Yeah, yeah… I know… I’m boring everyone to tears.

I ordered some new pens from the US, and they are (nearly) here.

Arriving tomorrow, in fact.

And I ended up paying £18 tax on the dang things! (More than the postage, and more than one of the pens in the package!)

Let’s just say I hope they will be worth it, and it’s been the last time I ordered new pens from the US. Not going to drop $100 on pens, only to get hit with £18 tax on them. I can buy some damn nice pens in the UK for that.

*sigh*

UPDATE!

That’s the Bookworm with the Chinese Calligraphy Nib.

This is the Jinhao "Evening Stripes"

Definitely not a waste of money. Both are gorgeous pens, both write incredibly well, and have a weighty feel which is both comfortable and reassuring.

Tags: Hisnibs.com, Pens

Today I found myself writing a letter to someone I’ve never met, to someone I don’t know.

The guys at FPN (The Fountain Pen Network) decided it’ll be a good idea to put our pens to work and write… postcards.
Not enough with the postcards keeping the postal service busy, it now progressed to letters.

When all this started, it got me to thinking.

When was the last time I wrote a letter?
By hand?
A personal letter, that is.

I struck a blank.

Then I realized the last real, proper letter I’ve written and sent… was to my other half.
Twenty years ago!
That’s just bloody scary.

Now, those letters… I dug them out over the weekend and read them.
They are love letters. Mine, and his, bundled together, with a ribbon around them.
Yup, we actually wrote proper love letters to each other.
He was in the UK, I was in Germany. For three months, we corresponded by postal mail. This was pre-internet, pre everyone having a computer, or mobile phones, or whatever else you could name.
We’d barely progressed beyond carrier pigeons!

So.
What about today?
People correspond by text messages and emails.
Not very enduring for memories, is it?
There is something about seeing your loved one’s handwriting, knowing he or she took the time to put pen to paper and compose their thoughts, hopes, worries so you can read them. And seeing those letters twenty years later… wow. Amazing. I’m glad, very glad indeed, that my dad kept yelling "Write a postcard" the second I picked up the phone.
Do you think the lovers today, who keep texting back and forth, will still have those text messages in twenty years time? I doubt it.

So lets all just realize something.
The letter you write today is more than just a letter to a friend or a loved one. The letter you write today is a memory in the making, a record of your life, a snapshot in time which would otherwise be lost forever.

Get writing those letters, so my postman doesn’t have to knock on the door and hand deliver a letter with the words "You’re the only person on my round who still gets personal letters, hand written and hand addressed. I just wanted to see who they go to."
That’s the really scary part.
The postman noticed!

Tags: letters, Mail, Memories, Pens, Postcards

Many years ago, when I was a little too podgy, too short, too… well, when I was a kid, I used to have a Shetland Pony.

One year, I spotted an advert for a horse race held at Iffezheim (Baden Baden) Racecourse, called the "Bauernrennen".
This raceday is pretty unique. It’s the day when the racecourse is handed over not to Thoroughbreds — but to any horse out there. Be they Heavy Horses, Warmbloods, or Shetland ponies, Arabians, or any other horse.
If I remember correctly, this is because some time in the past, the local farmers saved the racehorses stabled there from starvation, and in return the race club established a race day for them. (I could be wrong, but that’s how I remember it.)

So on a bright and cold morning some time in June (If I remember right) we rolled up in Iffezheim with my Shetland. I knew it was probably the last year I could ride him, I was simply getting too big for him.

We had a little trouble. He was a stallion and he behaved accordingly, so we had to keep him away from the other horses.
Then, later that day, the race was on. Despite my weight, my little childhood companion (who wasn’t the most friendly of shetlands) raced into 3rd place in amongst some 20 others.

I didn’t care about prizes, I was way too happy to have taken part, but my prize was a set of Parker Pens. The real prize for me was the memory of the day, but that’s something else.

I have had, and used, those pens for years. I still have the Ballpoint of the set, but somewhere during the years, I lost the fountain pen.

I was gutted. Then forgot about it, then remembered and searched again… only to be gutted again when I couldn’t find it. It is lost.

So a while ago, when I started to pick up my fountain pens again, I tried to track down which model this was. Well I found out, they were Parker P25’s. Black ones, which are relatively rare. The P25’s tend to be silver colored. My hopes of replacing my lost pen were… not very high.

PARKER P25

A kind member from the Fountain Pen Network spotted a black P25 on Ebay and messaged me, because I’d mentioned wanting one.

I put it on my watch list. I messaged the seller, because the only shipping option listed was the US.
Well we got that part cleared up, so now I had to wait for the auction.
I sat in front of the TV today when suddenly I thought "Hang on. I think that auction finishes today. Better go check."
To my complete horror, when I logged into Ebay, there were 30 seconds left to go on the auction.
I added a bid, hoping to snag the pen, when Ebay goes "Would you like to log in?"

ARRRRGHHHH!!!!

I got in with 2 seconds to spare, or thereabouts. LUCKILY my bid was high enough to win!

I am getting my beloved black Parker back! So yeah, I’m floating now.

And this time… I’m not going to lose it again!!

Tags: Fountan Pens, P25, Parker, Pens

I went shopping today.
I needed some decent sandals I can walk to work in and I hate shopping — especially for shoes.

So while I was in town (Most of the day) I obviously had to treat myself. I did. I bought a new fountain pen.
I love fountain pens, and calligraphy ones especially.
I’m actually appalled at how few fountain pens there are for sale now. Everything is a ball point or a gel pen. While gel pens are nice… nothing beats fountain pen and ink.
When I was about 14 or so, I persuaded my dad to let me ride a race. A horse race.
We came third and I won a nice Parker ballpoint pen and fountain pen.
Unfortunately I seem to have lost the fountain pen somewhere in the moves, but I still have the ball point and it’s my favorite pen, because it’s really good quality.
Naturally, I wanted a fountain pen again, and while I like the Parkers, I love the Cross ones more. They just have something… something. You know what I mean?
However… you cannot get one for love or money in this damn town. I settled for a nice Calligraphy Parker instead.
Naturally, I need something to write on, too. *whistle*
I picked a Paperblanks Charlotte Brontë wrap cover journal. Not my first choice, by far. I want the “Fragment of a Speech” one (Abe Lincoln) but no one bloody sells it in the UK and all the sources I found online don’t ship to the UK. ARGH.
Nevermind.
My other choice would have been the “Book of Kells” hand-stitched ones. I WILL eventually get them, but damn…
Also… I’m eyeing several Parker 51’s on Ebay. I’ve always wanted one. I WILL get one. Maybe.
I’m also eyeing a gorgeous Waterman Carene and a vintage Schaeffer…
*starts to drool*

Can you tell I love pens, paper and journals?

I know most writers love to write, but my handwriting has become appalling over the years, so I decided to keep a journal, with a decent fountain pen. Perhaps I can fix the atrocious hieroglyphics I use these days and turn them into pretty, flowing prose again.

Tags: Diaries, Diary, Journal, Pens, The Written Word