So the blog code is updated. It’s messy, it’s not compatable with all browsers (eg: lynx), but blog comments work, and they’re pretty nifty :P I’m moderately happy with it anyway. Next stop, XML + XSLT. Maybe as part of the CMS that I want to put together.
There was actually a purpose to doing the blog comment system, which I’ll actually get around to bloggin’ about one day. Not today though. Using the javascript, the funky XMLHttpRequest thingo, and playing with the DOM tree directly was an interesting excercise. I’m sure that I could go back and rewrite that code to make it look nicer (there’s a *lot* of room for improvement), but I think I’ve learnt what I set out to learn.
recently started playing with some old fountain pens, which got me interested in resurecting mine. My dad has given me a couple of good pens over the years which I’m quite fond of, however either they’re too good, or too inconvenient to use.
rOtring 600 Series fountain pen, however mine seems to have a different cap. Apparently it’s an older discontinued model, however I can’t find any pictures of it. Dad had the black version of this pen, and I liked it so much that he bought me my own. Unfortunately some bastard in Egypt stole his off him, so he had to go buy another for himself. I really like the pen, and I think the silver is better than the black. It’s sturdy and hefty - got a good weight to it. The reason I didn’t use it was that it came only with replaceable cartridges - and getting replacements is (was) way too much effort for me :P It turns out that you can actually buy convertors so you can use pump cartridges (of various descriptions) which actually makes it convenient again. Especially since I have this full bottle of ink here that needs to be used up.
The cap can be stuck on the end of the pen when in use. I tend not to do so because I find that it makes the back end too heavy, and it results in smaller writing that doesn’t show any benefit from using a fountain pen. With the cap off, though, it’s nicely balanced in the middle of the pen (in your hand), which results in a nice neat script, with reasonably sized letters.
I can’t actually properly identify this pen. The closest I can get is that it’s a Generation de Montblanc as pictured above. The problem is, as far as I can tell they didn’t make that pen in black, but their online catalogue seems suspiciously incomplete so I can’t verify this for sure. and I are heading into a pen shop tomorrow and we’ll ask them what they think. I suspect that it might end up being a fake after all, but I’m hoping that it’s not.
Either way, it leaks. You have to store it upright to stop this. This is fairly common, but from what I read this shouldn’t be the case from Mont Blanc pens, especially since I don’t think I’ve mistreated it. The pen itself is very light, and flows easilly across the page, and lends the script a slight slant. It’s great for those people that seem to want to write on the side, because you can do a very nice script without any effort :P It’s an okay pen to write with, but because of it’s apparent expense and fragility (resin scars easilly), and that it leaks a little, you wouldn’t want to carry it around with you. Shame really, because it’s a nice pen to look at :P
