I have a collection of fountain pens, some expensive, some less so. My Lamy Al Star is one of my favourites for everyday use writing when I'm in the fountain pen mood.
One thing I enjoy is experimenting with different ink colours, and some permanent ("durable") inks (most fountain pen inks are water soluble - so protect your paper or it runs/erases if it gets wet). The supplier that had a good collection of "durable" ink was Noodlers (https://noodlersink.com/). You need to have either a converter or a syringe to refill your cartridges, but after having a water bottle spill erase weeks of writing one time, I found it necessary. Also, you can mix different Noodler's ink colours to create your own interesting blends. (Just don't mix their ink with other inks, that can diminish their durability).
A few weeks ago, in order to help with anxiety, I cut back from 3-4 cups of caffeinated down to 1 cup in the morning and the rest decaf. In another week I'll be moving to complete decaf and then no coffee except for on rare occasions. Stimulants, soda included, are usually acidic (bad for the teeth) and can be known to increase anxiety levels.
I agree that coffee is an acquired taste. There isn't a single person I know who said oh, yeah, the first time I had coffee I just loved it! Not unless it was loaded with cream and sugar. You won't get any guff from me... at least not about coffee 🤣
Coffee, tea, milk, or soda pop. Pick your poison. Was going to see if you wanted to experiment on the new Substack “Letters” feature re: fountain pens. I have my favorite old pen but it needs cleaning and blue-black cartridges that fit it. Will report back on that. Lemme know about the Letters feature. Cheers MM
I am one of the ones that you speak of, who languishes without a cup. I think 26 years of drinking it means my brain is permanently wired for it. I like that you note the ritualistic nature of it, though, and that's in part the benefit for me. I love the smell, the taste; I wake up early early, and have a cup in the quiet space of the house, no errands, just writing and reading and making things.
I don't have a fountain pen, but condone your fandom for stationary. Perhaps an indulgence to try over the holidays!
I never got the taste for coffee or tea. I do like a morning vape though, which essentially is a swig of coffee as both are low level stimulants.
I never got into fountain pens either, probably because it would just wind up in with my art supplies or something. Neil Gaiman is a big fan of them I think.
Mark, I wonder if your parents drank coffee when you were a kid? Because I think the reason I like coffee (plain, black coffee only - espresso, Turkish/Armenian coffee) is because I associate it with home. My mom and grandma would always grind their own coffee beans and make coffee in a small Armenian coffee pot, and the aroma was very strong and spread across the house.
I developed a taste for coffee at a shockingly young age, thanks to a neighbor who would make me a cup of milk, two sugars, and a splash of coffee. Why my mom thought this was a good idea for a toddler is beyond me, but in her defense it was the late 70s. Not that kept drinking that watered down (milked down??) version of coffee for very long. But I did get serious about coffee and coffee houses when I was in high school. From that point until around 33 I drank as many cups per day as I wanted. I drank them morning, noon, and night. Then one day I got the jitters pretty bad. I cut back to two cups per day tops. About a year ago, I cut the milk and the sugar. That wasn’t easy. But it did make me more of a coffee snob because if you’re not going to add milk and sugar you better drink the good stuff. All that being said, I don’t *need* coffee to start my day, not anymore anyway. In fact, I often go through streaks where I don’t drink it for weeks; sometimes I drink tea, sometimes no caffeine. Also, I don’t look down on people who don’t drink coffee. I low-key envy them.
I'd saved reading this post so I could have a treat when I'd finished polishing my own latest post - it was worth the wait! I laughed out loud when I saw that it was in part about coffee, because the post I've just scheduled for Saturday is all about TEA! 🤣
Your line 'I get that for many of you, drinking coffee is like taking insulin' has reminded me with amusement of a bit I've just edited out. As a teenager I suddenly noticed my mum wasn't drinking tea any more. She explained: 'When you had your diabetes diagnosis you had to stop taking sugar in yours, so I did too. And then I realised I couldn't stand the stuff without it. So I stopped drinking it altogether. It's taken you two years to notice!' 🤣 ♥️ Gosh, I love that woman.♥️
-> "It’s like seeing the cumulative effect on people who feel sad about their favorite football/basketball/hockey team getting eliminated from their playoffs, only it’s EVERY MORNING."
I never thought about it from this perspective. No need to feel pressure to join us drug addicts, though :-) That really is the situation, however fancy we make our coffee-and-tea shops or whatever oaky or smoky tastes we ascribe to our favorite beans-n-leaves.
For me, it's the sensation of holding the warm tea cup. Like a cuddly worry stone.
Two cups of Joe every morning (with a shot of Vanilla Creamer) because I wanted to cut out the sugar, but not the sweetness. :)
I initially didn't care for the taste, but everyone at my first job (I was 16) drank it from a vending machine and I wanted to fit in. Since I was broken in on awful-tasting coffee everything that came after tasted amazing.
I love Pilot ball point pens, but will write with pretty much anything as long as it has a fine point. We do become set in our ways in just about everything!
I'm a big fountain and dip pen fan and i write with them and about them a lot (my christmas wish is a pretty fountain pen). But a good cheapo ball point pen is another thing i cant live without! They are one of my fave things to draw with. Some ball point line art with some fountain pen ink colour splashed on? So pretty! Great post!
Both my parents drink coffee and my dad smokes. Luckily, I only picked up their coffee habit, but I enjoy the taste. It's odd how our taste for some things changes over the years. When I was younger, I couldn't stand onions. Now that I'm older, I love them. Raw, cooked, whatever, I just like the taste. I guess we can't fight out taste buds.
I am in the market for a good pen and will look into the Lamy Safari. Can I trust someone who doesn't drink coffee, though?? I'll let you know :D
I had to chuckle a bit when you described a Lamy Safari as like a luxury car, I must admit!
Whilst my caffeine reliance is mostly due to being a shift worker, I understand what you mean about being excluded from a club – I feel the same way about alcohol.
I have a collection of fountain pens, some expensive, some less so. My Lamy Al Star is one of my favourites for everyday use writing when I'm in the fountain pen mood.
One thing I enjoy is experimenting with different ink colours, and some permanent ("durable") inks (most fountain pen inks are water soluble - so protect your paper or it runs/erases if it gets wet). The supplier that had a good collection of "durable" ink was Noodlers (https://noodlersink.com/). You need to have either a converter or a syringe to refill your cartridges, but after having a water bottle spill erase weeks of writing one time, I found it necessary. Also, you can mix different Noodler's ink colours to create your own interesting blends. (Just don't mix their ink with other inks, that can diminish their durability).
A few weeks ago, in order to help with anxiety, I cut back from 3-4 cups of caffeinated down to 1 cup in the morning and the rest decaf. In another week I'll be moving to complete decaf and then no coffee except for on rare occasions. Stimulants, soda included, are usually acidic (bad for the teeth) and can be known to increase anxiety levels.
I agree that coffee is an acquired taste. There isn't a single person I know who said oh, yeah, the first time I had coffee I just loved it! Not unless it was loaded with cream and sugar. You won't get any guff from me... at least not about coffee 🤣
Coffee, tea, milk, or soda pop. Pick your poison. Was going to see if you wanted to experiment on the new Substack “Letters” feature re: fountain pens. I have my favorite old pen but it needs cleaning and blue-black cartridges that fit it. Will report back on that. Lemme know about the Letters feature. Cheers MM
I am one of the ones that you speak of, who languishes without a cup. I think 26 years of drinking it means my brain is permanently wired for it. I like that you note the ritualistic nature of it, though, and that's in part the benefit for me. I love the smell, the taste; I wake up early early, and have a cup in the quiet space of the house, no errands, just writing and reading and making things.
I don't have a fountain pen, but condone your fandom for stationary. Perhaps an indulgence to try over the holidays!
“What would life be without coffee? But, then, what is life even with coffee?” - King Louis XV
I never got the taste for coffee or tea. I do like a morning vape though, which essentially is a swig of coffee as both are low level stimulants.
I never got into fountain pens either, probably because it would just wind up in with my art supplies or something. Neil Gaiman is a big fan of them I think.
Mark, I wonder if your parents drank coffee when you were a kid? Because I think the reason I like coffee (plain, black coffee only - espresso, Turkish/Armenian coffee) is because I associate it with home. My mom and grandma would always grind their own coffee beans and make coffee in a small Armenian coffee pot, and the aroma was very strong and spread across the house.
Bought my first Parker pen last year and haven't looked back. Switched over to real ink too. This was a great read. Thanks Mark
I developed a taste for coffee at a shockingly young age, thanks to a neighbor who would make me a cup of milk, two sugars, and a splash of coffee. Why my mom thought this was a good idea for a toddler is beyond me, but in her defense it was the late 70s. Not that kept drinking that watered down (milked down??) version of coffee for very long. But I did get serious about coffee and coffee houses when I was in high school. From that point until around 33 I drank as many cups per day as I wanted. I drank them morning, noon, and night. Then one day I got the jitters pretty bad. I cut back to two cups per day tops. About a year ago, I cut the milk and the sugar. That wasn’t easy. But it did make me more of a coffee snob because if you’re not going to add milk and sugar you better drink the good stuff. All that being said, I don’t *need* coffee to start my day, not anymore anyway. In fact, I often go through streaks where I don’t drink it for weeks; sometimes I drink tea, sometimes no caffeine. Also, I don’t look down on people who don’t drink coffee. I low-key envy them.
I'd saved reading this post so I could have a treat when I'd finished polishing my own latest post - it was worth the wait! I laughed out loud when I saw that it was in part about coffee, because the post I've just scheduled for Saturday is all about TEA! 🤣
Your line 'I get that for many of you, drinking coffee is like taking insulin' has reminded me with amusement of a bit I've just edited out. As a teenager I suddenly noticed my mum wasn't drinking tea any more. She explained: 'When you had your diabetes diagnosis you had to stop taking sugar in yours, so I did too. And then I realised I couldn't stand the stuff without it. So I stopped drinking it altogether. It's taken you two years to notice!' 🤣 ♥️ Gosh, I love that woman.♥️
-> "It’s like seeing the cumulative effect on people who feel sad about their favorite football/basketball/hockey team getting eliminated from their playoffs, only it’s EVERY MORNING."
I never thought about it from this perspective. No need to feel pressure to join us drug addicts, though :-) That really is the situation, however fancy we make our coffee-and-tea shops or whatever oaky or smoky tastes we ascribe to our favorite beans-n-leaves.
For me, it's the sensation of holding the warm tea cup. Like a cuddly worry stone.
Two cups of Joe every morning (with a shot of Vanilla Creamer) because I wanted to cut out the sugar, but not the sweetness. :)
I initially didn't care for the taste, but everyone at my first job (I was 16) drank it from a vending machine and I wanted to fit in. Since I was broken in on awful-tasting coffee everything that came after tasted amazing.
I love Pilot ball point pens, but will write with pretty much anything as long as it has a fine point. We do become set in our ways in just about everything!
Well there goes my idea to see if you’d meet up for a coffee if I’m ever in your neck of the woods! 😎
I'm a big fountain and dip pen fan and i write with them and about them a lot (my christmas wish is a pretty fountain pen). But a good cheapo ball point pen is another thing i cant live without! They are one of my fave things to draw with. Some ball point line art with some fountain pen ink colour splashed on? So pretty! Great post!
Both my parents drink coffee and my dad smokes. Luckily, I only picked up their coffee habit, but I enjoy the taste. It's odd how our taste for some things changes over the years. When I was younger, I couldn't stand onions. Now that I'm older, I love them. Raw, cooked, whatever, I just like the taste. I guess we can't fight out taste buds.
I am in the market for a good pen and will look into the Lamy Safari. Can I trust someone who doesn't drink coffee, though?? I'll let you know :D
I had to chuckle a bit when you described a Lamy Safari as like a luxury car, I must admit!
Whilst my caffeine reliance is mostly due to being a shift worker, I understand what you mean about being excluded from a club – I feel the same way about alcohol.