Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
29 June 30 June 1 July* 2 July	First draft of “Memorial Garden” * Also, lounging for Canada Day	6 manuscript pages.	Pelikan 140 Lamy 27 Waterman Executive Jinhao 159	Edelstein Olivine TWSBI Sapphire Blue Herbin Lie de Thé Diamine Syrah

 

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Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
22 June 23 June 24 June 25 June	First draft of “Memorial Garden”	4 manuscript pages.	Jinhao 159 Pelikan 140 Parker Arrow Waterman Executive	Diamine Syrah Edelstein Olivine Jentle blue-black Herbin Lie de Thé

It’s not that I’m unenthusiastic, I’m just tired. Whoever turned the volume knob on Regular Job way over back in May hasn’t put it back yet.

Vacation time impends. Ravelled sleeves quiver in anticipation.

 

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
15 June 16 June 17 June 18 June	Bloody nothing on Monday First draft of “Memorial Garden”	10 manuscript pages.	Montblanc 32 Jinhao 159 Waterman Executive Pelikan th.INK	Diamine Bilberry Diamine Syrah Herbin Lie de Thé Herbin Poussière de Lune

I think henceforth we might take it was given that Monday’s are unproductive, thanks to the thing I mentioned at the end of last month. It wasn’t an issue last week because, as it was a new thing, I forgot about it entirely until the next day. For the foreseeable future, though, Mondays are going to be opposed to writing.

Admiration or Envy?

It’s probably both. My idea of a dream-house is a little more late Victorian in shape and rather less… extensive… but it certainly contains the sort of high-efficiency guts the thing in this video exemplifies.

I can’t help but wonder at the name of the house, though… I hope it’s not a Wilkie Collins reference.

Today’s pen: Jinhao 159
Today’s ink: Diamine Syrah

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
1 April 2 April 3 April 4 April	Second Draft of “Tiger on my Back”. First draft of “Doting Mother Cradles Her Wayward Child” Third draft of “Curse of the Dragon”	2532 words and ready for eyes other than mine. 3 manuscript pages, and also done. 1201 typed words.	Parker 65 Pelikan M600 Waterman Number Seven Sheaffer Targa	Diamine Bilberry Lamy black Jentle blue-black Herbin Poussière de Lune

Wait, third draft? Yeah. I was on the verge of poking “Curse” at some readers when I had an uncomfortable vision of the much better story it could be, once I almost completely re-wrote it. Sigh. What makes this problematic is that the first place I’d like to send it when it’s ready closes submissions in eleven days. This is going to call from some hard graft on my part, and I may have to submit it without the usual safety net of another reader or two point out glaring stupidities.

Uncomfortable thought. You see all the glaring tyops and and double words that show up in this ongoing document; that’s fine (more or less), because I don’t expect anyone to pay me for this stuff. Something I hope to get paid professional rates (cue harp glissando) for should be, if not polished, at least without sharp corners for editors to tear their imaginations on.

 

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
25 March 26 March 27 March 28 March	First Draft of “Tiger on my Back” finished Second draft of “A Duty of Upkeep is Owed to Your Neighbours” First draft of “Doting Mother Cradles Her Wayward Child”	Another 609 words. 510 typed words, and we’ll call it done as well. 18 manuscript pages.	Sheaffer Targa Parker 65 Jinhao 159 Pelikan 140	Herbin Poussière de Lune Diamine Bilberry Pelikan Violet Herbin Vert Empire

Yes, I’m back to handwritten drafting, and loving it. Thanks to a power outage yesterday as well as the return of a co-worker from vacation, The Regular Job is pressing upon me a little less viciously, I got a ton of work on the new story. Very gratifying, and horribly suggestive of what’s possible if I… um… abandon my sole source of sufficient income.

Y’know, phrased like that, some of the appeal goes out of it.

Bach Where I Belong

Google is doing one of its clever time-eating doodles in honor of Johann Sebastian Bach, composer, descendant of composers and powerful progenitor of composers. Which suits me right down to the ground. When I was a kid, my favourite record was a Time/Life compilation of classical music, but I really only played the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on it, an organ version which is similar to the following in degree of reverb.

I was an odd kid. I have, however, expanded my musical tastes since then; the educational part of today’s films would have made the pre-teen version of me very cranky, as a misapplication of the divine principles of the great master (I probably wouldn’t have phrased it that way– I was odd, but I wasn’t that precocious). The modern me, though, rather likes this:

Today’s pen: Jinhao 159
Today’s ink: Pelikan Violet

Smart Guys Use Fountain Pens

I don’t know about you, but I find myself with a day off today; some sort of religious observation, I think. In anticipation of people looking in here needing more than the usual amount of diversion, I’ve got a longer than usual Friday film. It’s newer, too, so the contest that’s mentioned is something you could actually pursue (if you hurry!).

Anyway, enough introduction; here’s an interview with a man who is in many ways an excellent role model.

“I love me some flexible nibs.” Fine words to live by, gang, although I’m not so opposed to a firm point as he.

Today’s pen: Jinhao 159
Today’s ink: Quink Black

Arbitrary Odometer Reading

I’m actually lounging at home right now.  However, since we do like to have end-of-year wrap-ups, I’ll offer the following:

• I still quite like fountain pens, even if I’m not so overt and vocal about it as once I was;
• I can use inks other than Diamine any time I want, really, it’s totally under control;
• I do not at all like knee-displacing, but apparently am pretty good at recovering from it;
• This has been a pretty good year for my creative aspect, as revealed by the stats at close of play yesterday:

Some will point out that these numbers fall well short of the novel I mean to have done in rather less than a year… and I have also noticed that.  However, nearly 190 of those first draft pages are the novel in question, and the completed word-count was done between spasms of first-draft writing.  It’ll be fine, I’m sure.  Oh, I should add to the year’s roster of accomplishments, in the light of the fact that I keep track of stats like that– I’ve avoided involuntary commitment again for the whole year!  What lunatic could wish for more?

Since it is also Friday, here’s a film which has zero connection whatever to the changing of the calendar.  It does, however, suggest a human urge to leave time-resistant artifacts.

Today’s pen: Jinhao 159
Today’s ink: Quink Black

The End of the Growing Season

I believe I’ve mentioned that there is a fairly rural bent to the rhythms of my home province, which is generally a good way of remembering where food comes from, although there is a price to be paid in pick-up trucks and country music.  We hear much of crop projections (good year for wheat, you market speculators), and how well things have grown.

All of which is very, very tangential in its connection to this:

Happily, my wife is in favour of a fuzzy fella.

Today’s impeccably groomed pen: Jinhao 159
Today’s fur-free ink: Herbin Éclat de Saphir