I'm not sure I have learned more from another blog than Bruno Taut's Cronicas Estilograficas. The items he gets his hands on - primarily vintage Japanese - and the knowledge he shares have been supremely helpful through the years. My thanks to Bruno for answering Three Questions.
1. What role do analog tools such as pens, pencils, and paper play in your day to day life?
You ask about the role of analog tools and not about what I use and how often… That is a tricky question. I do not think in terms of what is analog and what is digital when using that specific tool. In fact, thinking about this point, and checking other people’s responses, I came to realize that I do not have a clear idea anymore of what is analog and what is digital.
Yes, I use pens and papers everyday, but there is nothing special on that. I use those because I like pens, and that is all about it. I think, though, that the popularity of stationery goods might be very well related to the fact that we can bring some fun – those products — to very tedious and routine tasks.
What other analog tools do I use? A pair of loudspeakers, albeit I am enjoying silence more and more.
If speaking specifically about pens and paper, the answer is easy — I use those everyday. Most of my writing is done on paper with a fountain pen. My blog entries are first written on paper – a notebook — with a fountain pen, and only after a couple of revisions I transcribe those texts on the computer.
Now, what other analog tools do I use? Typing on the computer keyboard seems to be a digital task; writing with a pen, an analog one… What about typing on a typewriter? Oh, excuse my digression — I love to deconstruct concepts.
2. What are your favorite products you are currently using?
I enjoy a lot my coffee grinder – a Porlex with ceramic mill, but that might only show how much I love coffee. My bicycles – a Giant and Marin, both made in Taiwan - are also sources of sanity, and that despite how bicycle-unfriendly Tokyo is.
3. What post are you the most proud of on your blog?
I like the series of entries made on those Platinum pens sold overseas under other brands — Hifra, Joker, Presidente (see here, for instance,). That information was new – Platinum does not seem to know about them -, and it was also the result of the collaboration with a reader –Kostas K—I got to know solely due to my blog. So, I think we made some actual contribution to the history of fountain pens, even if very minor. Minor indeed they are as those Chronicles are far from being among the most popular ones.
