My Fountain pen origin story.

While listening to an old podcast: The Bent Tines, the hosts, Katherine and Mathew, typically asked their guests about their origin story or how they got into fountain pens? My story isn't dissimilar to many people I've talked to or heard about, but I think for my mind, I need to spill it here. 

Sugar Creek Art Show March, 2019

It was March 2020. Do you remember where you were when the world started to shut down? I do. I was at my school where I teach elementary art, preparing for our annual Spring art show. During this show, I hang several hundred student art pieces for family and community members to look at. When we got the news, we had to leave immediately and start teaching virtually the next day. It was a crazy time. But it was the main reason I discovered fountain pens.  

I have Attention Deficit Disorder. One of my things was to find new ways to organize my life. I have tried system after system, looking for something that worked for me. in 2019, I had started Bullet Journaling earlier as a way to organize my tasks and appointments. I kept it simple. The simpler the better. I tried to stick to what the author suggested. But to me, it was even too much. As I began to get comfortable with bujo I began to write more. The more I wrote the more I discovered. I didn't like ballpoint pens. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my ADD but the way pens rattle was driving me batty. (LOL) This was way before I learned about washi tape from Brad Dowdy of the PenAddict

I opened up my laptop and Googled "Best Pens to write with." The top result was an article by "The Gentleman Stationer . The top choice was the TWSBI Eco and the Lamy Safari. After a quick search on Amazon, I decided on the Black Lamy Safari. It was cheaper and came with 5 ink cartridges. The Safari was a great pen! It could be the only pen I would ever own except for one thing...ADD. I quickly got bored with the black and ordered a Blue Al-Star. And then a Yellow, then a Bronze, etc. I think you know what happens next. Soon I had 6 or 7 Lamys. 

Then, I found The Goulet Pen Company. What is this? A website strictly for the procurement of writing utensils? If there was one website, there must be more. That was the trouble I was getting myself into and the opening to the rabbit hole.  Each new website had something new. And before long I was the proud owner of several fountain pens. 

Let me stop here. Even though I had several fountain pens, I soon found out that paper was just as important to writing as the pen.