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Greetings From Houston, Texas


s.s.miles

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So, I have had a difficult, on again / off again relationship with fountain pens since grade school, mostly due to my Texan-male-football-trained brain that thought the correct way to do (almost) everything was to use more force; I can't even begin to count the number of bent nibs scattered through my past.

 

After escaping high school in a small West Texas town, I became a classical musician, and then a composer, then a teacher of and for classical composition, and finally an ex-teacher composing musician with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis, and the pain of writing everyday (I refuse to use a computer to compose) became too much to bear. A friend gave me a Lamy Al-Star and taught me to "let it glide." Almost instantly I found what I had been missing out on all these years, and I love how little effort jotting out a manuscript takes! I recently purchased a Platinum 3776 Century w/ Music Nib, and now I am hooked.

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Welcome here. From football to the fine arts and from broken pens to fine fountain pens!

What's your favourite period in classical music? How would you discribe your own compositional style (maybe refer to a few composers as point of reference?)

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Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

PAKMAN

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Welcome !

 

Depending on one's condition, a larger or small pen diameter can be beneficial. A heavier pen is not

always "harder work". I find that a heavy pen "self-settles" into my hand, requiring less effort to hold.

 

Do you need any particular qualities in the ink you use ? Ink variety is huge.

 

Write with joy.

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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Welcome to the FPN. You MUST visit the Dromgoole Brothers at their shop in Rice Village!!! 2515 Rice BLVD. You will not want to leave..emptyhanded!!!

Pat Barnes a.k.a. billz

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Hello, somehow I'm not far way of the music world, I play (oriental music) and I know exactly what that mean.... (I refuse to use a computer to compose), it's good to know that and glad to have you as a member in FPN.

:W2FPN:

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Welcome here. From football to the fine arts and from broken pens to fine fountain pens!

What's your favourite period in classical music? How would you discribe your own compositional style (maybe refer to a few composers as point of reference?)

My absolute favorite composer is Beethoven. I still find him inspirational, and even after 200-ish years there are bits here and there (especially in his later string quartets and piano sonatas) I believe there are instances of forward-thinking brilliance that we have yet to discover. In a similar vein I also like John Corigliano's (non-movie-production) work. He writes with much passion, but yet there are wonderful structures hiding in his works, waiting to be taken apart, studied, and put back together for further enjoyment.

As for my style, I would love to be able to say that my smaller chamber pieces have a glimmer of the brilliance that Corigliano possesses – I even studied with him for a while to try to steal some of the magic! ;) but yet I can sense even within my the music itself a longing to capture a newer sound, something that (as far as I'm aware) hasn't yet been harnessed. I love the visual interplay between shadow and light, and I'm always striving to find a way to reference that moving duality in sound, not totally dissimilar to the way Arvo Pärt has found a way to write so that vocalists sound like a church bell choir when performing his works.

 

Anyway, I hope this at least goes somewhere towards an answer you were looking for!

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Welcome to the FPN. You MUST visit the Dromgoole Brothers at their shop in Rice Village!!! 2515 Rice BLVD. You will not want to leave..emptyhanded!!!

:W2FPN:

 

You're so lucky! You have Dromgoole's, Paradise Pen and MB boutique in the same town!

I have been to Dromgoole's several times, and I absolutely love it in there, although it can get a little dangerous when your eyes get bigger than your bank account!!

 

I have not been to either Paradise Pen or The Montblanc boutique — they are both in the Galleria, yes? I try to avoid that place with every fibre of my being, but if they are worth going I guess I will "suck it up", stop being a baby, and go check them out. (Maybe AFTER Christmas, when the craziness level has dropped a bit.)

 

Thanks for the tips!

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OK, so I will be posting this as a topic somewhere in the main forum (if anybody has suggestions about the best / most appropriate place to post it, I'd be very grateful) but since you all have been so kind as to welcome me into the FPN, I figured it was worth a shot trying it out here first. So here goes:

 

I have been using FPs for some time, and while I haven't found an all-purpose writer I love, I do adore my Platinum #3776 Century w/ music nib for composing/arranging/etc... music-type-thingys. I would really like to find a good fountain pen to use in my everyday world of writing notes, jotting down lists of errands and such, but — I have begun to develop a rather severe case of Rheumatoid Arthritis, so gripping is becoming more and more difficult by the day.

 

So my question is this: Is there a pen, or group of pens, you would suggest I look into that has/have a large (but not Japan Jumbo hugemongous) barrel? I would prefer to keep it under $300US, but would spend more (double?) for something nearing perfection. So far I've been researching the larger Viscontis, Deltas, and Pelikans, but I really have no idea as to whether or not I am on the right track.

 

Any suggestions from you kind people would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

THANKS!!

PS-I live in Houston, Texas, & Dromgoole's has been a godsend for hands-on research (as long as I don't get too distracted by all the shiny things).

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Hi S.S. and welcome to FPN

 

 

Yes, fountainpens are very good for people with hand problems, because they don't need much pressure to write and you write with the arm more than the finger muscles.

 

A non-FP you perhaps could like is the Pentel Ergnomix with a gel refill.

 

 

Enjoy our forum

 

 

D.ick

~

KEEP SAFE, WEAR A MASK, KEEP A DISTANCE.

Freedom exists by virtue of self limitation.

~

 

 

 

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