I have a thing about paper. Sure, I spend a lot of time everyday on my laptop. I have probably done more damage to my eyes staring at the screen than doing anything else, including reading in dim light late into the night. But nothing inspires me, excites me, like new paper does.
You’ve heard it before, the love for the smell and feel of crisp fresh-from-the-mill paper. It’s true for many, and it’s definitely so for me. I cannot pass by a stationery display in any store without sparing a glance. Often, I stop to run my fingers over the latest planners, journals and notepads. More so, if they’re prettily designed. Sometimes, I surreptitiously sniff them, eyes closed to really take in the invigorating scent.
Out of all the paper products I’ve encountered, there are 2 brands that I adore: Moleskine and Franklin Covey. I use Moleskine, a large lined journal and a pocket one, respectively, for personal journaling and for writing on the go. My planner is a Franklin Covey 365 compact binder I got from Target, and which is currently stocked with Major Plan refills.
For writing, I often use a black Pilot G2. I have these all over the house and always have a couple in my purse. Recently, I also dug out a Parker 45 fountain pen, which was a wedding gift from friends. It has my and my husband’s names engraved on it. But the hubby has never shown an interest in using it, so it’s mine now.
Though the G2 is a perfectly good pen, it doesn’t inspire me to write as much as a fountain pen does. I use Quink black ink on my fountain pen, which has a fine nib. The ink works very well on the Franklin Covey paper, even better than the G2. The G2 results in more see-through on the other side of the paper. On the Moleskine, the G2 seems to work better, but I suspect it’s because of the finer line it makes. The Quink ink doesn’t bleed through or feathers on the Moley, but I can still see more of it on the other side.
All this talk of bleeding through and feathering may sound like too much fuss about nothing. But for me, and apparently for many Moleskine fans, it’s significant. I like my paper creamy and clean on both sides. I get distracted if I see too much of the writing on the other side. But I can’t bring myself to use just one side, not just for economy’s sake. I simply like the look of a filled notebook, with writing on all pages.
There is hope, though, for the Moleskine/Quink combo. I, through a stroke of luck on eBay, recently acquired an extra-fine nib for the Parker 45. I paid more for it that I normally would for a pen – let alone the point of a pen! – but the XF nib for the Parker 45 is rather hard to come by, and the one I bought is brand-new. And it’s coming all the way from France! Just for the romance of being able to say that I got my fountain pen (nib) from France, it’s worth it.
images: sxc.hu
