It’s a new month, what’s in your pen cup?

Did you miss any of the prior month’s blog posts? Welp, here is your chance to catch up…

• It’s a new month, what’s in your pen cup? Let’s see how I started March with a review of February. It’s a new month and time to shelve your current choice of pens in favor of new pens or those that may be long forgotten and feeling neglected. Also, let’s review how did the pens from last month fared? Also included is a recap of the month’s posts.
• Osmiroid Interchangeable Nibs Osmiroid produced regular writing nibs (Rola) and the popular calligraphy nibs are interchangeable with vintage Esterbrook pens. They made left-handed nibs and special-purpose nibs for writing music and sketching – wow who would have thought.
• Parker “Instant Modern” Style Several years ago I purchased a Parker IM Special Edition Fountain Pen. I got to thinking, what does IM stand for, welp it could be “Instant Message” it is a pen…..
• Blogiversary 2 Wow, it has been 2 years. I started the blog to connect with like-minded individuals who view writing instruments as a thing of beauty. At the time I assumed that there would be 3 like-minded people. Thanks for proving me wrong.
• Ink Sac Talc and Asbestos Recently I stumbled onto a blogger who only posts once annually. The current topic is pen talc and asbestos. Funny how that little wisp of white floating out of a fountain pen lever slit now feels ominous, instead of satisfying.
• Story of My First Pen What was the pen that got me hooked? Interesting question and a fun trip down memory lane. After trying several pens dumb luck saved the day. You have time – right?
• A Vintage Pen Condition Rating System Often owners of pens only concern themselves with how the pen writes. For those who collect and use vintage pens, the shape and condition of the pen is also relevant. I decided to try and qualify each pen with a conditional rating system.

In the News

Update, I bought a box set of Ronald Dahl’s books prior to their censorship and sanitization – yeah me! In case you forgot… ‘Fat’ and ‘ugly’ have been cut from Roald Dahl children’s books. Future editions of the beloved children’s books Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twits, and The Witches will be sanitized.

The sanitization of books continues, this time it is Agatha Christie and Ian Fleming. I really don’t understand the difference between banning a book because the content is offensive to some or editing a book because the content is offensive to some. It is all about intent. If the author intends to publish hate – ban the book. If it is common for a time (ie the 1930s) or character development then a particular thought or choice of words is appropriate. Removing it is censorship. In Death on the Nile, the character Mrs. Allerton complains that a group of children is pestering her, “they come back and stare, and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and I don’t believe I really like children.” The new and improved version reads “they come back and stare, and stare. And I don’t believe I really like children.” I am not feeling the depth of depravity nor is my disdain for the character the same in the sanitized version. Used bookstores here I come.

A school in Martin County Florida has banned Jame Patterson’s novel Maximum Ride, one of a series of young adult fantasy novels. The school district officials claim the novel is “radically” unfit for children even though not one of the school board members read the book. When asked for comment Mr. Paterson replied, “If you are going to ban this book, then no kids under 12 should go to any Marvel movies.”

CNN reporting from the Manila Pen show; “6 people with seriously swoon-worthy handwriting.” Speaking as someone who has horrible handwriting, “the sight of other people’s neatly spaced writing can still take your breath away. Here are some people whose handwriting can inspire you to pick up the pen and practice your way to becoming the scribe of your dreams.”

Blog Announcement

I’m occupied with a major home improvement project that is consuming nearly all my free time. I normally publish 7 times each month; however, in April I will be scaling back to no more than four posts. I hope to have things back to normal in May.

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