30 Apr 2020

throwback thursday: medschool notes on psychiatry

Whilst doing a massive spring clean and clear-out of my flat, I found these notes I made on a psychiatry placement. These must date back to 2015! I think the pen used was a Pilot Kakuno (fine nib of course) and Diamine Prussian Blue as the ink. The ink seems to have faded a bit (despite not being in direct sunlight) and has turned into dark grey which is quite easy on the eye! The darker blue in the latter is Diamine Denim or Blue-Black - I can't quite remember!

For those of you still holding onto your university notes, what do you do with them? There is probably little to no need for me to keep them but they do look too nice to just throw into the recycling bin!

8 Apr 2020

(can we have some) robert oster tranquility fountain pen ink

Having neglected this blog for a while (I like to think of it more as a hiatus!), there felt like no time but the present to present this ink called Tranquility by Robert Oster. I've had a sample of this for a while and what better time to crack it out then 1) during annual leave and 2) during times of chaos. 

A few weeks' ago, I was surrounded by the C-word. Work, family, friends, on Twitter - everyone was talking about it and it was everywhere. As a result, I decided to try and switch off as much as possible. We get one daily email from work about it - so that is the only thing I actively seek out to keep up to date. My mind was fast burning out and by almost burying my head in the sand, it actually helped my mental health. 

For those of you who know me well, a few of the ways I use to switch off is through fountain pens, paper (through journaling and books) and sport. And today's post is about a fountain pen ink!

At work, I usually stick to a dark blue ink but I do think I could get away with inks like this one. Someone once told me that it didn't really matter what colour we used, it just had to be legible once photocopied or scanned. Not sure how true this is but I do think dark browns, dark purples and dark greens could be used with little complaint (maybe I will give this theory a go when I feel braver). 

For now, this Robert Oster ink will remain as an annual leave ink!