my burg

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."   (Matthew 28:19 ESV) "As the Father is God, so is the Son,  And as the Son is God, so is the Holy Spirit;  And the Three are likewise One God when seen together.  Each is God because they are of the same essence,  And they are One God because of the single principle of Deity. And when I see the Three together, I see only one torch,  And I cannot divide or share out the Undivided Light." ~ Gregory of Nazianzus (AD 329--390)  [Cited by Nick Needham in Daily Readings – The Early Church Fathers ] Image above: an icon of the three Cappadocians -- Gregory of Nyssa, Basil of Caesarea, and Gregory of Nazianzus.   Continuing this Sunday: "Highlights in Church History", a summer adult class, meeting first hour (9:45 am) in the fellowship hall.  Topics include Council of Nicaea, Chalcedon, the gre...

Richard Binder writes about the “new” Duofold: After retiring the Streamlined Duofold from its catalog in 1935 (but continuing manufacture in the U.S.A. at least into 1937), Parker reintroduced the Duofold name in 1939.  In 1940, the “striped” Duofold was introduced... [ Read more here ]  I have a green and gold model (beautifully translucent), a Striped Duofold Major with a Fine nib, vacumatic fill, manufactured in 1943 (identified by the wide band on cap & no tassie on the blind cap).  There's a "V" engraved on the nib for "Victory" since this was made during World War II.  Another fine writing instrument and a part of history. 

Been a while since I posted anything about fountain pens. One of the prize pens in my collection is the Parker Duofold in red, also known as the "Big Red."  I picked it up at a very reasonable price at an estate sale. PenHero writes , The Parker Duofold was introduced in 1921 in a very unusual orange red hard rubber called "Chinese Lacquer Red." The majority of hard rubber pens being made at the time were all black, so the Duofold stood out. It was a very large pen, being 5 1/2 inches long capped and 6 7/8 posted and the large red pen quickly became known as "Big Red," the name it and all following large red Duofolds are known by to this day... More info here from ParkerPens .     These flat-top Duofolds were manufactured from 1921 to 1933.  Mine is a Parker Duofold Senior, made in 1928.  The two flush, narrow bands on the cap date this to that year.   The nib is gold-filled (medium) with the arrow engraving.  The body is Permanite ...

For $5 a box of desk stuff that included four fountain pens, all of which were repaired / restored nicely: --Parker 51 Special in teal (1950-- ?) --Parker 21 Mark II in green (1951-54) --Sheaffer Touchdown "Dolphin" --Sheaffer cartridge pen

Cool new pen, a present from my wife, purchased from Goulet Pens .  

It's been a while since I let you know what fountain pen I'm journaling with.  One of them right now is an Eversharp Symphony, dated 1949/50.  (Older than me...)  It is b lack, lever-fill, with a 14K gold (fine) nib.     This is the model 703, one of the second generation models, marking the appearance of several trim levels distinguished by their cap trim.  For lots more information visit the PenHero site article here .  

Now that it's 2012 I know you're asking, hey, where can I download some new fountain pen wallpapers?  (Aren't we all?)   To save you the hassle of searching, I've given some cool links below, and a few examples. www.penhero.com/PenGallery_Wallpaper.htm http://homepage.mac.com/mbacas/home/Pens/Wallpaper/index.html www.leighreyes.com/?p=3565 www.penphotography.com/penphotography/wallpapers.html   

Great pen. Took many good notes with a burgundy VS in D. A. Carson's class on Hebrews. Eccentric? Yes, I know. PenHero 365: Parker V-S Vacumatic Successor

This is a scan from  Popular Science , November 1950 issue, which had an article on "How Your Fountain Pen Is Made."   This particular pen displayed is the Sheaffer Valiant Touchdown.  I have one currently inked, exactly like these pictured, which came from the Fountain Pen Restoration site.  It has a conical, triumph nib, and is  a really smooth writer .

I've decided my favorite fountain pen this month -- great for journaling or whatever -- is this 1949 black Sheaffer Valiant with a smooth Fine Triumph nib, with gold trim.   This is the so-called 'fat' version Valiant before Sheaffer began making the TM (thin model) the following year, in 1950.  It has the Touchdown filling system.   The Triumph is a wrap-around, conical nib, and the name was given during the early WW2 years.  Most, like this one, write very smoothly. Here's David Nishimura on the Touchdown models , and Richard Binder on the Triumph nib.

OK, some people have asked me about this... uh, eccentric hobby of mine, collecting and writing with fountain pens.  I saw this post over at Writers Bloc .  So, check that out. Then below I copied a few of the posted remarks made by people at the Fountain Pen Network... Fountain pen users are young and old, male and female, students and professionals, but they are usually people in professions like law, medicine, teaching, writers, artists and clergy.  Notice some of the themes listed below: "nostalgia, ergonomics, aesthetics, pleasure, dignity, quality..." "Fine pens are a sign of history. It recalls a time when quality was more impressive than quantity, when everything wasn't disposable. When you bought something to last and not be obsolete in 2 years." "Writing in a journal is just more of a pleasure with a fine pen. Both from a tactile and visual sense." "Possessing and using a fine pen says that you care about quality, and ab...

Lumachrome has a nice variety of new and vintage fountain pens in his collection.  View his gallery here . 

Finished working on two more pens for a friend. These are Sheaffer Flat-top Seniors, in Jade and Black "radite" (celluloid), with Lifetime nibs.  They were manufactured in the U.S. ca 1924-28.  Below is a Sheaffer Jade ad from that period.   More here: http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferJadeSenior.htm

Finished work on this for a friend.  A large Moore L-96 in green marbled celluloid, with a 14K Maniflex nib.  Late 1920s / early 30s. A stunning and sweet-writing pen; highly collectible.  

Working on two pens, a 1946 Parker Vacumatic Major (top), golden pearl (brown), converted to eyedropper fill because of blind cap problem.  Fine nib.  And below it I'm re-tuning a late 1930s Vacumatic, with medium nib.   These golden pearls are made of striated celluloid (layered dark brown and clear amber).  One of the pens has excellent transparency.  Beautiful and sweet-writing pens.

Why I journal 1) To have a record of God's dealings with me .  Many of these I would soon forget if I did not write them down.  This includes answered prayers, verses illumined by the Spirit from my Bible reading, or special quotations, or things people have said to me. 2) To think by writing .  Some people think to write, others like me write to think.  There's a joy to putting ideas into words, and a seriousness, too.  Albert Einstein once said, “Have the courage to take your own thoughts seriously, for they will shape you.” 3) To write out prayers to the Lord .  The Psalms are expressions of the heart written down for all time.  I too transcribe my praises, problems and petitions.  Usually they're short, but there's something about seeing a prayer written down that tells me, yes, that's what I mean.  4) To record events, significant or otherwise : family, personal, church, international, or anything I might deem significant.  ...

This desk set I received from my father-in-law.  It's a Sheaffer Imperial fountain pen with white onyx (or marble) base and monogrammed brass plate.  Steel inlaid nib, a very smooth fine.  1960s.  

Haven't posted here on fountain pens in a while...   Here's a flea market find that I'm putting back in my rotation for daily use.  It's a Sheaffer Balance, with gold-filled Lifetime nib, fine.  It's a standard size pen, made in a marine green marbled celluloid, which is a pleasure to look at and to write with.  Uses a lever filling system (and internal bladder, which is relatively easy to replace).   This pen was manufactured in the U.S. in 1930-31.  I got it from a flea market for $3.  In my opinion American Sheaffers had excellent nibs, smoother generally than Parkers.  Read more about the history of the Sheaffer Balance here . 

Every few weeks I rotate the 4 to 7 fountain pens that are inked and ready to write. Cleaning and filling fountain pens is a little ritual like, I suppose, a tea ceremony, only you end up with some ink on your fingers... Today I took a picture of my best Parker pens, which represents a bit of Parker history from the 1920s to 1960s. All of the pens, with one exception, were made in the U.S. And they write exceptionally well. From left to right: 1) Duofold senior, "Big Red", 1928. 2) Striped Duofold major, green and gold, 1943. 3) Vacumatic junior, amber, 1930s. 4) VS, button filler, rust, 1947. 5) Challenger, red marbled, 1934-37. 6) 51, vacumatic, cordovan brown, 1948. 7) 51, aerometric (made in UK), navy gray, 1957. 8) 51 Demi, navy blue, aerometric, 1948 9) 21 Super, black, 1956-60 10) 45, black, c. 1961+