Living History: The Dignitary by allegory

History class and I didn’t really get along. Most of the time the teacher sounded just like Charlie Brown’s teacher…wah wah wah…something about Chinese dynasties. Because the lessons didn’t contain stories that I could latch onto, just “facts” and dates, it all sounded like static to me. I memorized. I passed. But it all rolled off of me as soon as I turned in my test paper.

The one exception was 7th grade New York State history. “No textbook,” said Mr. Hiteman. “We’ll learn by doing.” And that’s exactly what we did. We spent afternoons at a dig site excavating around a cellar hole, then diligently cataloguing our artifacts. For the final exam, we wrote an essay using those artifacts to reconstruct the life of the home’s inhabitants. History felt 3-D and static-free that year. History seeped into me without any effort. History was, for once, alive.

Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to allegory’s pens. Made with ancient and reclaimed woods, you’re literally holding history in your hand. I backed their first Kickstarter project, and because that went so well, I didn’t hesitate to back their second (The Precision Collection). By backing the second project, I was able to purchase the Dignitary fountain pen, from their first project, at a reduced price. (Follow that?)

The Dignitary

The primary wood in this pen is Bethlehem Olivewood (Israel), which is nearly 2000 years old. Though the trees are protected, the branch trimmings and deadfall are made available to woodworkers and tourists. Two thousand years. Wow. If wood could talk.

The accent wood, Bog Oak, is even older. These ancient woods have been preserved in the peat bogs of Ireland and England for 3500 to 5000 years. Life in the bog gave the wood its rich dark color.

Married together, in a process shown in this video, the woods come alive again in allegory’s pens, and I think the result is pretty cool.

A magnetic closure makes this a fun box to open and close

The reveal

As my pen collection grows, I find myself looking for pens that offer something out-of-the-ordinary, and The Dignitary certainly fits that bill. It’s unique “bulbous” shape isn’t something that you see every day. And though I think it looks and feels a little top-heavy when posted (6-1/2″), I find holding the unposted pen (4-3/4″) to be very comfortable. And the look has really grown on me. (To be honest, I wasn’t crazy about it at first, which is why I didn’t spring for one until the second project.) The shape makes the pen fun to hold, the weight is lovely, and the wood is warm.

Posted pen

Speaking of posting, the cap screws onto the back of the pen so that it stays put. You don’t have to worry about the cap coming loose and falling off.

Nubbin for posting

I’m a sucker for gunmetal, so the accents on this pen suit me fine. The gunmetal section is fairly narrow, but I haven’t had any problems with slippage. The unmarked nib writes a medium(ish) line and flow is on the wet side with no hard starts or skips. An unspecified black cartridge came with the pen. I’m not enough of a converter expert to know which one might fit, so I’ve just been using the included cartridge for now.

As with anything handmade from ancient materials, there may be imperfections in the wood. I noticed a crack only after looking at this enlarged photo. This doesn’t bother me, but allegory pledges to offer an exchange if you are unsatisfied for any reason, so no worries there.

allegory logo and crack-o’-history (which looks much larger here than it does in real life)

With Davis Leatherworks Notebook Cover…a nice match

Full of ancient tales and untold secrets, the Dignitary is a pen that you can use to write your own stories.

Write it out. Write it down. Record your history WITH a piece of history. (Right, Mr. Hiteman?)

Medicating With Pens: Namiki Raden Vanishing Point

Just what the doctor ordered

If there’s ever a month that requires a pen pick-me-up, it’s February. And this last one was particularly grey, in weather and in mood. One of our beloved pups (11 year old Boo) has been struggling a bit so we’ve been extra-anxious about him, which made the colorless skies and raw winds that much harder to bear. Basically, we’re raw nerves in need of brighter days.

Mmmmm…shiny colors

Rather than cope with…ummm…”substances,” I’ve turned to pens. Well, one pen in particular– the Namiki Raden Vanishing Point that I picked up used from Dan Smith back in January. With it’s black lacquer body and heavy sprinkling of gorgeously shimmering abalone chips, the Namiki Raden Vanishing Point is good for what ails ya. It’s stunning, but not flashy. Colorful, but not blingy. The teal, purple, pink, azure, and emerald abalone chips almost look like they’re floating beneath the surface of the deep black body. When you consider the fact that each chip was placed by hand, it’s impossible to not be impressed. Mesmerizing, is what it is. Just like a starry starry mid-summer sky.

A stunner

The pen came with a medium nib, but I found that it had a bit of “tooth” to it, so I made the decision to purchase and swap in a “Binderized” medium nib unit. A pen this good-looking deserves a stellar nib. And stellar it is. A “Binderized” nib is tested and tuned by Nibmeister Richard Binder…not customized, but optimized. Simply put, Richard Binder works magic with nibs. Magic.

18K gold, rhodium plated, nib-o’-perfection

And let’s not forget that this is a Vanishing Point, which adds another level of coolness. By clicking the rock-solid knock, the nib is deployed or retracted, just as easily as with a retractable ballpoint pen. Click. You’re writing. Click. You’re not. Dead simple.

That’s one heavy duty knock

I filled the pen with Pilot Iroshizuku’s kon-peki (Ocean Blue) which works beautifully with the abalone accents. It’s a match made not in heaven, but in the ocean. Very soothing. Which is great because remember? Raw nerves?

Ink as tranquilizer

I will admit to a bit of a break-in period with regard to the clip placement, but all is well now. I have a pretty typical grip, I think, so if you don’t, you might want to try one before jumping into the Vanishing Point pool. That’s one quirk with this pen that might be a negative for some.

Try before you buy

I can’t resist. Let’s take another look at those colors…

Rhodium accents and abalone bits

And again

So this pen did the trick, and beat back the February blues. Apparently the Namiki Raden Vanishing Point is my drug of choice…and without the co-pay.

But you know what REALLY cured me? Little Boo, back on his feet.

Some things are more important than pens.

——

Check out another review of the same pen at Gourmet Pens.

Want to know more about this fabulous ink? Check out Brad’s review.

Follow the Leaders: Faber-Castell e-motion Fountain Pen (M nib)

F-C e-motion, Parquet

I first saw this pen here.

Hmmm…buttery smooth nib. That phrase will get my attention EVERY time.

I did a little more stalking, and watched this review. (Same pen, just in the Croco style.) More confirmation of an ultra-smooth nib.

ARE you buttery smooth?

With both Dan and Stephen on board, how could I go wrong? So I shopped around, but waited until I had some Christmas money to make my purchase. After Christmas, I spent a few days re-reading and re-watching the reviews (as is my MO), then pondered the eternal fountain pen question…which size nib?  As I mulled this over, I chatted with a pen friend on Twitter and casually mentioned that the e-motion was going to be my next pen purchase. Then another tweet popped up, this one from Dan Smith (one of the FPGeeks himself!). Turns out he had an e-motion for sale, brand new, medium nib, great price. Sold! Talk about good timing.

The pen arrived on Saturday, and looked like this…

Anticipation

then this…

Getting there

then, finally, this…

Revealed

I filled the pen with my go-to black ink…Montblanc’s Mystery Black, then wrote and wrote and wrote. Mostly nonsense, but still.

The Faber-Castell is exactly as I hoped it would be…heavy, well-balanced, great looking, and yes…very smooth. The nib is stainless steel and lovely. Of the pens I own, I’d rank it as my 3rd smoothest, JUST behind the Sensa Meridian and the Tiger Stripey by Ken Cavers. High praise, indeed.

The black resin body is laser-etched with a parquet pattern that looks a little like braided leather. The pen is HEFTY, but not at all cumbersome, unless you post the cap. The chrome cap is quite substantial and adds just a bit too much weight to the back end. It’s not impossible to write with the cap posted (and I do, sometimes), but I generally prefer to use the pen unposted.

Laser-etched parquet

The chrome cap, grip, and end cap SHINE. I love the shine, but because I’m a little OCD, I feel the need to polish it up with a microfiber cloth to get rid of the inevitable fingerprints. (My husband’s like this with cars. I’m like this with pens. Two peas. One pod.)

Chrome cap and clip

The spring loaded clip is wonderfully curved (a bit like a ski jump, as Stephen notes in his video). I haven’t carried it in a pocket, so I can’t comment on how well the clip keeps the pen in place, but it FEELS like it’d do the job just fine.

Though I lean toward fine and extra-fine nibs, I’m glad that this medium nibbed pen serendipitously came my way. It’s a joy to use, to look at, and to polish. The line is bold and, as has been stated (and stated) super smooth.

e-motion notes

I had a feeling that Dan and Stephen wouldn’t steer me wrong, and at least as far as the Faber-Castell e-motion fountain pen goes, I was right to follow the leaders.

Color me impressed

Thanks, guys!

Merry Mary: Platinum #3776 Century Chartres Blue Fountain Pen

Amazing blues

We have some amazing stained glass windows in our church, and sometimes I find myself getting distracted by the stunning blues in the window pictured above. Maybe that’s why I was so drawn to the latest Platinum #3776…the “Chartres Blue” is just gorgeous. (You’ll probably have to take my word for it as I doubt that my camera, or the ambient lighting I’m working with, will do it justice.) I first saw the pen on an FPGeeks podcast, and then couldn’t get it out of my head. I’m pretty sure it had something to do with that window.

Oh, look!

Fred & I don’t buy Christmas presents for each other, which may sound weird, but is actually kind of nice…one less thing to feel pressure about. We are, though, free to pick up something for ourselves. Twist my arm! The Platinum #3776 arrived a little before Christmas, and though I used it immediately, I stashed the box under our simple tree. Merry Christmas to me.

Platinum swag

Along with the pen, the box contained a few surprises. The converter and cartridge were expected, but I was thrilled to find a Commemorative card which indicated that I had pen No. 0070 of the first 2000 pieces. The run is not limited to 2000 pens, but folks with one of the first 2000 get the card. Kind of cool!

No. 0070

Platinum also included a rubber stamp that says “Written Using Platinum Pigment Ink” that you can use to stamp on a letter or card. Quite novel! And we all know that I love novelties! That was a fun little surprise.

Platinum stamp

But what about the pen? In short, it’s pure joy.

Platinum #3776 Century Chartres Blue, capped

I ordered the EF nib, then fretted just a little, hoping that it wouldn’t be so fine that it’d be problematic. I needn’t have worried. Even though the nib IS exceptionally fine, it writes like a dream, and has done so consistently. I haven’t had one issue with the pen since inking it (with Platinum Blue Black).

Epitome of 14K EF nibbage (note heart-shaped breather hole)

The line is very fine, the finest I own, but there are no skips or hard starts. The cap contains a special seal that keeps the nib from drying up even if the pen is unused for as long as a year. I’ll probably never test that statement because I’ve used this pen almost daily since unboxing it, but it’s good to know that it won’t suffer from a period of non-use. There is some feedback from the nib, but I would not call it scratchy…just oh so fine.

Simple but stunning looks

Here’s a little comparison of the “EF” lines made with a few pens:

That gives you an idea of the sweet, sweet line laid down by this pen.

A little bit of trivia: #3776 refers to the height of Mt. Fuji in meters. The rich, translucent blue of the pen looks to emulate the stained glass windows in the Chartres Cathedral in France (or the windows at Westminster Presbyterian!).

The Platinum #3776 is a classic pen, with simply elegant styling and branding. I’m smitten.

Platinum

Merry Christmas to me!

And Happy New Year to you! Wishing you a happy, relaxing, and healthy 2013!

Flashback: Sailor’s Reddish Brown Ink in the A.S. Manhattaner’s “Kitty In the City” Fountain Pen

Sailor’s Reddish Brown ink in the A.S. Manhattaner pen

Flashback #1: I’ve reviewed this pen before, and in that review, recounted how I’d ALMOST sold this pen because I couldn’t get it to write consistently. But I mucked through, and gave the pen one more chance. It must’ve heard my threat, because it’s been fine ever since. It’s fine in that it writes a very fine line, and fine in that it writes when I need it to. So why review again? Well, I had a bit of an ink issue…black ink splooched into the cap for no apparent reason (maybe it went on an airplane without me??)…so I gave the pen a good clean-out. After letting it dry, I decided to pop in one of Sailor’s Reddish Brown cartridges that I have on hand but have never used.

LOVE the color, which really IS reddish brown…or maybe orangeish brown. It reminds me of J. Herbin’s 1670 Rouge Hematite, but without the sediment. Because I’m using it in a pen with a very fine nib, the shading isn’t as apparent as it may be otherwise, but it is there nonetheless, and I really like the look. I’m enjoying it enough to break out of my usual black ink rut and have been using this pen and ink to write my incessant lists (groceries, to-dos, Christmas stuff…) and find that my lists as least LOOK a lot more fun.

Flashback #2: I read a review somewhere, maybe on JetPens, where the reviewer noted that the ink color reminded them of the Mercurochrome that their mother used to draw on their little kid scrapes and cuts. WOAH…Mercurochrome! Hadn’t thought about that for years! My mom used it to draw kitties on our constantly skinned knees. So it’s fitting that I’m using this “Mercurochrome” colored ink in a pen with a kitty on it.

Kitty In the City

A quick Google search revealed that Mercurochrome was, of course, made with MERCURY. Eek. I’m trying not to think about the fact that I had 20,000 skinned knees by the time I was eight. Ah, well— I walked to kindergarten by myself (“Be careful crossing that busy road!!”), rode my bike without a helmet (sometimes “no-handed”), and spent road trips on the ledge under the back window of the family sedan (what seat belts?!). I’m sure I’ll survive.

Unfortunately, the A.S. Manhattaner “kitty” pens are no longer available (there were a number of different motifs, all featuring a cat), but Sailor’s Clear Candy pens appear to be virtually the same. The nib is certainly no-frills, but I can vouch for the very crisp line that it lays down. Its reasonable price and range of fun colors makes Sailor’s Clear Candy a good “starter pen” candidate, especially for kids, or for anyone looking to add a little color to their fountain pen collection without breaking the bank.

Who needs a fancy nib?

The Clear Candy model features a star on the end of the cap while my pen features…

Meow. Of course.

Though I was already having fun with this pen, I’m enjoying it a little more with the new ink color. And the reddish brown ink brought back a flood of childhood memories.

There’s no telling where a pen and ink can take you.

Mosaic: The Levenger True Writer Kyoto Fountain Pen (F nib)

I’ve been a fan of Levenger’s goods for a LONG time, and am a happy user of their Circa notebooks and address books. I thumb through their catalogs repeatedly, making mental wish-lists, and flagging pages with sticky notes (much like I did as a kid with the Sears catalog of toys). I’ve been hearing good things about their True Writer fountain pens on FPGeeks, so when a recent promotion popped up, I made my move and purchased the True Writer Kyoto Fountain Pen.

Kyoto True Writer by Levenger

Man, oh, man…what colors! I’m particularly drawn to shiny colorful pens, like the Edison Collier Persimmon Swirl and Ken Cavers’ Tiger Stripey pen, and now, the True Writer Kyoto. Its acrylic body is, as Levenger puts it, “a marbled mosaic of turquoise, lavender, espresso, and caramel.” To be honest, I didn’t even notice the lavender until I shot a few pictures for this entry. And that’s the real fun of this pen…there are so many colors and shades and layers, that the look of the pen changes constantly. In low light, it looks quite subtle, while in brighter light, the colors and sheen POP.

A mosaic of colors

I chose a fine nib, as I almost always do, and this one writes smoothly and consistently, and has done so from the moment I filled the converter with Montblanc’s Toffee Brown. This is my go-to brown ink, and it pairs perfectly with the pen, as it also reveals a range of brown shades when the ink hits the paper.

The Kyoto’s fine steel nib

The pen measures 5-1/2″ in length and 5/8″ in diameter and weighs 0.77 ounces. The body is accented with a chrome clip and chrome bands that I think compliment the look of the pen. Your eye sees the amazing colors first, then is drawn to the subtle accents. It’s a well-balanced look, in my opinion.

Chrome accents

The screw-style cap posts nicely and I find it equally comfortable to write with the cap posted or unposted. The body is big enough to hide a spare ink cartridge, if you’re using cartridges rather than the included converter.

Did I mention that the colors are really cool?

Well, they are.

They certainly are.

—–

A tip: Levenger is currently offering a $100 gift card for orders of $125 or more. (Check their website for details.) Might be the time to do a little shopping!

A note: Though it sounds like I’m doing a Levenger commercial, I haven’t been compensated by them in any way. I just love their paper products, and now, their pens.

Fall: The Monteverde Prima (Brown Swirl) & Field Notes Traveling Salesman Limited Edition

Whoooeee…that’s a mouthful. But off we go…

Monteverde Prima, Brown Swirl, F nib

In order to get my day off to a peaceful/calm start, I’ve recently started an early morning ritual. Right after breakfast, I pick up one of our Silky Terriers (usually 10-year old Boo) and together we take look out into the woods behind our house. Sometimes we see birds and bunnies, maybe even a deer. But what struck me this morning were the colors. And how much those November colors remind me of the colors in the Monteverde Prima. (This sounds contrived…I know it does…but I honestly DO think like this.)

Here we are in late fall. The leaves are mostly gone, but there are still glimpses of gold and a little green and a lot of brown, in all kinds of muted shades and tones. With the sun low in the sky, the woods shimmered with the early light. Exactly like the Monteverde Prima.

Swirly goodness

With its chocolatey browns and shimmery golds, the Brown Swirl Prima is a perfect companion to the Fall Field Notes Limited Edition offering…the Traveling Salesman notebooks.

Made for each other

I’m a BIG list maker. Big. Really big. And my action/waiting/maybe lists for work and home used to be physically big…like 8.5″ x 11″ big. And at that size they freaked me out a bit. Everything just looked so LARGE and overwhelming. Around the time that I noticed a direct correlation between the size of my working lists and my level of anxiety, I fortuitously subscribed to the Field Notes Color series. Then I moved my lists from big sheets of paper into Field Notes notebooks. And I calmed down. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Fountain pen friendly ledger paper

Since subscribing, I maintain master lists in Evernote (so they’re synced and always with me), but my daily working lists are religiously hand-written in Field Notes notebooks…one for home and one for work. The Traveling Salesman Limited Edition notebooks are this year’s fall offering, and they’re perfect for the season. The cover is a rich “Hot Fudge” brown with “Fool’s Gold” metallic embossing, while the ledger style pages are a soft green…all colors that I see in both my woods and this pen.

Like the fall forest

The nib is fine and smooth…a little finer than some of the other fine nibbed pens that I own. It’s a touch on the drier side, but that may be the ink. Once this cartridge is gone, I’ll pop in the converter (which threads into the pen…nice!), and load it with a Montblanc black or brown. The Prima hasn’t given me a speck of trouble…no hard starts and no skipping. I’m once again impressed by Monteverde.

Well-behaved nib

I see autumn and my woods in this pen and this notebook. And when I’m in the thick of a crazy work day, that’s exactly what I need.

—–

For more details on the Monteverde Prima line, check out Brian Goulet’s excellent video review at Ink Nouveau.

The OTHER Mini: The TWSBI Diamond Mini

A writing sample and a little TWSBI background

All together now…TWSBI!! (TWIZ-BEE!!) I seriously cannot stop saying this! (Try it. It’s addictive.)

A wee TWSBI

While the tech world is abuzz with news of the iPad Mini, pen folk FINALLY got their hands on a different mini…the TWSBI Diamond Mini. Before becoming a regular listener of the FPGeeks podcast, I’d never heard of TWSBI. But Eric and Dan mentioned the company so often that I started stalking TWSBI pens online and read a ton of reviews…but only recently picked up a TWSBI Diamond 540 (Amber). Awhile back, talk of the mythical TWSBI Mini ramped up, but the release date remained elusive. I was so impressed by the 540, that ordering a Mini was a no-brainer. But when would it hit the market?? TWSBI apparently spends a lot of time refining their designs to incorporate the suggestions of their fans, so release dates are not exactly carved in stone.

But last week, the Mini launched, and as soon as I got wind of it, I ordered directly from TWSBI (from bed, on my iPad). A couple of days later, my Mini arrived, and I am loving it.

I picked the demonstrator model (all clear) because I like seeing the ink (Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue) sloshing around inside. The piston-filling system is a breeze to use and just sort of fun, in an inky kind of way.

See the ink?

I’d read a few reviews that noted dry writing with some TWSBIs (mainly the Micartas) so I was a little leery, as I have zero knowledge of how to adjust a dry pen. But I needn’t have worried as both the Diamond 540 and Mini wrote wonderfully out of the box. I’m very happy with the EF nib and the wetness of the line.

This extra-fine nib makes me smile

To post the cap, simply thread it onto the back of the pen body. Voila…perfect size for comfortable writing.

Posted cap

But how mini is it? Here’s a comparison of the Mini vs a couple of Kaweco pocket models (the AL-Sport and the TEENY Liliput)…

Top to bottom: TWSBI Mini, Kaweco AL-Sport, Kaweco Liliput

So while the TSWBI Mini isn’t super small (honors for that go to the Liliput), it’s nicely compact and easy to carry. The TWSBI Mini also feels less “loseable” than the Liliput, which is just a wisp of a pen (but cool, in it’s own way).

Pen aesthetics and performance aside, what REALLY drew me into the brand was the company philosophy, which is spelled out on the pen’s package insert. TWSBI strives to provide quality at a “favorable retail price,” but also stresses the value of enjoying life. In their words…

We hope that it can teach its users, however young or old, to understand the value of enjoying life. We at TWSBI approach each project with the end user in mind. In this particular case, we had the following goals:
-For the pen to be functional, as well as aesthetically pleasing
-For the pen to help the user express him- or herself
-For the pen to bring people together
-For the pen to be affordable
-For the pen to teach the user how to enjoy a slower-paced lifestyle.

For someone who has a hard time getting off the hamster-wheel of life and quieting down, TWSBI’s goals were just what I wanted/needed to hear. And I think that using the TWSBI Mini, or any fountain pen, really DOES help to slow things down. There is a bit of ritual with a fountain pen…selecting the ink, filling the pen, choosing the paper, seeing the ink flow, cleaning the pen…all are steps that force us to ratchet down from the crazy pace of our days. As we write, we breathe and relax. Just a little bit. Just a little bit.

TWSBI also encourages users to periodically perform preventative maintenance on their pens by providing detailed diagrams as well as the necessary wrench and silicone grease for complete disassembly. Am I THAT brave? Not yet, but maybe one day. It DOES look quite simple.

Here’s how you do it

And here’s what you use…

Cleverly hidden in the bottom of the pen’s packaging

TWSBI’s tagline is “Inspired by Writing” and I can honestly say that the Mini (as well as the Diamond 540) DO inspire me to write. AND to slow down.

TWSBI, you’re the prescription I’ve been looking for.

Exhale. I feel better already.

Channeling Your Inner Tigger: The Tiger Stripey Pen by Ken Cavers

Grrrrrr

Even if you’re fundamentally an Eeyore (me!), there are some things that can bring out your inner Tigger; some things that can make you bounce with excitement and utter that Tigger-esque WOOHOOHOOHOO! My Tiger Stripey pen is one of those things. Made by Ken Cavers, a physician in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Tiger Stripey is a complete package of fountain pen goodness.

Tigger with Tiger Stripey

My Twitter feed is full of interesting pen and ink enthusiasts. We trade opinions of pens and paper and ink, and share photos of our pen-related loot. Ken’s photos of his handmade pens immediately caught my eye, especially the Tiger Stripey pen that he’d recently finished and shared. This thing looked HOT. After a short stint on my wishlist, I contacted Ken to get my very own. The cool thing about Twitter (and Ken) is that I was able to see my pen progress from a rectangular block of acrylic to the finished pen in just a couple of days. Two weeks later (agonizing wait for the mail!), I had the Tiger Stripey in hand.

I chose the clipless model, preferring, in this case, to have nothing draw the eye away from the wonderfully swirled orange and black acrylic. The goldy-orangey swirls, in particular, shimmer and shine, and are almost like looking into a hologram. You can see into the depths of the acrylic. Very cool. HOT and cool.

Pretty eye catching, eh?

The two-tone German nib (a medium) is crazy smooth. Ken’s note said that this particular nib had been very good to start with, but that he’d also done a bit of smoothing to make it absolutely perfect. It really IS luscious (and I don’t throw that word around lightly…or at all). Filled with Montblanc’s Mystery Black, this is a dream pen. Simply great. And handmade. Which seems like a little miracle to me.

Sehr gut! (High school German for “very good.”)

So when I’m using the Tiger Stripey, my Eeyoreish tendencies evaporate, and I’m full of Tigger-like enthusiasm. Though my bouncing days are over, I’m bouncing on the INSIDE.

Tigger agrees.

So in conclusion…WOOHOOHOOHOO!

Both Worlds: Monteverde Invincia Stylus (F nib) in Matte Chrome

The Matte Chrome Monteverde Invincia Stylus

My handwritten thoughts

I’m a bouncer. All day long I hop between digital devices and applications (Clear, Evernote, Day One, Twitter, email) and my favorite paper products (Field Notes, Frictionless Capture Cards, Rhodia dotPads, and plain old scrap paper).

iPad and dotPad

Analog capture hub

I keep “on the fly” notes in both places…in the Clear app on my iPhone, and on paper, depending on where I am when the mood or need strikes. I love the feel of pen on paper as much as I enjoy fiddling around with iPad and iPhone apps. Evernote is, ultimately, the place where I bring all all of my lists and tasks and brainstorming together. Everything syncs and I feel calm. Calmish. I feel calmish.

Monteverde Invincia Stylus. Shiny!

So. Yeah. Like so many of us, I’m a fan of digital AND analog tools. Apps and paper. Pens and styluses (stylii?). Which is where the Monteverde Invincia Stylus comes in. Sweet fountain pen on one end, high quality stylus on the other. I can write a letter with the pen, then poke around on my iPad with the stylus. One tool for both worlds. Happy Mary.

As I mentioned in my handwritten review, the stylus works very well on my iDevices. I’ve found using a few other styluses to be frustrating. Usually they’re too mushy and I end up having to tap the screen repeatedly to get a response. At that point, I go back to using my finger. But the response from the Monteverde stylus has been great, probably because it has a “fingerlike” firmness. I’m really impressed with how well it functions. This is not a “novelty” stylus.

Stylus and matte black clip

Stellar nib

The nib is a bit oversized, which I enjoy. The dark nib and black matte accents look great against the matte chrome finish of the body. In the right light, this thing SHINES. And it writes great. No scratchiness. No drag. Filled with Private Reserve’s DC Supershow Blue, I’m finding this pen to be one that I make excuses to use. Just an all around fun package.

Bottom line? iLove.