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stitchGeek

By stitchGeek
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stitchGeek New

stitchGeek

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I've been lurking for a week or so and finally am jumping in!

I have just a few fountain pens but use them for my daily writing. I have rheumatoid arthritis and sometimes my hands are severly affected (tho sometimes they're pretty OK). I found that fps are the easiest to write with -- they require the least effort and so strain my hands the least.

Plus I just like the act of laying ink down on paper. It's so different from 'just writing' with a pencil or ball point... Seeing the ink go down is akin to painting... so visual and so pleasurable.

 

I have an engineer's mind & so always want to figure out how things work. I've already taken all my pens apart to clean them and ponder the differences in how they're made. I'm going to order "Da Book" and use it to fix up some Esterbrook's I just purchased.

I also can't help but always be creating something. I sew and love both the engineering side of it (taking 2 dimensional things and turning them into 3 dimensional things) and the creative side of it.

I'm also extremely visually driven. Which is probably a big factor in what attracts me to fps (and sewing).

My first career was as a software engineer. And once a geek, always a geek. Hence my userId.

 

Reading through the forum (lurking), I've found that this group is really interesting and fun! (I really want to get some of that Schrödinger's ink mentioned on Inky Thoughts! ;) )

 

I'm looking forward to learning more about fps and enjoying the good humor in this forum.

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stitchGeek New

stitchGeek

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It would be nice to see you in the Fountain Pen Nuthouse map.

OK, I'm in there now. Thanks for letting me know about that.

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Gerry Donor Pen

Gerry

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Good to see you here. There are quite a few engineers here, so I'm sure we'll end up in similar forums... ;)

 

Considering your interests, you will want to visit the Repair forum, the Esterbrook forum, and Richard's site: Richardspens. Richard is primarily involved in nib work, but does repair and is a dealer for some makes. In a previous life he was a S/W engineer :)

 

Looking forward to your posts.

 

Gerry

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Bill D Vintage

Bill D

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Welcome to the forum, StitchGeek :)

 

The navy wants me to pretend I'm a SW engineer. They're already pretending I'm a EE, but my background and education are in ocean engineering :bonk:

 

That looks like a newfy face in your avatar. Tell us about your pet(s) :)

 

Bill

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stitchGeek New

stitchGeek

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Yup, Bill -- that's a Newfy. A Goofy Newfy (is there any other kind?). That's Maya ("Sweetbay's Maya," to be formal). In fact she's right here, insisting that I scratch her rump instead of paying attention to the computer. Like most Newfies, she loves food and socializing above just about everything. Her favorite holiday is Halloween -- I dress her up (that's the infamous Bellydancer costume in my avatar) and we go 'trick or treating' in my neighborhood. (Wallingford - near Gasworks park, Velma) The neighbors now expect me to bring the pups around each Halloween in their latest costumes. They all have dog treats ready.

Maya loves this -- she gets to go visit everyone, they all make a big fuss over her, and -- the best part -- they all give her treats! Hence Halloween -- the night of attention and treats! -- is the best night of the year for her! She now associates getting dressed up with getting attention and treats and so will put up with just about anything. (But nothing on her head, thankyouverymuch.) She loves this outfit (probably because of the attention) and prances around quite proudly. Who knew she was a girly-girl? And of course: what does it say about you when your dog has a better looking bra than you do?

Maya will be eight soon and is well-loved by all the neighbors. They each think that Maya loves them the best, and we don't disabuse them of that notion.

 

Maya has a 'sister': Mandy, a border-collie mix that we adopted from a shelter when she was just over a year old. Mandy seems to have some sort of sight-hound in her -- she has a lovely, graceful, wasp-waisted, long-legged build of a greyhound or something. But she has the black and white markings of a Border Collie and her personality is clearly Border Collie.

She immediately accepted Maya as her quietly dominant 'older sister' and has blossomed completely. Mandy is a drama queen -- if you don't pay enough attention to her she'll throw herself down on the floor in a heap with a giant sigh. "It's so hard to be Mandy" we're fond of saying.

Mandy is absolutely wired for squirrels. Her job during the day is to ensure that no Evil Squirrels appear in our yard or surrounds. She has learned how to beg quite nicely from Maya, and has taught Maya a thing or two. ("What do you mean you've never stolen anything off the table or gotten on the furniture? Here -- let me show you!") There are a few hilarious stories of me catching them in the act of working together to accomplish some mischief.

I got Mandy used to wearing her Cowgirl outfit as I made it. (She has horrible hips & is somewhat bowlegged -- so what else could she be her first Halloween with us?) By the time we went out trick-or-treating, she hardly noticed it. When we headed out, she clearly thought "Cool! A walk!" When we immediately detoured to our next-door neighbors house, she was OK with that -- we do that often enough. But when we did it again at the very next house, it was clear she thought "when are we going to go and stop this nonesense?" But after a few houses, she caught on to the whole 'let people laugh and then get treats from them' thing and got in to the flow.

 

Yes, they are our children.

 

Bill, do you have Newfies? (or used to, or once did, or someone you knew did...?)

 

Shouldn't I say something about fountain pens now? If someone made "Newfy Drool" ink, it would bebullet proof, permanent, end up everywhere, and could be used for superglue in a pinch. "Border Collie Black" would go down quick-quick-quick, would make you write obsessively, and your would find yourself randomly writing the phrase "GetTheSquirrel! GetTheSquirrel! GetTheSquirrel!" in the midst of your text.

 

I've looked some at Richard's Pens and it's already in my ever-growing list of fp-related bookmarks. I'll surely be going to that site frequently.

 

I find these social sub-groups fascinating. How many Newfy owning, software engineers that love fountain pens are out there? There's another woman in my local sewing guild that is a Newfy owner. Any other sewing, Newfy owning, s/ware engineer fp'ers out there? B)

 

[Gee I sure am chatty this morning!]

 

Time to go work the crossword and Sudoku with my trusty Aurora Ipsilon...

 

Thanks for the warm welcome. That's why I decided to de-lurk and join in the fun. :)

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Johnny Appleseed Antique

Johnny Appleseed

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Hi StitchGeek, welcome to the board!

 

I live in sight of Dicks on 45th - we must be practically neighbors! We have a 10 month old Kelpie/Lab/Rotweiler mix that has a similar feeling about squirrels, and rabbits too - though I have been making her sit and get lots of petting for not lunging at the bunnies they keep in that front yard on 53rd and Latona.

 

I'll have to keep an eye out for yours. Do you ever frequent the dog parks?

 

You might want to check out the Seattle Pen Club meetings - Get to see lots of cool pens.

 

John

So if you have a lot of ink,

You should get a Yink, I think.

 

- Dr Suess

 

Always looking for pens by Baird-North, Charles Ingersoll, and nibs marked "CHI"

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KCat Museum Piece

KCat

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Greetings - great intro. No newfies here - just a goofy ol' Dal getting on in years. I do some sewing but most of my stitching is in Cross stitch or Hardanger. Sewing being necessary to finish some projects obviously.

 

I'm not an EE but married to one.

 

welcome to FPN. Normally I'd be more chatty but I had my eyes dilated today and it's hard to focus.

 

Best,

K :meow:

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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chainwhip Extremely Rare

chainwhip

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Welcome StitchGeek - yay! Another Puget Sounder! :)

Geaux Tigers! Visça el Barça!

WTB: MB Kafka, Lamy Safari 2009 Orange, Pilot MYU (Black or Clear/White Stripe), Seiko FrankenTuna SKZ253 / SKZ255

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southpaw Donor Pen

southpaw

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Hello and welcome stitchGeek. Chemical Engineering degree here - lots of engineers floating around this place for some reason. No dogs here - 2 cats. Thanks for all the interesting info. Looking forward to seeing you around.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8, NKJV)
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JimCouch Extremely Rare

JimCouch

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Welcome! Looks like we are 'neigbors' (I am from Tacoma) Good to see yet another Puget Sounder on the forum.

 

Jim

Jim Couch

Portland, OR

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Mannenhitsu Vintage

Mannenhitsu

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Welcome aboard and make yourself at home! B)

Sincerely yours,

 

Ronnie Banks

"Like a prized watch, a good fountain pen is a trusted companion for life."

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