28 Days of Letter Writing

Today is Day 28 of InCoWriMo 2017, the final day, the final letter. I've done it! I have written a form of handwritten correspondence for each of the 28 days in February 2017 following a project called InCoWriMo or International Correspondence Writing Month. I've been ignoring what has been a passion of mine, and I also feel has been my "calling," yes from God, letter writing. In the past I used to write letters of encouragement for my then home church. My wife used to tell me that I wrote nice letters. I let that get away. But thanks to InCoWriMo I have started writing letters again. 

Twenty eight days of writing notes and letters has been a time of discovery and learning. I've known for sometime that my obsession with penmanship, flexible nib fountain pens, fountain pen friendly paper, etc, has stopped me from writing or at the very least, impeded getting my thoughts or mana`o across to the recipient of my handwritten letter or note. But yet I incorrectly felt nice penmanship was what everyone wanted. At the beginning the month, a lot of my letters were brief and usually started of with, "just a short note" while I struggled with my poor penmanship. I knew that had to stop if I truly wanted to make the words on my letters count. 

I mentioned about my pen obsession and how I thought it was getting in my way to my friend Joan from Rusty's Hawaiian Coffee. She has been encouraging me with my writing for some time now. And she nailed it with this, "Exactly. Less focus on form, more focus on letting words flow." As the title of an old book I have read says, Put Your Heart on Paper written by Henriette Klauser. I haven't been doing that. So I put penmanship aside, ignored the flexible nib, used a ballpoint pen, wrote on postcards, wrote in cursive or not. But I wrote. And I am writing letters. More than "just a short note." And I'm letting the words flow from my heart.

I'm not stopping after February 28, 2017 either. Now that I've gotten started, I'm continuing on with my calling. At the beginning I had compiled a list for my InCoWriMo letters to send, but I did ad lib along the way, so there are a few names left I did not get to. But those names that are left on the list are the ones I really wanted to put an effort into. I wanted to put more time and thought into writing each letter without having to worry about the letter of the day. So those names will go onto a new ongoing list titled Letters to Write. 

And to those who received one of my letters early on that said "just a short note." Let me know. I'll send another one. I do need the practice!

Not Calligraphy, and it was Refreshing!

Today I wrote a letter for InCoWriMo. It's day 7 and I'm already a day behind so I thought to write the usual, "just a short note" as I often wind up doing for InCoWriMo. But today I would make it simple, I would not use a flexible nib fountain pen and worry about the lettering and how it will look, but concentrate on what I want to say. Afterall a note saying "Just a short note for InCoWriMo" is just empty words. I chose to use an old Mont Blanc 149 and I wouldn't have to think about ascenders, descenders, weight, etc. Just write.

An it felt refreshing! 

I've been struggling with this for years. I feel as though I "owe" it to the recipient to write the letter with nice handwriting or as some call it, calligraphy. That is what I had been recognized for in the past years.  However when I focus on the lettering, I lose touch of why I write notes and letters to begin with. That I want to convey a message. As my friend Joan told me, there should be, "less focus on form, more focus on letting words flow."

This focus on form has kept me from a host of creative endeavors including art and music. Recently I posted a picture of an art set on Instagram. We bought it for our son mainly because it was really inexpensive. Someone posted a comment on that post, "Dang that's really cool!" I replied back saying I wasn't sure about the quality of the art supplies because of the price. She replied back with, "Hours of fun if nothing else-and that's what counts." 

Boom! 

So hopefully from now moving forward, no more "just a short note for InCoWriMo." No more empty words! After all if there's anything I feel has been my calling from God, it's writing letters. And I've been letting Him down. 

I Just Want to Write

I started this blog because, for a long time I've had, and still have, an interest in writing. I thought blogging would be an easy way to share the thoughts and ideas in my writing. But after I started, something happened along the way. It's been nearly two years since my last entry.

 

My first problem was I made it too complicated to prepare for a post, for the most part because of the process to add my pictures. Then there was other text options like adding hyperlinks, fonts and text colors, to make it cool. It took a lot of work. That makes me procrastinate. I stopped writing. There's a new blogging tool that showed up since I started my blog, the Blogger app for my smart phone. It is limited but I'd like to use it to post most of my entries. I want to keep things simple and short. I don't like reading lengthy blog posts so I shouldn't post any right?

Also for some reason, my blog has sort of turned into a "pen blog." That was not the intent although I do love pens, fountain pens in particular. I am not a "pen person." I just enjoy good pens. So I'm going to mix it up a little.
 

It seems I just want this to be an extension of Instagram where I can post more than one picture at a time and write a bit more than I would. Thanks to @inkybeads on Instagram for giving me the idea and much needed motivation to start posting on this blog again.

Let's see how this goes. And bug me if I don't follow through. 

Is Anyone Still Interested In This Blog?

Of course no one's interested, I haven't posted anything for almost a year. Seems my pen community on social media is growing on Instagram, and that's where I've been hanging out. But there are limits on how much you can write though not limited to "140" like Twitter. And you can only post one picture at a time. But it's fast and easy. Less likely for me to procrastinate. 

I'm going to try and post here more often. And to make it easier, I'll write mostly short posts with one or two pictures, using the Blogger app on my iPod like I'm doing right now, unless I have more to say or share. 

Oh and I don't intend to do any pen, paper, and ink reviews. There are others who do them quite well. But I do want to share my manaʻo which is why I started this blog. 

So what do you think? Oh and I'll limit my food and coffee pictures on this blog. 

See you soon...

Finally Another Video. The Pilot Pen Justus 95 Adjustable Nib Fountain Pen

It's been 3 years since I created and posted my first video, the Dance of the Falcon, and I finally found some time to do another one. I created this video to show how the soon to be released in the USA, Pilot Pen Justus 95 with an adjustable nib functions and performs. I did do a post on this pen a few months ago, I'm hoping this video will give you an idea of what the pen is about.

So introducing...

Here's a link in case the video does not play on mobile devices.

It's a bit rough on the edges and I have a lot to improve on. From this time on I want to:

* Create longer videos.
* Get better at editing.
* Get better at filming.
* Get better at writing with a pen and filming at the same time.
* Perhaps add voice overs.
* Get creative.
* Get a mani!

Since I did the first video, my interest in videos has piqued and more so after seeing a "vlog" for the first time by my now friend 808yewtube. I have a lot to learn and perhaps some day I will create a vlog to get my mana'o out there.

Thanks for reading!

Oh and psst...it was 808yewtube's idea about the mani!

The Finer Points in Life

After thirty six years as an automotive technician, I have made a career move and now have a desk job. Oh I still fix cars for a living, but instead of using wrenches and screwdrivers I now use a computer and a phone. I provide tech support for dealership technicians. I still get to work on cars occasionally so I guess I can keep my name Greasemonkeyhands though these days most auto techs wear gloves and keep our hands in fair shape.

 That said I now can play with fountain pens more often at work at "my desk"...still sounds so weird to say that. When I receive a call, I write and keep notes in a notebook, and using a fountain pen does create challenges with bleed through when using medium or broader nibs. And I'm not willing to spend a lot of money for fountain pen friendly notebooks, I'll use the cheap lined ones.

Oh I love fat juicy nibs or fine flex nibs for handwritten correspondence on good paper, but this is different. I don't want to use a ballpoint pen because it can be so, blah! I'm going to try fine non flexible nibs which I have never pursued before. Today I did a test using my Pilot Prera fine, Pilot Justus fine adjustable set at the hard setting, and a ballpoint pen.

 So it may work out using a fine nib fountain pen and I bet ink makes a difference too. I do have two other fine nib pens at home, a Sheaffer I purchased at a closeout sale, and a new old Mont Blanc Meistersutck that someone gave to me though it needs some TLC.

If a fountain pen just does not work out though, there are some very nice ballpoint pens out there that are aesthetically pleasing and fit well in your hand still making writing enjoyable.

Oh and as you can see I'm not writing in cursive or script as most people expect from me, and believe me it gets a lot sloppier than that. When I get a call I have to write fast, very fast! I cannot worry about my handwriting at least at this time. Maybe because of this when I do sit down to write a letter or note, I will slow down, savour and enjoy the experience...

...and that enjoyment will be conveyed to the recipient of the letter.

The Dreaded Ballpoint Pen

I've been thinking about writing a post on this subject for a while, so I finally sat down and typed it out. But after looking at the draft it really does not sound that great, in fact it sounded lame!. It's been sitting as a draft for over a month and I was procrastinating. But I guess I do need to take a break from posting about Pilot or Namiki pens.So after a bit of edtiting here it goes. 

It's funny that among the fountain pen aficionados, it seems to be a big no-no to write with a ballpoint pen. You wrote with a what??? But in my opinion, there are times when a ballpoint may be a preferable choice, and good to have as a part of your daily arsenal. 

Here are a few reasons...

Paper: There is always concern about paper being "fountain pen friendly."  There's concern about feathering, bleed through, etc. With a ballpoint, there is rarely a concern with paper choice. No need to purchase an expensive journal or notepad, you can even use one of those black and white composition book. Even rather costly Moleskine books are not fountian pen friendly. Also instead of costly stationery, you can use ink jet paper from a...OMG...ream!

Greeting cards: Have you ever tried to use a fountain pen while trying to share a Hallmark moment on a store bought greeting card? I don't appreciate "fuzzy" lettering so I wind up writing my greetings on a piece of fountain pen friendly paper and enclosing it in the card which may not be a bad idea since the card can be re gifted.

Waterproof ink: Fountain pen inks are often water soluble though I've read there may be a few that are waterproof. But it may not be a good idea to use a non waterproof ink to address a snail mail envelope when the weather is less than desirable. No problems with a ballpoint.

Also I think that some feel that you cannot write "beautifully" using a BP. I think you can. Part of my "Daily Arsenal" of pens that I carry around most of the time is a Uniball Jetstream 1.0.

I use this pen primarily for writing checks...yes I still write them. But when there is no need  for one, this is my go to ballpoint pen. It writes pretty smooth and leaves a very nice line.  You can still write decently in cursive.

If you took the time you could write in a calligraphic style though it doesn't make sense to have to "draw letters."

If you're ashamed to be seen with a cheapy $1.00 drugstore pen, or even worse a free pen used for promotion or advertisement, most of the high end pen manufacturers like Mont Blanc, Pelikan, Pilot, etc offer ballpoints and also mechanical pencils and  rollerballs. The ballpoint refills are pretty much the same quality with most of the brand names and they all write about the same, but the pen body is what separates the Mont Blancs from the Papermates.

My wife has a Mont Blanc Dumas Writer Series ballpoint. I swear it's the most comfortable pen to hold in your hand and it is very nice to look at. It certainly enhances the writing experience. Sorry no picture.

I think these are no longer available in the US, but I've had this Namiki Ball Point for a long time.

Ok so much for a break on Namiki...sorry!

The beauty of this pen was the double broad refill that is sadly no longer available. I wish Pilot would bring it back.

It writes very smooth and also leaves a "nice line" though this refill is on it's last legs.

I remember I once wrote on a postcard and sent  it to my late friend Earl of Honolulu Pen Shop. He told me that he thought it was written with a fountain pen!

But perhaps the most important use for a ballpoint pen is...

for those people who ask to borrow a pen. That's when you do want to have available a cheapy, freebie, junky BP like this to loan out!