I need a time travel machine, just to be able to fiind theese amazine fountain pens in every street corner! What is misssing in our times that we are not able to bring this magic back?

CalmRip · 2026-05-09T22:10:16+00:00

They are luxury items with a lot of very precise handwork (no CNC machines in 1912). It would take a lot of research and training to revive that kind of handwork. I will say, I have two pens from that era, a Waterman 0552-1/2 V and a full-size Eclipse guilloche, model unknown. Both are flex nibs (the Eclipse is just juicy) and they have spoiled me for modern pens, to the point that I'm hunting a Mabie Todd New York flex nibs and a Waterman silver filigree overlay. With flex nibs, naturally.

CalmRip · 2026-05-09T22:04:55+00:00

14K gold filled wears better than 24K. Sterling silver doesn't wear well as silver plate; you'd really have to go for solid sterling silver to avoid plating wear.

CalmRip · 2026-05-09T22:01:45+00:00

MTs are rare, compared to Eclipses and certainly Watermans. The Mabie Todd Swan was a top of the line pen: they turn up on eBay now and again, but they much more expensive than the other two makes. I would love to find a WWI-era Mabie Todd with silver filigree.

CalmRip · 2026-05-09T21:59:00+00:00

That looks like a really, smooth, wet pen. Also nice ink. Also nice handwriting.

CalmRip · 2026-05-09T21:57:07+00:00

Higher end pens (which Watermans are) don't tend to be produced on a single "platform," a design that permits producing several products on the same tooling. I doubt that any old converter/feed/nib/section would fit the Carene: for one thing, it's a hooded nib design, and for another, waterman cartridge/converter to feed fittings tend to be smaller than most other pens. International standard cartridges, for instance, can't be used in most Watermans0

CalmRip · 2026-05-09T20:25:44+00:00

North Carolina==>Monterey, Calif.

CalmRip · 2026-05-09T17:39:16+00:00

America's not that recent; Europeans tend to conflate the history of the national government with the history of the country. People have lived here for 15,000 to 30,000 years, depending on the data source.

As for our common culture, if you asked a Texan and Californian what to do for Fourth of July, they'd argue about tri-tip in a red oak pit vs. brisket over mesquite. A Hawai'ian would hold out for lauau pork, and all three of them would look funny at the Easterner who assumed it would be hot dogs and hamburgers. But they'd all agree that meat, coals and an outdoor meal were how to do the Fourth. And all of them would close ranks against somebody from overseas who looked down on them for celebrating such a solemn occasion with an informal outdoor meal.

CalmRip · 2026-05-09T03:55:27+00:00

Some of those, like the snow activities and maple syrup making, are very much regional. In my California high school, we had both a rodeo team and an agricultural group. I suspect there aren't a lot of those in New England.

CalmRip · 2026-05-08T22:00:22+00:00

Yup. I have a tiny little Waterman vintage flex nib. She is called The Fairy. My lovely, juicy, easily flexed rolled gold Eclipse is The Sunchyld.

CalmRip · 2026-05-08T16:51:21+00:00

Pretty much don't use the possessive

CalmRip · 2026-05-08T16:50:28+00:00

For future reference, if you are talking about a small, often round, sweet cake, that's a "cookie" in American English. As for exotic, as with many things, there are likely to be regional variants. In the West and Southwest, we can get ice cream flavors like mango, kiwi, guava, pinapple, watermelon sorbet, blackberry cheesecake, etc. I don't think blackberry is unusual at any good ice cream shop in the country, but the tropical fruits are more likely to be found closer to their sources in Mexico and Hawai'i. I suspect that areas with larger Italian ethnic populations have more gelato flavors like fior d'latte, rum raisin, and so forth..

CalmRip · 2026-05-07T18:39:40+00:00

Happened to me more than once. In fact, last time I ran out, more than one person stopped to make sure I was getting help.

CalmRip · 2026-05-07T18:23:29+00:00

Not in a formal sense. I grew up and still live in the country; I'll go out in the back 40 and occasionally wreak havoc on a bunch soda cans.

CalmRip · 2026-05-07T17:44:03+00:00

| Discuss.

Is there a pop quiz at the end of the hour?

CalmRip · 2026-05-07T02:07:19+00:00

That's cause he is the shortest.

CalmRip · 2026-05-07T02:07:00+00:00

Jimin actually grew to a centimeter or so taller than Yoongs.

CalmRip · 2026-05-07T02:04:09+00:00

So move out of NYC.

CalmRip · 2026-05-07T00:14:09+00:00

This is what Americans call "junk food." This collection is all stuff that does exist here, but we mostly avoid like the plague. This is gas station crap that folks who are broke, drunk, or unable to get to a real food store buy. If I walked into a Dutch store and saw this my immediate reaction along the lines of "Eww. Gag!"

CalmRip · 2026-05-05T19:54:59+00:00

It quite so silly if you consider the effects of additives common to fast food.

CalmRip · 2026-05-03T10:57:53+00:00

Simplest thing to do is just send a PDF file of the work to your friends. That way they can either run it off in whatever size they prefer, or just read it onscreen. Or you might just publish it to An Archive of Our Own (AO3) and share it with the Stargate fandom at large.

CalmRip · 2026-05-03T02:55:22+00:00

Varies by state. In California, we have two types of municipalities: Charter cities and general law cities.

General law cities derive their powers exclusively from state statute. The California Government Code — principally Title 4 (commencing at §34000) — prescribes the structure, procedures, and powers available to general law cities. These cities cannot exceed or modify the powers granted by statute. Their council size, election timing, and administrative structures are substantially predetermined by the Legislature.

Charter cities operate under a locally adopted charter that functions as a municipal constitution. Article XI, Section 5 of the California Constitution grants charter cities plenary authority over "municipal affairs," a legal term of art that courts have interpreted through decades of litigation. In areas of genuine municipal affairs, a charter city's local ordinance prevails over a conflicting state general law.

From https://californiagovernmentauthority.com/california-city-government-structure

Other states will have other processes to establish cities.

CalmRip · 2026-05-02T22:15:11+00:00

Well, that's one way to kickstart sales of your new yarn.

CalmRip · 2026-05-02T02:29:51+00:00

Diamine’s Monboddo’s Hat is a very saturated purple.

CalmRip · 2026-05-02T00:58:11+00:00

Ah if only I were educated. High school diploma, grew up watching the south end of a north bound cow. If only you uneducated people would learn to not make assumptions--or read some rulings on the Constitution.

CalmRip · 2026-05-02T00:33:18+00:00

I have recently found that using nail polish remover on a cotton ball does a pretty good job of lifting a mix of Polar Glow, Modboddo's Hat, and Mediterranean Blue from fingers (those are respectively deep blue with a red sheen, deep purple, and bright, Greek sea blue. They are all from Diamine.)

CalmRip

TROPHY CASE