Pine-Scented Chris 🌲♿️🎄

I love the tradition of encore. How did you come to love opera with your father?

But the magic of a performed moment was within my control. How do writers send their poem or novel children out into the world? Anne Bradstreet had feelings about that. Apparently so do I.

I was overly confident in my own abilities to connect to listeners. Young and naïve. I spent 6 years immersed in musical study and after graduating, I realized that I hated being paid to sing. I loved to sing as a gift, an offering as it were. My technique and interpretation exposed my inner self.

I did a short stint as a professional singer after college. I’m not new to the idea of sharing yourself through art, but a vocal performance is a temporal moment. Your audience doesn’t typically return to your output with perfect clarity and precision.

In my imagination, it feels like Eustice Scrubb in dragon form getting his skin peeled off by Aslan in Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

How do writers survive the process of *checks notes* showing anyone anything you wrote?

My neighbor was taming the edge of his property abutting a slim woodland and I pointed out his bluebell fairy ring surrounding a stump. He had not noticed it before and it sits, proudly recovered from the deep loam, to this day.

We are no longer target shoppers. We stopped eating tuna with dolphin mixed in. Oh and we no longer smoke inside around children.

The poem Moss and Shadow by Farah Ali

‘Moss and Shadow’

(Anthology: The Half-Life of Echoes)

#micropoetry #poem #poetry

You’re not wrong about puffers.

A reclining black shorthair cat stares at you. His green eyes betray his haughty feelings of superiority.

Felines and Canines are fantastic! I got my boy Bing (now returned to the darkness from whence he came) there! They didn’t have dogs back then. I still donate to them.

Oh my god where did you get this specimen?!? He is gorgeous.

This looks really fun! I’m down

Awesome!! I think I’d have to really like the potential boy/girl friend. He must really like you!

I’ll add that to my list of pens to check out! I’m also eyeing some pens by S.T. DuPont. $$$, but beautiful.

Congratulations on your recovery! I imagine losing the dominant side must have been so scary. I’m just happy to be able to walk. Who knows what else will come back eventually?

Disabled folks love fountain pens too. I hope some of the indie pen makers can create more snap cap pens someday.

Right now I’m using the Pilot Vanishing Point, Lamy 2000, Waterman Hemispheres (I want the Carene), and the Conklin Nozac (magnetic, very nice). Of course the old Al-Star is still hanging around too, and the Pilot Prera is particularly satisfying.

The caps on their Esties are springloaded, which means you have to hold the cap down while you turn it. I’ve found this to be nearly impossible to accomplish one-handed without substantial risk to the pen. However, I’m discovering brands that have excellent quality and wonderful feeling snaps.

For our experiences, snap cap fountain pens have been the best option. I own one threaded cap pen, the Pilot Plumix, and that has little wings on the side of the cap that help. Unfortunately, several pen manufacturers are now disqualified for me, Esterbrook being the worst offender.

But not everyone has the ability or pain tolerance to be able to manipulate fountain pens. I spoke with a vendor at the New England Pen Show who has multiple sclerosis and she shared that flares make holding pens with light weights extremely difficult. She also struggled with capping threaded pens.

But writing only requires one hand! Except for the capping and uncapping the fountain pen itself. Also holding paper steady and inking a pen. Thankfully I have a tabletop vise that provides a firm grip, a clipboard with a removable magnetic clip, and enough finger dexterity in my right hand to fill.

I love fountain pens. I’ve enjoyed dip nibs for years, only recently moving beyond a battered Lamy Al-Star. I never thought I’d need to talk about accessibility and the fountain pen, until I survived a massive stroke that left me without the use of my left hand.

What is it? I need to plan for the future.

I’m bored. You have bored me.

Beautiful!! I bought a vintage one from the very beginning of the 21st century on eBay from Bob Speer. Great deal, fantastic pen. But now maybe my happiness could be bought with one like yours.

Lamy 2000 <f>, Pilot Vanishing Point <b> cursive italic grind, and usually a Pilot Prera <cm>. My cursive looks the best using the VP, but the Lamy is the most comfortable. Of my 3, I recommend the Lamy. Huge ink capacity too.

That is a scary looking bottle. What about on the page?

Fir and Fog was one of my favorites from this past Inkvent. It could be that the title was the most evocative of the bunch, but it handled nicely however I used it.

Also, this poem is fantastic.

BLM Announces Plan to Fell Oregon's Last Great Forests One billion board feet per year... 30 days to make your voice heard.

BLM plans to log millions of acres in Oregon. Maybe let Cliff know what you think of that. (202) 225-6730


morethanjustparks.substack.com/p/blm-announ...

Just in time for my annual vicarious trip to Austin through your posts. Hooray!