And I did! And I did yesterday, too. I am lucky to have two fountain pens. One is from a dear friend that came as part a fancy desk set. The other is a Levenger (not that this means anything to me) and was a gift from a congregant who was disappointed that when I became Bat Mitzvah, no one bought one for me.

Let it be known that I am left-handed. When I was a student this meant that any pen with ink that didn’t dry quickly was a pretty bad idea. I already had that embarrassing smear of pencil and pen on the left side of my hand from wrist to tip of the pinkie. Now I do much more of my writing in electronic form so the opportunity to hold a pen is something truly unique. Do you remember the last time you got a hand written note in the mail?

I just learned while writing this post that it is very easy to clean a fountain pen and immediately had to stop the twelve other things I was doing in order to change from the blue ink to a lovely olive-green in the fancier Levenger pen. Already I can tell that people will find the color of the ink a little different when I sign letters and I will definitely be using this pen a lot more.

However, does anyone know anything more about changing the nibs of a fountain pen? This information seems much more difficult to find. I have no interest in becoming a collector of fountain pens. I just think it is fun that I have the option to use them! (And no I wouldn’t use it for signing documents like ketubot or marriage licenses because I don’t know enough about the ink and whether or not it is archival and will last for a long time. Also, remember what I wrote above about smudges?)

If you have some knowledge about fountain pens and care to enlighten me as to how to change nibs, etc., please be in touch.

Write on.