Not a Bad Day to Work in the Sunshine, Plus Zombies.

2019-07-29 It was Sunday, and being the confirmed atheist I am, I was working; but being just as confirmed in my indolence as my lack of religious faith, I was working about as not very hard as I could get away with, and with a large cup of cold-brew coffee and crushed ice to hand, …

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Getting Lucky with a Medium-Fine Sailor

On the whole, my handwriting (such as it is), is not flattered by a fine nib. I mean, it's pretty poor with almost any nib, but better with some than others, and fine, needle-like nibs, which can catch on paper fibers, make my handwriting look, to be blunt, bloody awful. Which can be a bit …

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A Nibmeister Adjustment—Yes or No?

There were a lot of titles suggested for this post, mostly reminiscent of some 1970s British comedy films that were heavy on the double entendres and the sexism. A lady, who I'll do the favour of not naming, suggested something that involved falling in love with a broad Sailor endowed with an impressive custom grind. …

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Sailor 1911 Pro Gear Special Edition Earth… Simply Stunning

Not that long ago, I reviewed the little cousin of the Pro Gear Special Edition (SE) Earth, the Sailor Pro Gear Sapporo (the Slim version; 2018-03-05), and in the few short weeks since then, it's become one of my firm favorites, despite a couple of criticisms. The first caveat, was that I wasn't keen on …

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Ink: Water-Resistant ain’t Waterproof

I like to write out of doors. Sometimes I write when I'm sitting down by the lake, sometimes just out on the deck. I occasionally address correspondence to friends and family in fountain pen ink, and strangely, the weather is not always on my side with some of these endeavors. Children—and some of you without …

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Sailor Pro Gear Slim (Sapporo) Special Edition Earth

When I write personal correspondence, I tend to write with either brown or blue ink on ivory or cream paper. Like I have said before, I like to color-match pens to inks, not least because it helps me pick the right color pen and ink on sight. I have blue pens with nibs I love, …

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Good News, Bad News: Sailor Irori and J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary Rouge Hematite Red Inks

I don't really do ink reviews, I'm not equipped to do a particularly good job—my scanner, and camera lighting, don't reflect what is actually seen on the page as accurately as I would like. And I don't have a very extensive ink collection to review (but I'm getting there). What inks I have, I rely on …

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Sailor 1911L in Black and Gold, Bold Nib

The next pen to check all the boxes on my list, was the Sailor 1911L in black and gold. This kind of flies in the face of so many other sites, who call the classic cigar shape, especially in black and gold, boring. There are those who prefer the cut-off, flattened finials, with the Sailor logo …

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