10 things I’m grateful for, the fountain pen edition
I drafted an elegaic and slightly morose gratitude post, but I won’t post it! Grateful for that. :D
Here’s my simple gratitude post, fountian pen edition.
I love burgundy. Galen leather purple case for five pens, with my autumn selection - Montblanc Bohème Rouge midsize, Omas Dama in Scarlet celluloid, Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age (good for every season), Piuma Ratio, Aurora Optima Viola.
I’m grateful for the existence of fountain pens. For sure this took a few tries - the first documented one was back in 10th century, when caliph Abu Tamim Ma'ad al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah reportedly had an ink reservoir pen made for him. Leonardo da Vinci might have made one for himself. Eventually, with industrialization, it became possible to produce fountain pens on scale. While fountain pens these days are a niche technology, I’m glad they exist and can be enjoyed by so many people.
I’m grateful for the existence of the fountain pen hobby. For a very long time, I had a fountain pen, but no fountain pen hobby. This is much more fun as a hobby. I love the pen news and the pen enthusiasm, and I love learning more and more (and more) about the history of these fantastic writing instruments.
I’m grateful for the fountain pen community. The community makes the hobby juicier. I love the creative, curious spirit of people who enjoy putting a nib to paper. I appreciate all the content creators who write blogs and make the videos I enjoy so much. Shout out to Joe (The Gentleman Stationer), JD (mnmlscholar.com), Brad and company (Penaddict.com), Inky Rocks, Erick Gama, Anthony (formerly of the ukfountainpens blog), and so many others.
I’m grateful for my pen friends. You are awesome.
I’m grateful that we do not all love the same things. It would be boring indeed if everyone simply accepted the ultimate perfection of the old Omas Paragon and stopped wanting anything else. And yes, when I mention perfection, I am very much talking about the old Omas here, not the questionable (Faux)mas pens of today.
I’m grateful to the artisans and small makers, nibmeisters, companies and retailers who make this ecosystem work. There’s a lot of awesome in this space, cool products are coming out often, and even if much of it is not for me, it is always fun to see the new things as they happen.
I’m grateful to the old Tomoegawa machine #7, which gave its life in the service of producing excellent paper that gave many of us joy for so many years. You might be gone, but you are not forgotten. While I’m at it, thank you also to Machine #9. You tried. You really tried. I appreciate you.
I’m grateful for the endless and magnificent supply of ink. I tend to love rich, saturated jeweltones, shading, minimal sheen; and I love shimmers along the same lines. There is so much ink to explore, and there’s always new ink happening somewhere. It’s wonderful.
I’m grateful for being able to afford my stationery. This wasn’t always the case, and there are still very many things I can’t afford (hello, the totality of the Namiki Yukari Maki-e lineup, I’m looking at you), but I am very happy with where I’m at.
I’m grateful for the joy. It’s been a few absolutely abysmal years. At some point I began to wonder, is joy even allowed? Yes it is. Yes, it is. Joy is rebellion. Joy is life.
Montegrappa Miya, and a Menagerie friend amber bear.