Stationery Roundup
Look, it's a bit perfunctory, I know. But I really love pen and paper and writing and it's fun to share recommendations. At the same time, I don't have particularly expensive tastes, so you will never see me discussing the merits of a $500 fountain pen or reviewing one of those very expensive stationary advent calendars. At the same time, maybe that means that some things that don't normally get glowing reviews will get some, because I do genuinely love everything I'm using right now (with one major exception). So okay, here's some pens and paper.
Journal - Fabriano Ispira
It's... fine? I'm not a paper snob by any means, so my standards are lower; maybe someone else would appreciate the paper more. The closure and pocket in the back and everything again works fine, and it's overall well behaved about laying flat (though I have had to break it in on occasion.)
On the one hand, it's not worth the cost I paid for it due to retail markup. I bought it at a Blick's in Seattle because my current journal was running out of space to document everything happening there and - given the amount of effort and expense that went into that trip - I wanted to make absolutely sure that I would have enough space to jot everything down. I actually just barely filled up but didn't overfill my prior journal, so it ended up not being needed. Still I did the rest of November up in this journal and used the starkness I feel in the PNW as an aesthetic inspiration. Left-side headers got rolling hills and mountains; right-side headers got city and construction.
The best tool is the one at hand, and since this journal will remind me a lot of one of the best vacations of my life (love you lots!), it does get a favoritism bump. It's a nice place to start an overview too I figure, because it's good to remember our hobby tools don't need to be perfect. Often "good enough" really is good enough, at least for now.
Workbook - Maruman Mnemosyne Spiralbound
This on the other hand I absolutely love. I knew I wanted a spiral bound for when I went to the cafe or was otherwise in transit but knew I might want to do my design homework or jot some thoughts down. I absolutely love the form factor on this and the header is a welcome addition - I don't normally like preprinted stuff but this is just small enough to be unobtrusive while serving a very useful function! The paper is also very nice and ghosting is minimal. I'm definitely going to consider getting a Mnemosyne journal when I fill up my current one. It's a real workhorse and shockingly cheap relative to the quality.
Fountain - Platinum Plaisir
People recommend Pilot Metropolitans a lot as introductory fountain pens and it's not hard to see why. It is an incredible pen - not even for the price, just in general. That said, I don't know if I'm cursed or just hard on pens, but both of the Metros I've owned have been real leaky pieces of shit and FAST. My hands were staining constantly!
I saw some reviews saying the Plaisir was less prone to this so I ordered one to try it out. I think this is also an amazing introductory pen - the feel is very similar and the big edge is getting to use a platinum converted instead of a Pilot one which generally behave much better to my knowledge. I don't know yet if it'll continue to not leak but so far it's been very minimal compared to a Metro, so it's probably just better able to handle my pens traveling with me a lot and getting jostled around.
Ink - Diamine Twilight
My personal favorite dark blue fountain pen ink of what I've tried. It's affordable and, in my experience, well behaved. I don't have the time today to do a full exhibition test with swatches and everything, so I'll link to someone else doing it. God bless fountain pen people for their exhaustive deep dives into every specific thing!
Gel - Pilot G2
It needs no introduction. Very good pen!
I'm not super versed on gel pens, I'm sure true gelheads have better picks, but G2s are cheap, easily available, and a huge upgrade from writing with a shitty BIC ballpoint. Try them out if you haven't!
Pen Case - Luddite Bendy
OK this thing is so cool, I love it. As an ADHD enjoyer(?), opaque containers are evil. Once it's in there that shit is GONE. It no longer exists. So visibility is a super high priority for me. I held off on getting a pen case for a long time for this reason, I did not wish to banish my objects.
This design is very clever though. You can keep your most used items on the loops in the front, but you still have more storage room! It's amazing and I hope we get some more copycats and innovations here. The patchwork denim is very charming aesthetically, too. I am a huge fan of this thing.
Music - Dungeon Synth
"Music is stationery?? Be serious." Oh so you don't listen to music while you write? You don't wanna connect with the oneness of mammalian artistic experience huh? Is that it? Are you TOO GOOD for music? Watch the fuck out or I'll keep going. The chair I'm sitting on writing my entries? Stationery. The IKEA desk I hate but would be too much effort to get out of the office and also the expense of buying a new one? Stationery!
Sorry, ahem, what was I saying? Dungeon Synth, it's a good genre to write to, and it's also Bandcamp Friday at time of writing, so like, here's some stuff. My current favorite in that genre is unquestionably the hauntingly beautiful Mineral Hall. Also check out Hole Dweller and Spectral Kingdom.
There's also a lot of excellent furry musicians out there that could probably use your money! Special note for Hyenablood who just had a new release and is unfortunately in Bluesky jail. Sanxion7's electronic stuff is also very nice for electronic journal beats.
Stickers - Various
it crimmus
I'm also trying out Stickii next month. The December Pop pack DOES look gorgeous. It's hard to give recs on stickers though, it's very personal.
In Conclusion
I could maybe have talked about more things, but I ran out of time. Sometimes old things are cool and I definitely think notes and memories and such are one of those times. Physical objects are so much more durable than digital ones, too.
I do not believe in New Year's Resolutions, but hey, if you have an unused or partially used pile of paper lying around, why not keep a Winter journal? What else are you gonna do, go freeze outside? Pass! It's hot drink and journal season baby!!