Casual Sunday - March 6, 2016

It's Sunday, which means it's time to pour a cup of coffee, snuggle up next to the pooch, and catch up on current events.

Interesting Finds:

• A Young Man's Follies - A stranger’s story through mementos.
• Goulet Pens Blog: Faber-Castell Midnight Blue: Ink Review

• Patrick Rhone’s GTD Mind Sweep Process - Patrick Rhone writes one of my favor writing blogs, The Cramped. I’m in desperate need of a good mind dump, and this is a fantastic idea.

• How I use my notebooks - the February 2016 edition — The Finer Point - Every notebook has a purpose. These types of posts never get old.

• Standing the Test of Time (2) | Pens! Paper! Pencils! - A big milestone for an excellent blog.
• Pen Review: Pilot Custom Heritage 92 — The Gentleman Stationer - Because orange is my life.

In Other News:

• Thank you all for the kind feedback for last week’s six month post. I’ve been a little burned out this week, mostly due to major changes at work, so it’s hard to explain just how much your support means to me. I think that this lovely post From the Pen Cup sums this past week up nicely.

Thanks for checking out this week's issue of Casual Sunday. Check back in on Tuesday morning for a brand new blog post or follow A Better Desk on Twitter or via RSS feed so that you don't have to. Thanks for your support!

Six Months of A Better Desk

Six months ago, I set out on a journey to find my voice. As my day job became more stressful, I began to long for an outlet and escape from the stresses and pressures of everyday life. My everyday life began and ended in the digital world, where I created bits and bytes that were often launched into the abyss and never seen again. Although writing has always been my outlet, the need to create something physical couldn't be appeased by clickety clacking on a keyboard. I discovered a solution to my dilemma in the pen and paper community.

Most of us live our lives in hopes of finding our passion and building meaningful connections to others, or maybe that's just me. I began my inky journey not knowing where it would lead. As I began to explore the world of pen and paper, my love not only grew for the medium but for the passionate and friendly community that welcomed me with open arms.

We may never have met, but your support and encouragement has gotten me here. I am truly grateful for this little community that's shown me that writing doesn't have to happen in front of a blue screen in a dark room and that the mistakes, scratches and scuffs are the most beautiful parts of the work that we do.

Thank you for letting me be a part of something awesome.

Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen Review

Let's face it, fountain pens can be incredibly intimidating to our Bic-loving friends. Sure, we know in our hearts that it's totally reasonable to drop $150 for a Lamy 2000 and that filling a fountain pen with bottled ink is actually pretty easy. To outsiders we may sound crazy, and that's why we should celebrate products that make fountain pens accessible and affordable to those who may never have considered them. The Platinum Preppy is one of the most affordable refillable fountain pens on the market. The Preppy can be had at the price of a fancy cup of coffee and comes in a wide range of colors.

The Platinum Preppy is made from sturdy plastic and has a thin steel nib. Unlike some cheap pens, the Preppy's plastic doesn't creak under pressure. The grip section screws off, like a traditional fountain pen, to expose the ink chamber. The Preppy comes with one ink cartridge and replacement cartridges are available; however, they are oddly expensive. If you want to save a few dollars, it's pretty easy to refill the Preppy's included ink cartridge, once it's empty. The barrel of the pen is completely sealed, so it's a great candidate for conversion to an eyedropper filler. I'm not fiddly enough to want to do this, but it seems straightforward.

The cap of the Platinum Preppy has a snap fit mechanism that emits a satisfying click when the pen is capped. There's also a spring-loaded cap insert that sits against the base of the nib and covers it completely. I can only assume that this serves to keep the nib from drying out or leaking ink into the cap. It seems a bit unnecessary, but Platinum has been working with pens far longer than I have, so I'll assume that they know what they're doing.

The steel nib of the Platinum Preppy is coated with the same color as the pen's included ink and body flourishes. It does feel slightly thinner than the nibs on more expensive pens, but it is incredibly stiff. Those looking for a silky smooth writing experience may be disappointed, since the nib feels scratchier than most of the starter fountain pens, such as the Metropolitan, Safari, or Kakuno. The nib tends to skip every now and then and is on the dry side, but overall the Platinum Preppy's nib performs very reliably. The consistent nib is complemented by the solid construction of the pen, which results in a very pleasing writing experience for a $5 pen. The Preppy's grip does become slippery during longer writing sessions, but this is common for pens with plastic grips.

The Platinum Preppy certainly can't compete with pricier pens, but it is an excellent pen for those looking to try a fountain pen for the first time. It's cheap enough to use without fear of bending the nib and is easily replaceable. The solid performance is a true credit to Platinums's design and manufacturing capabilities. Given the pen's performance for the price, the Platinum Preppy would be a wonderful gift for the fountain pen beginner in your life and falls just below the Pilot Kakuno, which I consider to be the best fountain pen for beginners.

Casual Sunday - February 21, 2016

Casual Sunday is back baby! It's Sunday, which means it's time to pour a cup of coffee, snuggle up next to the pooch, and catch up on the latest and greatest reads.

Interesting Finds:

• Thoughts on Meaningful Productivity — Shawn Blanc - I don't always read Shawn Blanc's articles, but when I do it's because I need them in my life. He never disappoints.
• Midori Travelers Notebook, Passport Review — The Finer Point - A review of one of my favorite notebook brands by one of my favorite pen bloggers.
• How to Make Wax Seals for Letters and Envelopes | The Art of Manliness - It was my ambition to use a wax seal for Christmas cards in 2015. I neither used a wax seal nor sent Christmas cards, so I guess that there is room for improvement.
• Tour of the Pen Habit Studio and Ink Shelf — The Pen Habit - See the room behind the curtain.
• Task management with pen and paper. — The Ink Smudge - I love it when stationary nerds tackle analog productivity. Such a good read.

Purchases: NockCo Edition

• NockCo Sinclair - Finally in stock long enough for me to nab one. I went with Mandarin/Bluejay, and boy is it orange!
• NockCo DotDash Pocket Notebooks - While I love the concept of Field Notes, the standard paper does not mesh well with fountain pens. NockCo paper is "fountain friend friendly," so perhaps this is a solution to my pocket notebook dilemma.
• NockCo DotDash 3 x 5 Note Cards - Probably sensing a theme by now. I've been dying to try some NockCo products for a while, and the orange notecards were all that I needed to qualify for free shipping.

Thanks for checking out this week's issue of Casual Sunday. Check back in on Tuesday morning for a brand new blog post or follow A Better Desk on Twitter or via RSS feed so that you don't have to. Thanks for your support!

Caran d'Ache Vibrant Green Ink Review

Most of us lead our daily inky lives in black or blue. These colors are the safe choices for everyday use, but I find them less and less appealing as my pen and ink collection grows. A week with Iroshizuku Tsukushi in my Lamy 2000 has opened my eyes to the world of non-traditional ink colors. Why use blue or black when you can use a lovely shade of brown or green? The trick to using these colors in everyday writers is to find inks that are dark enough to read easily but have just enough shading ability to make things interesting. While Tsukushi lives on as my daily ink for now, there's room for more than one in my growing Penventory. This week, I'm taking a look at another vivid beauty, Caran d'Ache Vibrant Green.

Vibrant Green is the most vivid of the green inks that I own. The color varies greatly, depending on the amount of ink that the nib lays on the paper. My J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen lays a deep forest green line on the page after a fresh dip, but the color lightens dramatically as the nib's ink channels empty of ink. The ink dries very quickly, which makes it a viable everyday ink.

Caran d' Ache Vibrant Green offers a significant amount of shade variation for such a dark ink. Shading is subtle in fine-nib pens, but the ink really shines in my Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pen. The ink's fast dry time, vivid color, and significant shading ability make it an easy recommendation.

Stats

• Dry Time: Less than 20 seconds
• Wetness: Medium
• Shading: Medium
• Feathering: Low
• Saturation: High

Tools

• J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen
• Noodler's Ahab - Flex nib
• Pilot Parallel - 6mm nib
• Rhodia DotPad