Who Says Germans are Dour?

Oh, you know the stereotype; cool, efficient, probably wearing a black turtleneck.

Stereotypes, man. I should be wearing a lot more flannel, according to international concepts of my nation.

Now, the usual Thursday entry, which will display what an atypical week this has been in more ways than one. It’s not just the impending Pelikan Hub that has kept me from my usual industry– there’s been a lot of stupid demands on my time this week, and they rendered me dull or incapable of using my free time as I would wish. This was, by the way, AFTER choices of ink were made– that degree of dull unoriginality happens without any outside influence, and with a huge array of bottles from several brands all laid out in front of me.

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
16 September 17 September 18 September 19 September	First draft of “Whistling Through the Graveyard”. Third draft of “Disruptions on the Line” (nee “Underground Follies”).	5 manuscript pages. About 10 minutes of mildly-focused attention.	Pelikan New Classic Pelikan M30 Pelikan Signum Pelikan M600	Diamine Bilberry Diamine Marine Pelikan Violet Diamine Evergreen

 

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Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
9 September 10 September 11 September 12 September	First draft of “Whistling Through the Graveyard”	19 manuscript pages.	TWSBI Precision Wing Sung 601 Parker 50 Lamy 27	Diamine Midnight Herbin Poussière de Lune Herbin Bleu Calanque Lamy black

 

Homespun Wisdom

Here’s an embarrassment. I’ve only just noticed I didn’t do one of these last Friday. I thought I had, and yet I can find no evidence of even a larval draft of one.

Well. I’m not going to make up for it entirely, I guess. I was distracted by getting a new story into a state that Patreon patrons could get their early-admission gandering-at accomplished, and that’s now thrown open to the world… so that’s some entertainment for you. But because Friday is about films, here’s a guy who has clearly been around a few campfires with a solution to one of life’s most vexing problems; how to clean the cast-iron pan:

That certainly makes maintenance a lot simpler, although as my cast-iron pan weighs only slightly less than my car (it’s a large example of the breed) I may not do a lot more cooking in it. Although it does to an excellent job of browning meat… well, now I have to think about what I’m making for supper.

Today’s pen: Parker 50
Today’s ink: Herbin Bleu Calanque

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
2 September 3 September 4 September 5 September	A day of labour trying to get a ten-year-old computer to do things. Getting some submissions away that should have happened yesterday Third draft of “Those Whom Ambition Calls”. First draft of “Whistling Through the Graveyard”	All I could stand. All I have hoped to. Remarkably little adjustment needed. Four manuscript pages.	Wing Sung 601 Lamy 27 Pelikan Signum TWSBI Precision	Herbin Poussière de Lune Lamy black Pelikan Violet Diamine Midnight

 

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
26 August 27 August 28 August 29 August	First draft of “Underground Follies” (working title). Second draft of same	2 manuscript pages 1946 words typed	Wing Sung 601 TWSBI Precision Parker 50 Lamy 27	Herbin Poussière de Lune Diamine Midnight Herbin Bleu Calanque Lamy black

I said I wasn’t going to mention it again, but… that Kickstarter has succeeded, so “The Moon Forest” (first met here as “14 Nights of Day”) will indeed be published, and if the publisher is true to their schedule, it will be available before the end of the year. Hoorah!

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
19 August 20 August 21 August 22 August	A slightly indulgent blog entry. First draft of “Underground Follies” (working title).	See previous entry 15 manuscript pages	Parker 50 Waterman Citation Pelikan P488 Wing Sung 601	Herbin Bleu Calanque Jentle blue-black Edelstein Topaz Herbin Poussière de Lune

I will mention once more, and probably only once more, the Kickstarter in which my recently-written story “The Moon Forest” will find a home… if they reach the funding goal which is painfully close to completion. If I assume my story is of average quality for the collection (it’s the only one I’ve read, so I can’t say otherwise), it’s going to be pretty darned good– I’m very proud of my work on that one. So, tell your family, tell your friends, tell passing strangers who look like they enjoy a good yarn, and let them have a look at the campaign page. They may be the very person who gives it the shove into existence!

SO CLOSE TO FULL! LESS THAN A WEEK TO RUN! SEND HELP!

A Brief Lamentation

A long time ago, I got a new(ish) camera. I went on about it at some length, too, because I was able to take pictures that weren’t hideous, which up to that point was not the wrong word to use.

I mean… you can tell it’s a pen, but otherwise, uck.

Somewhat more recently, I got an actually new, fresh out of the box camera, and not only had it not taken pictures before, it was objectively good. Again, I mentioned it previously, and hinted that I might be switching over to it for site photos.

I did not. Why? Consistency. Let’s have a look at a pair of pictures from that earlier post:

The old Canon

The new Nikon

They’re both good enough for my purposes, but they’re not the same, even though they were taken with the same lighting in the same place. And that made me not want to make the switch– I’m a lazy bugger, sometimes, and learning how to process the new shots so they’d look like the old was too much trouble. Also, the little table-top camera I use has a little trouble bearing the weight of a real cameral, even if it’s not carrying a mass of film in its guts. So, I carried on until…

Until it was time to show you all my super-cool Apollo commemorative pen. I headed down to the photography grotto, and found the camera wasn’t switching on. So I replaced the batteries. Which didn’t work. And that’s why this picture looks a little odd:

Something I don’t know how to adjust in an iPhone: white balance

It turns out the (nearly) modern phone camera  is pretty good, but getting pictures out of it, into my computer, and then washed and filtered until they’re consistent with the other shots on my site is even more work than dealing with the real camera. Ironically, that whole process would probably be easier if it wasn’t an all-Apple environment, but that’s the bed I now lie in.

Anyway, having finally convinced myself that the little old point’n’shoot is never going to open its eye again, I’m using Gargantua and putting in the slightly increased effort it takes to make it look about as duff as my previous efforts:

You might think I took this two years ago instead of mere days (also– coming soon to a website near me!)

I should be happy, because the pixel count is vastly higher now… although you wouldn’t know it. Rather than reducing image size by about 20% as part of the effort to make all pictures the same visual length, so visitors to the site can compare images side by side for a real sense of the pens’ relative sizes, the new standard needs an 80% reduction. In theory, this will disguise more in the way of scrapes and cat hair, leading to more beautiful pictures.

I will miss that little camera, though.

Today’s pen: Parker 50
Today’s ink: Herbin Bleu Calanque

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
12 August 13 August 14 August 15 August	First draft of “Beyond the Wall.” Second draft of “Beyond the Wall.” A letter to my mayor and city councillor about a really stupid item of policy that is about to become manifest, destroying 200 small local businesses. Third draft of “Beyond the Wall.”	Four manuscript pages 417 words Much carefully-worded bile, about three spleens worth. Up to 491 words, which is still fine.	Wing Sung 601 Pelikan 140 TWSBI Precision Pelikan P488	Herbin Poussière de Lune Herbin Vert de Gris Diamine Midnight Edelstein Topaz

A short story to fill the week, because Pseudopod is running a flash contest which closes at month’s end. The stupidity that comes in the midst of it is the sad sort of little guys vs. corporate greed thing that makes up so much of modern life– you can read about it if you’re inclined.

 

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
5 August 6 August 7 August 8 August	Pulling weeds because it was a holiday. Second draft of “Those Whom Ambition Calls” Third draft of “Feel My Pain”	Enough to get overheated and cranky about. 542 typed words (some of which did not want to come out). Removed a couple of paragraphs, to land at 1799 words.	Retro 51 Tornado Pilot Elite Pelikan 140 Sheaffer Snorkel Clipper	Herbin Lie de Thé Quink Black Herbin Vert de Gris Herbin Bleu Nuit

 

Erasing A Stain Upon Honour

Something which we readers of historical fiction sometimes have a hard time getting our heads around it the concept of the duel as a cure for an affront. To be sure, intolerable provocation is still a defence against a charge of assault (at least in Canada), but the law demands a pretty damn high pile of provocation. “That’s a terrible haircut” isn’t quite there, and yet you could draw a duel for it, back in the day.

I should point out that Canadian law also has a specific injunction against duelling. That intolerable provocation thing is more about campaigns of bullying finally deranging the victim, not accusing someone of cheating at cards.

Today’s choice of weapon: Pelikan 140
Which contains a half-charge of: Herbin Vert de Gris