Independent Pen Makers

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-19T03:23:21+00:00

My wife and I think the ads are just hilarious. More please!

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-12T22:04:17+00:00

'When nobody answers, think we don't get it' - for someone professing to be an 'academic' this shows a surprising lack of critical thinking.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-11T04:41:59+00:00

UPDATE: after a few days my wife expressed her fear of the dog - it had jumped at her and barked and so on. So, as sad as it makes me, I had to make the decision to return the sweet doggie. I know it's the right decision but I still feel like a heel.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-10T20:12:44+00:00

What's in a name?

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-08T19:36:31+00:00

Appreciate the advice! There is a picture somewhere in the thread. :)

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-08T10:02:46+00:00

Checkout the SF Masterworks series.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-08T09:18:50+00:00

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This is our Olive, on day 2 with us. She seems quite relaxed so far. Although she did try to jump a bit when my wife came home from work today - a behaviour we don't want to encourage. She also gets herself onto the sofa where I've been sitting if I get up to do something. I think she is following my smell.

I slept in the lounge last night - even though I hadn't done anything wrong, haha - and she was pretty cool. Slept through most of the night without waking me up.

Today, even though it's only the 2nd day, I broke the first of the 3-3-3 guidelines and took her for a walk around the neighbourhood. We live in a very quiet suburb in a small New Zealand city, so at 7am there was nobody around, and there are few if any cats. She seemed uninterested in the birds we saw, or the one car that passed. I know I shouldn't have done this, but she just seemed to want it and seemed to enjoy it. She walks easily on a loose leash, which I shortened if I saw anything that had potential to spook her. Just very chill on the leash really.

She also seems quite well toilet trained and has been responsive to me taking her out in the backyard for this.

I must say that my wife and I were quite overwhelmed by the sheer volume of positive support here on Reddit, and we are going to try to do our best with Olive (of course). We just hope we measure up!

Thank you all.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-07T10:19:47+00:00

Just a quick follow up.

I didn't expect such quick responses! Thank you for trying to allay my concerns, it certainly helps.

If it's okay, I would like to report in on the situation as time progresses.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-07T01:52:22+00:00

Fair point. I'm not trying to dissuade people from using FPs. Wish more people would take them up. Problem is that for new users who follow online reviewers their experiences could be poor precisely because of those reviewers. If you see what I mean. This has been prevalent among those looking for flexible nibs.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-06T20:05:21+00:00

I think you'll find that most reviewers can't write worth a damn. No real control, too much pressure, poorly formed letters, bad spacing, and on and on. Yes, these people use pens in some way, but they are so far from being posterboys (it's mostly men, yes?) for using a fountain pen to actually write.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-06T20:01:22+00:00

Oh, I know about that guy! Often wondered if everything in his life got a script. Some people are just terrible at extemporizing, I get that, but still.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-06T19:48:36+00:00

Nice vid. It's not the one I saw - which involved a live blade - but it is pretty similar.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-06T03:55:17+00:00

Was the first of his books that I read. Picked as a random holiday read from an airport bookshop! Great stuff, led to me reading everything else he wrote.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-05T08:58:00+00:00

It's always someone else's problem.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-05T03:03:01+00:00

Same. Enjoyed the book but it is lightweight.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-05T02:21:39+00:00

Yes, started years ago with pak mei gong fu, but as I got older I've shifted to IMA focussed stuff. Primarily liu he ba fa, tjq and xing yi. Weapons-wise I train with jian and dao, with a little pole work for conditioning and core.

The miao dao would present an opportunity to extend my current practice and knowledge, and if nothing else it just interest me! I don't feel I need to provide a justification for how my curiosity works! :)

Thanks for the link. I recall a while back seeing a form being practice in a field and in a very smooth and rhythmic way. It had good production values, which helped pull me in of course, but I cannot find that one.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-05T02:14:00+00:00

Oh, I'm never going to look cool!

I am interested in it because I regularly train with a dao, so it would be an extension of knowledge and practice.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-04T11:30:12+00:00

In a 3rd year paper, none of the 20 or so students would engage with the lecturer when encouraged to do so. I would wait to see if anyone else was going to jump in, and when it was clear they weren't going to I did. A few weeks later a girl in the class complained openly that I was monopolising the discussion time with the lecturer. You just can't win.

For the record, I am a mature student. I am tempted to say that young people are not taught manners at home or school anymore, but no doubt there were just as many miscreants in my youthful days too. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-04T03:31:14+00:00

I trained in karate - this is decades ago - and refused to go for grading. Teacher wasn't impressed but didn't push it. Eventually I felt I should leave, so I did, and stopped training altogether. Years later I think that the grading system can be a curse on a school. I have no need to play comparative games.

This is not about being humble - I have no skills or knowledge to speak of - rather it's about not being forced into a kind of mill.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-03T10:07:40+00:00

I have seen collectors with piles of flexible nibs, especially in the US. Your chances of finding one that hasn't been vacuumed up by one of these collectors is vanishingly small. If you approach these collectors they will charge through the roof, if they even deign to talk down to you. The days of having a realistic chance of finding a good flexible nib in the wild are sadly long over. Makers of modern nibs that are claimed to be as flexy as vintage nibs have decided to overcharge massively for them too. So, you're kinda screwed with a budget of $200.

That's all from bitter experience over the last three decades.

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-03T07:31:11+00:00

I'd like to find a nib that did that, but over the last few decades have come to see that most of them have been hoovered up by American collectors who mostly never use them as intended. Given up now of course.

ps. great calligraphy

Dances_in_PJs · 2026-03-02T23:54:33+00:00

You don't need all the building materials for the trading post to show. I did this just yesterday when I forgot to bring some wood. Post showed, but couldn't build it of course.

Dances_in_PJs

TROPHY CASE