Locked Down,Writing, & Blogging

04 Saturday Apr 2020

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A month ago who would have thought most of us would be stuck at home aside from when shopping for groceries or essential travel. For many of us the thought of being able to work from home full time would have appealed. No daily commute, getting out of bed 5-10 minutes before logging in (kids dependant), relaxed attire, …. Problem is the weekends are just a continuation, the only difference being no connecting to work. Days start to merge and you feel like you’re starting to enter The Twilight Zone …

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Stipula Etruria Faceted Alter Ego

26 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by dapprman in Pens

≈ 7 Comments

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Celluloid, Etruria, fountain pen, italy, Stipula, Stipula Etruria, Stipula Etruria Faceted, Stipula Faceted Etrutia

There are few things more dangerous to a collector than going to a show or viewing a for sale list. To cut a long story short, buying one long sought after pen resulted in another three, including this Stipula Etruria Faceted Alter Ego. All based on a couple of photos and a very good price. I will detail the story at the end for those interested, but the net result was the arrival of this limited edition pen with a celluloid body and sterling silver fittings.

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Pen Show Purchases

20 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by dapprman in Pens

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fountain pen, Fountain Pen Show, musings

It’s been almost two weeks now and in my last post I only briefly mentioned what I had bought, so here’s greater details and initial views on the pens I picked up at the March 2020 London Pen Show.

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Spring 2020 London Pen Show

12 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by dapprman in Pens

≈ 6 Comments

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England, fountain pen, Fountain Pen Show, musings, Pen Meet

Last Sunday was the Spring London Pen Show and as previously posted there was the question over how it would be affected by the present situation over the Covid-19 virus. Turns out rather well. Sure numbers were down both for traders and for visitors, but it was far from being the disaster some people feared.

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Pens Shows and Covid-19 Virus – Updated Attendee Info 23:40 6/3/20

06 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by dapprman in Pens

≈ 1 Comment

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Fountain Pen Show, musings

It’s the Spring London Pen Show this Sunday and at the same time it’s hard to avoid the fact there is now a globally spreading infection, Covid-19 also known as Coronavirus. The WHO is yet to declare it a pandemic and it is still considered mild in the UK, but certainly people are worried. It will be interesting to see if numbers at the event are heavily affected.

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Daily Carry – Late February 2020 Edition

29 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by dapprman in Pens

≈ 2 Comments

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daily carry, fountain pen, musings

Hold the ~~front~~ third page, Dapprman has actually changed the pens in his daily carry!! This has partly come off the back of the purchase of a number of second hand pens, all of which have made the main six (well seven if you include the Pelikan Duo highlighter). Thing is it could change again within just a few weeks as the Spring London Pen Show is in just eight days time, and while I’ve nothing specific I’m looking for (maybe a Platinum Curidas or a Sailor Realo), I suffer from my ‘ooh shiny’ weakness moments.
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… on Pen Collecting

21 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by dapprman in Pens

≈ 2 Comments

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fountain pen, musings

If we were to believe Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology and psychoanalysis, then our desire to collect is the fault of our parents (more information at the end of this post). Sure Freud’s findings were based on his observations and introspection, but still it gives us an excuse – it’s some one else’s fault. Continue reading →

Pilot Custom Urushi Vermilion

18 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by dapprman in Pens

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

fountain pen, japanese, pilot, pilot custom urushi, urushi

Flagship of the Pilot fountain pen range and a comparative behemoth in size, the Custom Urushi has shown that simplicity and cleanliness of design can be as appealing as complicated art works. Available primarily in black, it is also made in smaller numbers with a vermilion finish to the cap and barrel. For a long time it was only available in Japan and the USA, however as of recent it can now be bought from an increasing number of European and UK based retailers. Continue reading →

Pilot Vanishing Point

09 Sunday Feb 2020

Posted by dapprman in Pens

≈ 7 Comments

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capless, EDC, EDC Fountain Pen, fountain pen, japanese, pilot, retractable, vanishing point

Click, click, clickity, click …. if ever there was a fountain pen to distract the wielder and annoy colleagues it is Pilot’s Vanishing Point/Capless/Decimo (depending on country and width). Until very recently no other fountain pen had been on sale for a long time with a ballpoint type clicker mechanism. Sure it’s not the only retractable fountain pen out there, and even around the time of launch there were JDM rivals, but for single handed ease of use there has been nothing comparable until this month (February 2020) with Platinum’s launch of the Curidas.
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Pens in Rota – Do we use all our pens enough?

31 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by dapprman in Pens

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

fountain pen, musings

Here’s one to think about on a Friday. How you decide what pens you use. I was considering an update on my daily carry, except I realised there was no change from last time, which was back last November. Personally, where things have changed is at my PC/desk, where the number of pens grows and shrinks depending on what’s new and if I’m reviewing something. Continue reading →