Countdown to NaNoWriMo

Ah the cursed arrival of the fall season is here and I utterly despise it. Nothing puts me in a more foul mood than watching the trees turn beautiful shades of orange and red, and then die right before my eyes. And once October is over, November rushes in with colder temps and a promise of at least 5 more months of this wretched weather.

But let us focus on a tiny little bright spot; November also brings National Novel Writing Month and for those of you who love to write, love sitting inside, or just love being anti-social, it works out perfectly. Who really has anything important to do in November other than Thanksgiving? From November 1st to November 30th, your job is simply to write a novel. No one is telling you what it has to be about or how good it has to be or how clean your dialog must be, you simply have to write a novel.

Quick view: Pentel Slicci

I don’t do many reviews of “normal” pens because quite frankly I find them boring. Does it write? Ok, it’s good.

So what I’m going to do here is a “quick view” of a pen. I’ve been a bit of a fountain pen snob for a few years so I’m starting to feel my way around the world of non-fp pens and am finding things I like. One of those is the Pentel Slicci. My first experience with the Slicci was one with a .4mm tip which is MUCH too fine for my taste. I’ve developed a preference for pens that have at least a .7mm size as I get older and writing with the .4mm was like writing with a needle. I used that as an excuse to place yet another JetPens order and try the .7mm Slicci.

Of posture, writing, and discomfort

For the past 2-3 years I’ve been trying to improve my penmanship as well as turn writing into a hobby. I’ve spent hours sitting at different tables, chairs, etc and I simply cannot get comfortable. It may have to do with my 6'2" height, or it may have to do with my poor posture when writing. You see, I can’t write very well without leaning over the paper and that causes my elbows to cramped up.

Review: Piccadilly Primo journal

I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m a fan of Piccadilly. In fact, it seems almost normal to be a fan these days considering the great pricing of their products. Sure, their products are made in China but so is the mega-star Moleskine. It’s also been my experience that their paper is less inconsistent than the beloved M as well. The Piccadilly Primo journal has been popping up a lot on the net so I went on a journey to find one. After 3 tries, I found a Borders that had some in stock.

QOTW: What is your writing process?

Here’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I’ve come across bloggers who hand write their entire blog post before typing it into the computer.  I’ve also found many examples of other types of work that people prefer to write out by hand before entering into the computer. Let’s face it, we live in a computer age and most of what we write for the consumption of others ends up on a computer.

Cheap doesn’t mean bad

As a person who has had many hobbies, there’s always one adage that gets thrown around everywhere; you get what you pay for. In most cases, this means that you’ve opted to buy something cheap and it failed and someone is lecturing you on the benefits of spending money on quality. One of the best examples that I’ve found where this isn’t true is fountain pens.

If you’re new to the fountain pen scene, you’re probably enamored by the sight of the big money pens. People lust over all different brands and styles and usually these tend to be out of your financial reach. Trust me, I’ve been there before and I still find myself lusting over pens that cost a lot more than I could ever bring myself to pay. The most expensive pen I ever bought was a Visconti Van Gogh Maxi. I was so excited when I got that pen and naturally I expected it to be an amazing writer. Instead I had a beautiful pen that couldn’t get through a single page without drying up. Regardless of what I tried, I couldn’t get it to write with any consistency and it ended up going back to Italy to have the feed replaced. By the time it came back, I wasn’t in love with it anymore and I quickly parted ways with it.

Quick preview: The Rhodia Webnotebook

Last week I finally broke down and bought a Rhodia Webnotebook. Tired of dealing with the inconsistency of the Moleskine paper and as always, under the influence of my paper fetish, I found a seller on Ebay who happened to be in Michigan and had free shipping. I swallowed the pill of paying $15 for yet another 3.5x5.5" notebook and waited a whopping 2 days for it to show up.

Fighting the fetish

Ah the paper fetish, oh how strong a curse it is. Those of us who are afflicted know the feeling well; we walk past the office supply aisles of a store and hear the paper calling us. Sure, we have probably walked down that aisle 500 times in the past and know there’s nothing worth buying yet we check again, just in case.

Yesterday I stood in the aisle at my local Target holding a Miquelrius notebook in my hand and staring at the Rhodias sitting a couple shelves lower. I had to work to convince myself not to buy either. The Miquelrius was color coded for subjects and the pages seemed thin so that wasn’t all that hard to put back. The Rhodia, on the other hand, screamed at me to buy it. If they had a better selection, I would have picked something but they only had 2 types: the stapled pad which I dislike, and the reverse notebook which I would have bought if they had anything other than graph lining. I made it out of the store without any paper, quite a feat if I must say so myself.

Review: Quo Vadis Equology Textagenda Planner

Exaclair has great timing. Right about the time I was lamenting my lack of organization, I stumbled onto the Quo Vadis blog and saw they were offering planners to bloggers who wanted to review them. I had no experience with any of their products but I’m not one to turn down an opportunity so I threw my hat in the ring. I chose the Equology Textagenda Daily planner which is marketed as a student planner but I hoped the daily layout would suit my needs. Karen quickly shipped the red covered planner I requested and I put it to use immediately. Over the last two and a half weeks, I’ve used it almost every day to keep my work and personal activities on track.