Some opinions

They say idle hands are the devil's playground.  This is what happens when you stare at a computer screen with nothing pressing to do.........

Just started thinking... 

Yeah, got a little carried away with the "no button" thing...

You're getting the idea, right?

OK, grand finale with overkill.  Ducking for cover now...

Just Noting

I usually find Fall to be my favorite season of the year.  If only for the fact that it's cool.  (I really don't like hot weather.)

Usually, I'm rather relaxed in October.  I'm a Halloween fan, though in a non-participatory way.  It's a fun holiday.

However, this year seems to be a bit more introspective.  Not sure why.  I've found the general feeling a bit "heavier", if you'll pardon the word choice.  If you can believe it, I found myself briefly browsing through philosophy texts the other day.  (Georg Lukacs, anyone?  Michel Foucault?  Antonio Gramsci, maybe?)

Maybe it's the political nonsense that's running rampant now.  Or maybe it's work, or the lack thereof... I really don't know...

I was trying to go light this evening, re-reading Lynn H. Nicholas's excellent The Rape of Europa just to get my mind off and away.  (An excellent book, by the way.  Highly recommended.)

On that proverbial other day, I actually started to read Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery.  I had truly hoped it would look back to Foucault's Pendulum.  Alas, in the few pages I waded through, it doesn't.  It certainly isn't a book to lighten the mood.

Oh well...

The mood, the feeling, is heavy this day.  And I can't figure out why....

Digital Ghosts

And, yeah, I did copy it over to Nisus Writer.......

Rattling Nostalgia

Following up on the pens

And, just a few days later, all the new toys are in my hands...

I had gotten 'round to writing with the MB George Solti.  It has a wonderfully smooth medium nib that simply glides across even the roughest paper.  I filled it with Diamine Sapphire ink (thing a very purplish blue), and writes great.  People will say what they will, but Montblanc makes a good pen.

The Parker Vermeil 75, S.T. Dupont Orpheo, and Visconti Divine Proportion bp all arrived today.  Due to work, I didn't get to them till this evening...

The Vermeil 75 is indeed a handsome pen, though that's true of the entire Parker 75 line.  I haven't yet filled the pen, as I'm not sure I want to go carrying it around just yet.  Might set it aside for a bit, maybe put it to use around the holidays.  (I'm still using my "old standard" 75, which is a standard sterling silver ciselé model.)

However, I did fill the BIG S.T. Dupont Orpheo fountain pen.  It is a large pen, heavy, as the barrel is black lacquer over brass.  However, when the heavy chromed cap is posted on the back of the pen, it's exceptionally well-balanced.  Dupont nibs then to be some of the most graceful looking on any pen.  This was is a 18 kt gold medium nib, though this medium is a good bit finer than the MB mediums.  The pen has a very classy, in someway futuristic look.

And the Visconti ballpen...  It's very handsome.  And far better balanced than I expected.  I like the twist mechanism, which is quite solid.  And I do like the system where the spiral silver strips on the barrel are aligned only when the pen is retracted.  You can glance at the pen, and know it's safe to stick in your shirt pocket, without worrying that the pen will be open, and thus leak in your pocket.  (As a side note, the pen came with a gel refill, which writes very smoothly, but which would be dangerous to stick in your pocket open.)  Like the bulk of international ballpens, this one takes a Parker-style refill.

And, yes, I do know that I put way too much attention to what I'm writing with.  Most people are more than happy with a 29¢ BIC Cristal.  But, hey, you have to obsess about something...

Desktops

It seems to be popular to talk about the "computers I use" around the 'Net.  There are tons of videos on YouTube showing home offices, gaming setups, workstations, etc.  So, I thought I'd get in on the game.  Though a bit off-key-ish...

Since I tend to be out on the road, I normally work on various laptops.  But, occasionally, when I'm home, I'll fire up one of my desktop computers and do some work.  So...

Here's a shot of my two desktops:

My Two Desktops

The computer I normally use when sitting at my desk is that little silver box sitting under the monitor.  An Apple Mac Mini.  This one's an old G4 model, running OS X 10.5 Leopard.  It's got a gig of memory and an 80 GB hard drive.  I've added a 320 GB FireWire drive (which is hidden behind the monitor).  The screen is an old Acer from a past (gasp!) Windows system.  As are the two speakers peaking over top of the monitor.  The keyboard is an original, "tangarine" iMac keyboard.  And, yes, the mouse is actually an old "tangarine" puck mouse.

I had this system checked out, then set up by the folks of Operator Headgap.  Fine folks, who returned it to me, as they put it, "nicely configured."  (And the big disclaimer:  I'm not affiliated with Headgap, save as a satisfied customer.)

You might notice that other system to the left of the screen.  That's my Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (or TAM).  The previous owner vastly upgraded it, installed 128 MB of memory, a 20 GB hard drive, and OS 9.1.  And, yes, I do use it.  And, yes, I do go online with it, via ethernet.  Not bad for a 15 year old system.

(As a sidenote, the TAM came to me with a copy of Microsoft Office 97 installed.  I was very happy to accidentally discover that Word 97 was blessed with a copy of the Shankar's Virus, a Word macro virus.   Needless to say, Office strangely disappeared from the system, to be replaced with WordPerfect 3.5e and Appleworks 6.  Better software to begin with.)

All the stuff stacked up on around and on the computers is part of my little Mac collector's stash.  On the keyboard of the TAM is an "Independence Day" Powerbook advertising pin, and an old copy the Apple Systems catalog on disk.  The stack of booklets are bunch of "AppleFacts" information booklets that were distributed to dealers.  These run from 1994 to 1999, and make some interesting reading for have-a-life-deprived people like me.

And, just to be completist, the other side of the desk:

The Other Side

There you go, a really nice view of that puck mouse, and of the Toshiba USB hard drive, along with the powered USB hub, on top of the Mini.  And, back in behind, almost buried under power cords and Post-It notes, is a couple of vintage Mac PowerBooks, a 180 on top, and a 520c below.

And, yes, that is a yellow Dalek keeping an eye on everything...  (For the "2001" fans out there, I missed the miniature black monolith sitting on the other side of the TAM...)

When You've Done Something Really Dumb...

Yes, I tend to do really dumb things...

When I get in a certain "mood," I have a very bad tendency to go looking for new "toys."  Sadly, my toys tend to be on the more expensive than Toys-R-Us type stuff...

I've been in a certain mood.

So, I now have some new toys on the way...

Montblanc Sir George Solti

Actually, one is already here.

I have been known to have a weak spot for Montblanc pens, particularly those that echo the style of the 1930s and 40s.  This is one of the "Donation Pen" limited edition series that Montblanc produces, dedicated to figures of cultural significance.  While I'm not a particular fan of Solti (he was an excellent conductor, mind you), I loved the design of the pen, and have wanted one for some time.   And, so, the chance eventually arose...

I haven't had a chance to fill or write with this, but it is a magnificent pen.  MB does not make shoddy products.

Now, for the ones that haven't arrived yet...

Vermeil Parker 75

 The Parker 75 holds an oddly sentimental significance to me.  The model was first released in 1964, only a few years before I was born.  It's the closest thing I have to a "birth year" pen.  And it is generally held to be the last of the truly "classic" fountain pens, all the while being a sort of transitional model over to the modern "cartridge/converter" pens of today.

The standard model 75 is a sterling silver pen with an engraved, crosshatch pattern known as ciselé.  They were expensive pens in their day, but designed to be perfect day-to-day working writers.  The early, American-made models are highly prized.  I have one that I use quite often, and it is sublime.

This particular pen is in vermeil, which is gold over sterling silver.  It's one of the rarer finishes for the 75 and, yeah, I've always wanted one.  (Look at this ad to get an idea why.)   And, if you wait long enough...

Well, I've waited literally years to run across one, so...



And the oddballs...

S.T. Dupont (Large) Orpheo

I've had a couple S.T. Dupont pens, a mid-size Orpheo and another model, the name of which escapes me.  They're great pens.  I actually took a liking to Dupont's after they released a "James Bond" commemorative model.  Those pen were pretty cool, though I never really wanted one.  (They were designed to only use small international ink cartridges, because they had the gimmick of having a detachable laser pointer built into the barrel.)  I took a liking to the design of the Orpheo, which was Dupont's flagship pen.  (I think they changed the name of the pen, from Orpheo to "Olympeo", though I may be completely wrong on that...)

S.T. Dupont pens are usually VERY expensive, but I found this particular one used, without a box, from one of the more reputable dealers.  (I add that last part, as there has recently been an influx of counterfeit Dupont pens, particularly on eBay.)

Visconti Divine Proportion Ballpoint

This one is the odd pen out, as it's (yes) a ballpoint.  However, this is sort of the pen case of "beggars can't be choosers..."

A few years back, the Italian pen company Visconti put out a limited-edition pen called the "Divina Proporzione", or "Divine Proportion" pen.  The pen was supposed to be made according to the "Golden Ratio" of 1.618.  (Remember, this was after The Da Vinci Code, with its dredging up of every obscure reference possible.)

Here's an article on the Divina Proporzione fountain pen.

Of course, given my love of anything even vaguely arcane, I took a shine to this pen.  But it was a limited edition, and the price was astronomical.  Luckily for me, Visconti decided they liked this pen, too, and began making variations.  The "non-limited edition" versions were simply called the "Divina" models, and I picked up a couple of these at reduced prices.  (One was a custom made version for one of the more prominent dealers in Italian pens, the other a special edition version which Visconti made for the 2009 G8 Summit.)  However...

Again, I played a waiting game, and eventually tripped across this ballpoint version of the pen, with the original box, for sale by the same dealer who was selling the Orpheo pen above.  While I'm not cracked on the ballpoint, it's sort of like the Montegrappa Gea pen I talked about in an earlier article.  This is as close as I'm going to (economically) get to this model pen...

So, I did something dumb.  I ordered a bunch of pens.  I really don't need them.  But I really wanted them.  For a long time, I've wanted them.

Not sure if that justifies the dumbness, but...  Not even sure if it cures the "mood" or not...

I have new toys.  Guess I should go play.......