21 Things You'll Understand Only If You're Totally Obsessed With Pens

[Corona688]

I've no experience of using one but a review can be found here:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/206347-parker-ingenuity/

 

That review is pretty funny. He tries so hard to avoid the word "marker" and it's so obviously a marker.

 

Which is all right I guess. It's still kind of deceiving, but more to the people who see you using it than the people buying it.

[amberleadavis]

Indeed, how dare the author say stuff like that about us...

 

PS - You have inks from all continents? What brand is the Africa ink?

 

I have no idea about the brand name it is in what looks like a jam jar and was from a powdered ink that my friend brought with him when he immigrated from Rhodesia. It is probably websters ink that is actually British. It's the only one I have.

[ErrantSmudge]

Pro Tip: It's not wise to challenge Amberlea when it comes to ink ownership.

[inkstainedruth]

Unless you're Sam Capote, of course....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[catbert]

I'm more interested in Antarctic ink.

 

(Other than this.)

[deepak23]

 

I have no idea about the brand name it is in what looks like a jam jar and was from a powdered ink that my friend brought with him when he immigrated from Rhodesia. It is probably websters ink that is actually British. It's the only one I have.

Ah well, that's some money saved...

[ParkerDuofold]

what do you mean 'used to be cool'? Here on FPN, you are virtually Fonzie!

Thank you, French.

 

 

- Anthony

[Runnin_Ute]

• You practice your handwriting before making a first mark in a new notebook.

Naw. I just pick up where I left off in the last one.......or change pen/ink combos.....

• You’ve spent more money on a single pen than a weekly food shop and don’t regret a thing. Of course I have. But not out of grocery money. Heck I have have spent more than on a Costco run! It isn't hard with only two of us though.....

 

• Seeing a pen with a lid that doesn’t match is enough to make your eye start twitching.

No, I am not that OCD... At least most of the time. Better a mismatched cap than no cap and it falls nib first on the floor, committing nib murder. (suicide?)

• You live in fear of the day your cartridge runs out when you are out and you have to fall back on a biro.

Nope - most of the time at least one pen with me is a piston filler....

• You have a favorite color ink (other than blue or black).

ok, Pelikan 4001 Blue Black. - or does that count as one of the above?

I like greens, and reds, and purples, and blues, and browns, and oranges and.....blacks not so much.

• You felt a sudden newfound pride in your handwriting after receiving your very first fountain pen.

I thought is was kind of cool, but at the time wasn't really paying that close attention to it. Now, the last five years have been a different story. First fountain pens was 15 years earlier.

• You lie to your other half about how much you spend on pens

not recently. She was surprised at how much I spent on a notebook, 300 sheets of Tomoe River and four bottles of ink for my birthday though. I think she thought I would buy a pen. (I have a milestone birthday in a few days- the kind that ends with a zero (0)

• You have pens for different occasions and different paperwork.
  • Doesn't everybody?
    • The extra firm Esterbrook for the checkbook. (not currently inked. It's a 2464 (Manifold Broad)
    • The 1 ballpoint - Parker 45 Flighter BP (have the matching FP and MP too) Also have a RB (Waterman Hemisphere) (Pilot G2 refill)
    • Well... I could go on, but you get the idea - I normally keep between 8-12 inked at any given time. I think it is 10 or 11 at present. From the old (1st 1/4 1948 Parker 51 Demi Vacumatic) to less old (50's Pelikan 140) to old style M200 blue marbled (early 90's), to late 90's and current production pens. Everything is either c/c or piston filled at present EXCEPT the 51 Vac.
• You’ve felt the anticipation of waiting for Lamy to announce their special editions. Nope - my only Lamy is an Al Star in the original aluminum finish which is no longer made.

 

• You’ve experienced the heart-stopping moment of dropping your pen on the floor and having to check whether the nib is damaged.

Not quite heart stopping. I have been Very Very Very fortunate. No nib damage yet. (keep fingers crossed)

• You know that great pens need not be the most expensive. Why would I think otherwise. I recall my first $100 pen (ok $99) it was shall we say a stretch? I had never spent more than $50 for a pen before. And I was going spend double?
• You’ve assumed someone is making a statement about themselves by their pen/ink choice and judged them for it before realizing that they just picked up the nearest pen.
  • Not necessarily. Not everyone can be cool enough (geeky enough?) to use a fountain pen instead of a ballpoint.... or are we the only weird people in the world?
• You’ve posted a picture of your pen collection on Instagram.
  • only once. And it wasn't my collection. Just what I had inked that day. Like Amber said, that's what FPN is for.
• You love taking your fountain pen apart just so that you can put it back together again.
  • Absolutely not.
  • But that doesn't mean I won't take the nib out one of my Pelikans to make sure I have flushed it well. Or use a syringe to flush a c/c pen.
• You’re obsessed with watching stationery hauls on Youtube.
  • NOPE, I rarely watch ANY youtube videos. For pens or anything else.
• You struggle to remain calm when a friend returns a pen that they’ve clearly been chewing.
  • Not had that experience. If it is a cheap BP, then they are instructed to keep it.
• You’re strangely proud of how many unused pens you own.
• Nope. Even with 10 pens inked, it can be more than I would like to admit though.
• You have a secret obsession with watching calligraphy memes on the internet
  • I didn't even know that this was a thing. Hasn't bothered me to now, what would it going forward?
• You write 10x slower than usual when you use a new fountain pen because you want to marvel at the glorious effects.

Naw. Why would I do that?

Of course, how quickly I can get a new pen inked is a different story. Even if I am at my limit (guideline?) of number of pens inked. But hopefully, I will have thought ahead and tried to reduce that number before the new pens arrival.

• You have a system for displaying your pens that must not be messed with.
  • Not really, although among uninked pens, I do "try" to keep them together by brand if possible. I do normally try to keep ink brands together. Isn't always possible though.
• You’ve shamelessly reveled in the glory of the stationery aisle.
  • And you don't?

Edited March 10, 2018 by Runnin_Ute

[Chrissy]

I can own up to several of them - some more than once.