Gama... not Gamma

so, i was trying hard to finish a letter to my sister.
ending 2015 with a letter that took me 4 days to write.
and i was also trying to finish the diamine blue lightning shimmering ink in my twsbi.
it's time for another pen to come into rotation.

whilst all this was going on...i bought myself a gama.
a gama fountain pen from an indian seller online.

what's the connection with the letter and ink that made me buy a pen online?
i don't know.
maybe because it just took forever to finish the letter and ink.
after all, i got myself the gama model "forever"...

corny? yes.
satisfied. immensely. :)

hello rhodia

my wife decided i needed this.

actually, i said i needed it.

so she reaffirmed it by getting it for me today.

i absolutely love this!

one punch man

it's official.
this is my current favourite hero.
one punch man.

i think so...

after a hiatus of about 5 years, the fountain pen obsession is back.
and i think, it's worse than before.
it's like the beast is trying to make up for loss time...
the damage?
umm...about 12 new fountain pens and numerous, numerous inks in a span of less than 4 months.

and now it has turned its attention to indian made fountain pens - the ranga, gama and asa brands. it has taken down 2 already and aiming for another.

i need a superhero to save me.
ultraman maybe?
or the one punch man, the non-hero, hero (some crazy hilarious anime my kids made me watch which i am now hooked on). Check out the review here.

distraction

this twist to the traditional shadow puppet is brilliant!

batman

green lantern

ben kenobi

superman

princess leia

darth vader

there were more at the exhibition in bangsar village mall.

nice.

p.s. thanks for the photos jay.

ink collection update

...from the last count, here's the update.
of inks that is.

63 bottles of inks of various colours and shades (and brands and sizes).

blue - 21

red / pink - 12

black - 6

green - 9 

violet/purple - 3

orange - 2

brown - 5
yellow - 3

invisible - 1

silver (not for fountain pen) -1

last updated: 18th Dec 2015

totally. under control.

i decided i needed a 'me' time break today.

so i went to the office, worked for 3 solid hours.

then i took the rest of the day off.

totally under control.

i went to cziplee (bangsar) to have a look see.

and ended up with this.

11 mini bottles of pilot iroshizuku inks, 

4 mini bottles of j.herbin la perle des encres inks,

1 bottle of j.herbin encre argent (silver ink),

1 bottle of sailor seasonal ink,

a box of dip pen nibs,

a dip pen holder and

a few rhodia pads.

yes. i am in control.

totally. under control.

you wouldn't want to see me when i'm not.

and the winner is ... blue

i feel like i needed more inks.

the excuse is inks are cheaper than fountain pens.

so if i get a bottle or two, it doesn't really cost that much.

of course, i lie to myself all the time.

anyway, going with the notion of getting more inks, i should get a colour i don't have yet.

so i went through my ink collection and started sorting out the ones i have.

i have 38 bottles of inks of various brands and shades.

blue - 11

red - 8 

black - 6

green - 5 

violet/purple - 2

orange - 2

brown - 3

invisible - 1 (yes, i have this too and it's super cool!)

what's coming:

diamine shimmering inks - blue lightning, shimmering sea (both shades of blue) & sparkling shadows (grey)

pelikan edelstein - sapphire blue (another blue!) and garnet (red)

it's pretty obvious what colour draws me like a moth to a flame...

reminder to me - that's enough

i have 46 fountain pens. yikes. that's plenty!
anyway, this list is a reminder to me.

Sailor
1) 1911 large black, chrome trimmed (Naginata Concord nib)
2) 1911 large yellow, gold trimmed (Emperor nib)
3) 1911 large black, gold trimmed, tombo dragonfly maki-e (Naginata Cross-point nib)
4) 1911 large demonstrator, chrome trimmed (medium nib)
5) 1911 large black ribbed, chrome trimmed (Naginata Togi MediumFine nib)
6) 1911 large realo burgundy, gold trimmed (medium nib)
7) Professional Gear 3 toned red KanReki 60th Anniversary pen (medium nib)
8) King of Pen, black ebonite (King Eagle nib)
9) Susutake, aged smoked bamboo (Naginata Cross Music nib)

Pilot
10) Vanishing Point Mustard Yellow
11) Decimo blue
12) Vanishing Point Fermo Green
13) Custom 823, Clear Demonstrator Special Edition, gold trimmed, black ends, plunger type fill
14) Togidashi Maki-e Dragonfly Wing

Danitrio
15) Danitrio Mikado raw ebonite, large eyedropper, soft medium nib
16) Danitrio cum laude blue celluloid

Platinum
17) 3776 Black, Music nib

Nakaya
18) Nakaya Neo Standard long cigar red-black urushi (see previous post dated Aug 11, 2009).

Lamy

19 - 21) Lamy Al Star

22 - 28) Lamy Safari

Stipula
29) Stipula LE Pinocchio #13/881 brown ebonite
30) Stipula Suprema Amber 52 degrees nib - sent for repair
31) Stipula Etruria Ocean Blue - sent for repair
32) Stipula Etruria Alter Ego
33) Stipula Suprema Nuda, medium nib
34) Stipula Model T Black, titanium flex nib

Aurora
35) Aurora 88, black
36) Aurora Optima, burgundy, chrome trimmed
37) Aurora Talentum, black, chrome trimmed

Visconti
38) Visconti LE #682/1069 Casanova "The Erotic Art Pen"
39) Visconti Wall Street Celluloid Green

Others
40) Delta Dolce Vita Soiree, black
41) Parker Duofold Centennial True Blue LE #608/5000
42) Pelikan Souveran M1000, green
43) Cross Townsend, chrome trimming
44) Edison pen, the Brockton LE #42/50, orange with gold trim, medium cursive italic nib

Just in this final week of October 2015
45) TWSBI Diamond 580AL Blue + extra 1.1 stub nib
46) Kaweco Brass Sport

xx) Omas Paragon Green Arco - melted away - R.I.P.

thinking about:
- Scriptorium Pen Literati Academe Oversized in Mineral Sea Lava Explosion Alumillite

hello my TWSBI

hello pretty ones... (yes, you too, you pretty inkwell you)

can't wait to get acquainted with you.

Ink Collection

when it comes to inks, i would buy it based on:
(in order of preference, yeah weird as it's not by ink)

1) how unique the bottle is
2) if the ink bottle has some features, even better
3) pretty ink colours
4) ink colours are not too close to what i already have
5) brand

but the ink bottle trumps everything :P

in transit - diamine shimmering inks blue lightning, sparkling shadows & shimmering seas and pelikan edelstein sapphire and garnet

Update Pen Collection 151019

The rest of the pens....

(pictures soon)
28) Stipula LE Pinocchio #13/881 brown ebonite
29) Stipula Suprema Amber 52 degrees nib - sent for repair
30) Stipula Etruria Ocean Blue - sent for repair
31) Stipula Etruria Alter Ego
32) Stipula Suprema Nuda, medium nib
33) Stipula Model T Black, titanium flex nib
34) Aurora 88, black
35) Aurora Optima, burgundy, chrome trimmed
36) Aurora Talentum, black, chrome trimmed
37) Delta Dolce Vita Soiree, black
38) Parker Duofold Centennial True Blue LE #608/5000
39) Pelikan Souveran M1000, green
40) Cross Townsend, chrome trimming
41) Visconti LE #682/1069 Casanova "The Erotic Art Pen"
42) Visconti Wall Street Celluloid Green
43) Edison pen, the Brockton LE #42/50, orange with gold trim, medium cursive italic nib

xx) Omas Paragon Green Arco - melted away - R.I.P.

thinking about:
- Scriptorium Pen Literati Academe Oversized in Mineral Sea Lava Explosion Alumillite with 1.1 stub nib

damaged celluloid

lesson learned.
three of my celluloid pens degraded on me.
the one beyond repair is my omas paragon arco green.
seems that the pen case is not sufficiently ventilated and caused the pen to melt.
sigh.
i've saving the nib to be put on another pen.

my stipula etruria ocean blue didn't degrade as badly.
the celluloid is warped at the cap and barrel and the piston converter is stuck.

as for my stipula suprema amber, the piston disintegrated.
the overall celluloid didn't look too badly damaged though.

the stipula pens will be sent back to the manufacturer to see what can be done to repair the damage.

note to self: provide good ventilation to celluloid pens and don't leave them too long stashed away in nothingness. once a celluloid pen starts degrading, ensure that other celluloid pens are kept separately as the 'disease' does spread in an enclosed space.

Update Pen Collection 151016 - Lamy

These are my Lamy Al Star (+3 from left) and Lamy Safari (+7) collection.
So total pens from last post = 18 + 10 = 28 pens.

Update Pen Collection 151014 (partial)

It has been a while.
A very long while.
Thankfully I made a list of my fountain pen collection in my blog because I don't exactly remember what pens I have and what nibs are on them.

You see, I have been distracted and have not been spending as much time writing.
Granted I still carry a fountain pen everywhere.
But it's mostly my Lamy Safari, a real workhorse pen.

This week, I've been inspired to start using my Sailor pens again.
The difference in writing experience is incredible.

So what do I have stashed away...?

Let's start with my Japanese made fountain pens.

Sailor

(left to right)
1) 1911 large black, chrome trimmed (Naginata Concord nib)
2) 1911 large yellow, gold trimmed (Emperor nib)
3) 1911 large black, gold trimmed, tombo dragonfly maki-e (Naginata Cross-point nib)
4) 1911 large demonstrator, chrome trimmed (medium nib)
5) 1911 large black ribbed, chrome trimmed (Naginata Togi MediumFine nib)
6) 1911 large realo burgundy, gold trimmed (medium nib)
7) Professional Gear 3 toned red KanReki 60th Anniversary pen (medium nib)
8) King of Pen, black ebonite (King Eagle nib)
9) Susutake, aged smoked bamboo (Naginata Cross Music nib)

Pilot

(left to right)
10) Vanishing Point Mustard Yellow
11) Decimo blue
12) Vanishing Point Fermo Green
13) Custom 823, Clear Demonstrator Special Edition, gold trimmed, black ends, plunger type fill
14) Togidashi Maki-e Dragonfly Wing

Danitrio (not Japanese)

(top to bottom)
15) Danitrio Mikado raw ebonite, large eyedropper, soft medium nib
16) Danitrio cum laude blue celluloid

Platinum

17) 3776 Black, Music nib

Nakaya

18) Nakaya Neo Standard long cigar red-black urushi (see previous post dated Aug 11, 2009).

Ok. Next post, the Italians.
By the way, I just had a look at my Italian pens, and some of them have melted! Argh!

Note to self: I really have to get better looking pictures of these pens.