Hero goes on a Safari

Isellpens, one of my regular vendors to buy pens and accessories, is the go-to shop for Hero pens, especially the imported fudes.

It appears they are now carrying the Hero 359, a look alike to the Lamy Safari.

I bought one, and got it in seconds from Todd.  I selected the purple, and will write up a review soon comparing it to the Safari.

I've only used it for a week, and I've learned the hard way that one week is not long enough to test a pen.

Fountain Pen Day - November 1, 2013

Until I went back to The Well Appointed Desk's blog today, and visited My Pen Needs Ink, I didn't realize we had a Fountain Pen Day; but now I do, and I am excited.

Some great national and international sponsors are on board.

And quite a few bloggers and users.

I always try, often in vain, to get folks to join the fountain pen world, but in all the years I've tried, thus far, I believe I've only gotten two (2) real new users: a young man of 18 going off to college with a brand new Lamy Safari, and a senior citizen who had an older vintage pen she had inherited, which I fixed and encouraged her to use.

I also bought a Kaweco Ice for my 9 year old granddaughter, and it is my hope that she'll want my collection of fountain pens and use them.

From calligraphy-type pens like this Sailor

to a French pen I bought in Albuquerque, NM in 1992,

I have bought fountain pens as mementos, birthday presents to myself, on a whim, with forethought, and randomly.

I love the way they feel, and if lucky, how they write.

Serendipity, Synchronicity: The Goldfinch

As Donna Tartt's new book, "Goldfinch" arrives in bookstores and received rave reviews, The Frick will be exhibiting several of Mauritshuis' most valuable paintings, among them the Goldfinch, itself, starting October 22 until early January.

Goldfinch, Carel Fabritius, 1654

Strangely when I lived in the Netherlands, I avoided the Hague, and hence never made it to the Mauritshuis. More often I rested my feet on the small table where I drank my coffee at the Stedelijk (the Modern museum).  After all for more than one year I lived around the corner from the Museumplein, and one of my closest friends was a curator during those days.  Beppi and I often met, especially on sunny days, and it didn't take much effort to view any and all of the exhibits. 

I suppose I also avoided the Hague as it represented business and government which I left to my then other half.

Munro & the Nobel

Although I am known to be (or to have been) a voracious reader, it was only on Tuesday that I purchased Alice Munro's book, "Runaway" at Webster's in State College, and not for the obvious reason, Munro's potential as a Nobel Laureate.

Munro © New York Times

It was rather a whim, really, that I asked if the bookseller had a Munro as I have started to not only read but to study specific kinds of writing, and I have become very interested in the art of the "short story" for which Alice Munro is best known and appreciated that she won the Nobel Prize.

Congratulations go out to the Canadian and one of few women to win this most coveted prize!

Congratulations Ms. Munro!