2008 Portland Pen Show

[DanF]

Can anyone recommend a CHEAP motel somewhere near the show? I emailed Carla, but got a list of "luxury hotels" . I just looking for a place to lay my head, don't need anything fancy, think "Motel 6".

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

Dan

[handlebar]

Can anyone recommend a CHEAP motel somewhere near the show? I emailed Carla, but got a list of "luxury hotels" . I just looking for a place to lay my head, don't need anything fancy, think "Motel 6".

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

Dan

 

Hotels near the show are almost all higher priced as the show is right downtown.You could get a room at hotels near the airport (Extended stay,motel 6) and also on Interstate ave but i would stay away from those.Might try these:

 

http://www.motel6.com/accormaps/M6Proximit...px?searchtype=C

 

Also try La Quinta off Multnomah.Still,they will run you $98 a night.It is tourist season still and they are high close to downtown.

 

Jim

Vancouver,Wa

[david i]

I really did want to attend this year, but things have been a bit hectic. By time was sure could go, the air ticket hit $800 round trip. Ah well, next year i hope. Earlier planning will be needed no doubt.

 

Hope folks out west have fun there.

 

-d

[handlebar]

I really did want to attend this year, but things have been a bit hectic. By time was sure could go, the air ticket hit $800 round trip. Ah well, next year i hope. Earlier planning will be needed no doubt.

 

Hope folks out west have fun there.

 

-d

 

 

Ouch! Thats a mighty expensive ticket.We looked forward to seeing you.Maybe next year.

 

Jim

[Michael McNeil]

Can anyone recommend a CHEAP motel somewhere near the show? I emailed Carla, but got a list of "luxury hotels" . I just looking for a place to lay my head, don't need anything fancy, think "Motel 6".

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

Dan

 

 

You can search online for Hotels and Motels here, and get a discount:

 

http://www.travelportland.com/

[DanF]

Can anyone recommend a CHEAP motel somewhere near the show? I emailed Carla, but got a list of "luxury hotels" . I just looking for a place to lay my head, don't need anything fancy, think "Motel 6".

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

Dan

 

 

You can search online for Hotels and Motels here, and get a discount:

 

http://www.travelportland.com/

 

 

That was the link that Carla sent, which seems to have luxury hotels only. She did get back with a link to a nearby Motel 6, so I'm covered. Guess it can't be any worse than camping in my pickup, which is what I usually do when I'm on vacation.

 

Dan

[CelesteCAT]

This show sounds like lots of fun - especially some of the seminars. The site lists the dates as July 11-13, so I was all set to drive into Portland this afternoon. Good thing I went online to double-check the address and saw that the "Show" part doesn't start until tomorrow.

[savarez]

Wow! My first pen show!

 

It was so nice to finally meet Jim (aka Handlebar), Sam from Pendemonium, Greg Minushkin, Jonathan and Sarah from Nibs.com, and so many more! I think there were more Seattle folks than I've ever seen at any of the club meetings!

 

I found a couple of things..... some antique Parker Quink Washable Blue with Solv-X, a pen case, some blotter paper, some micromesh.

 

But my one big purchase, more than I have ever spent on a pen, was a Visconti Divine Proportion. I had never seen one in person, and after oohing and aahing, the seller let me test write, and pretty much gave me a deal that I couldn't turn down.

 

Oh... my aching wallet. :bonk:

Oh... my beautiful pen!

[handlebar]

Wow! My first pen show!

 

It was so nice to finally meet Jim (aka Handlebar), Sam from Pendemonium, Greg Minushkin, Jonathan and Sarah from Nibs.com, and so many more! I think there were more Seattle folks than I've ever seen at any of the club meetings!

 

I found a couple of things..... some antique Parker Quink Washable Blue with Solv-X, a pen case, some blotter paper, some micromesh.

 

But my one big purchase, more than I have ever spent on a pen, was a Visconti Divine Proportion. I had never seen one in person, and after oohing and aahing, the seller let me test write, and pretty much gave me a deal that I couldn't turn down.

 

Oh... my aching wallet. :bonk:

Oh... my beautiful pen!

 

 

Good for you Mike!!! I knew you said it was on your list.Nothing better than a new pen!!!

I only came away with some new Diamine ink(burnt sienna) and another Stipula Muschiato.The best part was meeting up with everyone!!!

 

Jim

[superbleu]

Portland pen show 2008 Review

 

This was my first time at a pen show. I only made it on Sunday, but I tried to make the most of my time there and had a great time meeting with everyone there.

 

Carla Mortensen, Michael McNeil, and the rest of the gang in Portland did a great job of organizing and putting on the show.

 

I got to chat with Joel Hamilton and Sherrell Tyrell, and found myself back to their table over and over just to eavesdrop on what they were says while trying out some of their great pens. Sheryl spent a great deal of time with me talking about an old Wahl/Eversharp ringtop pen that I had telling me about the history of the pen, and how repairs on these pens are best handled by the experts because of the barrel's tendency to crack when the section is pulled out of these by those not used to repairing these pens. Joel gave me a history lesson in Parkers, the virtues of the vacumatics vs aerometrics and the differences between the 51's, 61's and 21's.

 

Pendemonium was there and I filled my backpack with books and supplies from Sam and Frank's booth, and even got my FP repair book signed by Jim Marshall who was there at the booth next to Sam and Frank's. The book is great for general knowledge even if you don't plan on doing any repairs. I also picked up Frank Dubiel’s “Da Book” which is also fun to read and full of information.

 

I had the pleasure of speaking of Greg Minuskin about retipping pens and why the sheaffer conical nibs and targa nibs are difficult because it melts the plastic when the nib is heated, he even showed me an example and it wasn’t pretty, but I did pick up a great Sheaffer Streamline from him that he restored with a Stub/Italic nib, that is a lot of fun to use.

 

Bruce Hirschman was there with some of his hand made pens, I really like his idea of taking the nibs from vintage pens and integrating them into new pens he makes himself. I really like his deskpens and maybe someday I'll get one.

 

I talked about learning to write with a flex nibbed be and how to best go about it with Dave Smith a fellow Washington resident and pen restorer. Both He and Michael McNeil gave me a lot of insight in the local fountain pen scene in the Northwest.

 

Everyone I met there was friendly and helpful to a newbie like myself. I did forget to do a few things, I wanted to try out a few of John Mottishaw's custom nibs, but complelely spaced out and only met with Johnathan and Sarah for a short time, and I forgot to get a photo of Greg and his wife who was there for only a short time autographing her new book which looks amazing, the illustrations she did are fantastic. But he has already promised me a photo at the show next year.

 

I was so excited forgot to take many pictures at the show so I only have a dozen or so, but some are better than none.I had a great time, learned a lot, and got to try some fantanstic pens out. Portland is a great city, and the weather was fantastic. I will definitly be back to portland in 2009.

you can see my pictures from the show here.

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?...mp;conn_speed=1

 

 

[Michael McNeil]

Great pics, Bong! Please e-mail me, there's one in your album that I would like permission to use. My e-mail address is:

 

michael@northwestpenworks.com

 

Michael

[superbleu]

Thanks for the complement, glad you like the photos.

I send you an e-maiil, let me know which one and I can send you the full size original files.

 

Great pics, Bong! Please e-mail me, there's one in your album that I would like permission to use. My e-mail address is:

 

michael@northwestpenworks.com

 

Michael

 

[miketo]

I'll echo the sentiment. Great pictures, Bong!

 

Victoria and I were there on Saturday shortly after the doors opened. Traffic was quite heavy and it was difficult at times to see the pens lovingly displayed at the tables. I walked around with my jaw hanging open, muttering "Beautiful!" so often that my wife charged me one kiss for each time I said it. (I owe her a lot of kisses. ) With all the traffic there was little chance for me to chat with any vendors, and I didn't want to ask newbie Q's when there were some serious sales going on. I can always ask the Q's at the Seattle Pen Club meetings -- but I still wished I could have chatted with some folks more. They all sounded like great people to know.

 

We had with us an antique pen rack / inkwell combination that a friend of mine's aunt left him when she passed away. It's in the shape of a fish, lovingly ornamented and etched, with plenty of detail. Jim Marshall and Sam Fiorella both guessed it was of India origin, but beyond that hadn't much of an idea. Hopefully Sam's investigations through her inkwell collector's society will provide more hints as to its history.

 

I didn't contribute much to the pen show, cash-wise: I only bought a couple bottles of ink and some "remaindered" notebook paper from Sam and Frank at the Pendemonium table. I hope the other vendors were happy with their sales over the weekend, as the people on Saturday all seemed to be serious pen aficionados with serious money to spend.

 

Looking forward to next year's pen show. From our perspective everything went smoothly and was a great experience for a newcomer to fountain pens. Thanks to Carla and the gang for all the hard work!

[Grem]

Portland pen show 2008 Review

 

This was my first time at a pen show. I only made it on Sunday, but I tried to make the most of my time there and had a great time meeting with everyone there.

. . .

you can see my pictures from the show here.

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?...mp;conn_speed=1

 

Bong,

Thanks for the great review and the pictures! It was nice chatting with you when you stopped by my little table.

 

TTFN,

Grem

[Grem]

The Portland Pen Show 2008 is in the books now, and I am still recovering! This was the best show yet for me; I actually sold quite a few pens instead of just buying.

 

There were so many people there that I didn't have a chance to talk to everyone individually. That's the only problem with having a table.

 

Here's who had tables at the show, in no particular order (please let me know if I got any names spelled wrong):

 

Joel & Diana Hamilton and Sherrell Tyree, Mary Burke of Conway Stewart, Marilyn Zornado for "Adventures in Pen Land," Gail Arno (PDX local), Brent Selnau, Greg Minuskin and his wife, Janet Takahashi, signing her book on journaling, Pendemonium, Jim Marshall, Gary & Myrna Lehrer, Taccia Pens (Shu-Jen Lin), Bruno Cassini Pens, Laban Pens, Paradise Pens (local retailer), PCA table run by Kim Sosin, Rick "The PENguin" Propas, John Schwab, Stuart Hawkinson, Michael McNeil, Harvey Rabinowitz, Brian Johnstone, Bruce "Grem" Grembowski, John Strother, Garry Hart, Ray Kuncz, Dave Smith, Jonathon Goss and Danielle Behar of John Mottishaw's www.nibs.com, Saul Kitchener, and Alan Brookings.

 

Whew! I tried my best to check everyone's wares; I saw quite a few pens that I lusted after, but settled for a Waterman Edson, Waterman Serenite, Waterman Executive trio, a Bruno Cassini "desk" pen with flexi Waterman #2 nib, Jim Marhsall's new pen repair book, some Waterman tools from Stuart, and of course misc. items from Pendemonium.

 

We had quite a crowd on Saturday, and Laurel got a few kids in to see the Pens for Kids presentation.

 

Carla did a fabulous job, as usual, keeping everything under control; whenever I saw her on the floor, she seemed like she was everywhere at once helping everyone.

 

Lastly, I want to make a special shout out to Mike Schultz, John Schwab, and Michael McNeil for getting the word out about the show this year.

 

To see the pictures I took at the show, check out:

 

http://www.grembowski.com/Pens/PPS2008.htm

 

TTFN,

Grem

[superbleu]

Hello Bruce,

It was nice to meet you too,

 

Thanks for chatting with me and helping me get my feet wet at the show. You have quite the collection of Watermans. I enjoyed trying out your factory Waterman stub, I didn't know they made such a nib.

You have nice collection of pictures yourself, did you take them on Saturday, it looks like it was much more busy that day.

 

See you again next year.

 

 

 

The Portland Pen Show 2008 is in the books now, and I am still recovering! This was the best show yet for me; I actually sold quite a few pens instead of just buying.

 

There were so many people there that I didn't have a chance to talk to everyone individually. That's the only problem with having a table.

 

Here's who had tables at the show, in no particular order (please let me know if I got any names spelled wrong):

 

Joel & Diana Hamilton and Sherrell Tyree, Mary Burke of Conway Stewart, Marilyn Zornado for "Adventures in Pen Land," Gail Arno (PDX local), Brent Selnau, Greg Minuskin and his wife, Janet Takahashi, signing her book on journaling, Pendemonium, Jim Marshall, Gary & Myrna Lehrer, Taccia Pens (Shu-Jen Lin), Bruno Cassini Pens, Laban Pens, Paradise Pens (local retailer), PCA table run by Kim Sosin, Rick "The PENguin" Propas, John Schwab, Stuart Hawkinson, Michael McNeil, Harvey Rabinowitz, Brian Johnstone, Bruce "Grem" Grembowski, John Strother, Garry Hart, Ray Kuncz, Dave Smith, Jonathon Goss and Danielle Behar of John Mottishaw's www.nibs.com, Saul Kitchener, and Alan Brookings.

 

Whew! I tried my best to check everyone's wares; I saw quite a few pens that I lusted after, but settled for a Waterman Edson, Waterman Serenite, Waterman Executive trio, a Bruno Cassini "desk" pen with flexi Waterman #2 nib, Jim Marhsall's new pen repair book, some Waterman tools from Stuart, and of course misc. items from Pendemonium.

 

We had quite a crowd on Saturday, and Laurel got a few kids in to see the Pens for Kids presentation.

 

Carla did a fabulous job, as usual, keeping everything under control; whenever I saw her on the floor, she seemed like she was everywhere at once helping everyone.

 

Lastly, I want to make a special shout out to Mike Schultz, John Schwab, and Michael McNeil for getting the word out about the show this year.

 

To see the pictures I took at the show, check out:

 

http://www.grembowski.com/Pens/PPS2008.htm

 

TTFN,

Grem

 

[superbleu]

Thank Mike,

 

Sorry I missed you, I could only make it there on Sunday,

 

You did well in restraining yourself, I walked out a couple Bennies lighter, but I was really happy with what I got.

 

I completely spaced out that it was the same weekend as the STP, you did well in taking the train there, Traffic was pretty bad coming back Sunday night.

 

I'll echo the sentiment. Great pictures, Bong!

 

Victoria and I were there on Saturday shortly after the doors opened. Traffic was quite heavy and it was difficult at times to see the pens lovingly displayed at the tables. I walked around with my jaw hanging open, muttering "Beautiful!" so often that my wife charged me one kiss for each time I said it. (I owe her a lot of kisses. ) With all the traffic there was little chance for me to chat with any vendors, and I didn't want to ask newbie Q's when there were some serious sales going on. I can always ask the Q's at the Seattle Pen Club meetings -- but I still wished I could have chatted with some folks more. They all sounded like great people to know.

 

We had with us an antique pen rack / inkwell combination that a friend of mine's aunt left him when she passed away. It's in the shape of a fish, lovingly ornamented and etched, with plenty of detail. Jim Marshall and Sam Fiorella both guessed it was of India origin, but beyond that hadn't much of an idea. Hopefully Sam's investigations through her inkwell collector's society will provide more hints as to its history.

 

I didn't contribute much to the pen show, cash-wise: I only bought a couple bottles of ink and some "remaindered" notebook paper from Sam and Frank at the Pendemonium table. I hope the other vendors were happy with their sales over the weekend, as the people on Saturday all seemed to be serious pen aficionados with serious money to spend.

 

Looking forward to next year's pen show. From our perspective everything went smoothly and was a great experience for a newcomer to fountain pens. Thanks to Carla and the gang for all the hard work!

 

[Grem]

Hello Bruce,

It was nice to meet you too,

 

Thanks for chatting with me and helping me get my feet wet at the show. You have quite the collection of Watermans. I enjoyed trying out your factory Waterman stub, I didn't know they made such a nib.

You have nice collection of pictures yourself, did you take them on Saturday, it looks like it was much more busy that day.

 

See you again next year.

 

Bong,

I took pictures Saturday and Sunday. I did find my camera is not quite up to snuff, though; many of the pictures are slightly out of focus. The camera (Canon PowerShot A540) works great for pen close-ups; that's why I got it, but my old film SLR would have done better with the "candids."

 

TTFN,

Grem

[handlebar]

I took a few shots with my Nikon D50.I will try to post them here later this week.Not nearly as good as Grem's but serviceable as reminders.

 

 

Jim

[superbleu]

Good way to put it, that is how I felt about mine.

 

Not nearly as good as Grem's but serviceable as reminders.

 

 

Jim