It’s no secret that I love fountain pens. They’re my preferred writing instrument of choice, and not without good reason. Check out the eight reasons below on what I think the best benefits are of using a fountain pen. If you’re already a fountain pen enthusiast, share the list to help convert your friends!
He makes some great, um… Points.
Katie Paterson, Future Library
A forest has been planted in Norway, which will supply paper for a special anthology of books to be printed in one hundred years time. Between now and then, one writer every year will contribute a text, with the writings held in trust, unpublished, until 2114.
Really neat idea.
Via Joe Nally
2 | To Reuse This Notebook, Just Pop It In The Microwave | Co.Design | business + design
Rocketbook, designed by startup Rocket Innovations, looks and feels like a traditional paper notebook and pen combination, but it uses heat-sensitive ink and is paired with a smart app. (The pens, FriXion ballpoints by Pilot, are cheap and easy to find at places like Staples.) When you stick the 8.5-inch-by-11-inch notebook in the microwave for 30 seconds, all 100 of its pages are cleared, so its infinitely reusable.
It’s an interesting idea, for sure.
I should mention that all of the Write Notepads & Co. pencils are “left-handed” pencils. When I first heard this I thought, “What?? How can a pencil be right or left handed?” Well, here’s the thing—branding on the pencils is printed in such a way that it appears right side up when held in the left hand, and upside down when held in the right. I’d never considered this before, undoubtedly because I’m right handed so the issue just never occurred to me. Chris Rothe—one of the founding brothers— is left handed, so this bit of whimsy makes perfect sense. Why shouldn’t left handed writers have pencil branding oriented for them?
Huh. You learn something new every day. Also, this further contributes to my goal to continue making this a safe and friendly place for left-handed handwriters.
I wanted a simple, searchable index of all the topics in all my notebooks. So I built it, and you can use it too. Indxd lets you quickly enter notebooks and their topics, then search and browse everything.
This is seriously cool and useful. I just signed up and started adding my most current notebook. Plan on doing past ones over the next few days too. So good.
Neil Gaiman on getting hooked on handwriting – Tulsa World: ARTS
“I was trying to write a story that I wanted to have the rhythm of something that might have been written in the 1920s,” Gaiman said, “and I loved the idea of how writing by hand might affect the story being told.”
Handwritten newsletter | Think Clearly
This is so neat (and an idea I have had kicking around for a bit). Signed up on the spot.
But wait, there’s more…
I took the time to peruse the site and found that this is part of a methodology and course offering that is described as the following:
Think Clearly is a creative practice for connecting with your purpose, hatching your visions and making them come true. It all begins with pen and paper.
Yep, I’ll be spending some time with this as well.
(via Swiss Miss)
My Pacific Crest Trail Moleskine Journals | The Hike Guy
I was laid off from my job of six years and decided to hike as much as I could of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The journey started at the Mexican border near Campo, California, headed north through the harsh deserts of eastern California, into the wilds of the Sierra Nevada, and through the thick forests of Northern California. 159 days later, my life-changing journey came to an end in early October after hiking nearly 1,700 miles of the trail. I came home with a strong appreciation for life and nature, a thinner waistline, and over 850 pages of journals! Before sharing any of the stories, videos, or thousands of photos I took on the journey, I’d like to share that which is most precious to me: my journals.
The image above is just one of many. This whole post will strike you with wanderlust and the desire to pack up a pen and paper and hit the nearest trail.
Shuffling cards to think | 52 Tiger
Many writers and creative types have little habits they engage in when they need to think. Some shoot hoops, others go for a walk and so on. I shuffle cards. I keep five decks of cards at my desk for this sole purpose. Whenever I’m thinking through an article or a tricky passage, or I simply need to come up with something to write about, I’ll shuffle my cards.
I used to keep a yo-yo around for the very reason but stopped the habit a long time ago for some reason. Think it is time to pick it back up.
A Reflection on One Year of Daily Journaling – The Newsprint
What matters is that it has changed my life. Recording, recognizing, and signifying important events in the past year has improved my memory and my realism. Pushing the tidal waves of thought and emotion through the nib and onto paper has created a metaphorical bottleneck — my recorded thoughts now have structure, my daily doings now have amplified importance.
Another beautiful essay with stunning photos from Josh.