some of you may know about blogger's issues over the past couple of weeks, especially the one that involves  trouble posting, which is one of the things you don't actually want to happen when it comes to having a blog platform.

in the light of this, i'm moving on over to wordpress--this little guy will stay here as an archive! see you on wordpress!

2 19 2013

Hi everyone! It's the wee hours of the morning in California (yes, I consider 7:41 AM the wee hours because that's when I leave for class), but it's almost 12 AM here. Currently, I'm on winter break and I'm back in one of the few places dear in my heart: Taipei, Taiwan.

An excursion for film--Fuji Superia X-TRA 400 ISO, 36 exposure; I bought five three-packs for NT$199, approx. US$6.73 each--turned into a journey to Eslite, a massive bookstore filled to the brim with retail stores. A pamphlet at the door said the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors had what I wanted (bookstore, stationery store, "writing boutique") and I headed up. Two hours later the retails were closing and I hadn't finished, but I managed to pick up some very pretty postcards (NT$30, approx. US$1.02) to be pasted into my sketchbook; Edition Lidiarte cards (NT$95, approx. US$3.21) which are incredibly beautiful, and which I only got two of maybe a dozen because I am dumb; and Milu Design postcards (NT$95, approx. US$3.21), which have all been filled out to be mailed back to the US, as well as the absolute coolest present ever for a friend.

I can't believe I managed to spend two hours there. It's a short metro ride over, pretty close to Taipei 101. I'm really hoping I can stop by again tomorrow because I still need 5 more of those postcards in front, and I'd love to browse the notebooks (Midori MD, be still my beating heart), the wrapping paper (envelopes, anyone?), the J. Herbin display (one word: beautiful), the Kate Spade, the Rhodia, the Crane, the Cavellini..... suffice to say, I could spend an entire day there. I really hope I do.

writing, stillman & birn, and what comes next

I love writing. I write a lot, whether it's typed or written. I've been using my MUJI notebook for a while because it has so many pages. The problem is that the paper in the notebook is recycled and doesn't stand up so well to fountain pen ink. It's thin, which means water-based glues make the paper buckle. And finally, there are like 365 pages in the book. I don't want to leave part of it blank, even though I really, really want to. If and when a new notebook comes into my hands I'm 80% sure I'll abandon the MUJI. So there we have it.

dip pens: an over-review

Dip pens! According to the title of this post, this will be a dip pen overview/review. I cannot promise that either will fulfill your desire to know more about these pens, but hopefully this will be a good place for you to launch!

I would like to clarify that, in the circumstance of this post, I'll be referring to dip pens for comic/manga pens - basically, Japanese nibs.  I don't have experience with other kinds of nibs (I don't use dip pens as often as would necessitate a huge supply/a lot of experience). If you're looking for information on other nibs, such as Hunt, Google is your best friend!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I'll be spending my time hanging out with the fam, cramming my face with food, and not posting for four months. Hope you all have a great day!

noodler's purple wampum

stamp collecting for winners

Over the past few months, I've begun mailing letters and postcards to people whom I've met over the Internet through social networking. And with all of the mail I've been receiving, I've also been noticing the kinds of postage that my friends use (which always seem to be infinitely better than mine).

But here's the thing: if you like the stamp, how do you save it? Every single guide I've seen online has called for hot water or steam, and a lot of soaking. But I like the letters that my friends send me; I want to preserve every last scrap of it. I've been trying to find a way to get these stamps without scissors and dunking things in lukewarm water.

I think I've found the solution.

noodler's kung te-cheng

suitably oriental-sounding name

diamine midnight

mysterious and blue, surprisingly like midnight

MUJI Recycled Paper 365 Pages Note

The notebooks on the left, the envelopes on the right. Or is it??? Tune in never to find out

I'm on spring break right now! Things that have been happening: school, Game of Thrones, Game of Thrones, Julius Caesar, eight television shows (give or take), and definitely not being here. Oops. An ink review to be up on Wednesmaybe.

But today (or yesterday) I went with some friends to Santana Row to celebrate two birthdays and the store right next to the restaurant was MaiDo! A friend and I hyperventilated our way in. There were so many things I have never used before: Paperblanks (sigh), MD notebooks (double sigh; have you seen the price tags?), and Rhodia (wink! wink!). We left the store with every intention of returning after dinner.

And then MaiDo closed.

And many tears were shed.

very majestic but not to be confused with majestic purple

Diamine Red Dragon

the worst

oops

Okay so I maybe had a little tiny miniscule mishap with my computer during December in which my (dramatic gasp) Internet shut down on my main (read: awesome) computer, and I was left with a dinky little laptop with the processing power of a grapefruit. So that's why I've been missing for the past - oh, jeez - 3 months, which, to be fair, is basically an eternity in Internet years. But with all the really awful business happening right about now (school, politics, oh god politics) I'm pretty glad that I took a break. I most definitely will not promise that I'll be back tomorrow, or the day after, or a week from now, but when I get something done... well, you'll know!

I hope everyone had a great (choose several): Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Winter Holiday, New Year, Lunar New Year, Award Season, etc. And if you didn't, I hope you had a partially pleasant evening.

Kokuyo Campus Notebook

I RISE AGAIN

Okay, super really sorry about going missing every couple of weeks. [insert excuse here, really it's just procrastination and homework]

BIOLOGY

In biology class, I need to take all my notes in the Cornell Note format. I had, at first, printed out the format on sheets of paper, but I got tired of doing this, mostly because my printer paper is two-ply toilet paper packaged as Something to Write On. Corporate lies, I say.

So with my trusty debit card in hand, I wandered on over to JetPens and bought myself this notebook (and a billion other things simply because I can't stop myself, how dare they give me free shipping at $25, what do they want, for me to go broke), because it has a nice paper format that I could easily convert into the Cornell format. Hooray, Japanese products!

Anyways, on the left over there you can see a sample of my atrocious handwriting and the notes I take. The paper is pretty thick. I'd say it's about 80 or 90 grams. It handles all kinds of ink pretty well, but it does take quite a while to dry, so just keep that in mind. I learned this the hard way, because I'm left-handed and BLUERP BLAKRN I forget that ink doesn't dry in half a second like it does on dumb, dumb printer paper.

You're supposed to use this in the Kokuyo Systemic Cover, but I feel like it is useless because I don't need a cover for a single notebook, and also the colors are dumb.

The Curves of Fate, 2011

As well, the notebook doesn't always open flat. The way it's bound is pretty strange. You'll have two facing pages in which the left page does not open flat, and then you turn the page and it's fine. It does, however, lie flat. If you don't understand a single word of what I've just said, that's okay. I don't understand myself. Here's a picture of the not-open flat business. The alternating open-flat-not-open-flat business doesn't bother me enough to consider throwing this notebook into the Desk Drawer of Immediate Death, but some people really dislike it. It's all up to you! It's like an adventure.

Would I recommend this notebook? I don't know. Do you want this notebook? Stop asking me questions that I can't answer!

You can purchase the Kokuyo Campus Notebook for $13.50 at JetPens.

Uni-ball Jetstream

A little while ago I made a purchase at JetPens: four Jetstreams and a Kokuyo Campus notebook. I'll be putting up a review of the notebook as soon as I get it back (it's my notebook for my biology notes, and I had to turn it in).

Note that there are only three Jetstreams...

Private Reserve Avacado

WHY SPELLING WHY

Sorry, everybody, for being gone for so long! I've been insanely busy with schoolwork and all other kinds of nonsense. I have an ink review to go up on Friday, and a review on the Jetstream and Kokuyo Campus notebook to come up soon! Thanks for being patient.

TWSBI 540

My birthday was on the 15th, and my dad (who is currently on a business trip) asked me what I wanted. I had had my eye on a few pens as of late - all of which are piston fillers - but I finally chose the TWSBI 540. My reasoning for this is that it's fifty dollars.

Wait, I need to let that sink in.

Fifty. Dollars.

For a piston filler.

At this time, I suspect any person who knows what a piston filler to be on the floor and crying with happiness.

Noodler's Squeteague

I cannot, for the life of me, spell this name.