======================================================================== Nib Noise Volume 4 Number 11 ======================================================================== Welcome to Nib Noise. This newsletter is a joint effort of Richard Binder and Don Fluckinger. We hope you'll enjoy reading this month's issue. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS NEWSLETTER! For comments or questions, send email to: richard@richardspens.com Please note that subscribing and unsubscribing are handled through the new Free Email Newsletter page on my site: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=nibnoise.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** February Is for Valentines *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spice up Valentine's Day for your sweetheart! How about a brand-new mug for her (or his) coffee -- buy one featuring a favorite pen, and fill it with a spray of roses for The Day. Or write a love letter on a note card printed with the same pen image as the mug. Or maybe deck out his or her desk with a pen mouse pad. (Optical mice don't NEED mouse pads, but they love the warmth of the soft surface.) Check out all my special items at CafePress: http://www.cafepress.com/richardspens/ Oh, by the way, just in time for this issue of Nib Noise, I've created a new mug, mousepad, and note cards, featuring a burgundy Sheaffer Snorkel Sentinel. The soft red color of the water-drop background is pretty! http://www.richardspens.com/?page=wallpapers.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** "Have It Your Way" with My FP Friendly Pads *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Since I announced my new and improved fountain pen friendly pads printed with photos of vintage pens, I've received a steady stream of emails exclaiming over how good the paper is and asking for plain unprinted pads (suitable for second sheets when you write longer letters). They're here -- now you can have your pads "with or without": http://www.richardspens.com/?page=accessories/pads.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** All Right Now, Where's My Calendar? *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you're looking around wondering where's that great 2006 wall calendar you didn't buy yet, this is it. It's still not too late to order yours, but on March 1 it will be. Order now! http://www.richardspens.com/?page=accessories/calendar.htm Another by-the-way note here. I will be making wallpaper images of these calendar pages available at the beginning of the month following their appearance on the calendar. Along with the brand-new Snorkel wallpaper I announce above, I've also created a wallaper of my Taccia Doric calendar page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=wallpapers.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Make Sweet Music with Pelikan Music Nibs *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's no great secret that I've been making a few music nibs now and then. In the past I haven't offered preground Pelikan music nibs "officially," but that was then and this is now. I've just updated my custom nib listing to include a 1.1-mm music nib -- it's a nice juicy stub, really soft on all sides so you can scribble to your heart's content. It's smooth at any angle of elevation from 35 degrees all the way to 90 degrees (straight up) and beyond. It's available only in 14K gold: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=newp_pel.htm#custom ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Personalized Custom Nibs with No Waiting *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, I dip-test each new pen that you purchase at no extra charge before shipment, aligning and smoothing the nib and ensuring that it has good flow. If you order a new pen with a customized nib, I will modify the nib and ship the pen immediately instead of putting it into my regular queue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "War and the Fountain Pen" by Floyd Stuart ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Back in November we published a column by Vermonter Floyd Stuart. People enjoyed it, and this month we have another of Floyd's fascinating inter- twinings of history and real life. http://www.richardspens.com/?hist=page=ref_info/war_and_fp ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On the surface, it would seem that vintage pen collectors are shafted when no manufacturer catalog is extant for their favorite model. Yet, right under our noses is a great resource you might not have yet considered! Trace the anthropology of 20th century fountain pens through advertising pages. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=extrafine/xf0602.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Subscribe to my RSS Feed *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RSS means Really Simple Syndication. You can subscribe to my RSS feed by clicking the link on my site's main page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=main.html If you're not already hooked up to RSS and what it can do for you, take a peek at my introductory page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=rsshelp.htm ======================================================================== If you received this newsletter from Richard Binder, you are a Nib Noise subscriber. If it came from someone else, I invite you to subscribe. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit my Web site's Free Email Newsletter page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=nibnoise.htm Note: We will never sell your name or email address. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.