I’m running through inks and notebooks

I finished an ink cartridge in my new Lamy fountain pen and got to switch to a new turquoise color. The ink looks like a tropical sea. It makes me think of the Bahamas. I also finished my Moleskine notebook and am trying a new kind I’ve never tried before: Clairefontaine. The paper is awfully smooth and white. I’m not sure if I like it as well as the Moleskine, which has ivory pages and the texture is just the the slightest bit rougher so it doesn’t feel so dry and slick under my hand. I also didn’t realize the Clairefontaine doesn’t have a ribbon to mark my place, which is going to be problematic.

I ordered another Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen. I don’t want to use anything but fountain pens anymore. We watched The Two Popes last night, and there’s a scene where they’re in Conclave to elect a new Pope. Everything about the room and their dress is elegant, and rich, and refined. The art is ancient and beautiful, the tables are covered in pristine white cloths, everything is dignified. In the scene, each Cardinal has at his seat a piece of ivory card stock, luxurious like a wedding invitation, to write their nomination on, and at each seat, each Cardinal has a pen. A clicky, cheap, plastic, drug-store pen. I was so disappointed. If ever a situation called for nice pens, it is the election of a new Pope. The pens did not match the scene, and I’m going to pretend that in real life, they use fountain pens.

So anyway. In addition to my Lamy pen, I’ve got one Pilot fountain pen and loads of ink for it: purple, emerald, blue, grey-black. But I’ve only got the one pen. And often I find myself wanting that particular pen down in my office when it’s upstairs in my purse, or when I’m writing in the living room and the only thing in my laptop bag is the Lamy pen.

So I bought myself another Pilot this week. I want to have pens everywhere I have occasion to use a pen — in my purse, in my laptop bag, at my desk. I’m excited that when it arrives, I’ll be able to load a third color in it — will it be purple? will it be emerald? — and write in whatever color suits my mood.