An old new word, and a new skill to learn

I was thirteen and excited.

At school I'd learned a new word. Not only what it meant. But the how and the why of its meaning.

Calligraphy. Our English teacher had explained the roots of the two words that in combination made this new one.

Beautiful writing.

I announced it to my father, as something new, wondrous.

That day I learned that my father had taken Greek in high-school. He knew that καλός meant "good", and by extension "beautiful" and "γράφω" was "write" and, thus, "writing."

I was a little deflated, but a love of chasing down the roots of words, of seeing how words morph as they move from language to language across time was born. This crystalized in Salamanca for me as I traced words from Greek through Latin, Spanish, Italian, English, and my own Gaelic.

And now I have come back to the word that started it for me. People know I have a love of fountain pens. A sadness, and a source of insecurity, for me has been that my writing is far from beautiful. Thus the nibs that "real" fountain pen users know of, speak of, make use of, mean little to me. For I can make little good use of them.

So I've taken up calligraphy. Or am starting the learning of it. The Chancery style. There are other styles. I know this if only because this style has a name. It wouldn't need it were it the only one.

This will require patience, and practice. I am good with both of those, in certain circumstances. My work, certainly. It takes time, practice, and patience to acquire the software and data skills I have made my own.

Writing also. I gave myself time to learn. And I have learned. Though it remains an on-going process.

So too with this new skill.

I have a book to teach me. And a new pen with which to practice. Please believe me, it wasn't just an excuse to buy a new fountain pen.

It came with—honest!

Pelikan - Highlighter Fountain Pen

A good while passed between my prior purchase of a fountain pen and the most recent one. I'd decided I'd bought all the...ordinary, for want of a better word...pens—even if some of them were special or limited editions—I wanted. My next pen was going to be a completely custom one. But I hadn't decided exactly what and when.

Then I got the news of a new Pelikan fountain pen. A highlighter pen. My interest was piqued. I owned no Peikans, although I do own some of their inks. And the pen is a demonstrator—transparent—and I didn't have one of those either.

The pen comes with its own highlighter ink. A fluorescent green. Although, if you clean the pen out throughly, you can put ordinary ink into it and you have a normal fountain pen!

I bought it. Was there any doubt?

Two days later, at the office, I had the opportunity to review a document. Out came my trusty highlighter. And it worked. And well.

The pen takes a little getting used to. It has a BB nib, double-broad, I'm guessing. It lays ink down in fairly broad strokes. The specialized highlighter ink goes onto the page wet. But for marking up a document in a very visible manner, this pen is only outdone by a purpose-built highlighter.


I've also used it to edit one of my Goldberg Variations stories. I'm typing these of late, so this allows me include one of my fountain pens in on the act. I will be interested to see, when I tire of using the highlighter ink, how the pen writes when I fill it with ordinary, non-fluorescent ink.

This is the second in the Pelikan highlighter pen line, as I understand it. There was a red version before this, but I'm not sure of the details.

I'm enjoying this pen. Now I have a specialized fountain pen for marking up text.

I still have my eye on a custom-built pen though. Some dreams simply won't die.

Aurora Vintage Satin Finish Pen

A pen post. Well, it's been a while.

I'd promised myself that my next pen was going to be a one-off. I know which one, have some ideas about the shape, and will get around to it...in the fullness of time.

And then news of a sale on Aurora pens appeared in my inbox. A vintage satin finish pen with a hooded nib. I looked, saw, and was lost. It didn't hurt that it was 50% off too. The pen arrived today. It is a beauty—as you can see.

The pen isn't very large in the hand, that honor goes to the Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age. Still, it fits comfortably.

The finish has a warm tone to it and it feels solid as you write with it.

What appealed to me was the hooded nib. I can't exactly say why that should be, other than to confess that I was, probably still am truth to tell, an aficionado of Citroën cars. The "frenched-in" wheels just looked stylish to me. As they say...there's no accounting for taste.

This isn't a new pen. The nib, what can be seen of it beyond its hood, looks like it has had some use.

But it is in very good condition. I have no complaints.

The website, and the invoice, assured me that the nib is a medium. I can't say that this is the case. The line laid down on paper is finer than any medium I have. It is as fine as any of the fine point nibs I have.

This is the fourth Aurora pen I own. It seems I have a growing fondness for them.

It is the only one that can take a cartridge. The Optimas and the Limited Edition Europa only take bottled ink. This pen arrived with a cartridge inserted and another in the box. No converter. I'll make do.



In addition to the Aurora name on the front of the band, it has the numeral 925 on the back. I am not certain to what that applies. Research today turned up nothing definitive. I'll have to dig further.

As can be seen below, the pen lays down a nice, clean line. It cannot be described as "wet"—the Aurora Europa claims that distinction. I'll be happy to use this pen as a day-to-day pen for a while.  I like the way it behaves.

Best of FridayFlash Vol. 2 - Fountain Pen Day/Weekend - NaNo 2012

My copies of Best of Friday Flash, Volume 2 arrived yesterday. I was very pleased to learn, earlier this year, that my story was to be included. "Intimate Strangers" was written for Valentine's Day, if I remember rightly.

I was fortunate to have one of my stories chosen for Vol. 1 also. The Friday Flash twitter meme has been a rich source of validation for me as a writer, a great spur to my writing and a really good community to have been part of.

All honor to Jon Strother for the idea — and to those who work with him at FridayFlash.org to pull the whole thing together.

And, most importantly, to the writers and readers of the flash fiction produced each and every Friday. So much talent from all points of the compass.

The book is available at the publisher: emergent-publishing.com and the paperback can be had at Amazon.

ooo000ooo

November 2nd was Fountain Pen Day — though, on facebook, they promise that it's really all weekend. Good, because I'm late to the party ('tis ever thus.)

As usual, I find myself tip-toeing (skulking?) about on the fringes of such things. But, anything to draw more attention to these functional works of art that fountain pens are. Happy to help.

ooo000ooo

November is also the time for the yearly madness that is National Novel Writing Month. I've participated in this for four years in a row — last year missing out on a "win" by a few hundred words.

The results of my first foray into NaNoWriMo are currently being copy-edited. The book will be available before the month is out (ever the optimist.) As it turns out, my copy-editor is pleased at the cleanliness of the copy. For that I am indebted to RjC — who is possessed of a fine eye and a good sense of story.

There are too many things going on right now for me to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. Packing up our lives here in the Bay Area is a large part of that. At least we have managed to secure a moving company. The 1,800 mile trip looks like it's possible.

There goes that optimist again.

For those who are NaNo-ing this year — Allons-Y (or, you go, I'll stand on the sidelines, cheering.)