damonism.net

As much as EDC (Everyday Carry) is basically a pastiche of performative masculinity, it remains true that some things are genuinely useful to have on you. One of these things is a pen. Just as the pen is mightier than the sword, so is it more useful. Despite what the EDC bros might believe, I almost never, going about my normal life, have the need to stab, slash, or otherwise cut things. I do quite frequently need to write things down, however. In my day job, having a pen somewhere within reach…

I’m a long-time fountain pen nerd. I have a couple of dozen fountain pens from across the price spectrum, and maybe twice as many inks. Sadly, however, I can’t use them at work. My job requires lots of writing, which would be an ideal way to use my fancy fountain pens, but for reasons too boring to elaborate on, most of my writing is in work-supplied notebooks. These notebooks use crappy paper that can’t hold up to the amounts of ink that even very fine Japanese fountain pen nibs put out.…

The Gang-gang Cockatoo is the fauna emblem of the Australian Capital Territory, which suggests that it’s particularly characteristic of this area, however it’s pretty rare to see them in my backyard. It was quite a treat when a family of them decided to stop by. I first noticed them due to the hungry calls the juvenile was making1, and spotted the juvenile being fed by one of the parents in a nearby tree. Then, for whatever reason, the three members of the family decided to hop over to one of…