Misfill, 500 Pens Edition

Each week in Refill, the Pen Addict Members newsletter, I publish Ink Links as part of the additional content you receive for being a member. And each week, after 10 to 15 links, plus my added commentary on each, I'm left with many great items I want to share. Enter Misfill. Here are this weeks links:

Read:

— “Be Here Now”—A Commencement Speech Featuring 500 Pens (From the Pen Cup)

— Keith Haring’s Ordinary, Extraordinary To-Do Lists (Curbed)

— Los Campesinos!’ 20-year archive of silly band T-shirt designs is a sweaty journey through indie rock aesthetics (It’s Nice That)

— End of an Era: Iconic Shibuya Hands to Close After 48 Years (Spoon & Tamago)

— Japan Trip Journal: A Visit to Kakimori, Including Custom Notebooks and the InkStand! (The Gentleman Stationer)

— Paper Review: UglyPads (Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)

— Pen Porn: Den’s Pens Baetylus “Twister” (Rachel’s Reflections)

— Baran's Pens Sleeve (UK Fountain Pens)

— Read on Expiration? (Dime Novel Raven)

— Make all your pens glow in the dark with one neat trick (Extra Fine Writing)

— Retro writing 17 – reMarkable 2 (Mateusz Urbanowicz)

— New New Pen: Black Robin Pens Puck in Copper Collision (Cheryl Lindo Jones)

— From My Submarine Yellow Notebook (Take Note)

— Inky Pursuits: May 2026. (Fountain pen blog)

— Grand Sumo May 2026 Tournament day 1 to 3 (Inkcredible Colours)

— Plotter: getting to where I ordered one (Stationery🍕)

— Logical Prime A6 Slim 2.5mm Grid Notebook (Notebook Stories)

Watch:

— journaling essentials ⊹ a beginner's guide (nookends)

— Michael Schur & Joe Posnanski - Big Fan! (Figboot on Pens)

— I Bought Every Blackwing Pencil So You Don't Have To (DWRDNET)

— I guess I should show you one of my favorite inks... : Sailor Manyo Shirakashi! (Inkdependence)

— Testing Tom’s Studio ORI Refillable Highlighters (From Carola)

Want to catch the rest, plus extra articles, reviews, commentary, discounts, and more? Try out a Pen Addict Membership for only $5 per month!

9 Years in the Rabbit Hole

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I noticed this week that my penversary was coming up this weekend! What’s a penversary you ask? Basically, it’s like an anniversary but for when you got into pens. I used to agonize over what I would pick for this occasion but with all the shops and shows that I get to attend as well as all the ongoing sales and deals, I’m practically shopping year-round anyway. So rather than figuring out the 9th penversary pen, I wanted go back to where it started.

So, what were those first fountain pens? Yes, plural, because I couldn’t decide which ones to get, so I ordered a Lamy Safari and Pilot Metropolitan from one vendor and a 7-pack of Platinum Preppies from Amazon ‘cuz I couldn’t pick a color, lol. They all arrived on the same day, May 31, 2017! Oof, that sounds like a long time ago! I did my last triathlon earlier that month and haven’t done one since – coincidence? I think not! 😃

The OG pens that started all this madness: Lamy Safari (top), Pilot Metropolitan and (one of seven) Platinum Preppies.

I will always think fondly of these 3 pens, even if I don’t use them as much as others. I keep saying I should ink these pens up again, so no time like the present!

Even though I really like the Lamy Blue cartridges that come with my Lamy pens, I opted to go for something with a bit more pop for this Blue Safari. One of my favorite bright royal blues is Diamine 150th Anniversary Blue Velvet. I can’t think of a more perfect ink for a penversary inking! (It’s not as bright as usual since the Safari tends to run a bit on the dry side.) Paper is Ayush.

Lamy Safari, Blue, Medium, inked with Diamine 150th Anniversary Blue Velvet.

While I was at it, I decided to ink up a nicer Lamy, the Studio in Palladium, with a fine 14kt gold nib. While this wasn’t my first Studio (which was the Imperial Blue with a steel nib), the 14kt gold nib is such a great upgrade from the steel nibs and feels nothing like the L2K’s gold nib. This nib is a smooth, wet, and buttery writer with just a hint of bounce and will lay down a broader line than the steel nibs.

Lamy Studio, Palladium, 14kt gold Fine, inked with Colorverse Chesapeake Bay.

I’ve mentioned that I use my Black Pilot Metropolitan almost daily in my bullet journal but it’s been a really long time since I inked up the Turquoise Metro, so I had fun picking an ink for it. I opted for Montegrappa Turquoise, which sounds very bougie but it wasn’t very expensive (I think it was $20/bottle).

Pilot Metropolitan, Retro Pop Turquoise, Medium, inked with Montegrappa Turquoise.

While I was getting the Metro out of the pen binder, I realized I also hadn’t inked up my first Prera in ages, so I swapped in a ==CM== nib (Calligraphy Medium, more of an italic than a stub) and found a great ink match with Inkdepence Mike’s Don’t Trust a Bivalve!

Pilot Prera, Slate Gray, Calligraphy Medium, inked with Inkdependence Don’t Trust a Bivalve (a great match, if I do say so myself!)

I have sold most of the Preppies from the original 7-pen set, but I did keep this one cuz it’s purple (one of my favorite colors)! Apparently, it’s been sitting in my drawer, with the Platinum Violet ink cartridge in it for YEARS because I totally forgot about it. Oops! I added a drop of water to the tip of the nib and it wrote right up! Guess I don’t have to ink it up since there’s already a cartridge in it!

Platinum Preppy, Violet, 03 (EF), inked with Platinum Violet cartridge.

I was in the mood to ink up another Platinum so I picked the Kanazawa Maki-e Goldfish. I was/am unlikely to ever own a real maki-e pen, this is the closest I would ever get. The artwork is screen-printed (instead of hand-painted) onto the pen, which is why it’s much more affordable. The 18kt gold nib is lovely to write with, slightly springy compared to its 3776 sibling.

Platinum Kanazawa Maki-e Goldfish, 18kt gold Medium, inked with Iroshizuku Kosumosu.

Inking up these pens that got me into this rabbit hole has given me a renewed sense of discovery. It’s a great reminder that pens don’t have to be expensive to be enjoyable. Of course, this doesn’t mean I’m done buying pens, but I’m so glad that I still get so much out of these pens. What a great way to celebrate my 9th penversary! Can’t wait to see what the next 9 years will bring! Happy writing!

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The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 718 - A Guy With A Typewriter Walks Into A Bar

I’m joined this week by Derek Deweese to discuss all things stationery. From his beginnings in the hobby to the quick escalation into The DWRDNET Stationery Feed podcast. We also discuss his love of typewriters and how they mix in with other analog tools, plus, have you seen his Zento Signature?

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

St Louis Pen Show: Join us June 25-28. Tickets on sale now!

Enigma Stationery: Unique items, top brands and hard-to-find imports. Get $10 off.

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