Thanks for the shout, my friend. I'm actually going on a live call with Petya next month to talk about fountain pens! It's such a pleasurable hobby.
I'm pleased to see you've settled on a Notion-based tracker. I'm enjoying mine a lot, though it can lead to rabbit holes of tweaking. FYI: Claude is very good at fixing and coming up with new formulas for Notion if you ever feel the need to start tweaking.
Oh goodness... what a dream question. Well, for years and years my pen for journaling and signatures was a fine tip Pelikan Souverän M400 in Tortoiseshell. It writes so smoothly and effortlessly. However, due to the fact that I write very small in my everyday life I tend to use EF nib Japanese pens, and I have a set of three Sailor Pro Gear Slim that are my current go to every day pens when I am not journaling/writing for a long time.
Lovely. I'm more of a broad nib fan. I've heard good things about Sailor pens but have yet to try one. I like TWSBI pens for good value. My other favourite is a German one by Waldmann called the Edelfeder.
I’ve never tried Waldmann. I’m definitely more of a EF. I use my F nibs for more bold statements — that’s how small I write. It also means I need a very particular type of ink (and absolutely nothing glittery). Good news is that I go through less ink even when I write a lot.
I am also a lover of fountain pens, though one that my father bought me, an old green Pelikan classic with a gold nib was lifted from a drawer and never returned to me.
Thanks for the good words and shout out, friend. Upon a time, I couldn't imagine not writing with a pencil on paper. It felt I was sculpting the words into the page. Screenwriting programs initiated the transition to digital. But speaking of TRUE digital, I wrote about half of Waiting for Word on NYC busses and subway cars, pecking them out with one finger on a cell phone notes app. Speak of feeling viscerally connected to your writing!
Your Notion book log/tracker is impressive. Mine's something I cobbled together and nowhere near as nice! I'm going to check out the template you're using nonetheless. I'm still jealous of that notebook you kept for years. I still remember seeing the picture you posted on Notes one time, and the overwhelming feeling that I wished I had done something like that! Can you believe I've only started logging the books I've read 3 years ago - and not even very diligently! Ugh. Also - thank you for sharing the list of voices you trust. I discovered Petya Grady through you! Cheers, Matthew!
Matthew, I will be interested to see how many people will be turned of by the extremely prevalent use of AI here. I hope that Substack teaming with Panagram helps.
Between my health issues and AI everywhere, I find listening the birds more pleasing of late. I do miss being here. Soon... I will return.
Oh I like your Notion overview of books - reminds of the one I made for my fantasy project then stopped using 😅 I'll have to go back and have a look at it.
The AI detecting on Substack had me a bit flabbergasted to be honest, I agree with you, it is an irony of using AI to find AI. Besides there is this question of can you truly trust these things? Like you, I'll just rather trust my own instincts. It does feel like we are losing more and more of our judgment through all of it
I’m honored and grateful to have you as my first guest, Matthew. I’m also grateful for writers like you, whose soul shines through on the page.
Thanks for the shout, my friend. I'm actually going on a live call with Petya next month to talk about fountain pens! It's such a pleasurable hobby.
I'm pleased to see you've settled on a Notion-based tracker. I'm enjoying mine a lot, though it can lead to rabbit holes of tweaking. FYI: Claude is very good at fixing and coming up with new formulas for Notion if you ever feel the need to start tweaking.
I LOVE FOUNTAIN PENS!
What's your favourite? I think mine would be the Pelikan M600 with a broad nib.
Oh goodness... what a dream question. Well, for years and years my pen for journaling and signatures was a fine tip Pelikan Souverän M400 in Tortoiseshell. It writes so smoothly and effortlessly. However, due to the fact that I write very small in my everyday life I tend to use EF nib Japanese pens, and I have a set of three Sailor Pro Gear Slim that are my current go to every day pens when I am not journaling/writing for a long time.
Lovely. I'm more of a broad nib fan. I've heard good things about Sailor pens but have yet to try one. I like TWSBI pens for good value. My other favourite is a German one by Waldmann called the Edelfeder.
I’ve never tried Waldmann. I’m definitely more of a EF. I use my F nibs for more bold statements — that’s how small I write. It also means I need a very particular type of ink (and absolutely nothing glittery). Good news is that I go through less ink even when I write a lot.
Need to get that call in my calendar!
Thank you for the mention, Matthew. It's good to see what you are up to!
Stay cool!
Thank you for the mention Matthew.
I am also a lover of fountain pens, though one that my father bought me, an old green Pelikan classic with a gold nib was lifted from a drawer and never returned to me.
Where am I 😭😭😭
Hiding like a good 5.
Lol, the list isn't complete. More to follow.
The way I'm so confident in our friendship to post the first comment though lol
Thanks for the good words and shout out, friend. Upon a time, I couldn't imagine not writing with a pencil on paper. It felt I was sculpting the words into the page. Screenwriting programs initiated the transition to digital. But speaking of TRUE digital, I wrote about half of Waiting for Word on NYC busses and subway cars, pecking them out with one finger on a cell phone notes app. Speak of feeling viscerally connected to your writing!
Thanks for the link, Matthew, and I'm very glad you enjoyed my post. Hope you're keeping cool!
Your Notion book log/tracker is impressive. Mine's something I cobbled together and nowhere near as nice! I'm going to check out the template you're using nonetheless. I'm still jealous of that notebook you kept for years. I still remember seeing the picture you posted on Notes one time, and the overwhelming feeling that I wished I had done something like that! Can you believe I've only started logging the books I've read 3 years ago - and not even very diligently! Ugh. Also - thank you for sharing the list of voices you trust. I discovered Petya Grady through you! Cheers, Matthew!
Matthew, I will be interested to see how many people will be turned of by the extremely prevalent use of AI here. I hope that Substack teaming with Panagram helps.
Between my health issues and AI everywhere, I find listening the birds more pleasing of late. I do miss being here. Soon... I will return.
Oh I like your Notion overview of books - reminds of the one I made for my fantasy project then stopped using 😅 I'll have to go back and have a look at it.
The AI detecting on Substack had me a bit flabbergasted to be honest, I agree with you, it is an irony of using AI to find AI. Besides there is this question of can you truly trust these things? Like you, I'll just rather trust my own instincts. It does feel like we are losing more and more of our judgment through all of it