Four Inked Pens
I own seventeen fountain pens. That’s a lot less than many people, I know, but to most people, especially those who don’t care about pens or stationary, it’s a ...
Category: Essay
Learning What I Like (and My First Vintage Pen)
At the end of the first day of last year’s California Pen Show, because I had about $600 left in my budget for the weekend, I impulse-bought a Sailor Cylint. Li...
My First Pen Show
About nine months ago, after a tragic Kindle Scribe syncing accident in which I lost about 20 pages worth of journaling, I (mostly) swore off digital tablets an...
Dan Provost of Studio Neat: Why We Made the Mark One
I’ve always enjoyed asking the maker of a thing the “why” behind their making. What problem were they trying to solve? What was lacking in wha...
Please Print (A Journaling Rant)
In these historic times, many people have turned to journalling as a way of keeping account for the next generation. So when the grandkids ask what it was like ...
The LDS Church Uses Pencils
Reader Angus Macfarlane reached out to me recently with an anecdote I found fascinating. He agreed to let me share it below: Patrick, I’ve been a long time read...
Timex Expedition Scout Review (or Why Watches Are Kind of Like Paper)
I know, I know—The Cramped is about analogue writing tools, not watches. But this post isn’t about watches, not really. It’s about choosing simple tools that do...
The Most Important Work
At the end of last year, I had the pleasure of reading Walter Isaacson’s wonderful biography of Leonardo da Vinci. One of the things I was most struck by ...
Why I Don’t Use Digital Productivity Tools (or How a Notebook Makes Me More Productive)
A Guest Post by Curtis McHale It seems that every day we are graced with a new digital productivity tool or an older one is talking about the next version with ...
The Pen Addict before The Pen Addict
Some of you may know that I had a long running and fairly popular podcast many years ago called enough. It was hosted by myself and Myke Hurley, who now runs th...