An interesting wrinkle over on LiveJournal...

I was impelled, a few minutes ago, to comment on a recent post by LJ friend emo_snal (aggienaut on Dreamwidth) and noticed, while tapping out my comment, that there was an additional section displayed between the post and the comments, which displayed three other posts from Kris's LJ that carry the “bellingham wa” tag.

I have no idea whether this is some kind of new default feature, or something you have to configure by hand, or whether it works with cross-posts or only with "native" LJ posts (I'm not sure how one would tell the difference, really, but I digress...).

So, just for laughs, I'm going to tag this post with the first word that comes to mind (chess) and then go over to LJ and see what I can see.

Cheers...

UPDATE #1. Visited my page on LJ, clicked on "Leave a comment" for this post. No additional section was displayed. A possible problem with this "experiment" is that if you're looking at your own post, LJ won't show the additional section.

UPDATE #2. When in doubt, read the manual (or whatever passes for one). I found a post that describes the feature and explains how it is used. Seeing as I have a 4,000 word document breathing down my neck to be edited, this will conclude—for now—this experiment.

UPDATE #3. I lied in that last part of the previous update. It turns out the feature is enabled for my LJ layout, and if I want to use it, I shall have to go to LJ and edit the post. And now, I really must hunker down and get to work. :)

Client document pet peeve #633*...

I find it distressing when end clients want the column heading for something involving a price in U.S. dollars to read something like "Foofaraw Price, USD" and insist that the individual numbers in the column be prepended with a dollar sign.

Please, people. One or the other, not both!

Cheers...

* no, I don't actually have a list of 632 previous such pet peeves, Right now, it just feels like such a list should exist!

A thought-provoking question...

The other day, LJ friend platofish asked if I had a favorite fountain pen, and if I did, why was it my favorite?

To be frank, I had never considered the question before, and my initial reaction was... something akin to a complete loss for words. I simply could not name a pen that was my favorite, which sort of put the kibosh on explaining why.

The more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that there are (at least) two types of comparisons one might make between items that may lead to the declaration of a "favorite." Assuming only two types, there are comparisons that are conducive to the idea of "best" or "favorite", while others... aren't, because "best" and "favorite," in the context of such other comparisons, depend altogether too much on one's mood or some other aspect.

In the first category might be items that can be evaluated with respect to one or more criteria. For example, (off the top of my head) seafood restaurants in one's area. One might love a particular restaurant because, say, that's where one met one's significant other back in the day, or because their fish is always perfectly cooked, or because of some house specialty.

The second category is not so clear cut. Take, for example, stamp collecting. If one were to ask me what my "favorite" stamp was, I would not be able to answer unequivocally, because I have a number of favorites, for various reasons (and let's face it, the old "what would be the one stamp you'd want to have with you if you were marooned on a desert island" ploy just doesn't do it). I enjoy my Penny Black (the first stamp printed) because it represents the start of the modern postal era, with stamped mail. I enjoy this one particular pair of stamps where one is positioned upside-down with respect its neighbor (philatelists call this a tête-bêche pair) because it looks so cool. I enjoy my 50-cent Canadian "Bluenose" stamp because of its elegant design and rich color. I could go on, but it's clear I have no one "favorite" stamp.

I think the same is true for most collectors of whatever, so that unless one possesses something awesomely unique—a book collector owning a genuine Gutenburg Bible, for example—it is quite likely that different items will have different attractions, and perhaps even associated stories that endear said items to their owners.

As far as fountain pens are concerned, if I were to classify myself as a collector, I would say my "specialty" is vintage pens, mostly because there are a lot of affordable vintage pens out there (i.e., $100 or less, as opposed to forking out multiple Ben Franklins for modern collectibles). Then, too, I am fascinated by all of the various techniques that were developed over the years to get ink into the pen (from the venerable "eyedropper," where the user would literally use an eyedropper to fill the body of the pen with ink, to a mad array of hardware involving springs, rubber sacs, levers, pistons, and what have you) and from the pen to paper (e.g., various nibs).

Which is not to say I have anything against modern pens. My first "serious" fountain pen (and a strong contender for "favorite") was a Mont Blanc Meisterstück that commemorated the publication of my first book and reminded me of my favorite professor during my college years (he owned one and marked papers with it). However, I feel it's too ostentatious for daily use, which cools my desire to use it all the time.

Another modern favorite is a gold-plated Mont Blanc that writes like a dream, which I picked up at an outdoor flea market in Switzerland, at a price that was described to me by a fountain pen expert as "the steal of the century." It, too, is a little too fancy to carry around on a day-to-day basis, but I do like to take it out, from time to time, and write in a journal.

Among vintage pens, my favorites are a Conklin "crescent filler" from the early part of the 20th century, an Eversharp (whose model name escapes me, but whose sac I repaired myself), and a Parker 51. I also own a Waterman 12, which has a very flexible nib that would be ideal for performing the kind of penmanship that was taught in school to my mother's generation.

Among modern pens, I really love my Pilot "Vanishing Point" pen, the operation of which resembles that of a ballpoint, i.e., depress the plunger to expose the nib; depress it again to hide the nib, as well my Kaweco AC Sport, which has an aluminum body and is very compact. My current "everyday carry" is a TWSBI Vac Mini, which features a stub nib (which allows easy imitation of calligraphic writing) and is solidly built with a large reservoir.

So I guess the answer to the question is no, I do not have one favorite fountain pen. I have several, for the reasons stated.

Cheers...