The high price of being goth
Behold, the Benu Skull & Roses Fountain Pen. I got a promotional email from my favorite pen dealer today. It comes in all black, all red or red and black (excuse me: crow, red rose and smolder).
I’ll be honest. I thought about it for a second. But at £140, I didn’t think long.
That’s not much to a pen collector, but I ain’t one of them.
An article from this same dealer once said, a pen over £20 and you aren’t paying for a better nib any more, you’re paying for decoration. I don’t have any >£20 pens on my desk.
Posted: October 27th, 2022 under personal.
Comments: 12
Comments
Comment from Drew458
Time: October 27, 2022, 9:31 pm
I think I want some angry viking chickens. Fearsome looking little beasts.
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/icelandic-chickens-everything-you-need-to-know/
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: October 27, 2022, 10:32 pm
Does it write fan mail to Cuthulhu?
How about angry customer complaints to his avatar Hulu?
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: October 27, 2022, 10:56 pm
I’ve been informed there will be an uncomfortable dawn ritual involving a great deal of uncomfortable groveling owing to my misgendering of Dread Cthulhu.
Comment from Uncle Al
Time: October 28, 2022, 12:33 am
@Drew458 — If you get any of those Icelandic chickens, be careful not to leave pens and financial documents lying around. The article says they’re very capable forgers. You don’t need your poultry to be writing bad checks on your bank account.
As for fountain pens, I never liked pens with normal nibs. I used to have a Tintenkuli pen that was terrifically good. I don’t know what happened to it; I should get a replacement.
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: October 28, 2022, 10:38 am
@Drew458 Woah…chickens have ears? I mean, you know…ears?
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: October 28, 2022, 4:38 pm
Those are some hardcore-looking chooks. It’s amazing the variety chickens come in.
I’m partial to extra fine nibs, Uncle Al, but not all pen varieties offer an EF and I got tired of clicking on pens I liked the look of only to find they didn’t offer one. So I wrote the webmaster and said how useful it would be if I could search by nib size.
He said, “yeah – there’s no easy way to know which pens offer what nib sizes.”
Yes, sir, that’s what I’m asking you to do: make an easy way.
Comment from Mitch
Time: October 28, 2022, 4:46 pm
Well, if you want a real gold nib you will pay considerably more than 20 pounds. And, yeah they are DEFINITELY better than steel nibs. That said, there are some very nice and fairly economical fountain pens out there. I have a bunch of TWSBI pens that I like, particularly the 580s. Again, though at $65 more than your 20 pound threshold.
Comment from Carl
Time: October 28, 2022, 7:29 pm
When I was a child many, many years ago (the 1950s), all of my family used gold nibs in our fountain pens. In those days gold was only $35 an ounce and the price of a gold nib was trivial. The tip of the nib wore fairly quickly, adjusting to the hand of the user. I always noticed the difference when I used someone else’s gold-nibbed pen.
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: October 28, 2022, 8:40 pm
High price of being a goth? Ya mean high price of hoity toity pen use! Gold nibs indeed.
WE had to use pigeon feather quill pens that we got from the pigeons we trapped and ate when WE were walking to school barefoot uphill both ways carrying our own lumps of coal we’d scavenged from the railroad track ballast!
Comment from BJM
Time: October 28, 2022, 9:02 pm
@Durned… Luxury.
Comment from BJM
Time: October 28, 2022, 9:21 pm
True story: In the mid-90’s after some fraught negotiations, a friend sold his company to a European conglomerate. He bought this Montblanc Meisterstuck to sign the contract. He then couriered the closing documents and the pen back to the buyers with a handwritten note:
You overpaid.
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: October 28, 2022, 11:26 pm
@BJM – two solid laughs in one sitting! Thankyou!
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