I am digging the Misty Blue. It’s work friendly, but that slightly lighter blue black has more personality than a darker one that leans closer to black. It’s on my wishlist now!
Wanting to move away from blacks is how I eventually came to the first of my three main inks, which is also from Diamine: Saddle Brown. I found that I still wanted something that wasn't too attention grabbing and was still dark enough to provide good contrast on nearly anything, but at the same time it's still far more interesting than the range of "permanent marker black" to "washed out black" that I was trying to enjoy before.
Okay, I love fountain pens but never really got into them. Do you use a different pen for each ink, or do you swap out the inks in a single pen? Do you have any suggestions for starting pens with refillable reservoirs? I have one however it uses little plastic cartridges.
@MossyFeathers I usually keep 2-10 pens inked with various inks. For me the Lami Safari pens with converters are good, and not too expensive. But you can also look at TWSBI Eco. They don’t take cardridges or converters, but have a built-in reservoar an a screw mechanism for filling with ink.
You can do either - I started with a box of Pilot Varsity disposables just to get a feel for it. Then the Preppy / Kakuno / Sport price range. Discovered Sailors, fell even more in love, collection kept expanding… Might as well use the,
Needless to say, I have a fair number currently inked. I don’t have many reserved for special purposes, save for one cheap blue/black ‘business signature’ pen that I generally always carry because some people think signature color matters.
You make your own path in this hobby, for sure. One of my true favorites is my namesake ink, I’ll use that purple shimmer anywhere :)
20+ inked, one set of duplicate inks in semi-duplicate pen (MTM in a Safari, and an Al Star), the rest are all disparate colors. Primary criteria is that it needs to make me smile in some way, or otherwise improve my life.
A6 notebook + mechanical pencil are an indispensable part of my travel kit. i always worry that i will lose my phone at some point so important addresses are written there.
pen and paper can be very useful in places with a different language/writing system. there was a time i looked for a specific product that i had a difficulty describing. fortunately, i met a local who can speak english and asked him to write down the local name of the said product. it can be done on the phone but i find that older people are more comfortable writing with a pen and paper.
for everyday, i use my phone s native notes app for quick jots but still carry with me a notebook and pencil.
Writing on your phone is fine for structured notes that aren’t going to change much but they really really suck for free form writing.
I use an A5 Leuchtturm1917 Weekly Planner for my work shifts, appointments, reminders, tasks, to do’s, etc. It has blank sections for each day allowing you to format your daily plan how you like and you can cross things out and add to it as needed (really great for paying bills as you can note it down then write “paid” next to it).
While you don’t get audible alerts from it, I have found that after using google calendars for years that 95% of the entries don’t need an audio alert & have the downside of disappearing from your notifications at the end of the scheduled time or day which can be a pain when you want to push a task to the next day. With pen and paper things stay until you mark them as done (and there is many different ways to do that).
I have a couple of A5 ruled notebooks for my lists, longer term to do lists, messages etc. When you cross something out it doesn’t disappear or move to another place in an app, it sits there easily visible for future reference or reminders.
There is certainly something freeing from using physical pen and paper to write how you want and structure your notes how they work for you without having to spread them across multiple apps.
Need to make graphs or make plans or maps? Use graph or dot grid paper.
Need to write structured notes? Use one of the many lined papers with your preferred line density and spacing.
Want to free form your notes &/or draw? Use plain paper or sketch paper.
Want to write music? Use paper printed with staff’s.
Need to plan your day? Use one of the great many daily, weekly, monthly or yearly planners ranging from structured all the way to free form.
Have a need to keep track of “to do’s”? There a great number of pads, notebooks, planners and journals that are all about to do lists (there are even systems that have set ways to mark items as in progress, on hold, completed, etc to make things more consistent).
Want to keep a record of books, movies, recipes, plants, travel, babies etc? Guess what, there are journals formatted especially for these. topics
After trying to do 100% of my notes, planning, to do’s, reminders, etc on my phone for over 15 years and having constant issues with notification spam, missed reminders and finding information I have moved back to using planners and notebooks.
They allow me to write how I want, cross things out, add thing in, highlight, draw diagrams, maps, plans etc and most important of all it allows me to make mistakes and correct them.
I have found that I am reaching far less for my phone to look up daily plans & notes as I am remembering them more reliably after writing them down by hand.
I mostly write with a keyboard and only the occasional small notes on paper.
I still carry around a small pocket notebook and a pen because it’s fun… Also if I see someone parking on a bike lane, I like to leave a note with some colourful language.
Back in this January I decided to start writing morning pages and decided to use fountain pen. Also thought to spend a little bit much more on a nice fountain pen. While at the time I thought I was rushing to just buying things, this purchase was really great! I still write with it every single day, morning pages and daily notes.
I can type pretty fast on a full keyboard, so for me writing is slower. But because it is slower, I find it can be more thoughtful. About two years ago I started making an effort to hand write notes to help me think, learn, and remember things.
Pen and paper are also pretty great. You can take them anywhere. They don’t require electricity or a battery. They are small and lightweight. You can use them on a hike. You can use them if the power goes out. The format will never become unsupported.
I work in an environment where the accuracy and detail in my notes is critical, and the faster I write, the better both are. More than once, notes I took on something that seemed unrelated at the time were the key to figuring out what went wrong. Additionally, it’s common in my field to work in places where the best case for being caught with an unauthorized device is said device being nuked from orbit, and worst case, still that but also being charged with treason 🙃
Plus, it’s just really satisfying to take notes in whatever color I feel like for the day 😁
At the beginning of every workday I write a to-do list on paper with pen and cross the items out as soon as I’m done with them. I also take notes on paper when I read and review papers, it helps me retain the information better. My phone and my computer screen are often the main source of distraction for me and my notebook helps me keep the focus on the task.
So many things in my life require me to use a computer screen. Writing on paper is a way to escape that, distance myself from distractions and feel peaceful
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