16 Pages.....

16 pages... that's how many pages are left in the above journal and it's frustrating the beans out of me.

I am less intimidated staring at a book of blank pages than I am these final few. I don't write in my journal every day, so I get antsy anticipating the start of a new one while I still don't have the words to finish the one I'm currently on. And this one has been taking longer to finish than normal. I usually run through a journal in about 2 months yet I'm almost at the end of my third with this one. Granted its one that's larger than I'm used to, at 7x9"and that's a bit more space to write in in comparison to the typical 6x8" size I prefer.

Larger books take me longer to write across the page and I think it gets a little tiring for me - less sense of accomplishment in finishing a page or two when it would be 3 or 4 in a smaller journal. Come to think of it, I remember struggling to finish a similar sized hardbound Clairefontaine journal about a year ago.

Hardcover books get a little awkward to handle in their last few pages as well. I almost always write on my knee or in my hand and when all of the paper is on the left hand side of the book it becomes clumsy and awkward and I just don't want to use it as much.

The whole thing in my eyes comes down to whatever your choice of journal, you have to love writing in it all the time, from the first page to the last. Though I really like writing and doodling in the blank off-white Paperblanks paper, this will most likely be the last time I use one of their journals in the Ultra size.

Then comes the big decision on which journal to pick next as I've got quite a few different ones on hand. I like trying new books, and I've got one of the new Leuchtturm journals here, and also an Eco-System. Decisions, decisions.....

So which is easier for you? Starting a new journal or finishing one with 16 pages to go?

Married 8 years ago today, together for a total of 23 years.

In this pic, I'm 19 and Jeff is 24 - 1988.



In this pic, I'm 40 and Jeff is 46 - 2009. Time flies.... I've been with him over half my life.

Happy Anniversary Sweetie!

Bean Tip #2: If Your Fountain Pen Writes too Wide, too Wet, too Thin, too Dry...

I often hear from people about how a particular fountain pen isn't performing the way they would like. Here are several things to consider before ditching that pen:

If it's a new pen and it's writing thin, did you flush the pen before inking it for the first time? I'm one of those people that inks a pen without flushing and I've definitely noticed a "break-in" period in this situation. My Pelikan M200 is the perfect example. It was a super dry, thin writer until I worked through a number of pages with it.

If you are using an ink converter in your pen and it's writing dry, try twisting the converter a wee bit until you see ink appear at the feed. This is known as "priming." I notice that this often happens as the ink starts to run low in the pen.

Consider your ink. Now that I've had the opportunity to try about a hundred different bottles of ink, I've noticed that some flow more freely than others and that some even have a lubricating quality about them. Sailor Jentle inks (though a bit on the smelly side) are very lubricating and seem to make most any pen write smoother. If you don't want to spend a fortune buying bottles of ink that you may not like, I suggest trying Pear Tree Pens Ink Sampling System.

Consider your paper. Some paper is more absorbent than others, period. The more absorbent the paper, the greater the chance it will pull more ink from your nib and make it appear to be writing wider than normal. Clairefontaine 90g paper products seem to be the least prone to this "spreading." It might not be a bad investment to try a small tablet of Clairefontaine to use as a baseline for testing pens and inks.

Send it to a nibmeister. Yes, there are people that specialize in getting your fountain pen nibs to flow to your liking. Richard Binder is probably one of the best known, but there are many others out there.

Some pen companies nibs just ARE thinner/wider than others. Consider before purchasing - Japanese pen nibs are typically thinner than those of Western manufacturers. Lamy nibs are known to run a little wide.

Try the Fountain Pen Network. If all else fails, try posting on the FPN with questions, or if you've really just had enough, offer the pen for sale or trade in their Marketplace.