Dear Inky - Inky T O D - Topic O' Day

[amberleadavis]

Do those exist anymore?

[dcwaites]

Neil Gaiman has been mentioned

also Stephen King

[amberleadavis]

So, we can definitely agree that they are in the minority.

[amberleadavis]

DC, the bigger question, have you ever doodled with your pens?

[dcwaites]

Yes M'Lady, I do confess, I have doodled with my pens. But not for some time now.

And I hadn't noticed that I don't any more. This will require further cogitation. Perhaps with doodling.

 

And now for something entirely different.

Students go to school.

Some students turn up late.

When they do, they are supposed to provide some kind of explanation.

However, I was somewhat perturbed to find that a student had turned up at his primary school without expiation,

which I thought was a bit harsh, since primary school kids are normally at the mercy of adults (parent, bus driver, etc) in their journey to school.

[amberleadavis]

Oh dear, Inky had to use the dictionary.

[inkstainedruth]

In response to your pondering, I proffer these Pinky and the Brain responses (please note the inclusion of the fountain pen, and then 3 responses later the tattoo parlor).

 

https://youtu.be/v-xrnIXQ3iQ?t=46

 

I had forgotten just how funny these were.

Ruth Morrisson aka instainedruth

[dcwaites]

[LizEF]

Dear Inky,

 

Remember that little problem I had back on page 1?  Um, it's a few orders of magnitude larger now.

 

Sincerely,

Happily Overwhelmed

 

PS: Sorry to revive the dead 👻 ⚰️  , but boy was this thread fun, even in hindsight.

[amberleadavis]

On 5/7/2021 at 7:21 PM, LizEF said:

Dear Inky,

 

Remember that little problem I had back on page 1?  Um, it's a few orders of magnitude larger now.

 

Sincerely,

Happily Overwhelmed

 

PS: Sorry to revive the dead 👻 ⚰️  , but boy was this thread fun, even in hindsight.

 

Here is your post from Page 1.

 

On 12/3/2016 at 4:04 PM, LizEF said:

Dear Inky,

 

Another pen just ran out of ink this morning, while writing a letter, while away from my ink supply (I know, short-sighted inking on my part). I had to revert to a rollerball! So my day already got off to a tragic start. Now, I'm trying to figure out what to ink next and I just can't decide. You see, a very nice FPNer graciously sent me 15! ink samples, all colors I've never tried before. I've only inked one so far, and now that a pen has gone dry, I need to try another. But the combinational options are staggering:

 

Pens:

1. TWSBI Eco EF (2)
2. Pilot Metro F
3. Pilot Kakuno F
4. Pilot Penmaship EF (4)
5. Pilot Falcon SEF
6. Waterman Kulture F
7. Jinhao x750 w/ Nemosine EF
8. Nemosine Singularity 0.6 mm stub (3)
9. Lamy Al-Star EF (the one that went dry)
10. Custom-turned kit pen w/ Knox EF (but we don't want this one - it's only good for looks)
11. Waterman Laureat (but it's already inked)

Ink sample:

1. Iroshizuku Kiri-same
2. Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun
3. Iroshizuku Asa-gao
4. Iroshizuku Yama-budo
5. Sailor Nioi-sumire
6. Akkerman Oranje Boven
7. J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune
8. Noodler's Dumas Tulipe Noir
9. Noodler's Shah's Rose
10. Noodler's FPN Van Gogh Starry Night Blue
11. Visconti Blue
12. Montblanc Royal Blue
13. Montblank Jonathan Swift Seaweed Green
14. R&K Solferino
15. R&K Blau-Schwarz (we don't want this one, it's already in a pen)

If I wanted to ink them all up, that's like 98,526,125,335,693,359,375 possible combinations (or maybe 48,048, depending on whose formula you believe). Thankfully, I only want to pick one ink and one pen type, and I've ruled some out, so that's 1 of 126 choices, but still, it's Saturday, and I just can't handle the stress of choosing! My head is about to explode! What should I do?

 

~Overwhelmed by Orders of Magnitude!

 

Here was my response back then. 

 

On 12/3/2016 at 4:55 PM, amberleadavis said:

Dear Overwhelmed,

 

Take a breath. You have great inks and great pens.

 

Step one: Put Pen #10 in a drawer. Later you will either order a different nib OR gift the pen.

 

Normally, I'd refer you to my friend's elaborate rules: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/245296-pen-and-ink-filling-rules-how-do-you-choose-ink-pen-combinations/ and I'd ask you a series of questions like which pen is your favorite? How often do you use orange inks? Have you already sent off your Christmas cards? Since you are on a time crunch and feeling overwhelmed, I'm going to give you a list based on assumptions and let's see how we do.

 

 

TWSBI Eco EF (2)

• Since Ecos have HUGE capacity and I don't want you to get bored. I'm going to suggest that you fill these two pens with the inks you like the best. Since I don't know what inks those would be, I'm going to suggest non-staining inks that are different.
• So, let's go with Iroshizuku Asa Gao in one of the pens. It's a great performing ink that you can use anywhere, but it's still cheerful and it won't stain a TWSBI.
• In the second pen, I'd suggest a cheerful or bright holiday color. I don't see a lot of traditional reds or greens in your line up. Again, this is a pen with a huge ink capacity. So, I'm going to suggest Seaweed Green. It'll look great in that pen and if you need months to finish off the fill, you won't be bored.

Pilot Metro F

• This is a great pen and quite serious, let's go with Kiri Same.

Pilot Kakuno F

• This is another great nib, but it's not serious. So, let's go with Solferino.

Pilot Penmaship EF (4)

• Now, here is where we use our over the top colors: Oranje Boven, Yama Budo, Nioi-sumire
• And to give us nice contrast for our doodles: Fuyu-syogun.

Pilot Falcon SEF

• Another serious pen, let's go with Poussiere de Lune because it is stealthy, it looks serious and almost black.

Waterman Kulture F

• Tulipe Noir .. since we are being cultured.

Jinhao x750 w/ Nemosine EF

• Let's make them blue. Visconti Blue, Starry Night and Royal Blue

Nemosine Singularity 0.6 mm stub (3)

• Since these are great for showing off shading, Poussiere de Lune, Fuyu-syogun and R&K Blau-Schwarz (since we are reusing inks).

Lamy Al-Star EF (the one that went dry)

• Whatever ink you had in it so that you can finish the letter and not have to clean the pen.

Custom-turned kit pen w/ Knox EF (but we don't want this one - it's only good for looks)

• See above.

Waterman Laureat (but it's already inked)

• Okay

I hope this helps.

 

So, what did you end up doing with Pen #10? Did you get it fixed? Give it away?  Keep it in a drawer?  

 

Here's the updated selections - assuming you have no new inks.  (which is a silly assumption).

 

1. TWSBI Eco EF (2) MB Royal Blue and Blau-Schwartz - yes, it's a lot of blue in serious pens, but that's okay
2. Pilot Metro F - Solferino
3. Pilot Kakuno F - Seaweed Green 
4. Pilot Penmaship EF (4) - Oranje Boven, Shah's Rose, Tulip Noire and Fuyu-Syogun
5. Pilot Falcon SEF - Kiri Same
6. Waterman Kulture F - Visconti Blue
7. Jinhao x750 w/ Nemosine EF - Nioi-sumire
8. Nemosine Singularity 0.6 mm stub (3)  - Yama Budo, Tulipe Noire and Starry Night Blue
9. Lamy Al-Star EF (the one that went dry) - Asa Gao
10. Custom-turned kit pen w/ Knox EF - see above
11. Waterman Laureat - I assume it's finally out of ink Poussiere de Lune

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, amberleadavis said:

Keep it in a drawer?

Pen #10 still sits in a drawer.  While I did find another nib for it, the pen itself - being a kit pen, is not so hot - scrawny little grip for a giant body - but it was turned by my Dad's friend, so it's sorta sentimental...

 

Kit pen, showing scrawny little section:

 

1 hour ago, amberleadavis said:

Here's the updated selections - assuming you have no new inks.  (which is a silly assumption).

Some of the pens are no longer in my collection (given away, traded, or broken).  Some of the inks used up (alas, I miss Mr. Swift).  And please forgive me for being so brief.  Allow me to demonstrate what I mean by "a few orders of magnitude":

 

...in numbers, that's 36 pens (4 were gifted to me ) and 203 inks (103 were gifted )... If we allow the same ink to be in multiple (potentially all) pens, that's 203³⁶ potential combinations - understood by scientists to be 1.1745117472688295030685172855438e+83 - a number my brain cannot begin to comprehend!  If we insist on a unique ink for each pen, that gives us 203 * 202 * 201 * ... * 168 = 4.3231e+81 (another number my brain cannot comprehend).

 

Sigh.  I'll spare you lists, and wouldn't dream of asking you to wade through such staggering numbers to match things up.  Instead, I will just muddle through, possibly relying on http://random.org from time to time.

 

Gratefully Yours,

Happily Overwhelmed

[amberleadavis]

On 5/10/2021 at 2:32 PM, LizEF said:

Pen #10 still sits in a drawer.  While I did find another nib for it, the pen itself - being a kit pen, is not so hot - scrawny little grip for a giant body - but it was turned by my Dad's friend, so it's sorta sentimental...

 

Kit pen, showing scrawny little section:

 

Some of the pens are no longer in my collection (given away, traded, or broken).  Some of the inks used up (alas, I miss Mr. Swift).  And please forgive me for being so brief.  Allow me to demonstrate what I mean by "a few orders of magnitude":

 

...in numbers, that's 36 pens (4 were gifted to me ) and 203 inks (103 were gifted )... If we allow the same ink to be in multiple (potentially all) pens, that's 203³⁶ potential combinations - understood by scientists to be 1.1745117472688295030685172855438e+83 - a number my brain cannot begin to comprehend!  If we insist on a unique ink for each pen, that gives us 203 * 202 * 201 * ... * 168 = 4.3231e+81 (another number my brain cannot comprehend).

 

Sigh.  I'll spare you lists, and wouldn't dream of asking you to wade through such staggering numbers to match things up.  Instead, I will just muddle through, possibly relying on http://random.org from time to time.

 

Gratefully Yours,

Happily Overwhelmed

 

 

Dear Happily Overwhelmed,

 

Ms. Inky is always here to enable your inky desires.  Please feel free to send a list and I'll happily make suggestions.  

 

Sincerely,

 

Inky-En-Able_Lawyer

[LizEF]

14 minutes ago, amberleadavis said:

Dear Happily Overwhelmed,

 

Ms. Inky is always here to enable your inky desires.  Please feel free to send a list and I'll happily make suggestions.  

 

Sincerely,

 

Inky-En-Able_Lawyer

If I go from Happily Overwhelmed to Desperately Indecisive, I'll take you up on that!  (Really, you're amazing at this!)

[amberleadavis]

On 5/18/2021 at 7:27 PM, LizEF said:

If I go from Happily Overwhelmed to Desperately Indecisive, I'll take you up on that!  (Really, you're amazing at this!)

It's easier to help someone else make the decisions.

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, amberleadavis said:

It's easier to help someone else make the decisions.

  Oh, good point!  A little distance sometimes helps.  Off to go ink my next review...

[Daneaxe]

Thanks, LizEF - quick response and useful info!

I already lurked a bit in the PIF forum, and saw the NZ+AUS threads about this, it's what inspired me to do the same - for this country.
I think we might get a nice response here, and enrich the community, give a leg-up to noobs, help the hobby grow.
And, as a bonus: Feel good about helping others!
 😎
My own contribution won't be humongous, at least not to begin with, since I just have 5 Pelikan 4001 plus 7 Diamine basic colors.
Nothing to brag about, but a nice start, in my eyes

So I'm guessing that I could just go ahead and make the thread? Should it be in Inky Thoughts or the PIF forum?

Take care all, and stay safe.

[LizEF]

13 minutes ago, Daneaxe said:

Thanks, LizEF - quick response and useful info!

You're very welcome!

 

14 minutes ago, Daneaxe said:

I think we might get a nice response here, and enrich the community, give a leg-up to noobs, help the hobby grow.
And, as a bonus: Feel good about helping others!

 

14 minutes ago, Daneaxe said:

So I'm guessing that I could just go ahead and make the thread? Should it be in Inky Thoughts or the PIF forum?

I suspect the PIF forum is the best place for it - or the place the moderators would prefer.

[Daneaxe]

2 minutes ago, LizEF said:

I suspect the PIF forum is the best place for it - or the place the moderators would prefer.

You're probably right - I'll wait a bit with doing it yet, see if a Mod has any thought on the whole shebang. Thanks again.

[amberleadavis]

@Daneaxe @LizEF @A Smug Dill

 

FYI, I moved the question from the thread about Zombie posts to the thread for questions. 

 

Liz, thank you for the response and yes, the PIF forum is the section.

 

A Smug Dill has created this sort of exchange and I hope he will pipe in and offer advice.  We probably want to create a new thread if this topic will help others.

[A Smug Dill]

On 5/29/2021 at 5:53 AM, amberleadavis said:

A Smug Dill has created this sort of exchange and I hope he will pipe in and offer advice.

 

Thanks. 

 

At first, I was going to say I don't have much advice to offer, since the ink sample sharing/exchange part of the Aussie FPN pass-around initiative was more of a support act, a sweetener to help offset the cost of participation, to the main event which is to redistribute surplus and unwanted pens and bottles of ink.

 

However, as I composed my reply, I found I have quite a bit to add after all, and so I gathered my thoughts and put them here:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/blogs/entry/202-my-thoughts-on-sharing-ink-samples-by-post/