One of my local pen shops ran an outdoors pen sale. The tables were spaced out to encourage proper physical distancing. A handful of people from my local pen group attended.

I offered to run a pen cleaning station during the event. Folks would drop their pens off with me to be cleaned while they shopped and chatted. How great would it be to pick up a new bottle of ink and have your pen cleaned and ready to be inked right away? We called it a “pen spa.”

Sharing is caring, so the saying goes. Sharing, in the world of fountain pens is also daring.

A common joke amongst my pen friends is that our blood pressure spikes when someone at work or the local café asks to “borrow a pen real quick.”

Oh happy day. Starting a new journal is a joyful part of keeping a personal journal. Transitioning from one notebook into another is one of my favorite stationery-related activities.

Two of my best friends have just begun exploring fountain pens. Gian just bought his first TWSBI ECO. The ECO is a great pen. For a smallish investment, you get a piston-filler (holds 2.5 ml of ink), a demonstrator (your pen becomes the color of your ink), and a reliable writer (all of my TWSBI nibs write true to size). He ordered an EF nib, for he is a man of taste and sophistication.

And then he dropped his ECO. Nib down. Ouch.