hammertoe

Recently the project I've been working on, Choirless, came 2nd place in the Call for Code IBMer Challenge. As a prize I got a number of “Bluepoints”, IBM's internal reward points.

With these points I ordered my wife an Apple Watch SE, mainly for the fall-detection. She has a bad knee that gives way often and I wanted something for emergencies. I also bought my daughter a sewing machine, as she really wants to start making her own costumes for cosplay. And I bought us a new microwave oven as our current one died recently and we use it a lot for heating up leftovers.

But what should I get myself? I wanted something that would be a tangible reminder of the project. Something that would last. Something that I would use daily. I have all the electronic gadgets I need. I don't need a new phone, or headphones, etc. I did contemplate getting myself an Apple or Garmin Watch, but ultimately I'm not sure how much I really need them. I'm surrounded by enough electronic devices. I like cufflinks, but am not wearing shirts at the moment, as working from home (and going to be for next 6 months at least). I could get myself a nice traditional watch, but I have a couple of those already, needing straps adjusting.

I was scrolling through the catalog of things I could spend my points on, and came across pens. Now, I hardly use a pen. I spend most of my time typing. But I really quite liked the idea. I've recently started a system of using index cards to write a todo list each day, and made a wooden block to hold my todo list in on my desk.

The last time I used a fountain pen was in school several decades ago. I just remember them being awkward, and leaking. Of course those pens were £5 Parker pens.

I know nothing of fountain pens.

I have abysmal hand writing.

But there was something that tickled me about writing my todo list each morning with a fountain pen with a flourish. I guess it would be more of a conscious act. Maybe it will make me more productive. Of course it will make me more productive. Keep telling myself that. And this is the sort of thing I would never buy myself ordinarily, which I think makes it the perfect gift to myself.

So I picked a pen. Kind of randomly. I did look up the brands and checked a few reviews. I Googled “how to choose a fountain pen” and “how to use a fountain pen”. Seems, as with most things, there are personal preferences, and tribes etc. Pens, like watches, have loyal customers going back generations. They have folk lore, they have “celebrities” that have used them etc.

I wasn't going to be spending huge amounts on this pen. I guess about £50, but it would be the most I'd spent on a pen before. But a small enough amount that I could take a gamble on whether I'd like it or not. Ideally I'd have gone and tried out various pens to see which felt most comfortable etc. As I am only writing my todo list and not a novel, I wasn't too worried about this.

I picked a rose gold coloured, Cross Classic Century pen.

The Cross Classic Century pen is an icon of American design and innovation. The choice of movers, shakers and ground breakers since 1946.

Well that's good, right? I mean who doesn't want to be a mover or shaker? I had a choice between a matte black pen or rose gold. The matte black, I have to say looked lovely and I liked the 'modern' look of it. But I decided to go for rose gold. Something that might stand out. I mean, when we ever do start having meetings in person, and I get out my pen to take some notes, how is anyone going to notice I'm a mover and shaker with a subtle black pen?

So I ordered the rose gold.

And it arrived today!

I'd even remembered to buy some ink cartridges for it as well. At some point I'll look at refillable ink, but for now to get started just bought some cartridges to get me going.

First impressions? It is a lot lighter than I was expecting. I'm not sure why, but I was expecting something with heft to it. Something that would tire my hand after a few minutes, but this was surprisingly light. It was also shorter that I expected. Look at the middle photo above of it next to the cheap crappy freebie ballpoint I have to hand.

I actually went and bought some new index cards to write on. I know ballpoint pens are sometimes particular of the paper they write on and can bleed out quite badly. So I Googled about and found recommendations for these ones:

As an aside, I learned that there is something called “Bristol board”, which is a particular type of paper created originally in my home city of Bristol! It is known worldwide for its use in illustration, drawing, and wedding cards. The same company do some cards ruled with squares, which I also bought.

The paper is very smooth. Very very smooth. And actually I think too smooth for the pen, as it sometimes takes a while for the ink to flow. I tried the pen on my old random, cheap, cards and it seemed to actually work better as they have a slightly rougher surface.

Anyway... let's see how I get on!

-Matt