Monteverde Tool Pen (Grumpy Opinion Within)

Figure 1: The Pen I recently picked up a Monteverde USA Tool Pen Inkball (link). The pen is, uh. One of the worst pens I’ve laid hands on I cracked the box open, discovered there were no ink cartridges or adapters and… it didn’t get better once I ordered a converter and some standard international mini ink cartridges. NOTHING I’ve tried for ink cartridges or adapters fits in this pen. [Read More]

American Cursive Handwriting Mini Review

The [work]book ‘American Cursive Handwriting’ by Michael Sull (Goodreads Link) is an interesting ‘read’. I picked up a copy years ago when I first started getting interested in writing. I was looking for ways to slow down, think and better remember things. After I entered the world of analog writing it quickly became clear it helped me on too many levels to properly enumerate here. The biggest problem I had early on with analog writing was my legibility and writing speed. [Read More]

A riff on Bullet Journals

Figure 1: The Setup Riffing a monolog or spoken improvisation, especially a humorous one, on a particular subject or: break the rules and see if there is no spoon Bullet Journals (BuJo) The official Bullet Journal site (link) is a full, end to end system of organization. It’s been a huge hit in pen/paper circles for several years now. I read their documentation, tried “the system” and walked away with a bad taste in my mouth. [Read More]

Analog Every Day Carries

Figure 1: The Kit The Humble Every Day Carry When I first went back to a pen and paper I discovered I never wanted to be without. Rain, snow or shine: pens, pencils and paper will be there for you. Day of night, power, no power too. These simple tools will ‘just work’. I’ve had phones and digital organizers fail because of drained batteries, getting wet and getting too warm or cold. [Read More]

Anti Bad Habit Notebook

Not going to lie : I have a few bad habits. I’m trying to break them but lack a good ‘visual cue’ for how often I succumb and how bad/good I’m doing. Whilst poking about the ’tubes the other day I stumbled across Habit Trackers for Bullet Journals (BuJo). After noodling it for a bit I realized you could make an ANTI BAD Habit BuJo spread. Behold! The Anti Bad Habit BuJo [Read More]

Pen Pals

Figure 1: One of the post card images Going the Distance I recently finished mailing 32[!] letters as part of the InCoWriMo (link) ‘challenge’. I put out a call online for interested parties on my primary social network(s) and the response was overwhelming. So much support and positivity among the analog lovers online. Some even asked if I wouldn’t mind becoming pen pals as a fun way to keep the project alive long-term. [Read More]

Razors, blades, brushes

Figure 1: My shaving supplies Full Disclosure To be 100% clear before presenting anything to you, the reader. NOPE I am NOT a shill I am NOT paid by any of the companies named here I was NOT given any products for testing or review purposes YEP I DID seek this out on my own I DID reach out to some of these companies via STANDARD means These are my OPINIONS Length As you might be able to tell by the scrollbar in your browser. [Read More]

Scary Shaves

Figure 1: A scary looking razor Full Disclosure A disclosure. Why? Because I want to be 100% clear. I am NOT a paid shill I was NOT given products for review I sought the products listed here on my own A Detour While digging through the world of Safety Razors I noticed that there were a few Single Edge offerings available. Per usual, I couldn’t resist and detoured in my research a little to find out more about Single Edge Safety Razors and the blades they use. [Read More]

Personal Grooming

Figure 1: Travel Supplies Merkur Before I get into the post, I need to call attention to Merkur. I discovered an interesting piece of advertising as I was doing research for this blog post. It was too late for my razor purchase but what I found may affect your purchasing decisions. They have a promotional image with the text: “Sorry Ladies, Men Only” present. I know my audience and I cannot leave this piece of advertising alone. [Read More]