Month: November 2022

Barossa Gilt by Robert Oster

The above photo was taken in direct sunlight. Ink is swatched on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper, using a glass dip pen. Specs Name: Barossa Gilt Maker: Robert Oster Color Family: Purple Properties: Shimmer Purchased at: Vanness What’s in a name? Part of the Shake ‘n’ Shimmy collection (of highly shimmering inks), this grape purple with gold shimmer is named after the Barossa Valley, one of the premier wine-growing regions of Australia (where Robert Oster inks are made). Swatches A large swatch of ink showcases the darkest this ink gets, as well as the maximum properties it has (when held at the right […]

Posted November 30, 2022 by bethwyrm in Fountain Pens / 1 Comment

Leilani’s Report Card for November

What a mess this month has been. We started it off with A Plan: Leilani is fully in her adolescent phase, which means some days she’s a rockstar and some days you’d swear she’d never learned a command in her life. Her leash skills really took a dive, and so her obedience teacher suggested a type of “Easy Walk” harness (it attaches in the front and squeezes the chest gently if the dog tries to run off). It took me over a week to get the right size for her, and then it was impossible to get it to fit […]

Posted November 29, 2022 by bethwyrm in Life Update / 0 Comments

Holiday Moviethon

Holidays in 2022 have been pretty rough for me. Auxientia LARP, though fun, exhausted me into a stupor on Beltane. I was too tired to do anything for Independence Day. I had COVID on my birthday (for 2 weeks). I had a pain hangover on Halloween (after weeks of chronic back pain and consequently low sleep). With Yule as my second-favorite holiday, I’m really hoping to get and stay in a joyous mood. I’ll be celebrating the last hurrah of the year at Walt Disney World, for the week leading up to Christmas, so I want to hit that holiday […]

Posted November 28, 2022 by bethwyrm in Life Update / 5 Comments

Diamine InkVent 2022

In some of my prior fountain pen ink reviews, I’ve mentioned colors that originated in the 2020 or 2021 Diamine InkVent collection. Well, this year I decided to spoil myself (and support Atlas Stationers) by ordering the 2022 Diamine InkVent for myself. It’s an actual advent calendar, with 24 bottles (12mL) of brand new, unique fountain pen inks and one last full bottle (30mL) on the 25th. This year’s packaging and Christmas day color is green, hence the “Green Edition”. Invariably, Diamine will add these new colors to their standard lineup, but the cost equates to 35 centers per mL […]

Posted November 27, 2022 by bethwyrm in Fountain Pens / 0 Comments

Golden Brown by Diamine

The above photo was taken in direct sunlight. Ink is swatched on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper, using a glass dip pen. Specs Name: Golden Brown Maker: Diamine Color Family: Brown Properties: Shading Purchased at: Goulet Pens What’s in a name? This one is pretty obvious- it’s a brown with gold tones. Swatches A large swatch of ink showcases the darkest this ink gets, as well as the maximum properties it has (when held at the right angle to show any shimmer or sheen). But what about when you’re writing a letter or notes with it? The above was written on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper, […]

Posted November 26, 2022 by bethwyrm in Fountain Pens / 0 Comments

The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson

Characters: 6, each character was distinguishable from the others, but they were fairly one-dimensional, defined more by a single instance in their lives than by actual personality. I don’t find them very memorable, and I didn’t care much what happened to any of them. That said, Winterson presents an interesting take on Shakespeare’s original characters (themselves rather one-dimensional) and a possible toxic masculinity origin for the two male leads’ overblown emotional reactions. Atmosphere: 7, the setting was rather bare bones, but recognizable (both New Bohemia and London). Full marks for setting being established and developed through Shep’s narrative perspective and […]

Posted November 25, 2022 by bethwyrm in Book Review / 0 Comments

Sydney Lavender by Robert Oster

The above photo was taken in direct sunlight. Ink is swatched on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper, using a glass dip pen. Specs Name: Sydney Lavender Maker: Robert Oster Color Family: Purple Properties: Shading Purchased at: Goulet Pens What’s in a name? This ink debuted at the Sydney Pen Show in 2018 (Robert Oster is based in Australia), so I assume it was named for the pen show. Why lavender, specifically? I couldn’t find any actual information on that. Swatches A large swatch of ink showcases the darkest this ink gets, as well as the maximum properties it has (when held at the […]

Posted November 23, 2022 by bethwyrm in Fountain Pens / 0 Comments

Long Trail by Colorverse

The above photo was taken in direct sunlight. Ink is swatched on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper, using a glass dip pen. Specs Name: Long Trail Maker: Colorverse Color Family: Teal Properties: Sheening Gifted to me by my generous Giftmas in July swap partner, Heather! What’s in a name? Colorverse has a special USA series of inks, with an ink inspired by and named for something from each of the 50 states. Long Trail celebrates Vermont, with its 272-mile hiking trail through the forest. Although this is classified as a teal ink, it really leans toward hunter green (more green than blue), and […]

Posted November 19, 2022 by bethwyrm in Fountain Pens / 0 Comments

Fierce Like a Firestorm by Lana Popović

Characters: 6, it’s not fair to compare the sequel to the first book, but I was much more invested in the characters in book 1 because they were so very fleshed out. That said, a lot of the story revolves around Malina in this book, and there’s huge character growth for a number of characters, in a way that didn’t undermine or excuse past bad behavior. Atmosphere: 6, the language in both books is evocative, bordering on florid. But either I stopped noticing it after the first quarter of the book, or it wasn’t used as much. Certainly the tension […]

Posted November 18, 2022 by bethwyrm in Book Review / 0 Comments

Delicious Sleep by Colorverse

The above photo was taken in direct sunlight. Ink is swatched on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper, using a glass dip pen. Specs Name: Delicious Sleep Maker: Colorverse Color Family: Purple Properties: Shading Purchased at: Vanness What’s in a name? Part of Colorverse’s Joy in the Ordinary collection, this mid-tone violet ink celebrates the delight of an excellent night’s sleep. Why purple? Who knows. But I’m amused at ‘delicious sleep’ as an evocative and accurate description (albeit for a thing I haven’t had since I was a teenager). Swatches A large swatch of ink showcases the darkest this ink gets, as well as […]

Posted November 16, 2022 by bethwyrm in Fountain Pens / 0 Comments