A Fresh, Clean Sheet Of Paper: Is anything you can't make love to, eat or sip, more
sensual and inviting? In the
age of the Internet, fine paper - specially if it's handmade - seems to become ever more precious. Writing or sketching on its slighly grainy texture, sliding ink along its invisible grooves (almost independently of the result...) is an extravagant indulgence; a
romantic gesture; an
almost guiltless pleasure. And something
you can do yourself, satisfying that deep recycling urge, perhaps. A quick tour around some of the
outstanding manufacturers and dealers -
Fabriano;
Canson;
Pineider and
Twinrocker, for example - will silkily reassure those of us whose pens trembled and blotted with the first mentions of a paperless future. Will it ever come? Unlike so many things in life, the rarer it gets, the better and, paradoxically, the more
individual (
nice set of paper links here) it becomes.
(
*imagines a complete multi-handwritten version of MetaFilter on good paper of all sizes and types and instantly snaps out of the daydream, as it reminds him too damn much of his attic*)
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Oct 24, 2003 -
28 comments
Keyboards Are Not Like Nibs: Fountain pens - or writing instruments in general - rule. Lately though, the main manufacturers have stooped to ballpoints, gels and other madnesses. Just as the stupid
calligraphy fad killed proper handwriting, the main fountain pen manufacturers have been their own hangmen. I love
Pelikan but my main hearbreak is
Rotring, whose
rapidograph 0.10 and 0.18 and
isograph 0.20 (
this latter line now sadly reduced to college sets) are my favourite scratching sticks. Are you
holding a torch for any of those legendary manufacturers (
Parker,
Waterman,
Cross,
Schaeffer,
Aurora,
Lamy et caetera) who have gone
down the drain? What glides your writing hand? Is the pseudish, unpardonably expensive and increasingly naff
Montblanc the last pen manufacturer to uphold its own standards? When you do put pen to paper - if you still do at all - what's
your stubborn choice? Damn it, you must use something to log into your
Moleskine!
posted by MiguelCardoso
on May 1, 2003 -
96 comments
