- Joined
- Mar 4, 2011
- Messages
- 515
So, I volunteered at Hagley Museum yesterday as a part of my training from POWER, an Autism Spectrum program to help people like me overcome our obstacles and obtain/hold jobs. And, me, being an absolute sucker for money-spending, went immediately to the gift shop there afterwards, after seeing some gorgeous Civil War era sabers and boxes, giant books and whatnot in the museum itself, and came out of the gift shop with a five finger vase for my Grandmother, and a surprisingly pretty silver plated inkwell with a ribbed glass repository, three ornate, but mass produced silver plated feet, a quill holder offshoot, and a feather quill pen, the greatest gift of them all, to me, besides the ink itself. It has a metal nib, so it is a more modern version of the quill pen, but nonetheless, it is a fine, understated writing instrument with exceptionally light weight, control, and it flows, while still inked up, like water, producing fine lines I cannot achieve with even the finest art pens. It is truly a privilege to write with it, it could be on par with the best writing instruments known to man, like Mont Blanc and the finest fountain pens around, and for twenty two dollars, it is relatively cheap.
True, it is almost worthless outside the house. I cannot imagine me stuffing the inkwell into my pocket, the feather quill under my watch bracelet, and venturing into the suburban 'outback' like so, without suffering inkstained pants and several nasty pokes from the deadly sharp quill. While those are trivial hurts to me, they are nonetheless, hurts I would do better to not sustain. My quill pen is a fine writing instrument, made for people who had the time to take a pen knife and sharpen the quill, dip it in ink, and write on parchment with gentle calligraphic strokes. I, of course, chicken scratch my Moleskine notebook with all the care and gentleness of a rampaging rhinoscerous, but nonetheless...the quill pen is an ancient instrument, and I find it almost therapeutic to use, like it transports me to an age where people carefully hand copied or wrote everything, instead of hastily typing it up. Sure, not everyone was as concerned as scholars were at the time, but most surviving works are works of care, yet there is something to be said about taking time out of your day for you, taking time out of your day to honor the past and preserve it for the future, if only by massacring a notebook with my horrific writing.
I wanted to know, most of all, however, what the blade fanatics I have grown to appreciate and befriend have to say about my seemingly crazy, but surprisingly sound idea of getting some feathers, fashioning an olden day quill pen, and writing a journal, starting a novel, writing nonsense, doing anything to this effect through any chosen medium, to help preserve the past by action alone. You could be hand hewing a beam for a house, or cooking something old school with tools of eld...it does not always matter what you do, as much as WHY you do it.
Well, I'll let you all think on that note, and leave you to it. Respond if you wish to, I would greatly appreciate it.
Peace everyone.
David
True, it is almost worthless outside the house. I cannot imagine me stuffing the inkwell into my pocket, the feather quill under my watch bracelet, and venturing into the suburban 'outback' like so, without suffering inkstained pants and several nasty pokes from the deadly sharp quill. While those are trivial hurts to me, they are nonetheless, hurts I would do better to not sustain. My quill pen is a fine writing instrument, made for people who had the time to take a pen knife and sharpen the quill, dip it in ink, and write on parchment with gentle calligraphic strokes. I, of course, chicken scratch my Moleskine notebook with all the care and gentleness of a rampaging rhinoscerous, but nonetheless...the quill pen is an ancient instrument, and I find it almost therapeutic to use, like it transports me to an age where people carefully hand copied or wrote everything, instead of hastily typing it up. Sure, not everyone was as concerned as scholars were at the time, but most surviving works are works of care, yet there is something to be said about taking time out of your day for you, taking time out of your day to honor the past and preserve it for the future, if only by massacring a notebook with my horrific writing.
I wanted to know, most of all, however, what the blade fanatics I have grown to appreciate and befriend have to say about my seemingly crazy, but surprisingly sound idea of getting some feathers, fashioning an olden day quill pen, and writing a journal, starting a novel, writing nonsense, doing anything to this effect through any chosen medium, to help preserve the past by action alone. You could be hand hewing a beam for a house, or cooking something old school with tools of eld...it does not always matter what you do, as much as WHY you do it.
Well, I'll let you all think on that note, and leave you to it. Respond if you wish to, I would greatly appreciate it.
Peace everyone.
David
Good to hear from you all. I'll leave this open so anyone else who wants to can chime in. Peace. And yes, I agree, Raghorn, they are dangerously addictive! Pens, cars, gadgets, electronics, tools, knives, all sorts of things like that can bring even a demigod of a man to his knees from sheer wanting, even if he swore on his mother to window shop only. I know the feeling first hand, unfortunately, yet fortunately, enough. Peace again, I have to go to an assessment that might or might not get me a job. Wish me luck, please!