Reading Journal (via KraftyKats). If you’re finding yourself overwhelmed with notebooks and looking for new and varied ways in which to use your pens and stationery, a reading notebook (or a commonplace book), is an excellent way to work through your backlog.
On Keeping a Commonplace Book (via Notebook Stories). Commonplacing has been receiving a lot of attention recently, huh? Even from the New York Times?
How I End a Journaling Notebook (via mnmlscholar). Do you review and index your completed notebooks? I don’t, but probably should.
Onoto Scholar (via Dapprman). People are raving about the Onoto Scholar, a lower-cost version of the well-reviewed British fountain pens that are slowly making an impact here in the U.S. and into the broader pen community at large.
My Personal Pens: Leonardo Momento Magico (via S.B.R.E. Brown). Despite exceptional reviews, I can’t get my head around the Momento Magico enough to add one to my personal collection. I think I’m too sold on the standard-size Momento Zero.
Icon, Maker, or Luxe? (via UK Fountain Pens). Why do we keep certain pens in our personal collection, yet pass on others even if we agree that the pens themselves are excellent? I’ve not examined my own behavior in this regard, but as always, Anthony has some astute observations.
Take Me Out Tonight: Pelikan M205 Petrol (via A Fleeting Ripple). I never found myself getting into seriously collecting the Pelikan M205 series, but they have a devoted following (especially if you love color-matching pens to inks).
TWSBI Emerald Green (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist). TWSBI’s inks don’t get the attention they deserve, IMHO, because they’re somewhat basic colors yet behave quite well and are extremely inexpensive. You can check them out here.
Today I Got To: ______ (via From the Pen Cup). As always, I enjoy Mary’s periodic posts. I absolutely need to find a way to make sure I’m able to write for just a little bit each day.
Monarca Inks Part 3 (via Well-Appointed Desk). Monarca Inks are now in stock at a range of stationery stores including Amarillo Ink, Vanness, and Dromgoole’s. Jesi has the last installment of a three-part review featuring my personal favorite, Mar Caribe (a bright Turquoise).
In Case You Missed It…
This week was my first full week back from pen show + family vacation + extended work trip + daylight savings time, and it was a bear. In the intervening two years of more or less not leaving the house or traveling to locations where I stayed put for an extended period, I apparently forgot how exhausting travel truly can be. That said, I did manage to get back on a regular posting schedule. Hopefully you all enjoyed my post “Join the Dark Side: Grades of Pencil Graphite from HB to 4B” in which I discussed my preference for the “B Side” of the graphite spectrum, as well as my re-review of the Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age fountain pen, which has drawn a lot of commentary on Visconti’s seemingly inexplicable inability to resolve quality and consistency issues with their nibs. Finally, early on this week I wrote a short post on different types of paper I use for letter writing, and why I’ve chosen to stock them in the Curated Shop.
Midori MD Cotton is a favorite paper for pencils.
This Week in the Curated Shop
We’re still sorting and posting a huge restock of Midori, including a huge lot of MD and MD Cotton writing pads, as well as Clairefontaine A5 Clothbound notebooks and Triomphe paper. We’ve substantially built out our stock of high-quality graphite pencils and erasers over the past several weeks, and of course have restocked on the ever-popular Caran d’Ache 849 ballpoints, rollerballs, and Fixpencils!
Introducing T.G.S. “From the Archives”!
There’s a wealth of back content here at The Gentlemen Stationer (I have been writing this blog/website/whatever it is for eight years now, and much of it belies categorization in something like the Fountain Pen Review archive. I thought it might be fun - for me as much as you all - to dive into the back catalogue and pull out some of my favorite deep cuts. One per week, perhaps with a little bit of updated commentary as applicable. This week’s somewhat randomly selected choice is Travel Tips: Packing a Writing Kit for the Road, published in January 2020 before, well, “things happened.” Reading back through this brought up a lot of feelings, because I remember this extended trip well, and also because when I hit the road this past month I used a similar travel setup due to my recently purchased travel gear being essentially like new.