I decided on purpose to fail to get up by 7:13 (really need to catch up on sleep) ... but then heard my loud desktop WHIRRING through earplugs and thought it was the garbage truck, remembering we absolutely HAD to try to get our kitchen cleaning excess garbage out to the curb ... so I sprang out of bed at 7:24 and took care of that, which was awesome. But already ... failed. And decided to skip body movement in favor of playing games basically which makes me owe another $5.

Very sleepy so keeping the three things simple:

Log THREE things I learned from THREE different videos

  1. Pilot Metropolitan should be highlighted as a top 5 rec for any price tier almost
    • Goulet says $15
    • reinforces my desire to get one
    • drawbacks:
    • reinforces info/knowledge that PILOT is a good JAPANESE pen manufacturer
      • to do: blog about how you can't tell what country manufacturer is by name (ex. Pilot vs Kaweco)
    • converter that comes with it is OPAQUE so you can't see how much ink you have left
  2. Pilot Platinum Preppy "a classic known allllll throughout the fountain pen world" in part because it is included with a lot of the noodler's 4.5 oz ink bottles ~min 2:50 - I definitely do want to try these out, and can see now that it is a very good rec - under $4
    • it's a clear pen so you can see how much ink you have
    • cartridge converter pen (but platinum is proprietary)
    • you can convert it to an eyedropper (?) and fill the whole body with ink with an o-ring & whatever
      • but the converter costs more than the pen itself so ....
    • very brittle / cheap plastic
  3. he recs Jinhao x750 (this is the first time I've seen a rec for that company, and it's interesting to me because first Chinese brand I am aware of, and I've seen them advertised on amazon (probably) and just because I hadn't heard of them I disregarded them as a reliable option BUT he makes them sound kind of awesome:
    • less than $10
    • HEAVY (too heavy to some, but their other options are probably better)
    • durable
    • reliable writer
    • standard int'l cartridge or converter
    • minute 8:30 number 6 sized nib - can put goulet edison etc nibs on them
  4. LAMY SAFARI always recommended (except by the german gent bc STUDENT PEN)
    1. interchangeable nibs (& Lamy makes a bunch of / range of nibs)
    2. again, the Lamy cartridges are nice and big (he didn't say that, but yeah)
  1. store upright if traveling
  2. he includes some reasons WHY it's good to use them
    • proven to learn more or retain or something when you take notes by hand (rather than digital / evernote style etc) minute 1:38 ish so does he connect that to fountain pen specifically? "enhances your memory, and you learn faster"
  3. "not using a fountain pen at all" (having it in a drawer & never taking it out - an interesting/good beginner "mistake" to include; I like it)
    • this reminds me TO DO: "CHAPTER(s)" on WHEN YOU GET PEN AS GIFT (but it's not what you would've picked out yourself &/or you don't see it recommended as a beginner pen &/or it just didn't work for you right out of the gate)
  4. #2 is USING THE WRONG PAPER (minute 1:55 ish)
  1. Lamy is a student pen he looks down on because he's been using them his whole life / since 5 or whatever (he points out the difference between US where people don't have exposure to them vs Germany where he grew up & they're part of the school curriculum so he's been using them since 5 yo)
  2. GOD HE LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE MY TREE-HUMPER GUY ON XHAMSTER
  3. "nib" terminology essential - "the little metal piece at the tip of the fountain pen that you write with on a piece of paper"
    • "right below the nib you can find the INK FEED which helps the capillary action"
  4. I love the way he has his video broken down into chapters or whatever, with links to each section (intro, pen 1, pen 2, etc. in the description) (and of course links with amazon refcodes so I'm learning how to make money & vids on YT too here)
  5. he praises pilot metropolitan (as I'm seeing a lot of / reinforces my desire to get one)
  6. Jinhao X 450 (& X 750)
    • larger & heavier than Pilot Metro
    • nib looks similar to a Montblanc "however it's just gold-PLATED" (JFC -- any gold at all on a $5 pen seems pretty fucking awesome - so I'm guessing the main problem is maybe not ethical to buy because produced in China?
    • I really like the pretty blue X 450 he shows off
  7. Lamy Safari "The standard version of the Safari is made out of plastic. You can also find different versions of metals such as aluminum but in my experience, they dent very easily and scratch so they don't look very well. Going with the original plastic version is just fine. The styling is definitely the most industrial one but it's very comfortable in your hand and it's very easy to grip for small hands as well as medium hands."