Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, but first I need more coffee.

Month: September 2015

Of Fountain Pens and Notebooks

I’ve always written in notebooks. I’ve never kept a proper journal or diary. There is no coherence to them. I often don’t even go back to the old ones. In fact, I tossed a great number of steno pads when I got a divorce from my first wife.

However, writing in notebooks is an old habit to break. I jumped on the moleskine bandwagon and haven’t looked back, though I was dragged into using them kicking and screaming. Okay, not exactly, but I gave them a try and I liked it. Since it is a high quality notebook I decided it was time to up my penmanship game. A little research showed me that fountain pens were the way to go. I gave up on expensive pens long ago because I kept losing them. There are cheap fountain pens, Pilot Varsity is an inexpensive disposable fountain pen and they are quite nice.

Writing with a fountain pen is different than a ballpoint. The ink flows more readily. You really need to write in cursive, so now I need to up my cursive game. My handwriting isn’t always the most legible. [Note-when I was learning how to write in cursive Russian I couldn’t write in cursive English for a while. It was weird.]

I was hip to the idea of using my iPhone for taking notes and writing but have given up for now. There are people that can do it. I even own a bluetooth keyboard. Writing longhand gives me clarity. It reduces distractions and leaves me to my own thoughts. It gives me more time to ponder as I put down words on the page.

I’m looking at other notebooks. Moleskines are pricey though paper in general is getting more expensive, so I’m looking at other brands. Rhodia seems to be another popular brand amongst aficionados of writing by hand. I’ll have to try one out. I have to use the technology that matches my thinking style. Touchscreen devices will improve and become more reliable and secure but until then pen and paper is my preferred aberration.

Back from Down Under

Just returned from our second trip to Australia. We only went to Melbourne and Sydney this time. We did a bus tour of Melbourne; last time we did a walking tour. In Sydney we did walking tour of the The Rocks and visited the Maritime Museum. This time we got to go on board the replica of the Endeavor (which is seaworthy and sails on an irregular basis).


Sunset over Sydney

I still did not get to see any flying foxes nor either of the Magellanic Clouds. We ate at a really good Thai restaurant near our hotel in Sydney and a really good Turkish restaurant in Newtown. In Melbourne our first stop after checking into our hotel on Lygon street was to get sims for our devices and then hit Brunetti for their amazing pastries.


ANZAC War Memorial in Sydney

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