Hello from Ireland (the prodigal wombat returns)

May 18, 2022

I'm back after a long hiatus, so I figured it would be a good idea to introduce myself again. I live in rural Donegal, Ireland. I've been into fountain pens for well over a decade now. My workhorse pen is a Sailor Heritage with a soft fine nib. I've recently become more adventurous with modifications, and with coloured inks. I've installed full flex nibs (from fpnibs.com) into a bunch of TWSBIs and an Opus 88. I also have a couple of vintage pens. I also have a Leonardo Momento Zero with the elastic fine nib. I gave away most of my non-flex pens. I'm not into calligraphy (yet?), but I love a flexible nib for the character it gives my writing, and because it forces my hand to relax.

I was active on this forum until about 2009, when I went back to school. Finished up my PhD in 2017 at age 57. I am a researcher, mostly in Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Life, and Mathematics.

I've been working from home ever since the pandemic started, and plan to continue to do so. It suits me well, because I can concentrate better. It also means that I can make better use of multiple fountain pens and an array of inks. (I didn't want to take an entire collection to the office!) Writing is a big part of my thought process. I'm often wrestling with complex ideas that are too big to hold in my brain at once. As I come to grips with some little part of an idea, I write it down -- not so much to remember the thought as to "solidify" it in my mind, to mark it as promising. I do most of my writing in a single journal that functions as a research journal, commonplace book, diary, cartoon sketchbook, and more.