Private Reserve Gray Flannel Ink Review

A wintery blizzard consumed the east coast this weekend. As I sat, wrapped in a blanket with the space heater on full blast, I thought that it would be a great week to try out a few gray inks. I didn't understand the appeal of such inks, since they are often too light to use with traditional fine nibs and seemed to be impractical, but I was pleasantly surprised when I put a few inks through their paces. I settled on Private Reserve Gray Flannel to review simply, due to its awesome name and shading properties.

Private Reserve Gray Flannel Ink has the most extreme shading properties of the three gray inks that I've tried so far. Although I only swipe ink swatches twice, the Gray Flannel Ink showed multiple shades of gray, unlike the De Atramentis Frankincense and Pilot Iroshizuku. The variation of shading with my Pilot Parallel pen was so extreme that the ink seemed to shimmer on the page.

Private Reserve Gray Flannel Ink has fantastic shading properties, dark enough to be legible with a standard fine nib and is relatively inexpensive, compared to its competitors. Although I hadn't considered using a grey ink in the past, Gray Flannel is a lot of fun to use with my Noodler's Ahab Flex and Pilot Parallel Calligraphy pens. The ink's dry time is reasonably fast, and its name is also my favorite of the gray bunch.

Stats

• Dry Time: Less than 20s
• Wetness: Medium
• Shading: High
• Feathering: Low
• Saturation: High

Tools

• J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen
• Noodler's Ahab - Flex nib
• Pilot Parallel - 6mm nib
• Rhodia DotPad

Note: I switched to using a glass dip pen instead of the Lamy Safari to test ink dry times starting with this review. Dry times may not compare equally with previous ink reviews. The dip pen is much easier to clean than the Safari, so I plan to use it for all future ink reviews.

Midori Traveler's Notebook Review: First Impressions

Fountain pens are built to last. They may run out of ink, but they can be refilled over and over again. The same thing can't be said for notebooks. Pages are filled with everything from beautiful prose to grocery lists, and the tears and scratches that mar the covers are reminders of the journey. Once these books are their most worn and beautiful, we chuck them out or put them on a shelf to collect dust. I've been longing for a notebook that could acquire these beautiful signs of age while lasting as long as a good pen.

I found the answer in the form of the leather Midori Traveler's Notebook. Leather lasts for decades, if taken care of, but it gains character over time. The Midori Traveler's Notebook isn't a notebook as much as an expandable system that I stumbled upon while browsing pictures of fountain pens. I turned to YouTube for more info and discovered a cult-like following of crafty women that post videos of their personalized notebooks. The stickers, decorative tapes, and cat-shaped paperclips were an instant turnoff. I loved that the full-sized Midori Traveler's Notebook was small enough to throw in a bag but large enough for detailed notes, but I wasn't interested in a notebook that had to be bejeweled. There simply aren't many male-friendly resources and reviews of this notebook. After a bit of searching, I found the Stuff & Things Review of the Midori Traveler's Notebook, and it was just the push that I needed.

The Midori Traveler's Notebook kit and optional expansion bands

The heart of the Midori Traveler's Notebook is a simple leather notebook cover. An elastic band makes up the spine of the cover and makes it possible to add notebook inserts. This band is held together by a small metal clasp. The cover comes with another elastic band that threads through the leather and around the notebook to keep it closed. There's even a small bookmark ribbon in the cover that makes it easier to quickly flip the notebook open to the next blank pages. The standard notebook kit also includes an extra elastic band, protective sleeve, and a blank 64 page notebook insert (refill 001). The notebook is only capable of holding one insert out of the box; however, Midori does sell additional connection bands that make it possible to add multiple inserts at once. I find that the Midori works well with two inserts, but the inserts tend to buldge out of the cover when three or more are inserted. This is largely due to Midori's process for adding additional inserts, but I'm sure that a quick internet search will reveal ways to avoid the buldge. The standard size of the Traveler's Notebook is close to A5 in height, but skinnier in width.

The Midori Traveler's Notebook is essentially a $40 flap of leather that requires expensive inserts. If you're looking for a budget notebook, you can stop reading right now, because the Midori isn't for you. Despite the expense, the quality of the notebook materials make up for the expensive price tag. The leather is cut precisely and sealed at the edges. The unique metal class appears to be hand clamped and gives the notebook an antique look. I've used the Midori Traveler's Notebook for months now, and the elastic bands are just as springy as they were when the notebook arrived in the mail. The Midori paper is superb for fountain pens, with minimal feathering. So yes, it's an expensive leather flap, but it's a damned good one. The Midori Traveler's Notebook is available in a standard and passport size. It comes in brown or black leather, although the company does release occasional limited editions.

I've tested several of the notebook inserts available for the Midori Traveler's notebook, and I enjoy writing on the lightweight paper the most. This refill uses 128 pages of the legendary Tomoe River paper, which is slightly thicker than tissue paper but is the perfect pairing for fountain pens. Tomoe River paper does have a significantly longer dry time than the stock insert paper, and Midori only makes a blank version of this refill. I would do shameful things for a dot grid version of the lightweight refill, but for now the great writing feel can't make up for the lack of guiding lines and grids. My handwriting isn't great to begin with, and the lack of writing guides make it worse.

There are endless ways to customize a Midori Traveler's Notebook, and I'm just getting started with mine. If you're curious, here is my current setup. Notice the lack of animal paper clips and inspirational phrases. This notebook is just as good without the stickers, so don't let the the crazy crafters be a turnoff:

• Lightweight Tomoe River Refill 013 - For meeting notes and ideas that I'll probably never review.
• Blank Refill 003 - For book and article notes.
• Ruled Refill 001 - My backup and eventual replacement for the lightweight refill. I need lines!
• Homemade Craft Folder - Made from a plain manilla folder and packaging tape. You can find the design here.
• Patrick Ng's Chronodex planner January - July 2016 - Printed on plain office paper. I'm still trying to find an easy way to bind this into its own book. The Chronodex system is a fantastic compliment to a digital task manager.
• Midori Medium Pen Loop - Works well with my Lamy 2000, after a bit of breaking in.

The Midori can accommodate several inserts at once, but inserts tend to protrude when three or more are inserted.

The Midori Traveler's Notebook is a great choice for crafters and businesspeople alike. The size of the notebook is a nice balance between functional and portable, and the beautiful leather cover lives on well after the refills fill up. The scratches and scuffs on the notebook's cover are a testament to its journey, and I couldn't be happier with the story that they tell. I'm sure that this notebook will stand the test of time, so I hope to revisit it in the future, once my workflows mature. If you're interested in this notebook but are still on the fence, check out my link list of resources that helped to push me over the edge.

Diamine Red Dragon Ink Review

Every teacher needs a red pen. Although most of my grading is now done in the digital world, I still mark up a few paper assignments every week. Why red? Most students believe that teachers use red to instill fear and anguish, but the truth is that bright colors, such as red, make it easier to pick out corrections and comments amidst a sea of black. Diamine Pumpkin is my favorite fall choice for grading papers, but I needed a new color suitable for the changing seasons.

I ventured out in search of the perfect red to fill my TWSBI 580 and settled on Diamine Red Dragon fountain pen ink. It wasnt't the bright ink that I was looking for, but I loved how Red Dragon looked on ink swatches online. The color resembles that of dried blood, with shades of brown. Even though I appreciate the evil villain feel that the ink provides, I love its deep color for everyday writing.

I am very happy with Diamine Red Dragon and have it inked up daily. Dry time is adequate, but I would rate its feathering performance as "medium". Even though I rated feathering as "low" in my handwritten review, further use revealed that this ink performs worse than most of my other inks on cheaper papers. I typically use Red Dragon on student assignments printed on cheap copy paper, and it feathers badly. Plan to use this ink with a nicer pad of paper. Despite the fact that this is not the perfect grading ink that I've been looking for, Diamine Red Dragon's deep color is too beautiful to let go of for now. If you know of any similar inks that perform well on cheap paper, please leave a comment below!

Stats

• Dry Time: Less than 20 seconds
• Wetness: Low
• Shading: Low-Medium
• Feathering: Medium
• Saturation: Medium

Tools

• Lamy Safari - F nib
• Noodler's Ahab - Flex nib
• Pilot Parallel - 6mm nib
• Rhodia DotPad

Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pen Review

The Pilot Parallel is an inexpensive calligraphy pen that's great for getting started with calligraphy without spending a small fortune. I stumbled upon these pens while looking for a cheap pen for testing inks, and they are exactly what I was looking for. The full Pilot Parallel pen set can be found for less that $30 on Amazon and comes with four pens with 1.5, 2.4, 3.8, and 6mm nib sizes.

Each Pilot Parallel pen comes with two mixable ink cartridges, a nib cleaner, bulb syringe for cleaning, and calligraphy guide. The pen is made of plastic and twists apart for easy ink cartridge replacement, like most standard cartridge fountain pens. The Parallel's cap is threaded and caps securely. Its very lightweight plastic body lacks a clip and resembles a paintbrush handle. The pen looks and feels like a $10 pen, but its performance makes up for the cheap first impressions.

The nib of the Pilot Parallel is easily the most interesting part of the pen. The nib is made of two parallel plates, with serrated edges that allow ink to flow out of the tip of the nib. This varies from the standard fountain pen nib design, where the nib sits atop an ink feed that keeps the nib inked. It takes a bit of coaxing to get the ink to flow through the Parallel's feed at first, but the transparent feed gives a good indication of the ink's progress as it approaches the nib. I typically have to tap the nib on paper to get the ink flowing through all of the nib slits, but flow is steady once it gets going.

Pilot states that its Parallel pen is only to be used with the included calligraphy inks, which are very wet. I bought the pens for ink testing, so I was relieved to find that they work with with standard fountain pen inks as well. Wetter inks perform the most consistently, and dryer inks take a bit work to get them to flow through the nib. These pens lay a ton of ink on the page, so be sure to use a higher quality paper to reduce ink feathering. This also means that the pens burn through ink very quickly.

Instead of wasting money on a Pilot converter, I reuse the empty Parallel ink cartridges. These hold a large amount of ink and have a ball bearing agitator that keeps ink from building up in the tip of the cartridge. The cartridges are very easy to clean by flushing with a standard medical syringe. The Pilot Parallel can also be converted to an eye dropper filler with a huge ink capacity, since the body of the pen is sealed. I'm still not brave enough to try this, but it should be fairly easy to do by filling the pen body with ink and adding a bit of silicon grease to the threads for a good seal.

The Pilot Parallel comes with a sheet for cleaning the grooves of the nib as well as a customized bulb syringe for cleaning. The pens takes substantial flushing to clean, but the provided tools really help make the process easier.

I initially purchased a set of Pilot Parallel pens for ink testing, but I find myself dabbling more and more with calligraphy. These pens are a lot of fun to use and are so inexpensive that I have no qualms about throwing the pens in my bag or playing around with different inks. The 2.4mm pen is my favorite of the bunch, and the nib is just the right size for my A5 Rhodia DotPad and Midori Traveler's Notebook. The Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pen is a fantastic find, and I'm glad that I gave it a shot.

New Year Resolutions and Course Corrections

With the move towards a digital world came the promise of efficiency and sanity. Endless file cabinets became bits on a hard drive and digital tags keep massive amounts of data sorted and easily accessible. We no longer have to remember to bring our address books to lunch, and working in the office transformed into working from home or a coffee shop. Reminders and calendars tell us exactly when we need to be where and what we need to do when we get there.

The problem with this sort of efficiency and flexibility is that the hours that we gain in spare time aren't spent in leisure; they're spent doing more work. Productivity and efficiency became standard operating procedure, but the eight hour work day never became the four hour work week that we were promised. Todo lists that once contained five items now contain fifty and have morphed into monstrous databases that are ever-present on our laptops and smartphones. Our calendars are triple booked, with bleeps and bloops reminding us that we should be doing more. This makes it more important than ever to find time to rest and time to question what's worth doing and what can be cut loose.

The end of the year is an excellent time to re-evaluate, clean house, and step away from the daily chaos, just for a little while. Of course, some might call these goals New Year resolutions, but the New Year is arbitrary. There are a few things that I'm trying to do this year to course correct; however, it's worth noting that any time of year can be your "New Year:"

• Read, sort, and clean out all of my inboxes from digital to physical mailbox. Everything has a place, whether it be archived, moved to a todo list, or trashed.
• Review all of the tasks that I keep in my task manager and decide what high-level tasks I want to accomplish in the upcoming year. Decide what's needs my attention and drop any tasks that I've been holding on to that I'll never do and won't derail any important projects.
• Evaluate my mental well-being and set a few goals to improve it. I usually choose small goals that are easily achievable. This year's goal is to make a daily gratitude note in my Chronodex planner. I tend to focus on the negatives of life, and little efforts like these help me to shift my outlook towards the positive.

If you haven't already, treat yourself to a yearly review session. Grab a big cup of coffee, turn off all of those bleeps and bloops just for a little while, and take a look at where you've been and where you want to go.

Most importantly, remember to breathe. Thanks for your support this year, and I look forward to seeing you again in the next.