A subtle shift

Things are changing around here. In a month, I move out of Utah. I don't know where Ars de Carta as a project is going to go, to be honest. I still have a long list of posts I'd love to write, and I'm still looking forward to the Vignette challenge in July, but beyond that, who knows?

M and I had talked about doing a best of post for our 200th post, but maybe it'll be for 250. Or 201. or 213 or 293. It might happen, it might not. But isn't that where the fun comes in, from the not knowing?

There's a lot of that in my life right now. Things are changing, big time, like I said above. Mike will have to move my little marker thingy to a new state, but, despite what the detractors say, I'm pretty damn stoked.

It's summer now, which means a change of pace for life. More outside, lots less computer. So I'm going to go enjoy that, and we'll be back to you in July, or maybe the fall (yes, I'm suggesting postponing the challenge.)

Enjoy the summer. :)

A

In which I realize that ITAM is over, CLUB is starting, and I don't know how much I care.

Yup, another long title.

February and ITAM is over... I typed on a typewriter once, it acted up again, I put it away, and didn't touch it or any of my other machines for the rest of the month.

But I did think about it.
And I thought about the Typosphere.

Then the news came from M and it brought back a lot of memories for me, and I've spent time with them, rather than the blog. My apologies.

Now, it's time for Celebrate Local and Used Bookstore Month, and I don't know if I'm going to do anything for it. My life has changed in these past few months, and it's put a lot of things into perspective that I hadn't thought about before.

So I'm sorry for neglecting this space, for not posting typecasts or pencasts or even the beautiful letter to my great aunt that is sitting in my desk, just waiting to be transcribed and posted. Maybe we'll get back on track, one day.

We'll see.

A

The Haze of Academia: In which I embark on an epic journey of 10,000 words into nonfiction

The title says it all. I handwrote 9 pages in 2 hours today for my last in class exam, and now, I am about to embark on the epic journey, as it says in the title, of writing two papers, one take home exam, one reflections essay, and one set of comments to the BLM. Not in that order.
Yup. Here I go, into that hazy world in which so much happens and not as much is possible as in fiction.

Wish me luck. If I survive, I'll tell you a little more about The Letter from Last Friday.

Art the Intrepid

Ephemera: Life Changing Letters

In my closet, there hung a cream sheet of paper with a post written on it in pencil. I wrote it last year, about this time, and the words I wrote are telling.

I'd try to imagine how I'd be feeling right now. Elation and joy, of course. The thrill of the unknown. Nerves at leaving my childhood home. But when I imagined them, they never felt quite like this. I'm on top of the world.

Truth is, I'm still in shock. I think the top of the world feeling will come tomorrow, will come later, will come when I've processed everything that just happened.

But things are never going to be the same.

Sad.

One of the local consignment stores, one that consistently has typewriters, is going out of business.

Excuse me why I go be bummed. It's always hard when an awesome local business can't make it.

In which I fall in love with a Lamy Safari

I held off on buying one until the day I found a shop I where I could try it in person. Sure, all you in the typosphere have raved about your Safaris, but I was skeptical. But, the good thing is that you all were right. I tried the Safari, and a week or two later (can't remember exactly), I went and bought my pink one.

Well, it's taken me a while to really tell if I like it or not. Sure, there are quirks that I still done love, like the fact that it's not happy writing in an upright position or that the grip forces me to use that proper position like my teachers taught. But overall, wow. It hangs out in my bag, occaisionally being inverted, and it hasn't yet leaked or gotten messy. It writes well on a plane or on the ground, and doesn't feather (although I'm not thrilled with it in a Moleskine... or maybe it is just the ink.) But yeah. It's awesome. I'm now one of those people who carries a fountain pen with them everywhere, just to be cool like that.

That's all for now. :)

In which I lose faith in local stationary shops

I went to the stationary shop I always go to to get my letterpress thank you cards. Yeah. Fail. They didn't have them. And the staff were rude today. I'd already gone to one other today, and they didn't have any I liked either. I was even ready to go with just plain cards, not my favorite:


Sadly, I have not found any I like yet. Going to have to figure something else out. :P Going to start looking for other places to shop.

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present...

THE PINK LAMY SAFARI!

As the teaser suggests, I did it.


Granted, I did end up paying more than I would have through Goulet or Jetpens, but still. I have the satisfaction of being able to shop local.


Though, I am going to virtually slap LFP and MT Coalhopper for introducing me to the Goulet site--I'd never been there before, and that was probably a good thing. :P

So.. here's the specs.

Paid $35.00 for it, 4.95 for the converter, and 4.50 for a pack of cartridges because I was impatient and thought I'd get a chance to use it before I got home where there is ink. (I didn't, but oh well. I now have Lamy Blue-Black Ink on hand and in the pen!) Bout a five to eight dollar difference when you consider shipping, but that's okay.
The color is closest to the picture from Goulet above--my phone couldn't get the color right, and I don't know where my card reader is for my camera. But truth is, it's just pretty. It'll be really pretty with black ink.

But above all:
It's pink.

In the shop, the pen had a medium nib on it. This is the great thing about small stores--the guy (I think the owner's son) replaced it with a Fine nib from another pen for me. No charge.

So... writing with it... it's different experience. The Fine Nib is pretty fine--my Waterman is a broad medium nib, while my Schaeffer is spidery and cool. I'm glad I didn't go with the extra-fine nib. I like superfine points for my cramped notes handwriting, but at that same time, a fountain pen isn't the best medium for that sort of writing--I tend to hold the pen more upright, and very close to the end. A fountain pen, especially one that is specifically shaped like the Lamy, doesn't so much allow me to do that, but I'm okay with that. Makes it perfect for the more relaxed writing I like when I'm drafting. I might order a medium nib, just for variety and maybe even a bold--remember, I love a bold line on yellow paper--but we'll see where things goes.

I got to say--I know why you all love these pens. I'm glad I made the purchase and supported a local shop. I also talked to the guy there, and he said I'd be great to come in and take pictures! Means some advertising for them, which is cool. I like helping local businesses. I'm excited for this pen. I think good things are to come!!!

Teaser

The Dilemma

It's a simple one, really. A question of maybe nine dollars, at least right now.
I'm buying a lamy safari. I decided this last week. But, here is my question.
Do I pay more to support the local stationary shop, or do I give in to the man and buy it online and save some money?
I'm torn. Honestly. I like money and having it, which is an argument for ordering. And, more waiting might make me appreciate it more (although I have already waited nearly a week.). But, buying local is better for the environment and does good to support the cute old man who owns the shop. And he has a pink one. I like pink.
I think I know what I'm going to do... anyone else want to chime in?

Look what I found!!!!!!!

 I will be posting pictures when I go back to buy a Lamy Safari--I now understand what the fuss is about. He has Clairefontaine too. And lots of other stuff. Nearly forty years in business..

Course, less than 20 minutes after I left this place, some dude totaled his truck on mine, so the day went kinda wonky after that... But still. I've got something to look forward to. 

The best thing about being back...

...is the obligatory trip to the bookstore for those important supplies!!! Course, my campus bookstore isn't as great as Strikethru's, but it's not that bad...

Now, this year, they didn't have everything that I was looking for, like my favorite legal pads, but I didn't do too bad...

So, take a look at the haul, all $386 of it...

Five books for one class. Looks like it's going to be fascinating, but still. It's a lot of reading.


Got the last copy of this one. The new edition comes out next year, with this one being over 10 years old, so you'd expect some used copies, right? Nope. Had to buy it new.


As I work on this post, I'm waiting for this last class to start. The prof just walked in... But the books look fascinating.


Besides the required books, I also scored a few fun things.

Like this new Zebra fountain pen. Never seen them before, never seen a review of them, but it looks pretty... although when I did a writing test (full review to be posted soon), I'm not quite sure how I like it. Maybe I just like the weight of a nicer fountain pen... but $4.99 was cheap!


I've also fallen in love with the look of a broad line on yellow paper... So, there are two pads of yellow paper in my stash, as well as some new broad points.


 I scored a few new pens and a clicky highlighter.


And of course, a pad of one of my favorite papers.


And, last, but of course, not least, a new General's Layout Pencil. As you can see in the picture below, the last one I bought is growing shorter by the day. I love this pencil.


And thus concludes the tour de supplies for this semester... or at least this first week. I'm sure I'll be picking more up as the semester goes along...

Ken Sanders Redux

THE ANSWER IS MORE BOOKS

(I apologize--some of the pictures turned out a bit blurry.)

I wish I could share the smells with you. I've talked about them before, I know, but still. It's the smells that stick with you. They can call up poignant memories of the past, of an event, of a person or place.

Favorite Corner

 The aisles are narrow and the floors are cold, but I love this place. Scattered throughout are chairs, perfect for sinking down among the books and reading.

There's a corner of the store I love, and I can't even tell you why. It's at the back, with a window nearby and shelves all around. I stand there and just stand, not even needing to look at the books around me. Total immersion, I guess you can call it. I'm surrounded and it's peaceful.

Turn around and there is the light, the light at the end of the tunnel. Out there, outside, is the real world, a world where things aren't a clear as they are in here. Things make more sense surrounded by books--you know that if you look, you can find an answer.

Standing, looking down from mystery and sci-fi, I feel like Fleming's Bond--he's just on the other side of the aisle. My camera becomes my weapon as I covertly take pictures, attempting to preserve a little bit of this place that holds so much for me.

Book Hunting (Promise I'll get to letters soon!)

Image courtesy of Salt Lake Daily Photo

Rare Books. Prints Posters. Paper Ephemera. Vintage Photographs. Old Postcards. Antique Maps.

Looking up above the door of the shop, I always smile. It was the first place I saw the word ephemera, and I've been in love ever since.

Walking in, it is like coming home. I grew up reading books I'd find in my parent's storage boxes, old books smelling wonderfully of glue and paper and words. That's the smell of Ken Sanders.

Inside, it is a reader's paradise. Shelves from floor to ceiling, stacked and double stacked with all manner of books. Old books, new books, even comic books. There are bins full of old photographs, stacks of handbills and posters, and maps.

I've got a pattern down. I head straight back to the mystery section, then hit fiction, science fiction, and then Ed Abbey. After that, the rest of the shop is free game. Today, it was the beat writers (I want a copy of Dharma Bums), and then the art books. After that, I headed to the children's section... I still have an incredible fondness for children's literature. The people who write children's books are the true artists among us. They tell the same story it takes some of us 100,000 words to tell in less than half the length, and it is so much more powerful for that.

The Haul

I didn't find everything I wanted at Ken Sanders, so I had to make the long and arduous journey to Barnes and Noble. Amazing the contrast. Where Ken Sanders is running out of space for books (like me), BN seems like they don't have enough books to fill the space they had, yet I couldn't find what I wanted. It took talking to three different people to discover that the book I was looking for actually wasn't out on the shelf, even though it was in stock. So unlike the store where chance is the name of the game. Today, I found a copy of The English Patient for $5.00... and last time, I walked out of there empty handed. But that's the charm of the thing, why I like the used bookstore over BN. I can't guarantee that I'm going to find exactly what I'm looking for on a given day, but I almost always find something awesome.


So, to tie it back in to the bigger picture.

Shops like Ken Sanders are like the letter. They are amazing things, but things that are being threatened by our electronic society. By shopping there, I feel like I'm doing my part to save the written word, to keep the proud tradition alive. And truthfully, it's fun. I love shops where the owner is the one who helps you find what you are looking for, and they know who you are when you walk in the door, and greet you like an old friend. You realize you're part of something so much bigger and older than yourself.
A

The Shop


BW photo courtesy of:
Main Page
Salt Lake Daily Photo