My new shu

[dms525]

I have been thinking about acquiring a Nakaya in the Araishu (orangish) urushi lacquer for some time. Nibs dot com finally had one in stock when my resistance was low. I ordered it with a BB nib ground to crisp cursive italic. The color is a brownish-orange, which I like a lot more than I would a brighter orange. The aesthetics exceed my expectations.

 

Here are some photos of the new pen, including side-by-side comparisons of the araishu, unpolished shu and shu urushi finishes.

 

 

 

 

 

Orange you glad I shared this?

 

Happy writing!

 

David

[GardenWeasel]

1 hour ago, dms525 said:

 

 

 

 

Orange you glad I shared this?

 

 

Happy writing!

 

David

Indeed I am happy you shared!  A very lovely color and pen! 

[whichwatch]

Congratulations on the new pen, David.  Nice color comparison shots!

[Frank C]

Nice pens. You seem to have been on a pen buying spree lately.

 

I really like Nakaya. Nibs.com does a great job with them.  

[dms525]

1 hour ago, Frank C said:

Nice pens. You seem to have been on a pen buying spree lately.

 

I really like Nakaya. Nibs.com does a great job with them.  

 

I've been on a pen buying spree for the last 10 years, I'm afraid. And I can only blame you for my three Conids. 🤣

 

I like my Nakayas a lot. Since nibs dot com allied with Pen Family, John has acquired a new nib technician. I don't know who ground the nib on this pen, but the geometry looks different from John's usual work for me. I'm not 100% happy with it yet, but it's still breaking in (if there is such a thing).

 

David.

[Frank C]

8 minutes ago, dms525 said:

 

I've been on a pen buying spree for the last 10 years, I'm afraid. And I can only blame you for my three Conids. 🤣

 

I like my Nakayas a lot. Since nibs dot com allied with Pen Family, John has acquired a new nib technician. I don't know who ground the nib on this pen, but the geometry looks different from John's usual work for me. I'm not 100% happy with it yet, but it's still breaking in (if there is such a thing).

 

David.

I do accept full responsibility. As I recall, you weren't terribly impressed with the Conid I showed you at the San Francisco Pen Show. Something must have changed.

 

John has been talking about retiring for some time. I saw some sort of change coming. Nib work seems to me to be as much art as science. Each nibmeister seems to have her or his own style. 

 

Do you plan to go to the San Francisco Show this year? I haven't decided yet. I'm pretty concerned about the Delta variant. Of course, I would have to fly there. I've been vaccinated; I have a few N95 masks; and I am still thinking. 

[dms525]

47 minutes ago, Frank C said:

I do accept full responsibility. As I recall, you weren't terribly impressed with the Conid I showed you at the San Francisco Pen Show. Something must have changed.

 

John has been talking about retiring for some time. I saw some sort of change coming. Nib work seems to me to be as much art as science. Each nibmeister seems to have her or his own style. 

 

Do you plan to go to the San Francisco Show this year? I haven't decided yet. I'm pretty concerned about the Delta variant. Of course, I would have to fly there. I've been vaccinated; I have a few N95 masks; and I am still thinking. 

 

The Monarch LE Minimalistica sucked me in. I now have another Minimalistica and a Regular. I like the pens and admire the engineering. The aesthetics not so much. I use them less than I thought I would.

 

I really, really want to go to the SF Pen Show. There is going to be a lot of cool stuff from my favorite pen makers I would love to see. And I do miss face-to-face contact with the pen community. However, the increased virus replication and transmission, even in fully vaccinated individuals, is reason enough to totally avoid indoor venues with crowds. I'm not even going into grocery stores with a mask on currently. And I am sorry to admit I expect things to get worse for a while. There does seem to be the beginning of an uptick in vaccination rates, but we need more than that. I haven't heard it discussed by NIH or CDC folks yet, but, you know, if a virus is more transmissible and infectious, the percent of the population being vaccinated  necessary to achieve herd immunity increases. 70% used to cut it with the alpha variant. If the prevalent variant is like varicella, we need 90 or 95%. Not a happy thought.

 

So, happy writing!

 

David

[Frank C]

I looked up the Monarch LE Minimalistica. Fontoplumo still has them on their website. I also have a weakness for orange fountain pens. But, when I tried to order one, all the nib sizes are "no longer available". I just saved another €472. Or €905, if they had the Monarch Bulkfiller available. They are examples of great engineering. I do like like the utilitarian appearance.

 

Here are some photos of my shu Nakaya. A few other Nakayas sneaked into the photo while I was setting it up—they are like that. I used Platinum Carbon Black ink in the pen; it caused the deposits on the nib. They don't come off with simple cleaning, but will come off—along with some gold—with more aggressive measures. It has the medium soft 中軟 nib, which I enjoy. 

 

 

 

 

As for the Delta variant, I agree with you. The varicella analogy is apt. It seems that the public health authorities are showing great deference to the politicians at this point. I still go to the hospital with my N95 mask on. I have stopped going to restaurants. I go to the grocery store just before closing when almost no one is there. As for the San Francisco Pen Show, maybe I'll wait 'til next year. 

 

 

 

[dms525]

Frank C,

 

Two years ago, I swapped a Nakaya BB->CI nib for a BB nib that John had ground to be Soft and cursive italic. It is a lovely writer. I did the swap because I was curious about the soft nib. I wish Platinum made a soft BB nib. The customization to soft cursive italic is rather costly.

 

One of my sons is a Psychology/Neuroscience professor at UNLV. They seem to find lots of good restaurants with outdoor dining in Las Vegas and, up to now, have felt comfortable going to them. He, his wife and two daughters are all fully vaccinated. They are less risk-adverse than I, but also lower risk by virtue of my less youthful status. (One of my French teachers always told us (adult students) not to say, "Quand j'etait jeune" but rather "quand j'etait plus jeune." )

 

David

[Frank C]

Do you get to Las Vegas from time to time? We could have a Las Vegas Pen Posse at one of the local outdoor dining spots. We could bring our shu pens. I have been dining outdoors since the winter. I was often the only person outside. Most places have propane heaters, so it was comfortable. When the temperature is over 105ºF in the evening, I don't spend much time outside. My cousin came to LV from Washington State about one month ago. He really wanted to smoke some of my cigars. We went to McMullan's Irish Pub where one can enjoy a fine cigar outside; it was 108ºF. As I recall, I had my Pilot Custom 823 with me. We were comfortable with a glass of ice water and an adult beverage or two, but when we went inside to leave the restaurant, the air conditioning felt great. I just wonder how those hearty souls who settled in Las Vegas more than 100 years ago did it; I don't think I would have stayed. 

 

I do know from experience that @amberleadavis likes McMullan's Irish Nachos. That's all I'm going to say. 

 

There is a case report from of Australia of a person getting Covid-19 just from passing another person on a street. 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/24/its-in-the-air-you-breathe-what-you-need-to-know-about-sydneys-delta-covid-variant 

 

My university French was helpful with your quotations, and google translate confirmed it. What a difference one word makes. 

[dms525]

Before the Pandemic, we were visiting our kids in Henderson once or twice a year at least. We haven't been there since Thanksgiving, 2019. I would love to see you and meet Amberlea. Is or was there an active LV Pen Posse? I've wondered for a while.

 

My dil is of Irish heritage, and she and my son are both connoisseurs of artisanal liquid bread, as we bread bakers call beer. Don't know offhand if they go to McMullans's.

 

David

[Frank C]

Those of us who brew beer from time to time, say the same thing. Although you don't add hops to bread, that might taste good. Las Vegas has several Irish pubs, some more Irish than others. Ri Ra at Mandalay Bay even brought their bar over from the old country. As long as they bring over beer and whiskey, they can leave the furnishings at home. Nine Fine Irishmen is at New York, New York. They have good food and beer. McMullan's is family owned and just off the strip, on Tropicana, next to the Orleans. Pre-Covid-19, I tried to go there once a month or so. Parking is easy and the prices are reasonable. They have about 200 different Irish whiskies, but the bartender told me that they sell more Jameson's than everything else put together. 

 

We did at one time have a Las Vegas Pen Posse. We met fairly regularly for a while, but nothing in the last few years. I talk to Amberlea from time to time. I make an excuse to go by her office if there is some esoteric ink I want to try. I do have to bring my Sailor with the King Eagle nib with me; she loves, and covets, that pen. I never let go of the cap when she is around. 

 

I am cautiously optimistic that safe travel will resume sometime in the future. We can plan a meeting at McMullan's then. 

 

 

[amberleadavis]

I would be thrilled to meet up with you guys!  I love too when people come visit me and my ink collection. 

[dms525]

14 minutes ago, amberleadavis said:

I would be thrilled to meet up with you guys!  I love too when people come visit me and my ink collection. 

 

I have wanted to visit your ink collection ... and you, too ... for some time. What would be super neat would be if I could drag my granddaughters to the visit. I have been working for years to get them turned on to fountain pens. Both are deep into drawing Manga-style critters. 

 

David

[amberleadavis]

OH YES!  And I'm usually good for a cheap pen and bottle of ink.

[Frank C]

18 hours ago, amberleadavis said:

OH YES!  And I'm usually good for a cheap pen and bottle of ink.

 

@dms525, please make sure you clarify with @amberleadavis that she is giving the cheap pens and inks away. She has been known to try to convert* my pens and inks. If her daughter is around, you have to be especially careful. 

 

* Conversion is when someone wrongfully uses property of another for their own purposes or alters or destroys it. In an action for conversion, the taking of the property may be lawful, but the retaining of the property is unlawful. To succeed in the action, the plaintiff must prove that he or she demanded the property returned and the defendant refused to do so.

Conversion is a modern form of the old-fashioned action called trover. Damages may be recovered for the replacement value of the property as well as for the loss of its use. Conversion is very similar to theft, but is a civil action, not a criminal action. For example, when a mechanic wrongfully refuses to return a car brought in for repairs, it the mechanic may be subject to an action for conversion.

[dms525]

4 hours ago, Frank C said:

 

@dms525, please make sure you clarify with @amberleadavis that she is giving the cheap pens and inks away. She has been known to try to convert* my pens and inks. If her daughter is around, you have to be especially careful. 

 

* Conversion is when someone wrongfully uses property of another for their own purposes or alters or destroys it. In an action for conversion, the taking of the property may be lawful, but the retaining of the property is unlawful. To succeed in the action, the plaintiff must prove that he or she demanded the property returned and the defendant refused to do so.

Conversion is a modern form of the old-fashioned action called trover. Damages may be recovered for the replacement value of the property as well as for the loss of its use. Conversion is very similar to theft, but is a civil action, not a criminal action. For example, when a mechanic wrongfully refuses to return a car brought in for repairs, it the mechanic may be subject to an action for conversion.

 

Now I am confused. I thought Amberlea was the lawyer. And, being a simple pediatrician myself, I'm not sure I grasp the distinction between theft and conversion. Is it that with theft, neither the taking nor the retention is consensual, while, with conversion, the taking is consensual but the retention isn't?

 

So, for example, if you converted me to your religion, and I asked you for my old religion back and you refused, you would be guilty, but not criminally so. We won't get into "conversion" of sexual preference, since this is a family forum.

 

And, FYI, I converted my Nakaya Araishu Naka-ai from Sheaffer ink, which was too dry, to Waterman ink, which seems to be flowing better. 

 

Happy writing!

 

David

[amberleadavis]

Now, @dms525 don't let @Frank C fool you in to thinking that I've actually converted any of his pens.  I have, however, drooled excessively.  

 

To answer your question, both of us are lawyers but only one of us is a doctor and only one of us is licensed to practice in Nevada.