buy a really good fountain pen

I’ve found one I love. Well, I’ve actually found two that I love, but I bought the one I could reasonably afford. It hasn’t arrived yet, but since the pen has been purchased, this Thing is officially done.

Oh, and of course, here is the fountain pen.

PS Since from what I’ve seen of their website, Pilot seem to be blissfully unaware that Australia exists, I will never buy or use any type of pen made by them in future. Way to totally alienate an entire continent. Great marketing strategy. Sorry, couldn’t resist venting.

I admit, I haven’t been looking very hard. It does seem though, that fountain pens are a dying breed. I think perhaps I’ll have to extend my search to the online realms. Who knows what I’ll find?

When I was very young, I think I was 10, I got my first fountain pen. It was a requirement of the school that we learn to use one properly (before you even think it – no, I’m not 20000 years old – I went to a very amazing, liberating school in my childhood) and I couldn’t wait to get one – I was already addicted to peacock blue ink. You see, I was something of a Teachers’ pet – by which I mean that I was the pet of all the teachers in that school. By the time I was 7 they (the teachers) had already bought me a peacock blue ballpoint pen – and I was the only one allowed to use pen at all.

I digress.

I loved using that fountain pen, even though it was the cheapest possible one, and was a colour I loathed (navy blue, for reference). Using it meant to me that I was an adult. And it seemed to me that things written with my fountain pen were more important, more profound than ordinary words written in ordinary ink. While others whined, I adored using it.

Obviously then, I want another one. This time though, I want a really good one. A stupidly beautiful one. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not talking about something expensive – I’m talking about a pen that looks beautiful and that writes beautifully in my opinion. Finding one will probably take a while, but I have time. I can wait.