one of my wishlist items is a notebook to use next year as a planner/journal. i've been mocking it up in my current notebook to try it out ahead of time, to not make a pointless purchase if it's just unusable. so far it's been working out, even in my smaller format (b6). i think the bigger one (a5) will be even better - less cramped. supposedly the paper is also fountain-pen friendly, fingers crossed.
i experimented with some more creative layouts and decor, which also inspired me to dig out my sailor dip pen and use some of the colorful ink samples i've amassed. another accidental collection that it would be cool to slim down this year... probably not very doable. a) there's just so many of them. b) writing just somehow doesn't feel real if it's not in black ink??? i definitely fell into the "fountain pen hobby" a few years back, which turns out to be a purchasing hobby, really. like, shouldn't the "hobby" have to do with writing, really? luckily i do handwrite and journal a lot, and haven't really been tempted by any more inks or pens in a year or so. i hope it continues. and i'm sure trying to make my way through the stash will highlight just how long it takes and what a nuisance it is to be getting these things.
it would be much easier if i liked any of the cartridge pens i have - i'd bang out color after color. as it stands, my two Good Pens are ... wait a minute, breaking news!!! the website says the Best Pen is a converter?? i remember pulling at it when i got it and it didn't come off, but i scoured youtube unboxings and - it's a twist-off! i didn't know those were a thing! this Changes Things!! (with the caveat that it's a very dry nib but. if all the inks will go in that pen anyway, might as well lube/dilute them! yay!) ok, that solves Having Many Colorful Samples.
but what about the black ink? because it's running out, i've been scraping the bottom of the barrel with the other piston pen... i'm allowed replacements for necessities. is black ink a necessity? i want to say yes? like i said, stuff doesn't feel real and i can't really read it later if it's not in black. i guess i could try with blue, we definitely have some blue. and then other Dark Colors. and if they don't work out, i'd get the black replacement then? there's also the thing where all the other colors will work with black. if my main color is something else, it will be harder to coordinate the colorful pen with it... but if i *do* manage to coordinate, that's two pens working on the stash of colors! stay tuned, maybe i'll count stuff up and see how many i manage to reduce by the end of the year???
PS. will a normal cartridge even be able to pop right in there? if the converter was screwed in??
