Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
21 December 22 December 23 – 28 December 29 – 31 December	Wrestling with submissions. Getting the decks cleared for… Time off at Christmas! Getting Regular Job crap done before the end of the year!	Another one! Sufficient. Authentic de-stressing.† Re-stressing.	Pilot Vanishing Point Parker 51 Parker Moderne Pelikan New Classic Baoer 388 Sheaffer Targa Parker 180	Namiki Blue Montblanc Racing Green Diamine Syrah Diamine Evergreen Skrip Black Edelstein Topaz Herbin Poussière de Lune

† I probably should have posted something during the time away, but the very concepts of time and duty lost all meaning in a bubble-fied nuclear family-only Christmas. The effect on my inward state was such that to apologize for the lapse would be to seem ungrateful.

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Second Childhood

A little change today– no movie, just me letting some associations run wild and free.

You could, if you wished, view this as a far-too-late-to-be-useful gift suggestion for the person on your Christmas list who is very hard to get a gift for. And it’s not even a pen.

My birthday has just passed, and as often happens to people of my culture, I got some gifts connected to the event. One of them fulfilled an ambition I’ve had since I was about 17, although it has only lately slipped out of the realm of utter fantasy. Check this out.

I promise that at no point during my drive to work did I shout “Fox 2! Weapon away!”

Yes, I have a heads-up display in my minivan. Whole unlapped Venn circles of humanity are now shaking their heads in despair.

And that’s fine. Let ’em. I’m a big boy, the boss of me, and doing no one any harm with it. In fact, quite the opposite on the last point, as I now appreciate how much contact with the traffic around me I was losing every time I darted a glance at my speed. I honestly don’t know why this sort of thing isn’t a government-enforced standard equipment in all new vehicles. It can’t be cost (yes, I know how much a birthday gift cost– big boy, me).

I can’t quite justify the altimeter display on the left in the same breath, but I swapped it for a heading indicator since the picture was taken.

Anyway, that’s me done showing off my new toy. This weekend should be merry– we’re putting up the the festive green object covered in lights tonight, and on Saturday I’m getting a late start on this year’s batch of Eggnog. Late? As you’ll see in the recipe, for it to be safe to drink on Christmas morn, I should have got it done a couple of weeks ago.

Oh, well. We may not be going around to the grandparentseses this year, but that’s no reason to not flirt with a food-borne disease!

Today’s pen: Parker 51
Today’s ink: Montblanc Racing Green

 

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
24 February 25 February 26 February 27 February	First draft of something for a specifically Lovecraft-inspired call for submissions. Title eludes…	2363 typed words, because there’s a deadline.	Pelikan P1 Cross Century II Parker 51 TWSBI Classic	Diamine Midnight Herbin Poussière de Lune Skrip black Quink Black

 

 

 

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
17 February 18 February 19 February 20 February	A leisurely non-working Monday Second draft of “Second Impression”.	Some laundry. 1423 typed words, and SOOOO close to done it hurts.	TWSBI Classic Pelikan P1 Pilot Metropolitan Parker 51	Quink Black Diamine Midnight Montblanc Racing Green Skrip black

 

 

A Love of Learning

It will probably come as no surprise that I rather like Valentine’s Day, because I’m in a splendid long-term relationship with someone who shares many of my interests, and I hers. We follow, as closely as we can, the model of the healthiest relationship ever to appear on network television.

We occasionally argue over who fits which role better, inconclusively. She’s more likely to chat with a stranger, I like fencing far more than she.

Even during the single periods of my life, though, I wasn’t down on Valentines. The idea of a day devoted to expressions of affection, especially in the relatively uptight European and European-influenced society I live it seems a good one. So, before I run today’s educational film, I’ll just mention that there’s a lot of non-erotic forms of love, and if you’re feeling any of them, why not take today to express them?

Today’s pen, which I quite like: Parker 51
Today’s ink, from which I take a measure of satisfaction: Skrip black

Endings

First, this lovely eulogy regarding one of my childhood heroes (yes, really– my childhood was a little eccentric):

Now, let’s be hopeful. This is the end of a series of videos, but the first that presented itself to me. Are you ready to revel in scholarship and skill? Then let’s begin.

…and yes, I would like one of those coats scaled to fit my thuggish dimensions.

Today’s pen: Parker 51
Today’s ink: Skrip black

 

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
13 January 14 January 15 January 16 January	First draft of “Morgue Attendance” (which is likely a working title). First draft of “Song of the Pen”.	9 manuscript pages. † 7 manuscript pages.	TWSBI Classic Parker 51 Lamy 2000 Pilot Elite	Quink Black Skrip black‡ Diamine Oxford Blue Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun

†  I find with “Morgue Attendance” that I begin to run into a problem in the why is this happening? department. I can usually dispel that with a cry of Because CREEPY! and carry on, but the specific shape of the story won’t allow that kind of easy evasion. So, back on the shelf it goes until something sensible ferments.

‡  Two black inks in the same rotation?! I had meant to fill the Parker with something else last Friday, and discovered there was a mere syrupy drop left in the bottle. Panic took over, as I had less then five minutes to get on my way to work.

Who’s a Pretty Birdy?

For today’s film, let’s enjoy looking at some lovely songbirds.

I honestly do find them appealing, and it’s not just because they’re in the name of the site.

Today’s pen: Parker 51
Today’s ink: Skrip black

Cold Weather Fun!

The still air temperature here, when I left the house (fever broken, sensible periods between toilet-imperative moments), was -35C. This is not a big deal… here. I understand that similar temperatures have been happening in parts of North America where it is absolutely a big deal, the sort of thing schools close about.

Aside– to my knowledge, there has been exactly ONE snow day called by the school system in my hometown in the course of my entire life; to do otherwise is to simply not open the schools for winter.

ANYWAY, since a lot of people will be sensibly not dragging themselves out of the house today, a diversion which might just be good for your brain:

Long before I pitched over sick yesterday, I had booked a week off starting this coming Monday. You may, therefore, not hear from me until the week after.

Today’s pen: Parker 51
Today’s ink: Diamine Evergreen

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
28 January 29 January 30 January 31 January	Second Draft of “Cannon Fodder.”	1635 words typed	Parker 51 Pelikan M20 Pilot Short Faber-Castell 664	Diamine Evergreen Lamy blue-black Montblanc Royal Blue Lamy black

I got essentially no writing at all done yesterday, as I was returning a couple of pen… well, not to the owners, but to Paper Umbrella, where the owners had left them for me to collect; a very obliging shop, that.