January Big Apple Pen Club Meeting

[tmenyc]

wow, January already, and the cyclonic cold appears to be waning here in New York City. so it must be time for the January meeting of the Big Apple Pen Club, NYC's only active fountain pen club! It will be, as always, the second Thursday of the month, which is this week, THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, from 7-9 PM, at Bard Hall, just west of Columbus Circle in the west side of midtown Manhattan.

The group, like NYC, is wildly eclectic, our meetings are informal, and we have a great time. So if you're in NYC, coming to our town for business or pleasure, or need a good excuse to visit NYC, join us!

We do not have an agenda, just bring your pens and ink, particularly your recent acquisitions, and join the pen talk! Feel free to bring whatever you want to eat and drink. Directions to Bard Hall are below.

Looking forward to seeing you there. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.

best,

Tim

Directions:

Bard Hall, the residential building for Bard Graduate Center, is located at 410 West 58th Street in Manhattan, just west of 9th Avenue/Columbus Avenue. The best way to get there from almost anywhere in NYC is via subway -- take the 1/A/C/B/D trains to 59th Street/Columbus Circle (note: 2/3 trains do not stop at 59th, even though it is a major intersection). Depending on which subway exit stair you use, put Central Park behind you and walk around the southern (left) side of the Time Warner complex, which is 58th Street. Walk west on 58th (against traffic); 9th Avenue/Columbus is the next intersection west. Bard Hall is diagonally across the intersection and three addresses downhill on 58th at 410, immediately past the small construction site. Please tell the guard you are there for the Pen Club -- you will be expected and directed to the proper room

[tvradio]

If anyone could use a Preppy F or a Penmanship EF - or knows a NYC newbie who might want to start out with or would use one - let me know and I'll bring mine to the meeting. They were great to learn about fountain pens with last year but I'm now playing with a Metropolitan and a couple of Lamys.

[tmenyc]

Bring them along...there's always someone new to fp's...

 

Tim

[tvradio]

Okay.

 

I'm afraid I may end up bringing my brand new, just-arrived-today Lamys too, unfortunately. As I'd sort of feared, the triangular grips in the Safari in M and the LX in B just are just this much off from the angle with which I hold pens in my left hand, and the writing tends to skip a lot with both of those pens. Very, very disappointing to me.

 

Surprisingly, the Lamy M and B nibs seem quite similar (in my hands), and my Metropolitan's M nib seems oddly close to them as well.

[tmenyc]

See you tonight -- I know one person who likes her Safari so much she has developed a different writing style just to use it. People complain that the little cap clutch points on Lamy 2000s are annoying. These reactions are not trivial, since using a pen is a personal experience and it has to work. All part of the fun and the challenge! Maybe I'll get you hooked on vintage...

 

Tim

[tvradio]

Maybe!

 

I just took out both Lamys and tried using them again-- no go. Put them back in their boxes, will bring them tonight. Brand new, arrived yesterday from Lamy. Sigh.