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Hello All, With the Philly Pen show swiftly approaching, part of my mind is wandering towards experiencing vintage pens, possibly bringing one to a new home... There is one problem... I'm afraid of issues that are beyond my rookie fountain pen level! I'm a persistent tinkerer with various things, including pens, to a minor degree. My concerns more so fall into the realm of reliability. -How delicate are some vintage pens? -How common are flow issues in vintage pens? -How sensitive are older materials to certain chemicals for cleaning? -What happens when a nib or fill mechanism breaks? - Will aging deteriorate the pens without use? Perhaps these questions are the signs that I'm not ready to delve into rather unknown realm of vintage pens... Regardless, what might be some suggestions for either a good first affordable vintage pen to look into, or advice on calming the jitters of stepping into the pens of the olden days?

Does anyone else have the fear of making a mess, especially when crouched over their new expensive journal poised to write a dodgy line of verse? I find myself doing this all the time. I think it comes from school where your work is supposed to be "neat and tidy" and the thought of filling my journal with crossings out and blots at times slows me down. I have to remind myself that it's my work, and no-one else is going to see it, at least until I have perfected it, and probably typed it up. Sometimes I have to force myself by vandalising a page by doodling or doing 5 minute automatic writing exercises to get myself into the it doesn't matter/creative mindset. It becomes less of a problem once the journal is part filled, but with new journals it is a big problem and sometimes I buy two journals, because subliminally I'm worried that I'll make a mess of one, so I always have a spare. Does anyone else have the same condition? What do you do to break in a new journal and get rid of the fear of making a mess?