Jan 4, 2014 Reading, Writing, Thinking

I like typing, because I type fast, a few notches below the speed of thought, but several notches faster than the slow movement of a pen across a sheet of paper.

Yet, there was something missing.

Then, I saw Neil Gaiman on December 29th at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, and when I finally got to shake hands with him and get his autograph, I saw that he used a fountain pen.

And a familiar fondness for the days when I used one washed over me.

I found myself missing the slow allure of fountain pens, which we used so casually, back when I was young.  I said so on FB, and some of my friends and former students talked about how they loved using fountain pens still.

It was sweet to read.

And I remembered how my father loved Parker Pens and Sheaffer Pens, and I remember the ritual of filling my more ordinary fountain pens with turquoise ink from Quink (Quill Ink, if I recollect) in India.  Wistfulness, memory, nostalgia, and a need to go back to writing in the slow lane all blended into this strange need.  I went online and ordered a Sheaffer fountain pen, which hasn’t arrived yet.

Later in the week, I was rummaging through a drawer which had lain forgotten for a few years, and found a Sheaffer Calligraphy Fountain Pen set, which I had ordered in a fit of nostalgia five or so years ago.  I kicked myself for forgetting I had it, but decided that it wasn’t too late.

So, I took it out, put it together and wrote.

And lo, if my handwriting didn’t come out all stylish and calligraphic!  (I have terrible handwriting when I write with a ball-point pen, and it must be because it’s so terribly utilitarian and boring to write with!)

And I wrote in rhyme!

In the next two posts are (virtually unedited) two verses I wrote, both not related to each other or anything else.  Please check the next two posts for each poem I wrote in pen, then typed into WordPress  Just a start.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Dreamer of Dreams

Tags: #Nostalgia, Calligraphic Pens, Creative writing in the slow lane, Fountain Pens, Writing by hand