Business was successful, I got a lot of personal things accomplished on my to-do list, and I even got time to help out with someone else's website. This week definitely deserves to be followed up with a good relaxing break.
Join me, as I ease into the weekend with some fun topics and links, Q&A, and more. And if you're busy - don't worry, it'll all be here waiting for you when you're ready to take a rest. :)
Weekend Reads Podcast - Episode 4:
Direct .mp3 download/live streaming
DOWNLOAD .ZIP File (66.7MB)
Weekend Reads on iTunes!
Direct .mp3 download/live streaming
DOWNLOAD .ZIP File (66.7MB)
Weekend Reads on iTunes!
Mentions:
- Goulet Pen Company
- Brian Grey - Edison Pen Company
- Fountain Pen Network
- Did I miss anyone?
My email: tyler@tylerdahlpens.com
And here we have the Links of the Week: Top picks from my favorite blogs and forums
- Noodlers BayState Blue ink review by Peninkcillin. A great review of BayState Blue. It's always nice to see a different perspective on things from another blogger, especially one in such detail. I reviewed this ink here, and it looks like we both generally agree about the ink.
- Goulet Pens "Fountain of Knowledge"! What a great thing the Goulet's have done for us! This is the place for beginners to go, and increase their FP knowledge. Tons of superb videos, tutorials, tips, and more, plus a particularly awesome section explaining common FP lingo.
- The new Nakaya Picolo model - solid titanium! Check this beauty out. For me, it's overpriced, but I love the look of it nonetheless. It does look potentially very heavy though. What do you think of this model? Does it go to much "against the grain" when compared to Nakaya's normal urushi pens?
- Official Edison group buy - If you're interested in snagging an Edison pen at a lower-than usual price, this is your best bet. There doing a big group buy over on the FPN for an Edison Pearl. I am opting out as of now, simply because I'm far too picky about color and trim. :) But it's a great opportunity to get a great pen at a great price! Just be sure to jump in now before it's to late if you are indeed interested.
Q&A Time!
From now on we're keeping it down to 2 questions per Weekend Read. This helps space out questions so I don't run out, allows me to be more thorough with the questions I do have, and keeps the podcast from getting to long.
Q: "What are your personal opinions about personalized engravings on vintage
fountain pens? Are they a nice link to the past...or do they 'ruin' a nice
fountain pen?"
A: This is something I wrestle with myself. For me, it all depends on the engraving. To keep it simple I like engraving when:
- The engraving was from the original owner of the pen
- It was professionally done
- It looks good
When done like that, I don't have too much of a problem with them. I still won't own an engraved pen normally, but I'm not bothered by these ones.
Now I am bothered if an engraving fits any of the following:
- A "homemade" engraving. Don't touch that pen with a dremel engraver! Don't do it! :)
- An engraving made by someone other than the original owner (in most cases anyway)
- An ugly engraving. One that is crooked, homemade, poorly done, etc.
Overall I would prefer it if pens were not engraved, but occasionally it does add some unique history to certain pens. I will close with one last bit of advice:
If you have an engraving on a pen, and you don't like it, whatever you do, DO NOT try to cut it out with a knife. I've seen the results before, and I almost feinted. A beautiful Parker Big Red, in great condition, but the eBay seller decided to knife-out the engraving. Gaah! It's a sad thing when this happens, though luckily I have yet to meet a FP user who has done this.
Q: "Do you currently have (or do you anticipate having) a pen collecting focus
(i.e. a desire to collect certain pen model or pen company's pens)?"
A: My collection focus has been, and probably always will be simply what I think meets my criteria for a good pen. It must be amazing looking, write well, be reasonably priced, and have a filling system I like, or some other feature that sets it apart.
I can't imagine just collecting all of one type of one brand of pen. It doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me, personally anyway. :)
For example: I could spend forever owning hundreds of Parker Vacumatics, and never collect them all. In the end, I wouldn't really even enjoy them. I can't enjoy a pen I'm not using, and If I have a collection, it usually means owning more than what I can have inked at one time. I personally (this need not apply to anyone else) cannot comfortably own more than 10 pens. I dislike owning more than 6, but I prefer about 4. so collecting is rather out for me. :)
I "collect" in that my collection is always changing and improving. But I go for quality over quantity in this case.
On that note - what are you all collecting these days? Anyone else have a collection like mine, or are you more focus-driven? I'd be interested to hear from you all on that.
I can't imagine just collecting all of one type of one brand of pen. It doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me, personally anyway. :)
I "collect" in that my collection is always changing and improving. But I go for quality over quantity in this case.
On that note - what are you all collecting these days? Anyone else have a collection like mine, or are you more focus-driven? I'd be interested to hear from you all on that.
Blog Forecast:
- Well, I'll do that delayed J. Herbin Ambre de Bermanie review on Monday, since I missed it this week. (sorry! :)
- I'm going to do some paper reviews. I've got some paper I am dying to review, and I want to get at least one or two up this week.
I may alternatively do my updated review of the TWSBI 540 this week. Depends on how things play out mid-week.
Time to wrap things up again! I hope you enjoyed the Weekend Reads, and I do apologize about the delayed podcast. It's coming tomorrow afternoon!
Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the reads the weekend. What do you all think of limiting the Q&A to 2 questions per week?
Have a great weekend everyone! Don't forget to subscribe (yes, it's free ;) to help keep the blog going, and keep you up to date!
Like this article? Subscribe to my blog for more like it!
No comments:
Post a Comment