Tariffs, a vibe

Hi folks. It’s been a while since I last posted; I think I skipped a whole month after almost two years of regular posting. During this time I’ve drafted a few essays, but none of them felt adequate for this bitter and frightening moment. When I started this blog, I envisioned it as a personal refuge from the world’s turbulence, a place to talk about things which do not hurt. I don’t think it’s feasible right now.

I still want my feeling of sanctuary. Is this possible? Is this even ethical? I don’t have a roadmap, and I doubt that anyone does.

Life continues, often in the darkest of times. Journaling about inks in a coffeeshop for a bit before diving into work. In honor of spring, my Onoto Keats fountain pen is inked with Akkerman Gourmet Pens Pink.

Tariffs are not the worst thing about this timeline, but tariffs affect our hobby directly. At this point, we do not know how these changes will affect the stationery and fountain pen community in the US long term, but the impact is already here. Penmakers who make their pens almost entirely in the US source nibs, converters, and many raw materials from overseas. Even folks like Ian Schon who make their own nibs in house must source machinery from elsewhere. Our world is very far removed from the traditionalist idyll some people imagine, where converters are hammered in the smithy next door and inks are brewed in grandma’s thrifted cauldron. The mythical nibmakers of yesteryear are not coming back by decree.

Many people wrote about going on a buying hiatus, or starting a low buy. I don’t know if people will actually slow down or stop buying, but the vibe has definitely soured. I’ve bought a pen I wanted for a long time from a small company in the UK. It’s Onoto. I love Onoto. I felt lucky to escape tariffs, but when the pen arrived, it was not quite perfect. Onoto promised to fix the issues I had, and so I sent the pen back for an exchange. I heard from friends that they received tariff notices late after a purchase arrived from overseas; so at this point I have no idea if I will be tariffed twice for the pen once it comes back to me, and I paid too much already to ship it back and forth. I have not cancelled my order, but I considered it, and I doubt that ordering a pen from abroad is in my future any time soon.

My single American made pen, the Edison Menlo, enjoys the company of Italian friends. Top to bottom: Aurora Internazionale Arancione, Leonardo Momento Magico Bohemian Twilight, Edison Menlo Fingerpaints, Aurora Optima Viola, Aurora 888 Volterra.

I am also not planning to change my preferences because of the government. I love Italian pens, and some other European brands. I have one American pen in the Gathering, an Edison. I was planning to add another maker pen from an American company this year, but as a result of everything going on, I put that intent on hold. It’s one thing to want to buy a beautiful object, another to feel forced into purchases due to a lack of choice. I’m already very selective with what I buy, so I’ll have to be even more selective. It’s not an issue for me, and it’s certainly not an issue compared to the suffering and terror people are experiencing.

I’m afraid, too.

I’ve been giving away a lot of stickers to students and colleagues. I always do, but there’s a particular intensity to it right now. I can’t fix fellowship and grant cancellations, I can’t shift immigration decrees, but I can give out stickers. The other day, Stickii emailed me. “Because of all the tariff-related issues, the rules are changing so constantly that our shipments are stuck. As in, they're here in California but sitting in port customs and not being released to us yet. Normally, shipments are released to us within a week. We’re now approaching Week 5, and we still haven’t been given a timeline for when they’ll be released.”

“This is fine!” large vinyl sticker from Yoseka.

Stickers are small joys, and also among the least of things held hostage by the current admin. I’ll wait patiently to see what happens with this subscription - I cherish it and want to keep it. I have a good stack of stickers to go through. But there’s something symbolic in all this. Small joys - cancelled, delayed, or unmentionable against a backdrop of horrors. Normally I’d just say, I’ll doodle by hand. I have not had that energy lately. I might no longer know the right thing to write or have the joy to doodle. But somebody will. Somebody will.