku "Cosmos" is a different story.

Tomorrow it is time for something that's a tradition up here. Lutefisk *shudder*. If you want sacrifice, try that stuff.

[Arkanabar]

God give you grace, an excellent answer.

The other option, as I understand my faith's teachings, is you can do without something, or you can add something, e.g. service to the poor or other acts of kindness.

As I grow older, I believe in just being nice to everybody.

To love your neighbors and enemies (ie, to seek out their authentic good without consideration of recompense) is already a Christian obligation. Extra prayers on their behalf are always good, and rarely objected to.

 

Doing "good things" or acts of kindness tends to come back and bite me in the ***. As the line goes, no good deed goes unpunished.

Just seems silly restricting ink use to one color. Perhaps it can work in arenas that aren't terribly picky, but in my line of work, sometimes you need blue sometimes you need black. Besides, in the end, is it that much of a sacrifice? Black is an excellent utilitarian choice anyway. Now, Iroshizuku "Cosmos" is a different story.

Tomorrow it is time for something that's a tradition up here. Lutefisk *shudder*. If you want sacrifice, try that stuff.

The problems with doing good for others are first, discerning their authentic good, and second, that they may not want what is authentically good for them.

 

I'm in health care. The only color required is black, and CMS (the largest payer in the US by far) requires that only black ink be used in the record. As the records guy, it has fallen upon me to occasionally warn people not to use colored inks or pencils.

 

Still, I find that I miss my Noodler's Blue, my Diamine Sherwood, and even tho they aren't very lightfast, my Slovenian Skrip Turquoise and Waterman Violet, which I'd use for things other than the record.

 

I'd have to agree that lutefisk does sound fairly awful.

Edited February 21, 2015 by Arkanabar

[transcend]

I'm giving up on unmixed black ink for the whole year instead.

Edited February 21, 2015 by transcend

[haruka337]

This is a great idea for Lent!

 

I'm still in the early stages of acquiring inks, so its absence, at this time, would not have have a strong impact. Next year, however, this manner of self-denial will be painful.

 

Good luck!