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****************************************************************** A Pen and Ink Log ~ For the past several years I've said to myself that there was a need to informally track my use of both pens and inks. Nothing so systematic as a digitalized rotation, but a casual handwritten system to monitor usage. I'm not much of a fountain pen collector, but rather am someone who prefers handwritten notes, correspondence and sketches to their digital counterparts. As such there are a number of pens which are used throughout the year for different writing projects, as well as for detail correcting of student research manuscripts. Here and there I've learned about impressively well-organized systems for keeping track of both pens and inks. As much as I admired what others had set up, they weren't what I had in mind. Since childhood I've been the do-it-yourself type about whatever might be achieved with a pencil lead, ink pen nib or a paintbrush. Working in Central China where brush pens remain in use and in the exact area where paper was originally developed, has reinforced my interest in handwritten documents, without in any sense denigrating contemporary digital innovations. What was in my mind was nothing more than a personalized, handwritten, small-scale notebook which would list the various fountain pens, ballpoint pens, rollerballs and mechanical pencils. The notebook would record each fresh inking of any fountain pen with an entry showing which pen, which ink on which date. By doing so I intended to show myself how frequently any given pen or ink was used, to encourage greater use of all writing resources. All of this remained in the ‘someday phase’ until this afternoon, when I finally decided that it was time to prepare what I'd long been mulling over. I'm posting this in the Fountain Pen Network Montblanc Forum, as most of the writing I do is with Montblanc fountain pens, and more often than not with Montblanc inks. By no means do I urge anyone else to follow what I've done, as it's a purely personal approach, in the same sense that each individual's handwritten journal is highly personal. The small notebook with fish on the cover is called “鱼语” or “fish language”. I'd seen a student using one in class so asked for their assistance in buying one for my use. Now I'm set. For one full week I've lived with no pens inked. It was my first “pen fast” in several years. It feels great to ink three pens to resume handwriting in daily life. Tom K.