January’s New Pens and Ink

New Year spells new beginnings, new hopes, new wishes. I say New Year brought me new pens. *Wink.* Some people welcome New Year with fireworks, 12 fruits, or money in their pockets. I welcomed 2009 with three new pens! While my brothers were busy setting up fireworks, I was busy inking my Schneiders with my new Waterman South Sea Blue and polishing the Hero616 that Sir Butch D. gave me during last December’s pen meet.

The Waterman ink is a delight. After using Inoxcrom’s blue and Quink’s blue-black, this turquoise from Waterman is a new experience to write with that the moment I inked my black Schneider Base, I wrote endlessly on my Moleskine and completed three pages in a flash! (Photos to follow later, including pages of my Molie where I wrote with my PR Copperburst.) But what’s also exciting is my Shchneider Base fountain pen. This German pen, inexpensive and so elegant in its design is a joy to write with. Its medium nib writes smoothly sometimes I forget I’m writing with a fountain pen! Here are some photos of the New Year’s stash:

Delight, joy, ecstasy. That spells ink, fountain pens and notebooks for me. The bottled ink is Waterman South Sea Blue, and the pens are: Hero616, Schneider Base Medium in white and black barrels.

Ink and pens on the notebook my friend Sonny sent me all the way from Singapore as Christmas gift.

Ink and pen pageantry. My ink stash: Quink black and blue-black, Waterman South Sea Blue, and Private Reserve Avocado and Copperburst. Coming early next week: Noodler’s Concord Bream!

My Missing Pens (Now Found)

I found them!!! Yes, I found my missing Pilot FriXion Ball gelpens. Phew! Remember this post last September? These FriXion pens should have been included in the Pilot pens collection photo, but they were missing the time I was shooting and I could not remember where I placed them no matter how hard I tried to recall. Surprisingly, while organizing my toy truck collection the other night, these pens turned up in one of those small plastic bags holding my Tomy toys. Whew. And all the while I thought I have lost them.

Pilot FriXion Ball pens belong to the large selection of gel pens from Pilot, using the new, clever Metamocolor technology, or what the chemists at Pilot Pens call, thermo-sensitive gel ink formula, which turns transparent when friction is applied to it. A small rubber on its tail serves as an “eraser”, and the ink disappears neatly as no eraser dust is produced in the process. Pilot claims that this “erasing” process does not pose any damage to almost all types of paper at all. Because the ink in these pens is easily erased, they cannot be used on legal documents or on any other official papers. The ink on these pens turn colorless when exposed to extreme temperatures (140°F). Their color can be restored, though fading, when placed in freezer to cool.

For practical and obvious reasons, I won’t use these FriXions to write on my Moleskine, though. That notebook is reserved for my Pilot G2s. But these FriXions are great, cool pens! Especially when you’re around people who get impressed with the idea of erasable gel pen inks. *Wink.*

Yeah, cool. Cool pens, these FriXions are. They’re very handy when doing crossword puzzles, or Sudoku. Want more cool stuff about these pens? Watch this promotional video released in the US. Now this is one cool video for one cool pen.

New Notebooks and… More Pens!!!

Woohoohoo!!! I got new notebooks, and… ta-da! More pens!!!

My collecting habit is currently centered on notebooks and pens. (Rest muna sa toy trucks and shotglasses.) Thanks to my friends who love to spoil me rotten with gifts and pasalubong stuff when they travel within or out of the country. And now here are new notebooks and pens on my stash:

An ‘Eagle’ notebook, ring-bound with indexed pages and colored dividers. What makes it a winner is the inside pages, which are 250 leaves worth of lined, white, and smooth 80gsm paper.

Coming all the way from Hanoi, Vietnam (left) and Bogor, Indonesia (right), these two are instant favorites. The one from Hanoi has lined (or ruled) inside pages that are staple-bound on the spine. The cute little one from Bogor, however, has plain (unlined/unruled) inside pages and has a cloth-wrapped cover with intricate beadwork. See photo below for a more detailed view.

And here are my Schneider Zippis on my Molie. Whoever bought these for me got all the available barrel designs from Office Warehouse. Schneider pens are affordable and inexpensive but indeed they are very dependable and durable that the green one here instantly went into my pool of “everyday writers” after inking it. The rest of the lot are “uninked”, together with my other “virgin” FPs, waiting for their turn to be “inked” and to bleed or glide smoothly on paper.

Here are my Zippis on the Eagle notebook. Now I have green, orange, and pink fountain pens.

Drool

Remember this blog entry sometime in May? Well, my orders for leather sleeves from Chie Acosta of Creativille arrived in time, I just didn’t have the chance to post any photos.

The sleeves were delivered promptly, and they came wrapped in beautifully crafted paper with a wax seal. How nice. My joy was indescribable when I saw the sleeves. When I slid my Moleskine into the sleeve’s holder, ah, my joy was truly complete.

The sleeve was lovingly handcrafted by Chie Acosta, who got excited when I told her that the sleeves she will create will be commemorative for a special occasion. So she used two different types of leather to make the sleeves a unique set. The sleeve that Chie created for me is from darkly-tanned, very smooth leather. The other sleeve (which I cannot show because I gave it away already) is an exact opposite of the other, made of scuffed, lightly tanned leather with silver embellishments. Both sleeves have straps created from the same leather material.

Here’s how my Moleskine fits into the leather sleeve.

And here’s how it looks when it’s tied with its strap:

Now It’s Midori For Me

Now that I’m finally using my Moleskine, here’s a another product that I’m determined to add to my collection: the Midori Traveler’s Notebook.

Midori Traveler’s Notebook, or Traveler’s Notebook is described as “a simple notebook focusing on ease of writing, with a leather cover in the which the texture gets better as you use it over time.” The leather covers on these notebooks, available in black and brown, are especially hand-made in Thailand, while the notebook inserts are printed in Japan, using Midori’s original paper materials. Several types of notebooks (refills) are available to choose from: ruled, plain, squared. Enhancements like card files and zipper files are also available. Midori also offers repair kits and binders for the notebook refills.

I’m really drooling over this one, especially after seeing the Traveler’s Notebook photoset at Flickr. Now I’m saving up to buy one. Heard that a notebook set costs a huge US$47.95! Woah. But I’ll have this, or both. It’ll take a while, but I’ll have one.

(Photos above are from Midori‘s website.)

How I Started Writing on My Moleskine

Early this month, Pastor Joe Thorn wrote about setting up a Moleskine and how he uses these precious notebooks to store ideas related to his ministry work.

I love reading stories like Pastor Joe’s because it reminded me of another Moleskine story, this one by Sir Butch Dalisay. I cannot find Sir Butch’s article online anymore, but that story introduced me to the elite world of Moleskines. Soon after, I was smitten.

Surprisingly, my journey to Moleskine ownership took longer than I expected. At that time, the notebooks weren’t offered locally here, and the only way I could get my hands on a notebook was to purchase it online. It was a frustrating pursuit. Then I got my lucky break several months after. A friend saw an online bookstore selling Moleskines, and the company is actually located in the Philippines! And that is how I got my hands on this precious notebook. Finally, I have my own Moleskine to show off. But I did not write on it until last week, six months after I bought it from Avalon.

I started using my Moleskine by using its last page to test my pens. Yup, the last page is a tester page, and that’s what I do with all of my notebooks. I do that all the time to choose the perfect pen for a particular notebook. And for my Moleskine, the perfect pen is the black Pilot G2 0.5mm.

After that, I wrote my name and contact details on the inside cover page. No rewards for me, though.

Now I tied a small knot at the end of the page marker so it won’t fray and look ugly.

And I started writing on it, precisely on the front face of the third leaf. To start writing an entry, I used a red G2 to write the date and day of the week. An entry usually takes up a page or two, and with the large Moleskine’s 240 pages, I figured one notebook is good for three to four months’ worth of letters.

Today, my Moleskine is already five entries full. When I fill it up, I’ll get another Moleskine and fill it up again.

Moleskine, Dear Moleskine…

It felt like Christmas morning yesterday afternoon when the Aboitiz guy knocked on my office door. He’s like Santa to me as he has something I had been praying so hard to have: my own Moleskine notebook. And yes, oh yes, I am now a certified Moleskine owner.

I remember a song that my aunts and uncles sang to me when I was a kid. It’s an American folk song, but to me it is an unforgettable lullaby. Suprisingly, when my Moleskine arrived yesterday, I was humming the song in my head, unconsciously at first. Now I have my own Moleskine song.

Moleskine, Moleskine,

Oh my darling Moleskine.

You’re now here to stay forever,

Never leave, my Moleskine…

The sealed Aboitiz 2GO Quickpack…

… my Moleskine large ruled notebook still wrapped in plastic…

… and finally, my Moleskine is unwrapped! See the stickers and brochure?

On to Happier Things…

Now that I am slowly getting back into the regular grind of things, let me post my ‘new’ wish list.

1. Notebook.

I want a Moleskine 2008 Diary!!! Woohoo!!! May be a good change from using Starbucks Diaries for three years now. Moleskine is a bit expensive, though. Hmmm…

2. Bag.

A new Timbuk2™ “Track Day Pack” backpack. It is waterproof, has a rubberized bottom, and it’s blue!!! It also has a headphone port. Wow. Not that I am in a hurry to dump my old, reliable Nike. It’s still doing fine and looks as new as it was the day I bought it. But I’d really love to have a Timbuk2™ backpack.

3. Shirts.

Any colorful, unique, comfortable shirts will do to replace my older ones that are beginning to fray and fade. Ehehe. I want the Nike “BALLS” tee I saw last week.

4. Jeans.

I own more than a dozen pair of jeans, but I want to buy one with the “distressed” look. Could be Diesel, Dickies, or Lee.

5. Sneakers.

A pair of Rocket Dog™ “Joint” sneakers. I am drooling at this beauty. Although I will always be a Chucks lover, other sneaks are welcome every now and then.