Hello!

September 15

Hi, Im new to these forums, but I’ve been into pens for about two years now and I figured this would be a good place to connect more with the fountain pen community!

I got into fountain pens through creative writing and that’s what I mainly use them for. There aren’t many people into fountain pens in my area, except for the few people I’ve dragged into the hobby. I can’t wait to meet more fountain pen users!

September 15

September 15

Greetings from Pittsburgh, PA! :W2FPN:

I also sort of got into using fountain pens for writing, when I started reading The Artist's Way (a creativity course), a number of years ago. One of the things you do is to keep what's called a Morning Pages journal: every morning, you get up and the first thing you do is write 3 pages of whatever comes into your head. Then you put the journal aside and go about the rest of your day. I hadn't kept a journal or diary since I'd been in high school -- I quit when I realized it had turned into a spreadsheet of songs I'd heard on the radio, and what time, and what station... and finally said to myself, "This is STUPID!"

So in order to get myself back in the habit, I decided to buy a "nice" journal and a "nice" pen. I'd always been sort of interested in fountain pens, after finding my grandfather's pen/pencil combo (no idea what it was -- lost it long since, and remember thinking that the pencil leads went into the lever box because I didn't know any better) on my dad's dresser after my grandfather died. I thought it was really neat (mostly because it was blue and had been my grandfather's) and my mother could NOT fathom my fascination with it -- both my parents grew up during the Depression and my mom remembered FPs being messy and more trouble than they were worth; but of course her family probably always had 3rd tier junkers...). In retrospect, the journal I bought had really lousy paper; and the pen I bought was a Parker Reflex, and the rubber on the section eventually deteriorated. Same thing happened with the replacement Reflex. Then couldn't get a third one (Staples stopped carrying them). So I went on Parker's website and found an old-time stationers in downtown Pittsburgh that was (at the time) an authorized Parker dealer. And bought a Parker Vector (and felt SOOOO extravagant because I'd paid a whole whopping NINE DOLLARS just for a pen -- of course, little did I know...). And still was ONLY using it for journaling. When I left it and the then current journal and the bag they at my brother-in-law's in Connecticut one January (and didn't get them back for a month) I discovered that doing morning pages in a spiral notebook with a ballpoint just didn't have the same "feel" to it. So, until I got them back, I went looking for a replacement (the store where I bought the Vector only had expensive pens and Pilot Varsities at that point -- and the Varsities, while I liked the colors, only lasted a few days with that much writing). So, I went online, and in the process found my way here -- and ALSO found the Goulet Pens website and discovered there was more to ink than blue, blue-black and black. And it's been downhill ever since.... (I jumped headfirst down the vintage pens rabbit hole -- but my two most expensive pens are modern Pelikans).

I generally tell new people to have fun here -- and to not be afraid to ask questions (I'm constantly amazed at the collective knowledge on here, and humbled by the generosity of FPN people in the sharing of that knowledge -- and not just pen related at that). But I also warn them that they've found themselves amidst shameless enablers, who will HAPPILY help them spend their discretionary budgets on pens, inks, paper, desk accessories, repair tools, pen shows, and ephemera.... (My husband regularly tells people that the pens were just the gateway to the REAL "collection" -- the inks....)

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

September 15

Welcome and a big hello from West Yorkshire in the north of England.

September 16

It’s great to already be meeting more fountain pen enthusiasts!

my questions, are many, as I am not used to using online forums and I am a bit lost in the layout of this site. Is there a good place for newbie questions? Or what’s the best way to learn the lay of the land here on this site?

September 16

You can browse various topics by sub-forum here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/ . Sounds as if you'd do well checking out the "Introductions" and "Members Helping Members" sub-forums and possibly also "Fountain & Dip Pens -- First Stop". And then maybe scroll down to the specific brand and region ones as well -- but the site is HUGE and I quickly learned to just click on the "New Content" button. There's also the search function (upper right hand corner), but it's not all that good if you don't know what to search for, and also tends to be a little flaky (a number of people apparently use Google instead, and include the site in the search parameters there).

When I started here (more than 12 years ago at this point) I just read the Parker Forum to start with. ALL of it.... Back then it was 175 PAGES of threads. It's way bigger than that now....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

September 16

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the advice! It’s really intimidating looking at everything, and as a notebook and pen type of person I’ve never been the best at navigating websites. So your guidance really helps a lot!