I had a blast at Stationery Fest last weekend! I did a lot of different things that I’ll be sharing over the next few weeks, starting off with this shopping adventure with Daisy from Yoseka Stationery. Have a look and see some of my Stationery Fest haul!
My wife has recently gotten into watercolor painting, and the paper she uses comes in a thing called a block. There are times when she would like to have the block not flat on the table, but at an angle. So necessity being the mother of invention, I made a block holder with adjustable angle. It turns out that the "adjustable" part was a bit tougher than I thought it might be.The completed projectI had some spare spruce/pine/fir from the potting bench project, so I used that. The block is 9" x…
Greatly appreciate Pastor Doug's teaching on servant lordship here.
Come see us in DC! It’s DC Pen Show Weekend! We’re looking forward to seeing many of you in person at one of the pen community’s premier 3-day events. We’ve brought Roterfaden, OnionBrand, Lochby, and of course select pens and paper with us to the show! We will of course remain open online and in-store in Nashville, with the new Blackwing Volume 458 Birding Pencil, more Lamy Meteorite and Meteora fountain pens, and restocked Nakabayashi paper. Online orders placed between Weds and Friday will…
I spent a lot of today thinking the decline in how people treat each other. Eventually I landed on a hazy kind of point about how a way that people are dumb, rude, mean, and inconsiderate offline is clearly influenced by the way people speak to and about each other online. I spent a lot of today thinking about that because Sydney Towle, a social media influencer who documented her three-year battle with cancer on Tiktok, died yesterday at the age of 26. In her New York Times obit, Katherine…
I am hopping on an airplane right now and I’m headed to the biggest pen show in the US! Come see me at the DC Supershow this weekend. I will be at the Dromgoole’s tables as their resident ink expert. I would be happy to help you find the perfect ink to match your new pen, seek out your “must have” ink and celebrate paper, planners and all the other stationery products. Even if you just want to say hello, come by, I’d love to meet you in person! Oh, and I have a sneak peek for you all. At DC,…
(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)When I think of BENU, I think of bright colors, glitz, glam, sparkle, and pizzazz. The Lisa Frank of pens. So I did a double-take when this elegant writing instrument crossed my screen. We've still got the glitter--always the glitter!--but it's tempered by a formal, almost minimal (for BENU) black resin and…
Yes, the Vanness tables will have the Kaweco DIY Machine once again! This coming weekend, we’ll be attending the 2026 D.C. Pen Show, one of the largest and longest-running pen shows in the world. In addition to the opportunity to shop with makers and retailers in person who you usually would only get to visit online, pen shows have increasingly become more like traditional conventions or “cons”, hosting seminars, classes, and other informational events. These days, I usually forgo a traditional…
Thanks to all the entries into our recent Aura Estelle Undated Planner Giveaway. There is still time to order a copy of the Undated or 2027 versions on their website. Now, on to our winners! BrooklynBeka is our winner for the B6 Undated Daily version of the Aura Estelle Magnet planner. Congrats to Jennifer L! She’ll be getting the Weekly version. I have wondered about the name “Magnet Planner” too. Mine is glued to my side so maybe that’s the “magnet” part? I can’t wait to hear how you both…
This week is the end of the Yoseka Stationery Fest in Brooklyn and, for many of us, counting down the hours and days until the two largest pen shows in the US — the DC Supershow and the SF Pen Show. As we prepare for the upcoming shows, check out our special “Pen Show Prep” category to plan your shopping, packing and preparation for the upcoming shows. My top five pen show “best practices”: Bring cash (most vendors like cash). Some foreign vendors will prefer credit card so they don’t have to…
Love this: https://z80.me/blog/tsc-2026-july/ It’s not just flightsim/carsim people that DIY complete simulated cockpits in their basements/attics. Other genres(?) are blowing my mind regularly too. (Also I like trains – trying hard to not make this another rabbit hole of mine) Train Simulator Controller: July 2026 Progress Roundup (Christopher Mitchell, Ph.D.) From January to July 2026, I have continued to work on my UK Class 800-inspired train simulator. There are a number of components in…
So, before the last post of June 4th's show-plunder, we ought to look at this rarity, although I will shoot it again for the Khaki Infantry page, as Dave Skrivener's image has been doing sterling work there, for over a decade, while I never dug my own sample out! How I spotted them, except on a table with other toy soldiery stuff! This is a shop-stock box, possibly the only surviving
You can see into the future, by which I mean that you can map out the likely ramifications of many decisions or actions. Ideally this is what happens before a decision is made or an action is taken if only to ensure you make the best decisions and take the best actions. TL;DR if you are thinking about punching a random stranger in the the face, you don't (or shouldn't) need a supercomputer between your ears to know that this action could result in you getting punched and/or charged with…
Lighthizer, N., Chen, J., Niyazmand, H., Patel, K., Janzen, J., Xu, P., … Alam, K. (2026). Patient experiences of laser and surgical lid procedures performed by optometrists. Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/08164622.2026.2699980 This study highlights the benefits of expanding the scope of practice of optometrists. Given the lack of eye care practitioners in rural areas, allowing optometrists to perform low-stakes laser procedures will take the burden off…
I wanted to earn enough to buy the sun, but here on earth I started hyperventilating and ran out of air. I didn’t breath again until I gasped at the sight of a cream and midnight striped tent. I stopped everything to watch the circus. The acrobats wore the night sky speckled with stars and held a little bronze bird, who couldn’t fly or sing but spoke the old tales while its tail curled. The elephants were on sabbatical, and we missed the tenderness of their trunks. It was enough to make me…
LAMY has released so many awesome colors in the past couple of years I’m still finding different models in the stash to give away. This time, it is the LAMY AL-Star in Aubergine, with an Extra Fine Steel nib. Read the rules below and enter away! LAMY AL-Star Aubergine Fountain Pen Giveaway
It's a fake holiday in Ontario, so we went outside with no real plans because outside is where the things and the people are. Yes, there are also people and things inside, but not as many as there are outside. Today is a quantity play. Ideally, my days include both quality and quantity but sometimes I just want to be overwhelmed by the world. Do you ever get like this? Do you ever yearn to be obliterated by options and dazzled by choice? When you end up people watching, is it because you went…
The Harambe Arm Bar is an EZ curl bar for bands. It allows for a more ergonomic wrist position when performing a variety of arm exercises. I use it primarily for curls (standard or drag or reverse, wide or narrow grip) and triceps extensions (overhead French press or skull crushers), for which it is especially beneficial. I acquired the Arm Bar last December, and since then have only used the straight bar for those exercises occasionally enough to confirm the superiority of the Arm Bar. I have…
I’m just back from Stationery Fest and of course stopped by the Zodiac Pen Co. table to see Bart’s amazing work. At a previous event, he handed me this Zodiac Pen Co. customized Rickshaw Sinclair for giveaway, and I figure what better time to do that than now? I’m giving away one Sinclair (shown above,) this week to one winner, and the winner is: Congrats Rob! I’ve sent you an email to collect your shipping address.
The August issue of Foofaraw Zine is here! Download below or read in our purpose built ebook reader. Of course, all stories will be published for free on the web throughout the month, but paid supporters receive a PDF/EPUB with all of the month's stories at the beginning of the month, along with a few other goodies. And Patrons get stuff in print! Or you can pick up a copy of this and more from our webstore or visit our friends at Weightless Books and pick up mags from other publishers as…
I made a few ladderbacks in the past month, one of which was to bring with me to the class I just finished at Pete Galbert’s. These recent chairs are the first of a batch of white oak chairs that will take me a while to get through… white oak w hickory bark The photo’s a bit crooked, not the chair. It’s been fun working this much white oak, I mostly get red around here. Linseed oil finish. Hickory bark seat, woven in a diamond-pattern. The bark was a few strips from the end of a batch, over…
Inspired by the timeless tradition of masks and masquerades, where identity shifts and every appearance tells a new tale, the Ferris Wheel Press (FWP) Limited Edition Twilight Symphony Masque fountain pen and ink invites you to step into character and become the author of your own adventure. The stage is set for creativity and a canvas ready for storytelling. The Limited Edition Masque is adorned with intricate artwork and carefully sculpted brass details that bring this complex design to life.…
Just after the original Kickstarter launch of the Drillog machined dip nib pens, I was able to test one. I recall really liking the nib but the original shape of the super-short sprial nib holder was not to my liking. It was a little too short and a little too wide. For such an elegant nib design, the nib holder did not have the same elegance. All of this has been updated and changed in the intervening four years since I last had one in hand. The new DRILLOG Classical2 material AL Nib Holder…
(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)My first article for TPA came out in time for the first post-pandemic show in 2021, the DC Pen Show. I thought it might be time to do a bit of an update since I’ve learned a lot more in the past 5 years of going to/working at more shows and writing recaps. I know that I just missed…
A challenging 1970s English comedy noir. Our πολύτροπος protagonist, Ο κύριος Ιδιότροπος (we never learn his first name), tends serenely to his home and garden until a dangerous and unwelcome relation arrives unannounced, sewing discord and havoc upon his heretofore tranquil and orderly existence. Short at only 18 pages (plus beautiful illustrations), I found it a difficult yet rewarding read. A NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION It has taken me longer to translate this work than it took me to read the…
The wait is over! TWSBI’S latest ECO release - Pink Lemonade with Bronze Trim - is available for pre-order, with pens starting to ship on Wednesday (8/5). Pink Lemonade looks to be especially popular, as the milky pink acrylic gives the pen a true late summer vibe. All TWSBI ECO nib sizes are available, in EF-1.1mm stub. We will be at the D.C. Pen Show this coming weekend, but all pens pre-ordered prior to the launch date will ship Wednesday before we leave. Pickup orders will be available in…
The enormous two-day event that was DinoCon 2026 – the second of our dinosaur-focused comic con-style meetings – is over, and wow. It went so well, the attendance being around twice that of our first event of last year. Caption: a DinoCon 2026 montage, showing our banner, a packed hall during a talk, and vendor stall (Jed Taylor’s) during set-up on Friday. Images: Darren Naish. DinoCon 2026 was held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole over the weekend of July 25th and 26th and mostly occurred in…
Not every Rapido Manning Wardle due to cross my bench this summer is having a cab conversion (!). This example started out as Forward and has just been renamed and detailed and weathered, demonstrating just how good the original model is to start with… A Modelu crew and 3 links start things off, Light Railway Stores custom etched plates cover the printed examples completes the model beautifully.The weathering is a deluxe multi-stage approach of washes, detail painting, airbrush and drybrushed…
Midway through a 20-mile walk a few weeks back. Radio on.
If I'm honest, Smallspace was a lot about resisting temptation this year.Even I have worked out I really don't need any more plastic kit right now. Not Space: 1999 Eagle & Hawk War Games Edition 1:72 Scale Model. Not V.I.N.cent from the Black Hole. Nor the Visible V8 kit I've wanted to build since seeing it in Model Maker magazine back in the 1980s. Although that one has been superseded by the VW Engine I built a few years ago, Of course, I managed to add to the stash a little. Some very cheap…
