While other posts are still work-in-progress, I thought I would mention
some excellent pen resources that I refer quite regularly.
You may have noticed the links on the right side of the post that take
you to some pen sites and blogs. Here are some which are absolutely fantastic
if, like me, you like fountain pens.
General Site:
Fountain Pen Network
By far, the best forum/site for FP knowledge. Do become a member (if
you are not already) – it’s free. The forum topics are pretty well organized
and I have generally found people on the forum to be extremely helpful,
knowledgeable and quite disciplined. I have not really seen the kind of nasty
or personal attacks that I have seen on other such sites. Well moderated and
almost everybody contributes seriously. Use the “First Stop - Frequently
Discussed Topics” section to start if you are a newbie or go directly to the
“View New Content” link on the top right to jump right in and read. You may be
surprised to see how many others have the same or similar thoughts, concerns,
issues, likes and dislikes as you do…
I became a member and lurked for a long time before jumping in and
posting. But, when I started, I was received very warmly and got very sound
advice in response to my questions.
Some other sites/blogs give a ton of information and I would especially
recommend the following:
Brian’s Ink Nouveau videos are available on his YouTube channel (
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPdFDFTd6P1a__tAr8CrpCQ)
and you can also subscribe to his
Ink Nouveau Podcast to download and
watch videos off-line. Travel was a real PITA till I started downloading and
watching these podcast videos off-line…
Do visit the
Swab Shop,
Nib Nook,
Pen
Plaza and
Fountain of Knowledge links on the
www.gouletpens.com site. Very useful.
I should mention that in addition to his evangelism of fountain pens
and related stuff, Brian also retails them.
Do visit this site for the Awesome Reviews, Hands-on Reviews, Inkcyclopedia
and Forum
links.
Oh yes, the Geeks are:
Managing Editor, co-founder: Daniel
Smith
Co-founder: Eric Schneider
Ink Reviews Editor: Stephen
BRE Brown
News & Reviews Writer: Azizah
Asgarali
Cartoonist Laureate: Tim
Hofmann
The YouTube Channel of
Stephen
BRE Brown – one of the geeks mentioned above – (
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeWDDbfQxKv0Cgq_UNpwYpA)
is my go to resource to check out pen and ink reviews. In fact, I make it a
point to watch his videos before I spend on pens or inks and his reviews are rock
solid.
Azizah Asgarali –
another of the Geeks mentioned above blogs at
www.gourmetpens.com and that is another
site I check out quite often.
And there are a lot of other blogs I keep reading off and on. This is
by no means an exhaustive list, nor is it a complete one. These are just some
sites I naturally gravitate to when I open my browser.
Also, in alphabetical order, here is the list of links that appears on
my Feedly (RSS) page and in my desktop RSS reader.