I’m not one to feel pressured into following the crowd. Usually. Today is different. Both Ana and Laura have now taken turns with the list of 21 questions designed to dig a bit into pen, ink, and stationery preferences – now it’s my turn.
1: What is the pen they’ll have to pry out of your cold dead hands?
This one is easy for me – my Lamy 2000 with a fine nib. I purchased this fabulous pen 8-ish years ago and it has been constantly inked ever since. I have used it in classes for note-taking, I finished (half) of NaNoWriMo using only my Lamy 2K, and if I ever lose all of my pens in some unthinkable incident, it will be my first purchase.
2: What’s your guilty pleasure pen?
First of all, I never feel guilty about pens. Or ink. But I would say my Nakaya Aka Decapod Twist would be on the top of my list for irrational purchases.
3: What’s the pen you wish existed?
I wish there was a pen that I could load up with four different inks in retractable nibs. Like the Pilot pens with black, blue, red, and green ink in a single pen body. Or maybe a clear Lamy 2K.
4: What pen would you give to a new enthusiast?
This depends on how enthusiastic the person seems to be. I always want to provide an experience to the individual that will encourage them to keep investigating the world of pens and ink. For someone who is just getting into the hobby, I would recommend a Platinum Preppy – great colors, easy to use with cartridges, and it can take a converter when the person is ready to graduate into bottled ink.
But the TWSBI Eco is my favorite suggestion for a pen newbie who wants the visual excitement of using a fountain pen. It is inexpensive, easy to clean, comes in several color and nib choices, and the clear body lets you see the ink – something that provides no end of amusement for me in my own TWSBI Ecos.
5: What pen do you want to get along with but it just never clicked?
The Pilot Justus. It supposedly has a nib where you can adjust the softness by turning a dial which changes the tension in a nib clip, but I’ve never been able to tell a difference in any of the settings. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun if it worked the way I first imagined it.
6: What pen ink do you only keep only because it’s pretty?
I love Krishna inks and the idea of Krishna inks. I’ve just never been able to get into using them. Jungle Volcano is a fabulous ink on the right paper, but I have yet to actually use it in writing.
7: What pen (or stationery product) did you buy because everyone else did?
The Platinum 3776 Kumpoo – I wanted one and missed the initial sale but found a second-hand pen later. It was beautiful and had a fun soft medium nib, but once I used it, I started wondering why I had wanted it so much. This pretty pen only stayed with me for a few weeks and now has a loving home.
8: What pen (or stationery product) is over your head or just baffles you?
The J. Herbin glass nib pen. For years I believed it was actually just something to look pretty on a desk because I could not get it to do anything but put a single big blob of ink on a page. I was fairly certain it was a novelty item that people in the pen world claimed could write. I did eventually figure it out, though.
9: What pen (or stationery product) surprised you?
Wing Sung nibs. I have never ordered a pen from Wing Sung that had a bad nib. Every time I pick up one of these pens it writes immediately, doesn’t skip, and feels fabulous on the paper.
10: What pen doesn’t really work for you but you keep it because it’s a collectible?
The number of Kaweco pens I have is fairly ridiculous. However, seeing them all together or grouped in slightly varying shades of the same color makes me so happy!
11: What is your favorite sparkly pen (or ink)?
I love Diamine Magenta Flash. It is an annoyingly bright deep pink with plenty of sparkle – there is no time or place where this ink is called for unless it is addressing party invitations for a birthday party for an eight-year-old.
12: Which nib do you love – but hate the pen?
None. If I hate the pen and love the nib, I steal the nib to put it in a different pen. Why would I keep using a pen I hate?
13: What pen (or stationery product) gives you the willies?
Bay State Blue ink. I know it’s a beautiful blue. I know it will stay where I put it for a thousand years. But it will also stay everywhere it goes for a thousand years. Don’t do it. Not without wearing gloves, protecting every surface around it, dedicating a pen to that one ink for eternity, and making sure all pets are out of the room any time it is used.
14: What’s your favorite pen for long-form writing?
My Lamy 2K wins again for long-form writing. When taking extensive notes in a class, I keep a bottle of ink with me rather than a second pen. If you look at my Lamy 2K (the one with a fine nib because I purchased a second one with a BB nib) next to a new Lamy 2K, it’s easy to tell which one is mine. I’ve used the pen so much that the slightly rough surface has been polished by my hand.
15: What pen (or stationery product) do you love in theory but not in practice?
The Noodler’s Safety pen. I love the idea of this pen – inspired by a vintage design that should be safe from leaking because it seals completely every time it is closed. But we never were able to become friends. The design of this pen actually dips the nib into the reserve of ink every time it is closed – I love the idea but I never did love the pen itself.
16: What pen (or stationery product) would you never let someone else use?
My Pilot Custom 912 FA with a Spencerian grind – this specialty grind results in an incredibly responsive but very delicate nib.
17: What pen (or stationery product) would you never use for yourself?
Any kind of paper that doesn’t work with fountain pens. There are beautiful notebooks out there that cry out to be used and loved, but if I can’t use my own ink in them, what’s the point? However, I do love to give them as gifts. An empty notebook seems to call out to many people, not just those interested in the pen aspect of the writing experience.
18: What pen (or stationery product) could you NOT bring yourself to buy?
I would love to be able to put something in as an answer to this question. But I’m so bad at restraint. My kids and nieces and friends all get stationery-related gifts for no special reason, though.
19: What’s your favorite vintage pen?
I have an Esterbrook purse pen in turquoise with a 9788 nib that I love in every way. I also recently came across a vintage Sheaffer 55 1/2 pen with such an amazing music nib that I still can’t believe it is in my possession.
20: What is your favorite EDC/pocket pen?
My Schon pocket 6 Ferrero Rocher brass pen. There were only a small number of these pens made – 7 or 8 maybe? Three are owned by ladies who write for this blog – we all purchased them days before the world shut down for Covid. When we compared them at one point, we had all added Franklin-Christoph specialty nibs as well.
21: What’s the pen (or stationery product) that got away?
I’ve typically been able to track down any pen or ink that I originally missed, either through a second-hand sale once the hype died down, getting over the desire for it, or paying too much later on. Except for the Pen Addict Pink Robots Retro 51.
