Growing pen obsession.

[Mary Terry]

You have a slight forward lean on your lettering which is unusual for a lefty, although that's how we're taught to write. My mother said she was left handed when she was little but they beat it out of her in school, so she learned to write right handed but did many other things left handed.

My cousin was born lefthanded, broke his left arm in the second grade, and had to use his right arm to write. Today, he is ambidextrous and uses either hand equally well. He says it doesn't matter which one he uses.

 

[Shevek]

Does anyone want my old set of drafting pens? They have various sizes of tubes for different line widths. The tips are square-cut, and ink is released by a fine wire that moves inside the tube when you touch it to paper. I might still have a humidor/stand for them.

 

[DrBadStrings]

Does anyone want my old set of drafting pens? They have various sizes of tubes for different line widths. The tips are square-cut, and ink is released by a fine wire that moves inside the tube when you touch it to paper. I might still have a humidor/stand for them.

I'm sure someone will take you up on that offer. I would but I've very little room as it is for storing stuff so a lot of drafting pens I'd likely never use would be overkill. Though as I type this I can feel my brother cringing 1000km's away for not taking you up on the offer. Where are you located anyways Country wise? Canada myself.

 

[Shevek]

I'm sure someone will take you up on that offer. I would but I've very little room as it is for storing stuff so a lot of drafting pens I'd likely never use would be overkill. Though as I type this I can feel my brother cringing 1000km's away for not taking you up on the offer. Where are you located anyways Country wise? Canada myself.

Also Canada. These pens would need a lot of work to clear out the dried ink. Before I got them, I used a crow quill a lot. I remember being quite disappointed around age five when I showed a rather successful drawing in pen and ink, and was told that a ball point didn't count as a pen. My current favourites are 4-colour Bics for technical sketches, and a Staedtler Calligraphic Duo 3002. It has different sizes on each end, and the caps from each fit on the other end when in use. Also fond of a gold ink pen to make the standard calligraphy look like 3-D.

 

[DrBadStrings]

 

[DrBadStrings]

@Outdated I'm chuckling because now whenever I write all I can see is that forward leaning slant. Thanks for pointing that out buddy. Speaking of which I just received a new pen today. Faber Castell : Hexo with a medium nib.

For those that can't make out my handwriting this was what I wrote bellow.

"First impression, very pleased with the feel and flow of this pen. The round grip is much nicer than the Lamy. The fact that it came with an included converter is a really nice bonus. I also like the fact that [it] is made of aluminum and not plastic or resin. If asked I would certainly recommend it for a good entry level pen. "

I've also done some journaling with the new pen and really couldn't be happier with it. And for $45 Cad it's really not a bad price at all. The other just wonderful ocd touch has to do with the hexagon barrel and cap. There are ridges on the inside of the cap to ensure that all the sides always line up when posting.

 

[Outdated]

@Outdated I'm chuckling because now whenever I write all I can see is that forward leaning slant. Thanks for pointing that out buddy.

When we were being taught to write we had sheets a bit like the picture below, this went underneath the page we were writing on and you could faintly see the black lines showing through as a guide.

 

[Mary Terry]

When we were being taught to write we had sheets a bit like the picture below, this went underneath the page we were writing on and you could faintly see the black lines showing through as a guide.

We had ruled or lined paper like that in the first and second grades to teach us how to form the letters. I remember being thrilled in the third grade when we no longer had to use that paper. I had great handwriting as a child but my handwriting now is virtually illegible. Sometimes I struggle to read my own handwriting.

 

[Shevek]

I was skipped over the grade where cursive writing was taught. I never got good at it, and reverted to printing. However, I can quickly do legible, stylish, sign writing freehand.

 

[DrBadStrings]

Not a new pen but new ink. Lamy Crystal ink series Amazonite. Really like this color and will be using it for a while in my journal. Might be a little too bright for work though.

 

[Forest Cat]

This matters more for the lefties out there but here is an imagine showing what is meant by an overwriter vs underwriter as compared to the expected horizontal right handed approach. Personally in my own writing I am a severe overwrite so when I'm handling a fountain pen I actually have the nib rotated about 90 degrees compared to a right handed person/Horizontal writer. But in writing differently than the way instruments were designed it creates an added learning curve. Any other Over/Under writers out there?
View attachment 136489

I was always an overwriter. And it was always a little annoying, having to curl my hand up like that. It's not a comfortable way to write or hold your arm. It was especially annoying when I was a wee boy learning to write. I was always smearing my text, writing things two times because I accidentally smeared it. I did eventually switch to an underwriting style, it was easier on the hand. And when you overwrite, you smear the sentences above the one you are writing.

I happened to see these pens a while ago, what a nifty invention.

 

[DrBadStrings]

I was always an overwriter. And it was always a little annoying, having to curl my hand up like that. It's not a comfortable way to write or hold your arm. It was especially annoying when I was a wee boy learning to write. I was always smearing my text, writing things two times because I accidentally smeared it. I did eventually switch to an underwriting style, it was easier on the hand. And when you overwrite, you smear the sentences above the one you are writing.

I happened to see these pens a while ago, what a nifty invention.

View attachment 136696

While interesting I don't think I'd bother. I'm so used to using right handed writing implements that an actual "lefty" pen would seem strange. It's like the "Left-Handed" fountain pen nib I tried. In the end I prefer the normal ones. But that is still pretty neat.

 

[Forest Cat]

Fun fact for you, by design ballpoints and rollerballs are right handed instruments. As you write you drag the pen across the page pulling the ball away from the tip allowing for proper ink flow. A left handed person pushes the pen across the page pushing the ball up into the tip which then causes the pen to jam and stop flowing.

I have not thought about that before, it makes a lot of sense. I have probably thrown away 100 pens because they didn't work right. And I realize now that it wasn't the pens that were broken, it was me.
I used them wrong. Left-handedness really could be seen as a disability, since we have to live in a world designed for righties.

 

[DrBadStrings]

I have not thought about that before, it makes a lot of sense. I have probably thrown away 100 pens because they didn't work right. And I realize now that it wasn't the pens that were broken, it was me.
I used them wrong. Left-handedness really could be seen as a disability, since we have to live in a world designed for righties.

Left-handedness is actually considered to be neurodivergent in and of itself. But personally, I don't think there is anything broken about being a lefty. We just think a little different. Better if you ask me.

 

[Forest Cat]

Left-handedness is actually considered to be neurodivergent in and of itself. But personally, I don't think there is anything broken about being a lefty. We just think a little different. Better if you ask me.

No I was just joking a little. Broken isn't the right word. But I did fail and all the pens I discarded were perfectly fine.

 

[DrBadStrings]

No I was just joking a little. Broken isn't the right word. But I did fail and all the pens I discarded were perfectly fine.

I realized you were joking a little as am I.

I still think "left is best". I mean heck it even half-rhymes is you mispronounce it enough so it has to be true.

 

[DrBadStrings]

Another day another new pen. This time an inexpensive Parker Vector XL fountain pen for $12 Canadian. Photo of the pen below is a stock photo from the amazon website. The actual pen looks close but it's nowhere near as nice as the photo. That being said for the price on it, $12 Cad, it's a great pen. Writes very much like the Pilot V7 liquid ink. And I'll even give it bonus points for having a uniquely designed converter that allows for one handed filling. I can see buying a couple more just to play with different inks while keeping a nicer pen for my journaling.

The ink nearly didn't make it to the page. It leaked during shipping. Thankfully the outfit I bought from puts all of their ink bottles in individual sealed ziplock bags so it didn't get over everything. And about 2/3rds stayed in the bottle, the box the bottle was in however was ruined. I like the color though, purple mojo just makes me smile.

 

[Outdated]

I like the color though, purple mojo just makes me smile.

When I first read purple ink I thought of Enzo Ferrari, but the colour looks more like what we used to call Royal Blue.

 

[DrBadStrings]

When I first read purple ink I thought of Enzo Ferrari, but the colour looks more like what we used to call Royal Blue.

The camera/monitor doesn't do the colour justice. At least not on my screen. It's honestly close to the purple that the McDonalds Grimace character is.

 

[DrBadStrings]

Latest pen purchase. A Lamy Studio. This thing is amazing. Just the look and feel of it. I know the joke is obsessing over trains but this right here is it for me.