New obsession


Andy gave me a fountain pen for Christmas and I'm in love with writing again.

Don't get me wrong, I've always been fond of hand-written notes. But in the age of email and other electronic communication, I really only write thank-you notes these days.


Well, 2016 is the year of the letter for me. Since opening the box, I've been using my pen for lots of everyday writing: grocery lists, note taking, the occasional check. It feels so elegant, even for mundane things like signatures on paperwork.

A fountain pen's air of timelessness and sentimentality are what make them so anachronistically cool. Computers and ballpoint pens don't have that and I've noticed that since I started using fountain pens, ballpoints are awkward to use due to the extra pressure required to make a mark. Using a fountain pen takes almost no physical effort since just barely touching the nib to paper starts the ink flowing. My hand doesn't cramp when I'm writing for a long time and, oddly, my penmanship is a little better. Probably because I take my time while I'm writing.


Plus, I get to chose any ink color, nib size or case style I want. And, even though most people think of fountain pens as luxury items, you can find decent ones for less that $5. I even discovered a pack of multi-color disposable pens recently.


Here's a short article about how the pens work from my new favorite online store.
I've been sending letters to friends, which feels really good. They'll be getting a little bit of love from me in the mail, which is way better the usual than bills or catalogs. I'm up to 4 nice pens (plus the disposable 7-pack) and shopping for new letter-writing stationery is exciting again.

I was already a paper nerd and stationery addict. Add fountain pen newbie to that list now. Soon I'll be mixing my own inks and doing some hand-lettered art.

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