Greasemonkeyhands

Namiki Sterling Dragon

2012-01-22T23:56:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that my friend John is the sales manager for Pilot USA. I've known him for a long time, well over ten years. Recently he has been blessing me with Namiki and Pilot fountain pens. Some are current, some are discontinued and some were never brought into the US. However I am not being paid to post on this blog by John or Pilot Pens so this is not a sponsored blog or whatever you call those.

That said...

John recently visited Honolulu. He, his wife and I had the opportunity to have dinner and listen to Hawaiian music one evening. He had sent me a box of pens a few months ago, and that evening he presented another box. I will post about those beautiful pens starting with the Namiki Sterling Collection Dragon.

This was perfect timing because Chinese New Year was coming up and it will be the year of the Dragon, how fitting! I had a hard time trying to get the dragon on the pen in my pictures, this is the best I could do.

I filled it with Namiki Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun ink and gave it a try.

This post is about the pen, so I did not put much effort into my writing.

It's not a pen with a flexible nib so I can't write what I call "script" with it. But I've been wanting a pen I can use to write without worrying about writing "script" and focus on writing composition. This pen feels really good in my hand, it writes nicely and there is sentimental value since it was a gift from a friend. I think I have found my "go to" pen. The pen that will become an extension of my hand and soul!

Mahalo nui John! Now I just have to start writing, daily!

Well since it is now Chinese New Year, I wish you all...

Xin Nian Kuai Le

Thinking Out of the Box

2011-12-29T18:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went shopping, my wife and I love shopping! Who doesn't? We wound up at Fisher Hawaii again, the best office/school/art supply store in Honolulu.

I knew they were clearing out some pens so I took a look at the counter where they have the higher end pens. Voila, can't go wrong at 70% off!

The above photos were taken with my new iPhone 4s and I must admit I'm pretty impressed!

I don't recall ever purchasing a Sheaffer Pen before though I do have a nice vintage Snorkel. But for that price I did get a two nice pens that we'll put aside for gifts.

A nice blue roller ball. Well actually the box said Frosted Lilac!

And a really nice copper/brown roller ball.

But hiding below the counter top and upper shelves I spied an interesting pen. The sales person took it out and it was a fountain pen. She dipped it in a bottle of Cross blue fountain pen ink and I gave it a road test...sold!

For some reason I think whale shark when I look at this pen.

Solid gold nib for well under $50.00

It was a clearance item and there was no box or instructions with this pen. I've never seen a filling system like this and it took a bit of disassembly, reverse engineering and trial and error to figure it out. It's a piston type converter but it operates without removing the cover from the pen and fills almost like a piston filler pen.

So I filled it with Private Reserve Cosmic Cobalt blue ink and gave it a whirl! I'm not comfortable writing with a stiff fine nib.

I'm not so sure, need to do some writing to get comfortable with it. I think I'll use this pen for writing in my Moleskine notebooks hoping for less bleed through.

Years ago B.K. (before kids) when I was able to purchase pens almost freely, I was concentrating primarily on acquiring flexible nib fountain pens both vintage and modern. So most of my pens are fine flexible nibbed pens and a few medium nibs. But in my opinion aside from the Pilot/Namiki Falcon the only flexible nib pens that work well are vintage pens which need a bit more TLC than modern pens.

So now I'm trying to think outside of the box of flexible nib pens and write with non flex nibs like with this Sheaffer. But what I really would like is a nice double broad oblique or maybe stub nib on a hefty pen that fits like a glove in my hand. One that flows ink well and leaves a line of ink that you can see height to it! I don't think I will find one like this Sheaffer under $50.00 though.

Who knows, I may start writing with roller ball pens too!

I think this may be my last post for 2011. I hope I can come up with more interesting posts more often in 2012.

To everyone please stay safe and Hau`oli Makahiki Hou!

White Forest ink and a Star Walker

2011-12-22T13:30:00.000-08:00

I'm still struggling to write especially on the weeknights. Just no time or energy. I made these Christmas cards last weekend and I only put them in the mail today. I didn't want to just send blank cards, I also wanted to write something to each recepient to give it a personal touch. Well I finally stayed up past my bedtime last night and wrote short notes to enclose with the cards.

At a past Christmas a coworker gave me a bottle of Mont Blanc White Forest scented ink. I don't get why they call it white when the ink is green, maybe there is snow? Anyway I've been seeing a few posts on Twitter about green inks, and this is the only green ink I have, and it's a Christmas color...so White Forest it is!

Since it was Mont Blanc ink I thought I would use it in a Mont Blanc pen. I remember liking how my Star Walker wrote so that's the pen. It's a pretty cool looking pen. Their famous snow cap emblem seems to be floating in space.

This pen does not have a flexible nib so I don't worry about line variation.

I like it!

Oh I still have my Namiki Falcon filled with Irhoshizuku Yama-budo ink I still want to use for holiday writing, but it looks like it will have to wait until after Christmas.

So who wants a New Years card?

Handwritten Music Charts

2011-12-18T16:50:00.000-08:00

I do have a passion for things handwritten.

Years ago when I was playing bass guitar on a worship team at my church, I gifted one of the members a calligraphy pen set. I forget the reason, I just wanted to bless him with it. He was very grateful, a little while later I found out why.

It turns out he used to hand write music charts. His father was a musician I think in Singapore. When the other musicians needed copies of the music, you did not go to a copy machine and make a copy. His job as a youngster was to hand write copies.

He wrote charts for our Christmas Eve service. I think these charts are works of art!

The First Noel

Angel Medley

The red pen marks are his added after and the pencil marks are mine.

I wanted to scan these but the sheets were too large for the scanner bed. I scanned a portion of one.

Closer look at the details

I can't write charts like these, but I have an idea for a future post writing a manuscript of a song, lyrics only. But I think that will need to wait until after the holidays.

"Green" Christmas Greetings

2011-12-18T16:13:00.000-08:00

In a past I wrote a post about recycling. So I came up with an idea to do some Christmas cards using mostly recycled material.

Inspired by the business card in that post, I thought I would use cardboard from cut up boxes. Then I can use paper from a pad to write on and paste on the cards. This way I can make a mistake and not ruin the whole piece, just move to another section of the paper and cut out as needed.

It was my wife's idea to use scrap pieces of Christmas paper she used for her craft projects.

Then I thought I would use those return envelopes enclosed in those pesky junk mail offers. Same idea, write on a separate piece of paper and attach to the envelope.

But in after thought, this seemed rather "cheap" unless the recipient understood the recycled aspect of it. Also I like to consider myself an artist and not a crafter. Doing this made my writing desk look like a crafter's desk!

And it was a lot of work!

So I'm stopping at four.

I'm going to write a real letter to enclose with these cards to explain though they'll probably read this blog post.

But while I was creating these "works of art" I got other ideas using the scrap paper to make simpler pieces. I need simple and fast since I have less than a week to go.

I don't know, would you like to receive something like this?

`Apuwai. Learning about art and Hawaiian culture from a first grader

2011-12-14T13:38:00.001-08:00

I've always been interested in the Hawaiian culture since I was little, even though I have no Hawaiian "blood" flowing in my veins. I've always been interested in art since I was little. I still am interested in both.

A few days ago my son brought home a clay piece he had created in school. Whatever it was it looked cool. Then my wife handed me a paper with a description of what it was, what was done and why.

I love looking at kalo (taro) I think because it has so much significance and value in the Hawaiian culture. To me the leaves have a unique shape, and seeing them especially in a lo`i or taro patch just speaks to my heart. I took this picture at an ancient Hawaiian lo`i in the Waianae mountains.

I present to you my six year old's interpretation of `Apuwai.

Gee when I was in elementary school I think I made me father an ashtray...

Times have sure changed!

Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-budo

2011-12-11T18:55:00.000-08:00

I've had this bottle of Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-budo ink for quite a few months now, maybe over a year.

I've been wanting to use it in a favorite vintage Waterman fountain pen, but that pen needs its ink sac replaced and I haven't had the time or energy to do it.

This morning I got into a Twitter conversation with a friend @Gentian who had the opportunity to try a few Pilot/Namiki pens at a university bookstore. She said she tried a Falcon with Yama-budo in it, and that it was the favorite color of the Pilot rep who was there who by the way is a friend of mine. So she convinced me to fill my Falcon with the Yama-budo and I did.

If I waited until I resacced the Waterman, that bottle may never be opened.

I was going to try and be all fancy and take fancy pictures using grapes as a prop because budo translates to grape in Japanese. Yama translates to mountain but that's even harder. Then I was going to make a video but that's a lot of work for someone who does not do that all the time. What can I do to make this post "pop"?

Then that inner voice told me to "keep it simple". So I did. I'm going to use this pen and ink combination for my Christmas correspondence, so for this post thought I'd write out a scripture about the original Christmas.

Since I wrote on ecru paper I wrote a bit on a more neutral color paper to show the color of the ink. But it was hard to photograph and get the right white balance.

Every year I have the intent to write Christmas cards and send to my friends. I take out the cards from storage and they sit through the holidays and I put them away without writing a single card. This year I hope I hope I hope will be different. I'm not going to use store bought cards but either make my own or just write letters. I have some ideas and hopefully I'm going to post about it here.

Oh and I like the way Gentian spells colour. I sounds so much more exotic that way!

My Daydream

2011-11-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

The other day on Twitter, @MissiveMaven retweeted a post about the paper letter coming back. There was a name "Bob Slate" that I was not familiar with. So I clicked on the link and watched the video.

That has been something I've daydreamed about for many years, owning and running my own stationery store! There aren't many small stationers here in Hawaii that I know of. The only one I know of is The Paperie in Kahala Mall Shopping Center. Gone are Fresh Inc and Paper Roses as far as I know. Barnes and Noble or Papyrus stores are probably the best places to purchase stationery, Moleskine, blank journals, etc. Of course greeting cards you can get almost anywhere else. But those are "big box" stores, not locally owned and not run by the owner where you'll probably get more personal service. And none of the aforementioned business promoted handwritten letters or things handwritten.

In my store I would sell good stationery like Crane Papers, and also some European papers like Amalfi and Pineader and Clairfontaine.

I'd like to sell good quality pens like Pelikan, Namiki, Pilot and also offer good affordable pens too. I would offer calligraphy service too. Would try to teach non pen people to become pen people, willing to take the effort to handwrite letters and maybe even seal the envelope with a wax seal.

But you know, I've kinda learned to never say never, however I really doubt this daydream will will every come through. One I don't have the money.Two I prefer to work for an employer where I'm guaranteed a paycheck, get paid vacation and sick leave, have a retirement fund, and most importantly medical insurance! Also I think I'd pretty much suck as a business owner. I don't like charging people money even for services I may provide. I rather someone else charge the customer and pay me for the service. Besides there must be a reason why there is only one stationery store here in Honolulu.

Well I guess dreams can come true!

Blasphemy

2011-11-21T00:25:00.000-08:00

Gasp. I am writing with a ballpoint pen!

To some pen fanciers that's frowned upon. It has to be written with a fine fountain pen, a fine writing instrument. But I've ruined so many store bought cards that do not do well with fountain pen ink. After the first downstroke I watch the ink my nice line feather into a hairy blob. A ballpoint never fails here. Heck I'm not even using a fancy ballpoint pen like a Mont Blanc or a Parker. Just a pen I bought from Fisher Hawaii.

I hope she will still like the postcard...

That's it, short post. Pau!

Reduce Reuse Recycle

2011-11-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

When I see these three, words I keep hearing North Shore resident Jack Johnson singing his song titled Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. That simple song has allowed those words to sink into my head. I'm starting to get interested in this "movement" to save the Earth. Makes sense ecologically and often financially, it can save you money.

One evening while walking back to our car, (well mini-van to be exact) from dinner at a restaurant, I noticed a store that I had not seen before. Looks like some furniture and other items, but a guitar caught my eye. We walked into Stand Up Eight and had a look around.

Store owner Mark Ariyoshi greeted us.

He explained that his store takes items that were headed to trash landfill, and repurpose them. It started off as primarily furniture items but now has evolved into a cool art gallery of sorts. Now there are items from various artist all created/repurposed out of almost thrown away items.

Here is a small photo gallery of the art in Stand Up Eight...

Even his business card is on recycled cardboard!

One thing that Mark loves is wood, and so do I. I've always loved nice wood on my gun stocks or my guitars, basses and ukulele. He showed me his small work area. I loved seeing the Japanese woodworking tools...better yet they are mostly hand tools!

He told me about how he tried to talk his in laws out of cutting down their mango tree but they did anyway. So he had the trunk resawn and kiln dried. Mango is a very nice wood. Here are a couple shots of his workshop, the mango is in the corner.

Lots of wood items in the store. I saw a lot of "hints" of wood as a part of some items. No sense wasting those little pieces of scrap wood left over after cutting larger pieces to size.

This lamp really caught my eye. I love when the artist leaves a part or parts of wood unmachined in it's natural state.

A closer look shows the beautiful figure in the wood.

The word quirky or eccentric comes comes to mind, but I'm no word guru and I hope I'm not wrong. Maybe I'll just say it's a really cool place.

Near the door is a nice touch, this basket of origami tsuru (crane) made out of what else...recycled paper!

I had to ask how he came up with the name Stand Up Eight. He said it was part of an Asian proverb "Fall down seven times, stand up eight."

Nice!

So why am I writing a post that is not about pens, paper, inks, handwriting, etc that this blog normally is about? I've been thinking about expanding this blog beyond pens and paper etc. I have a Posterous blog for miscellaneous thoughts that used to be for a Photo Project 365 before I gave up on that, but it's a bit redundant for me to have 2 blogs with so little posts. Besides views on Posterous really dropped off after I changed away from Project 365. I may try the photo Project 365 again next year since it does improve my skill as a photographer, but I plan to expand this blog into more than pen and paper.

Besides, aren't some of us pen and paper people much like Mark. We rescue old fountain pens from garage sales. We rebuild them or at the very least replace the ink sac. Some of us find and collect vintage ink bottles. I know there are those who store letters received in old cigar boxes or wine crates.

Anyway for those in Honolulu, Stand Up Eight is on South King St on the makai side past Pensacola St near Bac Nam Vietnamese Restaurant and Cigar Cigar. BTW they sell cigar boxes at Cigar Cigar!

Look for the origami curtain in the window.

You know I forgot about that guitar, the very item that first caught my attention. Perhaps some day I will commission Mark to build a writing desk out of recycled wood.

Maybe I'll do more with pen and paper, and post it here...

Cursive is Easy!

2011-10-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I noticed my six year old son sitting on the sofa and appeared to be writing in a book of some sort. His actions were different from when he draws. I walked over and asked if he was writing, and he was. Are you writing in cursive I asked. Yes, it's easy!

What the...

Keep in mind he's in the first grade and does not write quite fluently yet. But I was shocked at what I saw, It turns out he was copying the guide in this composition book that he found on the bookshelf.

Every now and then he would ask me to write his name "fancy" which meant in script. So I would take my time and write his name in as close to Zanerian Engrosser's Script as I could whether it was with a fountain pen or ball point. And he would take that paper and just admire it with a big smile on his face!

Now with more practice he can write is own name "fancy"

I guess I do have an influence on him!

Old School Versus High Tech

2011-09-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

There's a lot in the news today about how we are the "microwave generation" where we want everything done yesterday. Disappearing is the lost art of the handwritten letter with the advent of e-mail, texting, etc. In fact I think I read it started with the telegraph.

Also recently in the news here in Hawaii, public schools will drop teaching cursive handwriting. This is happening all over the US. My sons go to private school, the oldest learned italics last year in the second grade and the teacher said he'll learn cursive this year in the third grade. Anyway most of the news articles about cursive mention that it helps with a lot more than nice writing, but also with motor skills and other brain development subjects though I myself am not smart enough to know what that stuff is.

Sad is the closing of Borders Books because everyone is using e-readers. The post office is on the brink of being shut down because of cyber communication. Hard to find music CDs anymore because of downloads and MP3s. I don't even want to think about vinyl.

I myself may have "wronged" my sons by providing them with iPads, DS, Wii, use of the computer.

I recently started a morning devotional, something I've been wanting to do for some time now. I'm "old school" and really wanted to use a print Bible, no fancy high tech Bible gizmos for me. But recently I've acquired an iPad which made surfing the internet more convenient. I also found a Bible study site with fantastic tools. Instead of a print Bible where you have only one translation or version (unless you have a huge cross reference Bible), you now have a whole list of them, just click and you change from King James, to American Standard to New Living, etc and a lot I've never heard of. Also there are a host of other tools like commentaries, cross references, footnotes and probably a lot I have not looked at yet.

Part of my devotions include journaling, something I've been trying to do unsuccessfully for many years. In fact I wrote a fairly recent post about a new journal I bought which remains rather empty. But since I've started writing in it, I now see the value of writing in cursive. When I write it's the words flow on to the page from my Mont Blanc 149. You can see the ink flow and blend into the words that seem to just flow from from my soul onto the page. My handwriting had been "on the edge" recently because I haven't been writing as much as I'd like to, but my hand seems to become steadier the more I write.

So why not take the best of both worlds? Blend high tech with old school? Letter writing and e-mails both have their place as does Twitter, Facebook , Crane Paper and Hallmark.

Recently we went to an open house for our youngest son's first grade class. It was a combined function for kindergarten and first grade. I was so surprised when the principle for K-1 talked about what they're looking at for the students. They're looking at what they will need for college and beyond. He said the "big thing" now seems to be neurology...again over my head. But he had a list of books he recommended parents read. I didn't bother to write them down because I'm not a reader, but there was one that stood out, "Now You See It". I think there's something in this book that ties into what I am writing here on the post. Thus far I've only downloaded the sample in iBooks but plan to read the entire book. But...

Sigh...

Here we go again. Electronic book or print? We'll see. But when I'm writing...

I prefer cursive!

What kind of letter would you like to receive?

2011-08-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

I want to start writing and sending out a lot of handwritten notes, cards and letters, but I have a minor and a bit silly dilemma. It seems I have this reputation for having nice handwriting, and I feel that those who know me almost expect to see correspondence from me written in a nice script. But this gets tough, let me explain.

I've been learning Zanerian's Engrosser's Script for some time now. It is done with a oblique holder and a dip nib. It is a very slow process and would take a very long time to write a lengthy letter this way. Also since I'm concentrating on forming letters I lose track of the composition of my letter. This is lettering (more like drawing letters) and not my handwriting. But learning this craft has influenced my handwriting, and given time it can be pretty decent regardless of what my writing instrument is. But again it takes a bit of concentration trying to write nicely.

But what I would like to do is write without worrying about how my letter or note look aesthetically and focus more on what I want to say. In my opinion any handwritten note or letter looks nice regardless of the sender's handwriting or what kind of writing instrument they use. I still prefer to use a fountain pen and good stationary.

I'm taking a poll, what kind of note or letter would you like to receive?

Nice fancy script?

Or not so fancy but still cursive but with meaning?

Thank you!

The Handwritten Letter

2011-08-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

Today I was so excited to get a handwritten letter in the mail. Among the bills and credit card applications, there was nice handwritten blue envelope with a Washington State return address. I thought wow, I think I know a few people in WA! I wonder who it's from?

I opened the envelope, it's a greeting card! I wonder that they wrote?

What the? It was a sales promo from AT&T Wireless. It appears they use a font that looks like someone's handwriting.

Disappointing but this was a reminder for myself how people (or some people) enjoy receiving a handwritten letter or correspondence which I am passionate about. I've been seeing a lot of tweets and Facebook posts about how people are trying to bring back handwritten correspondence via the United States Postal Service aka snail mail.

This article by the Wall Street Journal showed up in a Tweet and I absolutely love it!

There is a place for e-mail. I'm an avid Twitter and sometimes Facebook user. There is value in these for myself which includes meeting new friends I would otherwise have not known. Learning about new eating places which seems to be rather important here in Hawaii. But more importantly for me it's a source of inspiration and motivation for my creative side which includes letter writing.

I've been struggling for a number of years with my creative side. I think I'm near the end of my slump but I'm not quite there yet. That said I need to get off of this computer and hopefully work on another post or maybe actually...write a letter!

PS

If you do send a store bought card, please write a personal handwritten note in it and make it personal! Don't just let Hallmark say it for you.

Post PS

I should have known it was not a real letter, there was no wax seal on the flap! Doesn't everyone use wax seals?

On a Bicycle Ride With God

2011-07-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

I've procrastinated about this post for a few weeks. This is not a subject I would normally post about and was worried about how some would take it. It's a bit spiritual and a bit of "smell the roses" kinda thing. Some may think, hmm is Rodney smoking some of them Hawai`ian herbs or something? No I am not, but it is my blog and I can post what I want...right?

Often I go on my bicycle rides solo. It's nice to ride with a partner, but solo rides help me to reflect on things, sort of meditaion on a road bike. Lately it seems that God has been speaking to me on my rides. A few weeks ago I felt this strongly!

He said to enjoy the beautiful weather that He has created. Enjoy wind flowing around me, and not just the air rushing through the enormous vents on my expensive Specialized S-Works helmet. Look at all the natural beauty around me. After all I do live in a place some call a "paradise". I often wish we had a nice wide winding country side road with little traffic, but most of the route on my rides are on a bike path on a busy highway in East Honolulu named Kalaniana`ole Hwy. If you're on the mainland and can't pronounce it, no worries, it's Highway 72! Lot's of cars, no real scenery except an occasional bridge crossing a stream or two and a couple ocean views.

But there is enjoyable scenery around on my route, I just have to "look with my heart"!

This is one view I see in the Portlock area and always look at it in awe! There's something about heading toward Koko Crater that "plays" with my mind at times. I often ride around to the other side of that crater.

This is as close to that winding country road I wish for. But it's only for a short distance.

Nice palm tree lined road among the mansions on Kahala Avenue.

Well on this ride God really opened my eyes and heart to His beauty so I stopped and smelled the roses...well I unclipped from my pedals and took pictures.

The clouds that day!

The shoreline at one of the Diamond Head Lookouts.

Ok enough with the tourist stuff!

So what did God say to me that day? Sometimes when I hit rough spots on the road, I tighten my body up almost expecting to crash, but that's not a good thing on a bicycle. Just a few days prior, I watched a video interview with a pro cyclist racing in the Tour de Suisse. He talked about descending through a tunnel at 95kmh on rain slicked roads. What stood out to me was he said that you cannot tighten up, or you will crash. Not exact words and I can't find that video, but the point stood out! So I need to loosen up or let go.

Same thing in life, loosen up and let God do it!

Why am I writing this in my blog that is usually about pens, ink, paper and writing?

Well I should be writing these thoughts and experiences in my journals! But I've been too busy...sigh.

However when I opened up my journal, I found this entry written a few months ago...

Let go, let God!

So did God really speak to me on my ride?

As the Deer

2011-06-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

I did small calligraphy project for a friend's birthday. I asked her what her favorite Scripture was and she wasn't sure. As I was running and meditating, the Song As the Deer written by Marty Nystrom kept "playing" in my head. So that was it, just the first 2 lines.

It is based on Psalm 42:1 in the Bible. I looked up the Scripture and found many translations. Who speaks like those people in the King James versioneth? But when written nicely on a nice sheet of paper, all of a sudden those "eths" "thuses" and "thees" start to look better than if written in the modern translations.

But in the King James, it is written "As the hart"...what's a hart? So I stuck to Marty's choice of words since it seemed more poetic.

I wasn't happy with the finished project, I never am. I look at how uneven my letters are. Sometimes there's a smudge. I form the letters incorrect. But if I keep trying to write a perfect piece I'll never ever finish anything. However if step back and take a look at the overall finished project. Not too shabby!

Besides that's the beauty of the human touch, the imperfections! Not perfect like a computer generated font filled inkjet printed word checked piece of "art" if you can call it that. I hope she likes it.

Happy Birthday Kim!

Just a Note to Say

2011-06-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

I'm quite passionate about handwritten correspondence. I carry a fountain pen and some blank folding note cards from Papryus with me almost all the time. The plan was to write spontaneous handwritten notes when I'm out and about. Just to say thank you, or have a nice day. Nothing long-winded. I want to encourage people.

Never did!

Something bothers me and I know it's silly, I feel "funny" just thinking about it. How would it be accepted? Would a guy feel weird? Would a wahine think I'm trying to hit on her? I bet some people are not as enthusiastic about pens, paper and handwriting like I am.

No fancy script. No flexible nib though I'll use a fountain pen with character. I'll use fun ink colors.

What do you think?

Do I think too much?

Well this is...

Have a great day!

Old Man Winter

2011-04-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I bought this bottle of Namiki Iroshizoku Fuyu-syogun last year and have only just now opened it.

Namiki also calls it "Old Man Winter". Now it's a gray ink, and Winters here in Hawaii are generally green, but I think I know why the association with gray and Winter. I had wanted to do this blog post during Winter but it just didn't happen, sorry it's a bit tardy!

When I ordered the ink from the Honolulu Pen Shop, I knew exactly which pen I would use. It's a gray vintage Waterman fountain pen with a decent flexible nib.

I'm not a pen person so I don't know the details about the pen, but I believe it is circa 1930s. I also have another vintage Waterman that really got me started writing the way I do. That's for another post!

Well I've recently learned to resac fountain pens and finally resacced this pen using a silicone sac instead of the normal latex. I also finally found the time to put a video together.

I'm new to creating videos so excuse the rather shaky quality of it. In fact this was the first time I used iMovie and was learning on the fly.

Oh and next time I may get a manicure before filming!

I'd like to thank D. Shoji Nakamoto for giving me permission to use the track Avalon from his album Field of Stones. I prefer not to use copyrighted music without permission and I also would like to try and support local artists especially since I'm a bit of a musician myself. Anyway if you're on Oahu, you can check D. Shoji Nakamoto out at a few of the Farmers Markets presented by the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

So I thank you for reading my blog, and until next time, I will always be...

Yours truly!

Yet Another Journal

2011-03-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

I have written a post about how I like to "collect" journals a while back. Oh I intended to use them when I purchased them but almost never do. I do carry a Moleskine around with me, I guess that's my mobile journal. But I've longed to have one main journal that will stay at home for my thoughts and ideas.

I've been struggling with some lifestyle issues, that's why I haven't been blogging here (among a lot of other things) as often as I'd like to. Without going into detail, I have a bad habit that I've had for a long time and it is spiraling downward and getting worse. I've consulted with a life coach for the past 5 months to help get me out of this rut and get my life back in balance, but I'm still not there yet. However I feel that he has given me enough insight that I can work my way out of this, and I believe and hope that journaling will help!

So I found myself again at Barnes and Noble looking for yet another journal.

There were a lot of nice ones. I was looking for one with a pen loop but there were none. Then I decided to splurge and get a leather covered journal made in Italy. I opened and looked at a few, and this one stood out so I bought it!

What I really liked about this particular journal are the deckle edge pages. Well they're not real deckle edges but perhaps, faux deckle edges. Still it stood out and caught my interest!

I think this mark shows that it is Fabriano paper or journal insert, but I'm not 100% sure.

Of course now I have to "pair" a pen to it. I was not about to buy a new pen but instead choose one from my existing collection. Here is where I stuggle, do I write in a nice hand, or do I just write and focus on composition? It should be a no brainer since I'm the only one who will read the journal so it doesn't mater how it looks.

If I wanted to write in a nice script I would choose a nice vintage flexible nib fountain pen. But for me to write in a nice script, I need to have proper posture, preferably sit at a desk, and also I have a hard time writing (actually lettering) on a surace that is not flat. This will discourage me from writing and move my focus toward "lettering" and away from composition.

So writing in a nice script is out!

Now do I want to use a ballpoint pen? I can write "pretty nice" with a good ballpoint pen...but didn't I just decide not to try and make it look nice? Besides there is no character, no feeling, no "sabao" when writing with a ballpoint or rollerball pen.

Fountain pen it is! I love big fat pens. I thought about it and decided to use my Mont Blanc 149 and ink it with Mont Blanc Oyster Grey ink.

I just love the Mont Blanc ink bottles!

I wanted to secure the pen to the journal, that's why I was looking for one with a pen loop. I was hoping I could secure the pen under the closure strap, but there is simply no way the 149 would fit.

I tried a bunch other pens, even the "skinny" ones and none fit.

Then I remembered I had bought pen holders from a craft fair last year with the intention of giving them away as Christmas gifts...

...it never happened!

So I may as well use them, I won't be able to secure the pen to the journal but at least it'll be protected in a nice cover. I thought they were simple pouches to cover pens, I hadn't opened the packaging until now and I was floored when I saw the entire product.

A perfect fit!

Have you ever noticed that when you write something down, there's a pretty good chance that it will get done?

Many years ago I read a book titled Put Your Heart on Paper by Henriette Anne Klauser. There was a chapter titled "Write It Down: Make It Happen". I see now she has an entire book with that title. Well I just purchased that book and add it to my little library of "make you feel good" books!

Anyway hopefully for now, I am on my journey to the life I want to live!

Oh by the way, when I was at the cashier paying for my journal, I saw this, it looked so cool and even came with a small pen. I just had to buy it!

Sigh...yet another journal!

The Art of Coffee

2011-03-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

I try to keep this blog about art, and today I'm doing a post about the art of coffee! I've been hearing about a coffee shop on Twitter named Beach Bum Cafe in Downtown Honolulu. I love coffee and everything about coffee so I really wanted to check it out. I rarely venture into downtown, but since my wife wanted to go to nearby Chinatown, I had her drop me off and I went looking for Beach Bum Cafe,

I found Beach Bum Cafe. Here's the window in front, nothing fancy.

I walked in and was greeted by owner Dennis McQuoid.

Very nice clean open space.

There were two customers seated enjoying their coffee. I overheard that one of them drove over all the way from Kailua, Oahu just for the coffee there. That may not be far in miles especially for non Hawaii people reading this, but it is pretty far by Hawaii standards. Not just the distance but having to drive up and through the Ko`oloau Mountains to get to Honolulu

I asked Dennis to select my coffee, kind of like asking a sommelier to choose your wine. By the way I don't drink!

He suggested Red Caturra.

I also let him choose how my coffee was to be brewed and he suggested brewing with a vaccum pot. I've heard of this but have never actually experienced it. Pretty cool stuff!

I had to savor the finished brew in a paper cup because I still needed to walk over and meet my family in Chinatown. My first impression was that it was very smooth. But after I left and finished my cup, I realized that it tasted like any other cup of good coffee. I confirmed what I already knew that I am not a coffee expert, connoisseur, aficionado, etc. I don't experience fancy stuff like finish, fruity, etc like those wine experts.

It was good coffee, but I did not get the "thunder and lightning with angelic choir singing" experience I thought I would.

I then realized that because I love coffee so much, I almost always drink good coffee. No Folgers instant coffee or Sanka from a bottle. I always buy good quality coffee, and prepare it in the best of my abilities. Out and about I try to choose good brewed coffee preferably from independent "coffee houses" rather than the big box places. But heck even McDonalds here serves a Hawaiian blend coffee. So experiencing a good quality microbrewed coffee was not too much beyond my ordinary cup of coffee.

It was then that I had the revelation I needed. This what is meant in the proverbial "Focus on the journey not the destination". Oh the end product, a good cup of coffee, is important and I would say is the goal or destination. But I realize now that I also enjoy the journey of preparing or choosing the best brewed retail cup of coffee as much if not more than I enjoy drinking it. I love the term "from the bean to the cup".

I won't roast my own beans, but I'll purchase the best roasted beans I can find, and there are a lot of good roasters of Hawaiian Coffee here.

I may look into organic coffee.

I will look into better storage for my beans so they stay as fresh as possible.

I will grind only the amount of beans I need at a time. After talking to Dennis I will now look into a burr grinder and get rid of my blade grinder.

I will also weigh my beans instead of using that little scoop.

I currently use a French Press but I will look into a pour over brewer for a change of pace. Yes I love coffee toys!

I even have coffee music to listen to as I savor my cup of coffee.

I plan to go back to Beach Bum Cafe and try some good Espresso from this impressive Italian Espresso machine.

These coffee tampers remind me of the wax seals I use to seal my letters.

Shamefully I have reverted to the use of a Keurig K-Cup brewer for convenience, it does brew pretty good coffee! But from now on when I do have the time to prepare a really good cup of coffee, I will enjoy the prepping of my coffee just as much as drinking the coffee itself. From choosing the roasted beans to storing them properly to measuring and grinding to brewing...

I will enjoy the journey!

My First Time and a Pleasant Surprise

2010-10-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I have replaced the ink sac on a vintage fountain pen.

So what did you think I was talking about???

I am not a "pen person", I'm a pen fancier and user. I don't know much about the pens I own, most were chosen and all maintained by a late friend. When I needed a pen resacced I would just hand him the pen and he'd fix it for free. Well he's been gone for over 3 years now and all of my lever fill fountain pens do not work and I did not know how to replace the ink sac.

I had to do something so I got advice from some Twitter pen friends and a local pen collector. I bought a bunch of new sacs and some tools and materials I need to resac a pen. So here I go...

I have 2 old fountain pens that I kinda forgot where I got them from. But I believe I found them when my wife's grandparents were moving out of their large home in Nu`uanu into a 2 bedroom apartment in an assisted living facility. I assumed they were inexpensive Sheaffers.

So I took them apart. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't think I was going to blog about this. I did take a picture with my iPhone when I broke the vent tube inside of the old sac.

I removed the left over section of the tube and reinserted the longer broken piece. I don't even know if this pen could write, I was primarily learning to resac a pen.

Anyway I cut off the old sac and cleaned the barrel, applied shellac and installed a new latex sac. It was not as easy as I thought it would be, it took some doing but I got the new sac on. I was going to make a joke about another latex product procedure that this reminded me of but I so won't go there!

When I was polishing the pen I noticed that it was an Eversharp and not a Sheaffer.

I looked at the nib with a loupe and found that the nib is 14k solid gold.

After letting the shellac dry overnight I filled it with Private Reserve Cosmic Cobalt.

And here was my pleasant suprise!

There was nice amount of flex to the nib and it wrote really smooth and soft. It's not a fine nib so it doesn't have the line variations I like, but it's a really nice writer.

This is a nice pen I can use to write, not letter or do "calligraphy". If I can write without worrying about ascenders, descenders, ovals, etc...I hope the words will flow from the writer in me on to the paper!

Being that it was Kung Kung's pen, I think there's a bit of mana with it too!

Two of My Favorite Things, Bikes and Pens

2010-10-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

I started this blog to write primarily about pens and writing. I got started on Twitter primarily because of bicycling. Lance Armstrong was the very first person I followed. After seeing a blog post by a Twitter friend in Sweden @lady_dandelion "pairing" her yellow Lamy Safari to her yellow bicycle... I thought, I can do that!

But I have a bike with a carbon fiber frame! Well I have a pen with a carbon fiber body, it's a Retro 51 Roller Ball. I prefer fountain pens and bought the pen simply because of the carbon fiber. There are carbon fiber fountain pens but I haven't pursued one yet. My main road bike is a Giant OCR C3.

I have a black and white Scott Speedster road bike. I paired it with my Mont Blanc 149 fountain pen!

I have a yellow Specialized Hardrock mountain bike I keep mainly to ride with my sons. I had a yellow Lamy that I was not using and gave it up for adoption and is now in a good home. But I do have a yellow Aurora fountain pen to pair with the Specialized.

On a side note I got this non stick yellow covered saucepan for cooking hot cereal. A vacation buy from Ross and yes, Rachel Ray!

Ahem...

Check out Lady Dandelion's blog, she takes a lot of nice pictures on her rides. Something I'm too lazy to do!

Oh that Aurora has a steel nib and is filled wth Private Reserve Orange Crush. I bought it because I was told there is a bit of flex in the nib even though it's steel. I got into a Twitter discussion once with someone who said there are no flex steel nibs. There is some flex in this one...

Just not as soft and cushy as a nice vintage solid gold nib...much like the soft feathery ride on a carbon fiber road bike!

Garage Sale Finds

2010-10-22T17:05:00.000-07:00

Often on my Saturday and Sunday bike rides, I come across garage sales. There are a lot in the Kahala and Hawai`i Kai neighborhoods. I don't stop because I only carry a few dollars with me, and I can't really carry anything home. So it would be hard even to leave a deposit and return with my car.

Last week my wife's co-worker held a garage sale because they were selling their house and moving into a small apartment. Usually with garage sales you have to get there early because the good stuff goes quickly. We were allowed a sneak preview the night before the sale so we ventured into rainy Manoa Valley.

As it was we missed out on a lot of neat Japanese items because an early bird shopper was there before us. But I found some fun things...

I love this used goma (sesame seed) roasting pan, it reminded my of my mother roasting goma on the stove and the wonderful aroma it releases.

50 cents

A wooden Spam musubi maker. For my non-Hawaii friends, google it! Using a wooden tool feels so much better than plastic. I won't use Spam but I will use it to make other musubi...not to be confused with onigiri!

50 cents

I don't know what I'll do with this miniature metal tea pot, but I like it. I'll find a place for it as I set up my studio.

$2.00

I just love this Buddha! I'm not Buddhist, I'm not even sure if it is a Buddha, but it think it will create a nice ambience for when I get back into Japanese brush work. Thinking and hoping for Zen!

$3.00

Then I found this box.

It's a small Japanese calligraphy set. These were given out as gifts by different agencies. This one was from Japan Travel Bureau, I have another one from Japan Airlines.

This kit was almost complete including the instructions, but the extension handle for the brush is missing.

50 cents

Much better than those cheapy ballpoint pens we used to get from pharmaceutical reps!

I found another little box, but this one had a little laquer finished box inside.

It was another Japanese calligraphy set. No instructions but everything intact including a little water container. The ink stick in both kits were unused.

$2.00

That was fun. I don't know what I'm going to do with the calligraphy kits yet, I doubt I will ever use them. But then again...who knows? After the garage sale we went and had dinner at a nearby Thai Restaurant, and yes it was raining in Manoa Valley.

Maybe I should carry more cash and stop by the garage sales on my bike rides!

In a rut in need of motivation!

2010-10-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

I'm stuck in a rut hence no posts here for a long time! My problem is sleep deprivation. It's been going on for many years and getting worse. I don't remember how it got started, probably from a bad habit of going to bed late. Add a marriage then 2 kids and more bad habits, it has snowballed to where I don't get anything done, no art, music, letter writing, blog posts yada yada yada! And now it's begining to effect my health.

I've talked to pastors, doctors, life coaches...no one has been able to help. I know it is me who has to make the change but that ain't working. Short of seeing a shrink or hypnotist I don't know how to lick this. So I will be working with a life coach, but this time I'm paying a pretty penny for his services, so there better be results. His background is in psychology so he's sort of a shrink.

I need motivation!

This week was the first time I attened a school conference for my son. I'm usually at work when they are held, but this time I was on vacation. The teacher touched on 4 areas for my son,

1. He needs to work on his "happy voice"...so does daddy!

2. He's moving to "chapter books". The school really pushed reading, and he's on his next step. I like that the teacher recommended books by local authors. I do want to expose my sons to pidgin since they are local boys. Daddy tries but they correct my English, maybe a book will help!

3. Math.

4. Writing. Here is my motivation! The teacher said that he is encouraged to write in his journal, but he's been doing that for a while. What caught my attention was that he is to write a story. They will bind a book and publish his story, how cool is that? I asked if write means hand write, the answer was yes! He will learn italic writing soon then cursive later...more coolness! She said he will have opportunity to use other electronic devices later, but I love that they still teach handwriting in his school!

So my motivation is to learn with him. How to write a story, blog post, letter, etc with structure! Also I'm on Twitter so tweet me some inspriration please.

Sorry to bore you, maybe this should have been an entry into my journal but...I don't have the energy.

Oh, he does like art and they teach a lot of that in school too!

His portrait of me...

New Pen Stand

2010-06-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

I have three rather large pens that do not fit in any of my pen cases. A Pelikan M1000, a Conway Stewart Churchill and a Mont Blanc 149. I prefer large pens over skinny ones, they just feel better in my hand especially the 149. Until now I just had them lying on my writing desk or in coffee mug.

We went to a local Japanese discount store that sells all kinds of neat things from Japan: cookware, dishes, clothing, stationary, groceries, take out food, etc. We were rushed this past Sunday so I want to go back, there are a lot of neat items that would enhance my writing area.

I found a new pen stand...actually it's a temaki sushi stand.

I need to modify the the bottom where the pens rest so they don't slip. Not sure if I will do something to the wood or just lay down a non-slip material.

Got some great sencha too!

My Favorite Singer and the Fan Letter

2010-04-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

On my previous post, I put together my very first video. In choosing the the background music, I had wanted to use a track by my favorite singer Lorna Lim. The title of the track is Polinahe. Her voice is so sweet, so nahenahe! I've been a huge fan of Lorna for a very long time initially with The Lim Family of Kohala on the Big Island of Hawai`i. She is by far my favorite vocalist regardless of music genre, wahine or kane (female or male).

I literally had my dream come true when I got to meet her at a performance she and her group was doing at a mall to promote her then new CD release Polinahe. I had bought the download for the "album" on iTunes, but bought a CD that day so she could sign it...kinda hard for sign my iPod eh! I also bought a t-shirt and got my picture taken with her, truly one of the best days of my life!

Ok back to my video. I was quite aware that there may be problems if I publish something using copyrighted music without permission. So I contacted Palm Records to ask for permission to use the track and traded emails with them. Without going into detail they basically said no. I understand because I have friends who are in the music and recording industry so I repect that! So I purchased a royalty free track from an online source and it worked out quite well.

Perhaps if you want to see and hear what I had in mind, you can purchase a download of the track Polinahe or the entire album. Start my video, turn down the sound and listen to Polinahe on another player while watching the video.

Back to Lorna. I have always wanted to write her a "gushy" fan letter, but never knew where to send it to. In my corespondence with Palm Records, they told me to send it c/o to them and she would get it...yes!!! It paid to stick to my values!

So I wrote my "gushy" letter,

I hope she likes it!

The Dance of the Falcon

2010-04-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about creating a video of my writing with a flexible nib pen. When I write I often imagine that the pen is dancing. Sometmes the nib flashes as my desk light reflects off of it. Then I saw a video posted by my Twiiter friend @bleubug and was convinced I wanted to do it.

Here is my first ever attempt at putting together a video.

It was hard writing and holding the camera for parts of the movie. Once I got the tripod out I couldn't figure out how I could orient the camera for a better view. Also being camera shy, I couldn't concentrate on my writing while we were "rolling" film, so there were a few mistakes. But that's ok, after all it is handwritten, not word processed.

I hope you enjoy it!

# Daily Arsenal

2010-04-19T18:53:00.001-07:00

On Twitter I always see #dailyarsenal on quite a number of posts. They are usually refering to writing instruments and paper (pads, notebooks, etc) that one uses for the day. I think I've finally settled on my daily arsenal.

On the left is my orange Lamy Safari that I got lucky and won a handwriting contest by Tiger Pens. I hadn't used it until now, but I recently purchased a 1.5 calligraphy nib from The Honolulu Pen Shop and installed it. I want to load it with a nice orange ink which I am looking for right now. In the meantime I've inked it with Pelikan Brown. I'm normally a pointed pen writer so a broad edged italic nib will be an adjustment for me.

Next is my Pilot Falcon. That I would say is my main pen for correspondence and I've blogged about it here.

That colorful ballpoint I bought from a pen maker on Etsy. The colors caught my eye and it is comfortable in my hand. I guess it's like food, if it looks good it will taste better...if the pen looks nice and feels good it enhances my writing experience.

The black fountain pen second from the right is a Platinum. I bought it because it had a Music nib on it, but I swapped the Music on to a Platinum Urushi I bought from Pendemonium a few years ago. I put this pen with the nib from the Urushi on the side without considering how good the nib was. I recently took it out and inked it, I was surprised at how smooth that nib writes. I now use it to write when I don't want to focus on writing in script with the flexible Falcon and just...write!. I hope to use it for sketching also.

On the far right is a Sailor brush pen that I bought in Japan because I thought it was so cool. Opened it recently because I've become interested in sketching and have gotten some advice on using a brush instead of a pen or pencil.

Oh it may change I'm sure, but it is truly me daily arsenal. I carry it in my backpack wherever I go.

I also carry the obligatory cheap ballpoint pen in case someone asks to borrow a pen. I will be attending a diabetes conference this weekend, I'm hoping I will score more nice free drug rep pens since they don't give them out to the doctors anymore.

For writing media I carry a few Moleskine journals around with me. I didn't take any pictures because they aren't very photogenic-well mines aren't anyway. There are some fantastic Moleskine covers out there done by artists of which I am not...yet. I also try to carry some small note cards from Papyrus in the event I want to leave a nice note perhaps after recieving outstanding service from someone.

I also need to mention my iPhone as part of my daily arsenal which seems to be glued to my hand and needs to be charged two to three times a day.

By the way, I don't understand why it's called the daily arsenal on Twitter. Most posts seem to say that they have something different everyday, wouldn't that make it "#arsenaloftheday" instead?

Gah! Who am I to change things like that?

Fisher Hawaii

2010-04-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my Twitter friend @Bleubug put up a post on his blog about his visit to John Neal Books. Being a wanna be calligrapher myself, I was quite jealous because John Neal is a great source of calligraphy supplies like inks, pens, papers and resource books. Not just for calligraphy but almost anything to satisfy a pen and paper nut like myself!

Well his description of the location reminded me of a local office supply store here in Honolulu called Fisher Hawaii. It is far from the nice posh air conditioned big box office supply stores nearby. The building is constructed of corrugated metal, it is not air conditioned, and can be a bit dusty inside. But there is almost unlimited treasures for pen and paper aficionados!

I didn't think I was going to blog about Fisher, so I didn't bring my camera in to the store with me. After I got in I changed my mind but was too lazy to get my camera so I used my iPhone. Please forgive the less than stellar pics!

The Grand Entrance!

As soon as you walk in you are greeted by a "wall" of pens. This picture was out of focus so I shamelessly used a Photoshop filter. Aross this shelf there is a glass display case with "high end" pens like Namiki, Parker, Cross and others. Oh there are wristwatches too.

Around the first corner, did I say there were a lot of pens?

I went that day to purchase a sketchbook. Here is one of the aisles of art supplies.

Did I mention there is no air conditioning?

The great thing about Fisher is they are quite diverse. They offer a lot of the usual office supplies, and they have business machine and office furniture sections. They're a great source for backpacks too. But can any other office supply beat this?

Maybe this is why the line into the parking lot spills out onto the street when their add flyer comes out in a local newspaper. Unfortunately there's not enough room on this blog to mention everything Fisher has to offer.

Oh and when you leave their parking lot, there's Jellys across the street where you can buy and sell used books and music.

All smack in the center the Kaka`ako industrial district of Honolulu!

Iroshizuku kon-peki Fountain Pen Ink by Pilot

2010-04-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I received my Pilot Falcon fountain pen.

Since then I have been patiently waiting for the Honolulu Pen Shop to get a shipment of Iroshizuku inks. Well I finally got the call and I purchased a bottle of Iroshizuku kon-peki.

Pilot describes kon-peki as "Deep Cerulean Blue-expresses the color of a vast and clear summer sky". I looked up kon and peki in my Japanese English Dictionary and could not find either word.

Disclaimer: I am not an ink expert! There are a lot of pen/ink bloggers out there who do a fantastic job of reviewing inks. They report on color, drying time, bleed through, flow, feathering, etc. I'm not able to do that. If it writes poorly on one kind of paper, I'll look for another. If it writes poorly in a certain pen, I'll load another. I liken this to a story I read about wine tasting. There are experts who use terms like nose, fruit, dryness, etc. I heard in Italy it's...mmm taste good!

Both have their places!

Well on to my take of kon-peki!

I've never heard of Rhodia notebooks before, but thanks to my pen, paper and ink friends on Twitter, I now know! So I went to the local Target Store and bought a Rhodia Reverse Book.

Ths paper is darn nice! Smooth and takes the kon-peki quite well!

I love it when the inkflow causes differences that look like shading!

Does it look like the clear summer sky? Pretty darn close I'd say!

Well that's it, that's my "review"...nothing fancy. I will be attempting to put together a video using the Falcon/kon-peki combo and posting it here hopefully soon, but it is a learning process for me.

I'm waiting for another color to come in, don't remember the name. I was given a small amount to try so I used a dip pen, here's a preview.

Oh if you're worried about smearing the ink because it took too long to dry, one of these may help.

Until next time I remain,

Very Truly yours!

Time Management, Clutter, Figurative Objects and the Hopeless Romantic?

2010-03-01T14:41:00.001-08:00

I have a huge problem with time management and clutter. Having two sons ages five and seven does not help, but I cannot put the blame solely on them. Because of this I don't get to do the "creative" or "artsy" things I want to do; blogging (as you know my posts are far and few in between), playing music, letter writing, watercolor and now sketching. Maybe my plate is too full but those are my passions!

A huge part of my problem besides time (or lack of it) is the clutter in my house, especially in my "studio". I would post a picture but it's too embarrasing. I have carved a path to my writing desk, but I need another area for things other than letter writing. I need the area to be free of clutter and everything needs to be easily accessible. Besides the clutter makes for bad Feng Shui and messes with what little creative juices I have in me.

I read an aritcle about decluttering that caught my attention. They said to set a five minute timer and "purge" for five minutes daily. That sounds like a good idea, but I need a timer. Oh I could use the digital kitchen timer or my iPhone, but where's the romance in that?

So I went to a kitchen specialty store looking for that "special" timer just for decluttering. I wanted the one shaped like a pig, but my seven year old insisted I get the one shaped like a pineapple. And so it was...

Or is that a lemon?

I've also become very interested in sketching, inspired by two Twitter friends. I want to do quick simple sketches, nothing highly detailed. So it was recommended I use a timer and sketch within a certain time. I was going to use my pineapple/lemon timer, but found something much more "romantic" while window shopping one night. In a seasonal store at the mall I saw this...

I just had to get it, and it was 25% off to boot!

Have I used any of the timers yet? No! Maybe I need a timer to start using my timers or perhaps I should call Style Network's Clean House or ABC's Extreme Makeover...nah!

Sad yeah?

So am I a old school gadget freak wanting/needing those "figurative objects"? Or am I a hopeless romantic.

More to come...soon I hope!

Pilot Metal Body Falcon

2010-02-11T14:34:00.001-08:00

After quite a few years, I finally got a new fountain pen. It is a Pilot Falcon which now has a metal body. I like pens with flexible nibs, and the Falcon's nib is flexible enough for my liking which is almost rare with newer fountain pens. I chose Sapphire Blue.

Ahh a nice brand new nib, so pretty!

I was told that Pilot pens will now be called Pilot, no longer Namkiki except for the Maki-e pens.

It comes with a converter I've never seen before.

When I first tried to fill it I turned the knob at the top and noticed the "piston" did not move. I thought I had a broken converter. As with most automotive technicians, especially grease monkeys, I rarely read the instructions. Well I gave up trying to fill the converter my turning that knob and read the instructions.

Oh you pump it...dang!

Well I filled it with Waterman Florida Blue ink and proceeded to write a letter with the pen right out of the box.

It's a little "stiff" and needs to be broken in. The ink flow is not quite there and it also to needs "learn my hand". Yes that is a Dear John letter but not "that kind" of a Dear John letter!

So I plan to do a lot of writing with this pen. My old resin body Falcon is still a mainstay in my collection. Wait I'm not a collector. My old resin body Falcon is a maintstay in my writing arsenal! I cannot wait for the Iroshizuku ink to come in March. I hope to write another post with the Falcon and Iroshizuku combination.

In the meantime I will just enjoy my new Falcon, and write with it until it becomes an extension of my soul!

What did I get myself into?

2010-01-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to write, and blogging seemed like a great way for me to do it. But I'm almost wondering if I should have started this at all. I have very little extra time and energy to do things other than what I have to do. Work, kids, household chores, excercise (I have to because I'm diabetic)...all take a toll on my energy and free time.

Oh and having a bout of "lazy-itis" does not help!

It's been a few weeks since my last post. I have a few blogging ideas in my noggin' but sitting down to type them out is hard. What makes things harder is that I also want to include pictures with my posts, however capturing and editing them also take a lot of time. It doesn't help that I'm a perfectionist and I often don't stop until I get the image just how I want it. If it does not turn out how I want it, I'll reshoot and edit again.

I have started a Project 365 Photo Blog at New Years. I'm struggling already with that and the first month is not quite over yet. Either I'm going to become a better photographer or give up!

Today (Sunday) I have 3 letters and a handwriting contest entry to write. That will be a challenge but I want to got those out this weekend. I also have a new pen, my first one on a few years. I will use that pen to write some of the letters and I'll try to post some pictures and blog about it.

I just want to thank you for being patient with me, and I hope you will keep on reading this blog.

Oh change of subject! I've been thinking about the term "grease monkey". I was told that term went out in the early eighties when computer controlled engines started to appear. I was there and I remember. A week or so I took this picture as I had to update the operating system for the naviagtion system on a car I was working on.

My work bay still looks a little grease monkey-ish, but with the addtition of a desktop PC, a laptop based scan tool, a interface for the navigation systems. Also I have my personal laptop on my tool box along with my iPhone.

Oh that iPhone is a recent acquisition that is also stealing my time! With all of those high tech gizmos, I still try to keep my "old school" gizmos around.

A fountain pen, bottled ink and a Moleskine noteook. Old school keeps me grounded while high tech builds my craft of old school ways.

There's a place for everthing!

Expectations!

2010-01-15T00:52:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about that a lot recently, expectations. When I write a letter, I feel that the recipient, especially if they know me, expects it to be written in a nice script. I feel as though I would disappoint them if I don't write in a nice script and just write and not "draw letters", which sometimes causes me to lose focus on composition.

I feel the same way if I post a non pen or writing related story here on this blog. I feel like I will disappoint readers if I do not write a post about pens or writing, especially when the followers of this blog are well...interested in pens and writing. But this is not a pen or writing blog! There are others who do that very well, I cannot and choose not to. I just wanted a venue to get my thoughts out although I will likely be blogging about pens and writing most of the time.

This week a pen person I follow on Twiter tweeted about a blog entry that was not about pens. He added a disclaimer that it was not about pens, and there was a disclaimer on his blog post also Was that because he was expected to blog only about pens?

I really like pro golfer Michelle Wie's blog. It was this blog that made me decide to blog. I like her quirkiness, blogging about anything from her art (which caught my attention) to "blinging" shoes to building a tiki bar. Fun stuff!

Then I read a guest blog post on Tranquility Du Jour by Samara O'Shea: author, letter writer, blogger and my friend. The post was about journaling, but the paragraph "Great Expectations" really stood out for me. It was perfect for me, as though she was writing to me in that post. One of my first posts here was about my attempt and failure at journaling because I'm worried about how it will look! Samara's words really hit home! Samara also has her own blog which is the first blog I'd ever read and responded to.

So if I want to write a post to this blog about something other than pens, I will without feeling guilty. If I want to write a meaningful letter and not worry about disappointing the recipient if it's not in a nice script, I will break out that nice comfortable large fountain pen without the flexible nib. Heck I may even use a good ballpoint pen as long as it is nice to look at and feels good in the hand like these older celluloid Visconti ballpoint pens.

They help to make my writing experience more enjoyable.

With that said I need to write a thank you note. So I will ink up my big fat Mont Blanc 149 fountain pen and start that note

without any "fancy writing"...

And Just Write!

High School Memories Razed

2010-01-12T23:18:00.000-08:00

I don't want to bore you with stories of my past, but bear with me! During my senior year of high school, I did not have many friends of the same age. Most of my friends were a few years older, some had been married and divorced. We had one thing in common, cars. More so everyone hung out at Paul's garage!

We met everynight. Played Space Invaders and Asteroids, watched TV, played canasta and fixed cars. I think I got started in my career there. I bought my first car from Paul. I met my best man there and his now wife (and my cousin-in law). I remember on the night before my graduation Paul said, "eh, we go torching". So we went and caught a tako (octopus). I remember very well the next morning two sad sacks sitting in the garage around the hibachi cooking our catch...the sun was coming up and the garbage truck came rolling around the corner. I then went home, slept then woke up to go to my graduation.

Ok enough boring high schoool days stories!

Last October I was home on vacation. In the morning I heard the sound of heavy equipment and lumber crushing. I walked around the corner and, Oh no!

They were tearing down Paul's house! Oh the memories...Paul, Gary, Byron, Lani, Alan, going to Victoria Inn enjoying smashed cow (hamburger steak), my 67 Camaro.

I took a few pictures, this one stood out. It's as if I was looking at the destiny of Paul's house through it's eyes...the front door!

As I write this post, there is the steel frame of a huge two story house being built on the lot. That is typical of new houses here in Kapahulu. No more quaint cottages, mango trees are disappearing to make room for zero lot homes.

I guess nothing lasts forever and it's time to move on. But the memories will remain of Paul's garage for a very long time.

Thankful Thursday

2010-01-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

I was made aware by a post on Twitter that today January 7, 2010 is Thankful Thursday, and that she would be mailing out thank you cards. I am one who firmly believes in handwritten correspondence especially when it comes to thank you notes. I think you can e-mail a thank you message, but if you do, it should also be followed up with a real handwritten thank you note.

In a display at work where they post comments from our customers, there is a thank you letter that exemplifies what a good thank you note should be like.

Well written but what makes it stand out, it is handwritten with nice penmanship on stationery. Oh an e-mail message or a word processed and printed page can get the message across, but the beauty of a note written in a nice hand just adds that extra warmth to the author's expression of gratitude. It is visually appealing.

Please don't just send a store bought thank you card and just sign your name. Make it personal to the receiver. There are guides to writing thank you notes out there you can read, but just let the recipient know how grateful you are even if it's just sentence or two.

Though I profess to be passionate about handwritten letters and notes, I've been rather slacking in that area. That letter served as inspiration and motivation to write more often.

So with that said...

Belated Happy New Year

2010-01-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

Busy busy busy!

New Years went off as usual. On the eve we go to a friends home and have some traditional Japanese New Years food and a really good sweet sour pig feet that my friend cooks every year on the eve. The recipe is from a Paniolo (Hawaiian Cowboy) at Parker Ranch on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Back at home of course there were fireworks.

No that is not a professional pyrotechnics show but our neighbors down the street. These photos are taken from my front porch. Yes they are illegal in Honolulu except for professional shows!

On New Years Day I cooked ozoni (mochi soup)

and served it along with the kazunoko (fish eggs on kelp) that I had prepared the day before and kuromame (black beans) also cooked the day before.

All of these are traditional New Years foods and each have meanings to them, but I don't know what they are. I guess I could Google it, but that's not what this blog is about.

Moving on into the next decade...

I really wanted to "simplify" my life on 2010, and what do I do...start a photo Project 365 (http://rodneyoproject365.posterous.com/) and open a Flickr account. Sorry I have to figure out the "insert link" thing. Now I have more things to do on the computer along with Twitter, e-mail, surfing and this blog.

That's pretty amazing for someone who once said...

Computer???? Ahh no need...waste time!

Ha!

Happy New Year...Hawaiian Time!

Will Hoover Replies

2009-12-29T14:34:00.000-08:00

In my first post I described how I came up with Greasemonkeyhands for my blog. It was a quote from an article written by Will Hoover in the Honolulu Advertiser...that I have the hands of a grease monkey etc etc. I had e-mailed Will that I was using that article and his quote and he has replied.

"Hey Rodney - I love greasemonkeyhands.blogspot.com! I had to go back and re-read my story just to be sure that line was really in there. But, in reading it over again I remember how the irony of a mechanic with the velvet handwriting of cloistered monk laboring over a sacred script with delicate hands was too good to pass up. So, I'm glad you're still at it!"

Wow cool thanks Will! Uhhhh...that's good isn't it? Being a wanna be writer myself I truly appreciate Will's comments. Will is a seasoned journalist and I know he's written at least one book about guitar picks titled well-Picks! But I am no scholar and had to look up "cloistered" in an online dictionary. Yeah an old Merriam Webster print dictionary would be much more "romantic" but it's a bit hard to carry around!

I think I know what he's talking about.

I always try to add a picture with my posts, but could not think of anything at least a little relevant to shoot. I thought about borrowing my son's Snuggie since it sorta looks like what monks wear...nah!

Besides the leopard skin pattern would kill it!

Thanks again Will and do keep in touch!

And no I don't think I'll change my blog to "Delicatemonkhands"...yet!

The Early Gift

2009-12-24T12:19:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I recieved an unexpected gift from a co-worker. Hmm nice packaging, I wonder what it is. Well actually he told me it was scented ink he purchased at the Mont Blanc boutique store in the Ala Moana Shopping Center (Honolulu). Now I had that "obligatory" feeling I needed to reciprocate, so I cheated opened it before Christmas to write a thank you note.

Well I sorta knew what it was anyway!

It was a bottle of White Forest scented ink. I already have the rose scented "Love Letter" and spice scented holiday inks from Mont Blanc from a few years ago. Now to use the ink and write a thank you card to my co-worker, but I was also interested to see how the ink wrote being a "sort of" pen person myself. I am not an expert on inks and pens nor is this a pen or ink blog. I'm more of a user than an aficionado, so I'm not going to critique the ink.

I will say that it did feather on bulk ink jet and linen papers, So I used a sheet of Original Crown Mill laid paper and it did write nicely. The color is nice though the the fragrance is rather subtle. I did not read any information about the ink, and I'm guessing it's pine scented. I seriously doubt that the recipient of a note written with the ink will be able to enjoy the fragrance, I think it's meant for the author.

Well enough about reviewing the ink!

I then wrote my thank you note on a Crane Stationery note card, I think the ink is pretty darn nice! I also did a small calligraphy piece with a dip pen and another penman's ink on a sheet of handmade paper for a gift, but I wanted him to see what the ink he purchased looked like on paper.

Ok so I cheated and opened a present early. I hope my sons don't find out!

Burning the Midnight Oil

2009-12-23T14:28:00.001-08:00

Last night I was up past 1AM trying to finish my Christmas cards. They had to be in the mail today so they will hopefully be delivered at least near Christmas day. It was hard with so many other things to do and also friends dropping by to deliver gifts. I also had a last minute photo editing and printing project that needed to be done and that pushed things even later. Anwyway...

My "tools" for last night; Bill Lilly oblique holder with Gillot 303 nib, ivory and red McCaffrey's Penmans ink, a vintage Faber Castell fountain pen filled with Mont Blanc Bordeaux ink, green cardstock and Papyrus deckle edged stationery. I wanted to use wax seals on the envelopes but it was just too late.

I'm sorry that the lighting in the photos is not that great, but at 1AM I was not about to set up my lighting rig. I have a few more last minute projects for tonight and I hope I'm not up until 1AM again. I'm doing pretty darn good today for having just four hours of sleep, but I'm afraid it is going to "catch up to me" at some point.

That's ok because while everyone is opening presents at my mother-in law's home on Christmas day, I can catch up on my sleep on the recliner then.

It's an annual tradition!

Winter in Honolulu

2009-12-22T14:40:00.001-08:00

As I washed my cars this past Sunday, I noticed that Diamond Head was starting to turn green. This is is how I know winter is here. I did not know it but the next day, Monday December 21, 2009 was the first day of winter.

We do not have fall colors or a white Christmas here in Honolulu, green is winter's color. Hawaiian Christmas colors as this grease monkey sees it are green, red and gold. I love Hawaiian winters, cool crisp mornings and comfortable afternoons. Sometimes it gets cool enough in the evenings to enjoy a mug of hot cocoa with the kids. No fireplace to roast marshmallows though, we use a butane torch.

Perhaps one day I will experience fall oranges and reds, or a white Christmas...but they will have to shorten that plane ride to less than an hour!

Tools of the Trade

2009-12-20T15:36:00.001-08:00

No not wrenches, screwdrivers or scan tools, but writing tools. Except for the Sharpies, the pens in the photo are retired now. Yes that's a Mont Blanc ballpoint pen I got in a deal with the then parts manager at the dealership I work at. The green celluloid Visconti is a morph of broken mechanical pencil and ballpoint pen a late friend put together for me. And yes this Grease Monkey used to write with a fountain pen at work.

During the early-mid 90s when I first started using a fountain pen, I brought one to use at work. I was probably the only automotive technician that wrote with a fountain pen. Back then we used to actually write on paper repair orders. So when I had to write my "story" I would do so in script or cursive writing. I think some customers got to see my ROs and gave comments to the service writers.

That pen is a Rotring fountain pen with a steel nib that wrote fairly well. I still have it but rarely use it. It is rather stiff compared to the soft solid gold nibs of vintage fountain pens. There is quite a bit of wear on the Mont Blanc, Visconti and the Rotring from the rigors of use in an automotive repair shop environment. But they do bring back memories.

I use the Sharpies and now a cheap ball point pen. Sadly we now use electronic repair orders or EROs, everything on a computer. And so it is with personal correspondence these days. Texting, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, e-cards. There is a place for those, but I prefer handwritten letters...

A Lost Art!

I Started a Blog...

2009-12-14T20:50:00.000-08:00

That reminds me of the Bee Gees song; I Started a Joke, which started the whole world crying...I hope this blog does not make you cry!

I've always had a passion to write. I never found out what I wanted to write, but I wanted to. Not fiction, I would never write a novel. Definitely not poetry or prose, I just don't get it when I read those. I admire song lyrics and composers. Lennon/McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Dennis Kamakahi-all have written songs that were covered by many other artists and touched so many! I play music but I don't think I'm cut out to be a composer.

Ah but journaling has always interested me especially if I can write in a journal with a nice hand. Oh I've tried! I've bought nearly a countless amount of journals, most of which remain blank or only a few entries. I don't know why, I just cannot get my thoughts onto paper. Also I'm afraid they won't "look nice"and I don't want to ruin them, especially the expensive ones...sad yeah?

Now this blog thing comes around and thanks to Twitter, I've been reading other blogs and like what I see. Maybe this is the answer to my quest into journaling, an outlet for me to express what goes through this grease monkey's mind. I hope to blog on pens, papers, art, music, coffee, food, and other general stuff...Hawaii stuff! Also photography, I'd like to include a photo or two with each post...and good photos!

Oh there are things that should not be out there for the "world" to see. Those shall have to be entered into my (what I call) "Old School" blogs...journals and scrapbooks. God knows I have enough of those to last a while!

The hands of a grease monkey!

2009-12-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

Hi and welcome to my blog and my first post. This is very new to me and I hope you find it interesting. How did I come up with the name "Greasemonkey hands"?

In November of 1997, Will Hoover in the Honolulu Advertiser wrote an article about handwriting. A good friend told Will that he should contact me along with 2 others for the article. The others were a graphic artist and a teacher who also did calligraphy. When Will called me to set up an interview, he asked where I worked and I told him the name of my dealership. He asked if I sold cars and I said no I'm a mechanic...

You do what???

When Will came to the interview he brought photographer Jeff Widener with him. We talked a bit and it was time for me to do a little writing. I had brought a vintage Waterman fountain pen and some Crane paper with me so I proceeded to write. I said I wanted to wash my hands first because they were well, greasy since it was during the work day. Will said NO!!! He had me lay out some tools and write on my workbench with my greasy hands.

In the article Will wrote that I have "the hands of a grease monkey, the soul of a poet and handwriting that Oscar Wilde might have envied". I liked that!

Well things have changed over the last 12 years...I now wear gloves!