6 ms·
I was late to this game of "going backwards" to improve my memory and understanding of what I read and wrote. Being raised by two technologically forward engine
by softfalcon 3y ago
I was late to this game of "going backwards" to improve my memory and understanding of what I read and wrote. Being raised by two technologically forward engineers, we jumped on the palm-pilot/laptops/tablets/phones/e-readers bandwagon very early.
5 years ago I started turning back to calligraphy, fountain pens, and hand writing. I buy books and fill up my bookshelf. It wasn't just for the memory recall, it was the pleasantness of writing.
I can't begin to tell you just how wonderful it is to write with a nice fountain pen. This was the culmination of writing instruments prior to the bastardization caused by modern cheap pens/pencils. I heartily recommend folks pick up an affordable Parker pen or similar and try it. It's also a great stress reliever to just free form thoughts onto a page, and you'll remember what your wrote later in the day!
One other bonus, your handwriting improves. I had to fill out some government forms recently. The online forms were cutting off any addresses longer than 24 characters, so I filled it out by hand. Went into the offices to submit and after the clerk saw my papers they went, "oh my goodness, you have incredible handwriting!"
Besides the learning, recall, etc, there are so many side benefits. Read and write physically y'all!
- ambrose2 3y agoVery interesting! Is there a particular Parker model you’d recommend?
- abdullahkhalids 3y agoEveryone's hand and preferences are different. Just look at a guide like this [1] and buy one within you budget. You will eventually learn what works for you. [1] https://www.jetpens.com/blog/The-Best-Fountain-Pens-for-Every-Budget/pt/368 https://www.jetpens.com/blog/The-Best-Fountain-Pens-for-Ever...
- softfalcon 3y agoFor Parker's, there are just so many options. However, it can be extremely pricey to buy-and-try or your local store may not have many in stock. I started with the Parker 51 by trying out a clone by name of Jinhao 51A. My suggestion is to look for the knock-offs like Jinhao and buy a few of them (you can get 4-5 pens for the price of the cheapest Parker). Then you can try them all and whichever you like most, when you choose to upgrade, buy that variant of Parker it was trying to clone. Or maybe the Jinhao ends up good enough for you and you stick with that, nothing wrong with a nice affordable pen! Also, the Jinhao's make pretty gifts for small occasions, they're very colourful and elegant, if you upgrade away from them, can gift them to friends/family.
- JoeDaDude 3y agoFWIW: I went to an unusual grade school which required us 3rd graders to use fountain pans. There were many stained fingers and homeworks, but yet, they insisted on using what seemed to us archaic devices. Fast forward to now, decades later, and I have recently rediscovered fountain pens and what a delight it is to use one compared to the cheap disposable ball point. I am using an inexpensive Pilot Metropolitan pen and, given a choice, will never go back to ball points.
- satao 3y agoWas it a Waldorf school?
- JoeDaDude 3y agoIt was a German school in South America (no WWII refugees there, lol). I guess the school leadership was taught that way, and they were sure to make the kids learn that way too - with fountain pens!
- stuporglue 3y agoI moved to Germany a few years ago and my kids have to use fountain pens for all their school work, even math. It's this way for grade school and high school.
- disqard 3y agoMy story is similar to yours -- forced to use fountain pens (in grade 4-5, IIRC). Perpetually ink-stained fingers, and absolutely hated these irrational rules back then. Decades later, I came back to fountain pens and now love the feel of writing with them. My handwriting also improved tremendously -- when you deeply enjoy writing, you put effort into it, and you see results :)
- ics 3y agoPeople wishing to try experiencing the pleasure of fountain pens but avoid it because they are afraid of going down a rabbit hole can use the following: get one Platinum Preppy pen with black ink and either Medium (if you like thick, felt pen like lines), Fine (comparable to a regular ballpoint), or Extra Fine (if you keep your pencils extra sharp or normally use .38 or smaller pens) for $10 or less, and any notepad made in Vietnam for less than $5 at Walmart/CVS/Michaels/Amazon/etc. You don’t need to read any product reviews to try this out for around $15. Why I recommend it this way: I enjoy pens and have done illustration and calligraphy professionally but the Preppy has essentially replaced my other pens except when I specifically want something special. Writing with it still feels special, mind, but to enjoy things you also shouldn’t be afraid of damaging or losing something precious, nor should you miss a day of writing because you didn’t want to carry some fancy instrument in your hoodie pocket or whatever. As for the pads, fountain pens are wet compared to other types and some paper will make it impossible to use or enjoy. Vietnamese paper is cheap, available, and known to work well for this.
- hooverd 3y agoI have a Pilot Kakuno that I keep refilling with Noodler's Black. All my favorite pens have been cheap.
- bgoated01 3y agoI picked up a preppy a couple of weeks ago. I got a fine nib, and after seeing how it writes I should have gotten extra fine, but the biggest issue I'm having is that it seems to want the pen held at a shallower angle than what works for me. If I fold my pinky and ring finger under in an uncomfortable position then I can get my grip close enough to the page that it consistently inks, but otherwise it isn't consistent, which felt frustrating rather than special. I ended up switching over to the $2 Zebra ball point pen that I bought at the same time, and have had a much better experience, including pen on paper dragging that feels just as smooth as the fountain pen. I would like to have a good experience with the Preppy, but I don't know if this is just how it will be because I have large hands, or if I'm doing something wrong, or just got a defective pen. What is the pleasure that I should be looking for? Is there still hope I can experience it, perhaps with a different pen?
- munificent 3y agoI love handwriting. As in, I hand-lettered every single one of the hundreds of diagrams in my two books [1]. I am also a sucker for nice pens and fancy paper. Office supply stores are like toy stores for me. (What can I say, I was a teacher's pet growing up.) So I am 1000% the kind of person to get into fountain pens. But I'm also a lefty. :( I know it is possible to learn to use a fountain pen while writing left-handed, but it's a serious uphill battle and is never as easy and natural as being right-handed. Every now and then, I'm tempted to learn to write mirrored. [1]: https://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/2020/04/05/crafting-crafting-interpreters/ https://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/2020/04/05/crafting-craft...
- pentaphobe 3y agoYou don't really have to learn it, a couple minutes of concerted effort will get you most of the way there When I first started I'd say I was up to my normal speed within about half a page of Freeform journaling, initially it took conscious effort but then the brain just kinda went "oh." Tangent: after that first day I had the thought to hold the resulting pages up to a mirror. The backwards writing was disconcertingly neater than my regular. (And remained that way even as I got faster and lazier) Also for some unknown reason I formed the lowercase "A" entirely differently - everything else was the same.. Brains are weird.
- politician 3y agoUnrelated, but thanks for your book. The illustrations are lovely and carefully crafted; I’d wondered how you made them.
- munificent 3y agoYou're welcome! People always assume I drew them digitally somehow, but nope, literally on paper with pencil and pen. Here's a video I put together showing the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN1MsCXkPSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN1MsCXkPSA
- WillAdams 3y agoTry an ink formulated for drying quickly: https://noodlersink.com/product-tag/fast-drying/ https://noodlersink.com/product-tag/fast-drying/
- justajot 3y agoJust wanted to +1 on physical books and writing with fountain pens. My daily routine involves journaling in the morning with a Pilot Custom 823 in a blank Midori notebook, doing all of my work planning + notes with a Lamy 2000 in a Traveler’s Company notebook built-up in a way that works for me, and reading physical books, marking them up with a Kaweco brass mechanical pencil. It’s flexible, keeps me on task, keeps me organized, and I feel like I’m getting better value for my time, if that makes sense. I’ve tried so many different ways of trying to handle these things digitally, but have found that for me it’s best to use pen and paper for these sorts of things in conjunction with digital counterparts mainly for reminders and archives.
- hk1337 3y agoThat's great and I have no doubt it's nice writing with a good fountain pen but people should not get caught up in that they HAVE to write with some expensive fountain pen or mechanical pencil. Most of the time, a basic pencil and notepad will work just fine. Not that that is what you do but people may read your comment and get fixated that it has to be a nice fountain pen or mechanical pencil.
- intelligencesec 3y agoI can never get over the "scratching" feeling of fountain pens. It gives me a weird goosbump feeling and makes them impossible to use. Am I using them wrong? Using the wrong brand/type?
- MSFT_Edging 3y agoYeah, that comes down to the nib. Not all pens are scratchy. I sorta like a sweet spot of a little bit of scratchiness. I have an old pilot metropolitan that is almost too smooth. I even dropped it once and had to re-form the nib. I usually use a pilot v5 rolling ball pen with the water based ink which is a little scratchy but requires very little pressure compared to a normal ballpoint.
- nolamark 3y agoYou ought to be able to find a pen without a scratching feeling. The nib, the ink, and the paper can all contribute to a scratchy feeling. If you have been trying with an old pen, the nib could be damaged, or the ink too dried out. If you are writing with a new pen the you might need a wider writing nib, a medium or above is your best bet. In pen reviews, look for how "wet" the pen writes. I like writing very tiny letters and use a Pilot extra-fine, an it is can be scratchy, but I replaced the medium nib my Pilot Metro was sold with. It was not scratchy with the medium. Jetpens has some 5 pen sampler pack if you're are $25 curious. https://www.jetpens.com/JetPens-Beginner-Fountain-Pen-Sampler/pd/24218 https://www.jetpens.com/JetPens-Beginner-Fountain-Pen-Sample...
- xanderlewis 3y agoCertain brands like Platinum and Sailor are known for this — it’s somewhat euphemistically known as ‘feedback’ and some people like it. I’ve been partial to it in the past. Pilot is an example of a brand known for smoother writing. Try one! There is also the possibility that the nib is just out of alignment. You might need to look at it under a loupe and perform some adjustments… there are various guides online or you can pay an expert to do it.
- adamtaylor_13 3y agoHoly cow I feel seen. All throughout school I was plagued by that “nails on chalkboard” feeling that I get from using a pencil. Pens don’t typically give me that feeling thankfully.
- iamacyborg 3y agoThere’s nothing wrong with cheap pens, some of them are fantastic to write with. A lot of fountain pen enthusiasm just feels like tool fetishisation.
- xanderlewis 3y agoThere are nice cheap pens out there, but fountain pens are beautiful and separating the choice of ink from the choice of pen gives a lot of flexibility. What’s particularly wrong with appreciating tools? Why brand it ‘fetishisation’? For me, a good fountain pen is a work of art; the fact it happens to be useful for work is an added bonus.
- iamacyborg 3y agoThere’s a common saying amongst audio enthusiasts that audiophiles listen to their gear, not the music. Good tools are good, but let’s not forget what they’re actually for.
- xanderlewis 3y agoAll the gear and no idea. Yeah. I’m a bit of an audiophile (used to be a music producer) and have almost no interest in audio hardware other than how it sounds. But it seems strange to me to apply the same reasoning to stationery. With sound, there is literally only one thing that matters: how accurately and precisely you can vibrate the air. With pens, it isn’t so easy to quantify. How do you measure what it means to feel nice to write with, or to hold in the hand? Or what makes a particular ink pleasing to the eye? There’s huge scope for personality and opinion that isn’t present in other kinds of what you might call tools. And, separately: what is meant by ‘fetishisation of x’? Is it synonymous with ‘interest in x’? To me it seems to be used simply to look down on those who have interests not considered worthy; if one disapproves of singing one might as well refer to it as ‘fetishisation of the human voice’. But perhaps there’s more to it than that.
- iamacyborg 3y ago