Olive Octopus

2026 Washington DC Fountain Pen Supershow August 23rd, 2026 August is pretty packed on the pen and stationery events calendar in the US and my schedule includes attending two big ones, starting with the Washington DC Fountain Pen Supershow, which I attend…

Ten Fountain Pens July 17th, 2026 A challenge going around the circles of those who love and talk about pens is "If you could only keep ten pens...."

2026 St.

Col-o-dex Update: 3 Years In May 1st, 2026 I've been intending to write an update about this project for <checks watch> over a year.

2026 Atlanta Pen Show April 10th, 2026 The first pen show I ever attended was the Atlanta Pen Show in 2023, and I've gone back every year since.

2026 Arkansas Pen Show April 3rd, 2026 There were at least five major pen or stationery events in the U.S. in March, and I attended two of them.

2026 Philly Pen Show January 25th, 2026 This year I visited the first pen show of the year in the US—the Philly Pen Show.

25 Memorable Inks in 2025 January 17th, 2026 With this annual series of posts I give myself one more slot each year for a memorable ink, but with over 300 entries added to my Fountain Pen Companion ink collection list in 2025, it's still not easy.

2025 Fountain Pen and Stationery Highlights January 2nd, 2026 I really appreciate the prompt questions that circle around the pen community, get me out of my comfort zone, and challenge me to reflect on things with a different perspective.

Video Games December 26th, 2025 I reside in both digital and analog worlds.

10 More Useful Things December 14th, 2025 About a year ago I shared 10 Useful Things that have become a regular (often daily) part of how I use my pens and ink.

Fountain Pen Day, 5 Years Later November 14th, 2025 After becoming aware that "modern" fountain pens exist and weren't just for calligraphy (or Very Fancy Business People), then absorbing information about pens and inks like a sponge for several months (in

Ink Swatching Tools Update September 26th, 2025 I wrote a post about testing different fountain pen ink swatching tools over a year ago.

Relay for St.

#12PenPersonQuestions August 22nd, 2025 A lot has been swirling around in my thoughts for the past few months—my relationship with journaling, interview questions and answers, the nature of the audio and video content being created in the fountain pen wor…

2025 Washington DC Fountain Pen Supershow August 8th, 2025 I spent this last weekend at what is probably the largest pen show in the US—the Washington DC Fountain Pen Supershow.

Dominant Industry Ink Archiving Book: A Log of Elixir July 11th, 2025 Earlier this year, the second edition of the Dominant Industry Ink Archiving book, A Log of Elixir, was released.

Interview with an...?

2025 Atlanta Pen Show Highlights April 18th, 2025 So much has happened since I attended my first fountain pen show in Atlanta in 2023, it's hard to believe it's only been two years.

2025 Arkansas Pen Show March 30th, 2025 My second pen show trip of the year was about a 5 hour drive down to Little Rock, Arkansas for the 2025 Arkansas Pen Show.

Leveling Up with Tea March 7th, 2025 I'm not a tea expert but over the past several years I've leveled up my XP enough to be able to try and enjoy a much wider variety of tea.

2025 California Pen Show February 21st, 2025 As much as I was looking forward to some time away, including attending The California Pen Show, I can't say I wasn't nervous about travel or feeling guilty about wanting to enjoy a trip with everything going on

24 Memorable Inks in 2024 January 19th, 2025 Ok, hide your wallets (or don't, I'm not your financial advisor)—it's time for me to recount the most memorable inks I encountered in 2024.

Dominant Industry Ink Archiving Book: A Log of Atlantis December 18th, 2024 The Dominant Industry Ink Archiving Book: A Log of Atlantis is a hardcover B6 coloring book for fountain pen inks, and hands-down one of the products I have enjoyed most this year.

10 Useful Things November 22nd, 2024 Several months ago I shared a "pouch dump" post of my to-go kit for pen meetups and shows, but most of those items are sold by pen vendors and likely already familiar to pen people.

You Can Keep Only One?!

Layers of Color Oct 4th, 2024 I am fortunate to have a relatively large amount of control over my living environment, and I have chosen to surround myself with color.

St.

San Francisco Pen Show 2024 Highlights September 20th, 2024 I decided to attend one of the large U.S. pen shows this year.

Relay for St.

2024 Atlanta Pen Show Highlights April 15th, 2024 This pen show weekend, April 4th - 7th, was a lot of fun and flew by so quickly!

Ink Swatching Tools March 31st, 2024 Since I'm swatching fountain pen inks constantly, I needed to find reusable swatching tools that could be cleaned easily at my desk with a small amount of water and a drying cloth.

Pen Meetup Toolkit February 5th, 2024 I've assembled a handy kit of tools and accessories into a small pouch that I can easily throw into the bag for pen meetups.

23 Memorable Inks in 2023 January 2, 2024 To close out a year filled with exploring and collecting inks like Pokémon, I reflected back on 23 inks that stood out most in 2023.

Boo October 13th, 2023 On Wednesday, September 13th, we had to say goodbye to our beloved cat, Boo.

Relay FM for St.

120 Col-o-dex Cards August 25th, 2023 Earlier this year, after about two years of using fountain pens and surrounded by a growing ink collection, I wanted to refresh my Col-o-ring and explore other ideas for swatching inks—this time with a more deliberate…

#17InkQuestions August 6th, 2023 Since I'm obsessed with fountain pen inks, it's time for my own #17InkQuestions!

#5MorePenQuestions July 23rd, 2023 I made it through the #21PenQuestions list, time for #5MorePenQuestions from The Gentleman Stationer.

#21PenQuestions July 16th, 2023 Here are my answers to the #21PenQuestions from The Well-Appointed Desk.