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double graphite latte - for those of us who inadvertently mix business with pleasure

Rating: 5.0 April 10, 2010 Iroshizuku Yama-budo (wild mountain grapes) is a vibrant purple ink the color of fresh grape juice that’s been spilled across a glazed, porcelain countertop. It is brighter and juicier than J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune, which, itself, can be favorably compared to a red wine stain. Like many other Iroshizuku inks, it is quite highly saturated – to the point that it tends to temporarily stain the ebonite feed on fountain pens.

The 9th Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper is being hosted by Nifty at Notebook Stories. My J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune review is featured in the ink section. If you’re into pens, pencils, paper, or ink, be sure to stop by and take a look.

Hot dogs cause gas yet I will still eat every bite - They are delicious

The above is a kusudama folded from 30 squares of paper. Each square of paper is folded into a modular unit, and then the units are assembled without any adhesives or other external connections - they are simply slotted into each other. This model took approximately four hours to fold and assemble. The folding of the modular units in progress. This is about 1 hour into the process. The fully folded modular units.

If I had a dog named Goliath There’s nothing that we wouldn’t do We’d spend every day together and play Together forever, we two We’d climb to the top of a mountain And swim to the floor of the sea We’d sail away for a year and a day Together, Goliath and me If I had a dog named Goliath There’s nowhere that we wouldn’t go We’d fly to the moon in a big red balloon

Rating: 4.0 March 28, 2010 Noodler’s Navajo Turquoise is a beautiful, medium-tone blue with a hint of green – very close to cyan, but just a bit darker. It is highly saturated, and I recommend shaking the bottle before using to make sure that the dye has not settled out. It exhibits a nice degree of shading in wide nibs, but is fairly consistent in fine nibs. While this ink is pretty on white paper, its true beauty comes out on cream-colored paper, where its green tones come to the surface – creating a beautiful jewel-like color.

Recently, I’ve received many compliments regarding my calligraphy, which I consider to be both flattering and encouraging, as I’m relatively new to the art. However, many of those who have offered compliments have lamented their own lack of ability in calligraphy. Since this is precisely the position I was in last year, I’d like to offer the lessons I’ve learned to try and help others. By no means am I an expert – I’ve only been practicing on and off for about a year and my knowledge is still limited.

Beware the dreaded walrus-bee The buzzing terror of the sea Whose sting is bigger than his tusks And who hunts along the beach at dusk

In Shangri-la, the snails fly Each afternoon they fill the sky With snail clouds - the squishy kind That no one ever seems to mind Since snails bring the best of luck Not rain or other awful muck So give a snail a friendly hug Since they’re the nicest kind of bug