fountain pen

by Tony Thomas After watching Brian Goulet's video on the new Pilot Metropolitan fine point, I decided to give one a try.  I had my eye on the White Tiger model for a while, so I bought one with a fine nib from my friends at The Goulet Pen Company . Let me say this at the outset: If you don't have a Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen in your collection, get one!  At $15, it is one of the true bargains of the fountain pen world. I always add a CON-50 twist converter to my Metros, since I am not thrilled with the included CON-20 squeeze converter.  That adds a bit over $5 to the price, but to me, it is well worth it. The Metropolitan fine point is a great writer.  It produces a true Japanese fine line with just a touch of feedback.  For me, it has become a daily writer due to its low cost and great performance.  Highly recommended! A writing sample in a Clairefontaine notebook. The White Tiger hanging out  with two of my other "Metros".

by Tony Thomas I have been looking at various planners for awhile, including the highly-esteemed Filofax.  However, I am not a big fan of ring binders and prefer the Circa/Arc/Rollabind disc binders and accessories.   As a result, I decided to ditch my spartan Circa leather cover and commission the wonderful folks at  Hidebound Leather to create a nice leather planner cover for me. After consulting with them, I found that the easiest way to create such a planner was to start with a regular book cover and customize it. After carefully measuring my Circa notebook including the discs, I picked the Classic Vintage Cognac large book cover ($45) and added the Folio pocket option ($15).   Check out the link here . It took them about a week to create the cover and it arrived a few days after that.  I am very pleased with the result.  The cover is made of really soft and supple leather and, after a just a few weeks of use, it is already providing a nice, slightly distressed, "lived-in&quo