Time for a change!

I need to make a change!

I have slowly been descending into a rut for the past several years, in fact probably for well over a decade now. Work, family, health issues, laziness-all taking a toll on me. I cannot keep on living this way, so I need to make changes. I've read that Albert Einstein once may have said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." So since this is a pen blog (I think), I will start with changes in my a few of my pens!

My two main fountain pens (modern) are my Namiki and Pilot Falcons. I've had the same color inks in them for so many years. Maybe a change in ink color will get me back writing again.

I will start with my Namiki Falcon with the resin body. I've had this pen since 1998, back when not many people had heard the term "flexible nib" just yet. Back in November of '98 the Honolulu Advertiser did an article about handwriting. They interviewed me and put a large picture of something I wrote using a vintage Waterman.

Yes those are my grubby Greasemonkey paws. Writer Will Hoover told me not to wash my hands, now I know why!

Well that picture got a lot of attention and at the Pen Fair that followed that weekend, Honolulu Pen Shop was swamped with people asking about "flexible nib" pens. They sold out of whatever vintage pens were in stock, so then we turned to the Falcons...and sold those out too!

So this pen has a story and special meaning to me, well all of my pens do but. I originally filled it with Mont Blanc Bordeaux for a while then later with Private Reserve Black Cherry. Well now that Namiki has their line of Iroshizuku Inks, I've filled it with Ina -ho.

I try to match the ink color to the pen body but that gets hard after a while.

One of the reasons I haven't been posting here a lot is because I don't know what to write. Oh I know I can do Scripture, or I can use quotes. I had a ton of books on quotes to use for writing or calligraphy but got rid of them since now they are widely available online. But hey, I've always wanted to be a writer. In fact that's the reason why I started this blog in the first place! So I should come up with my own words. I often think in narrative and I should write down those thoughts. In fact I've just ordered yet another journal of sorts since I'm still looking for one that I will actually sit down to write in. Hey I see I was in a rut back then too. And no I haven't written much in that journal either. I should have a "journal garage sale."

More on my new journal setup later.

Recently I've been dealing with a bunch of doctor's appointments and testing. One day there was a cancellation and it threw my day off. But as the day went on, there were unexpected changes and that cancellation actually was a good thing that made the rest of the day go by rather smoothly.

So I've had this in my head since then.

Written with Iroshizuku Ina-ho in a Namiki Falcon 

I don't know, sounds kinda "wonky" now that I see it on paper. That is the first and only draft. I hear writers go through this self doubt thing all the time, and I'm good at self doubt. That's why I'm not doing much art, and I'm working on that.

So here is my well used Namiki Falcon with all of it's scars...

Oh and Ina-ho according to Namiki means "Rice ear"

I took this picture in Japan during a trip there BK (before kids) 

Not quite rice ear but rice in a field in Japan. Is there a resemblance to Ina-ho?

Next post will be about my metal body Pilot Falcon...hopefully soon!