Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 7

Welcome to Inkvent Day 7! I was a little distracted this evening because after opening the box and doing the swatches, I played around a bit with one of the 2019 Inkvent inks, Holly. I was not aware of the Inkvent calendar in 2019 until we were actually in the season, but we have collected four of the special "Blue Edition" inks that came out of that calendar. Meanwhile, my husband got an order from Goulet pens that included eight free sample inks for his birthday, so he was sampling those.

Day 7 is called "Candle Light." 

Holding with the pattern, it is a standard ink.

I offered to my husband, who is opening the odd numbers, that we could switch days, but then perhaps Diamine would throw us a shimmer on the first odd numbered day I opened, and he would still end up with a standard!

Candle Light is more gold than yellow: a candle whose light truly does shine in the darkness rather than a little joyful flame, lit more for its cheer than to hold back the night.

It has, if not a sheen, a slight edge that is a deeper gold, or orangey-red.

I tried, with the paintbrush, to see if it would shade, but it seems to layer rather than shading. I am almost tempted to draw it out with water as if I were using watercolor paint rather than ink, but I don't think that would improve the effect.

I do, however, like the lighter rich yellow that I can draw forth with very little ink on a brush. That is my favorite shade of this ink.

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 6

 

Inkvent Day 3 is a bit of an enigma! The name is "Winter Spice," and it is a shimmering and sheening ink, which means that while you would be right to expect, say, brown, that is not the whole story!

It is, you see, different in different light. VERY different. And if you turn it one way...

...versus another:

It is a rich brown that sheens green with a blue shimmer, which means that sometimes, it looks quite teal. 

It makes one want to use a paintbrush to sketch spice cakes and molasses sugar cookies, though the latter have an unfortunate tendency to look like reindeer droppings and are best turned into logs. You might also be tempted to paint an old tree that has lost all of its leaves for the winter, or try your hand at a skritchy little fox.

It is not a wet ink, and would probably perform best in a broad-nibbed pen; my broad-nibbed pens for shimmer inks are TWSBI Eco. I think it would probably be very nice with a stub nib.

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 5

Inkvent Day 5 is a standard ink called "Harmony." It seems particularly well-suited to Advent!

While it starts out as a rather wet greyish-purple (that both of us managed to get on our fingers--a first for the Advent inks), it dries to what might be described as a medium-dark lavender.

It is a true standard ink, with no sheen that I can detect. It shades some, but not as much as the Ash. 

I'm not sure the pictures really capture what a nice smokey purple this is. Purple is my favorite color, and my husband remarked that if he were shopping for ink for me, he would not have picked this particular purple, since it didn't seem "purple" enough. It is, however, one I would pick for myself! 

In the meantime, I added some little brush pictures to embellish days 1 and 2:

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 4

So today is day 4, and we were able to open it earlier since neither of us is at work. Yay, Saturday! This one is called "Tempest," which suggests something bluish, and it is a shimmer ink.

It was fun to see how the glitter collected on one side of the bottle while it was in the calendar:

In fact, it turned out to be a blue-grey, befitting a tempest, though when more ink is applied, it appears almost grey-black. After the first strokes of the Pilot Parallel (which I use as a dip pen here), the color lightens considerably and more of the medium-blue color is apparent. The paintbrush is becoming my favorite tool for ink application; you can see how it, too, allows the true color.

 

The ink has a gold shimmer, which you see in the thin strokes in particular. 

Though it is not officially a sheening ink, there is a touch of red sheen with heavy application.

My Day 1 is looking a little lonely at the top... I need to go back and add some brush strokes or something!

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 3

Today's Inkvent selection was a surprise and a revelation. The unassuming name is "Ash," and it is another "standard" ink--no shimmer or sheen. And yet, though not flashy, it is far from boring.

As you can see, it lives up to its name. It is grey, with a hint of a green undertone.

What surprised me was not its color, but its behavior.

The first thing I noticed was that it stayed on the dip pen much longer than is typical. I am pretty good at getting through a word without dipping again--most of the time. But the dip pen nib held the ink for longer, and I was able at least to write "Diamine Inkvent" without dipping again. (It is my understanding that calligraphy inks are different from fountain pen inks for this reason--they hold to the nib longer.)

When I switched to the Pilot Parallel and drew the wavy line, I noticed another property of this ink: it is very "wet." I have heard the term used without quite realizing how one ink could be "wetter" than another. This one is. If I'm correct, this should mean that it works particularly well in fine and extra fine pens.

Because of its "wetness," I tried something new--a paintbush.

Looking at some of the other methods of ink swatching that people do and post across the internet, I was interested to note that pens are not always the implement of choice. This really shouldn't have surprised me, but sometimes you don't notice that you're in a box until you break out of it a bit. The first thing I thought to try were some little pine trees, since I'm not quite sure what the shape of an ash tree might be. (Do you think that the reason the grey has a little undertone of green is because of trees?) Then I tried some rather incongruent mountains. And I thought of something else: I'm not certain what medium Tolkien used for his illustrations, and I have always assumed that it was watercolor. But perhaps it was ink? It now occurs to me to wonder for the first time: what kind of pen did he use?

Teaching writing... at home

I have mixed feelings about the moments when my Ph.D. in English and experience teaching writing serve to help my children with their school work. When my son was in high school, I tried to avoid helping him with essays, believing, first, that his teachers should be giving him the tools (they weren't), and second, not wanting to just step in and tell him what to do, since I was so invested in teaching and practicing writing. The one or two times that I did step in, however, made a significant difference in his writing, including his success with college writing.

After moving online with disastrous consequences--meaning that their education was virtually nonexistent--in Spring 2020, as COVID numbers began to rise, my daughters' education took a turn I never anticipated. A friend recommended an online school with a basis in reality--it was based in the school district where she lived--that had a good reputation and was available to students across the state. We signed up, and we are in the second year of online education. (Note that I did not say "homeschooling." "Homeschooling" is not the same as online education, and though the learning takes place in the physical space of my home, it is not what I might call "home-based." This distinction feels important to me as so many parents suddenly considered themselves involuntary "homeschoolers" in 2020, completely misrepresenting the work and commitment that goes into homeschooling, as well as the freedom and joy that, for some families, result from it.) Though I am not taking the bulk of the responsibility for their education, I am much more involved in their English assignments, which, to my lasting sorrow, frustrate, vex, and otherwise slow them down. We have literally had more tears over English--my discipline!!--than any other subject. This lead, briefly, to my serious consideration of teaching certification as an option. I applied and was accepted to a post-baccalaureate program that I could even have received partial funding for because of my current employment, but for complex reasons that I'm not yet willing to broach in print, I declined admission. One major factor, however, was the time commitment of full-time teaching (I would have liked online, but most of the good jobs in schools are only available once you have "paid your dues"). I realized that I would not "be there" for my family. Or, indeed, for myself.

So often these days I find myself called on for writing assistance--or to try to alleviate the frustration caused by the pointlessness of the writing assignments, because both daughters can easily complete the assignments (when not bogged down mentally by simply not wanting to do the thing).

I find that something that's missing almost universally from essay writing assignments is a sense of PURPOSE. The purpose is too often "to get grade" or "to complete assignment." Asking a student who does not easily tolerate busy work, particularly when there is significant effort required, to write an essay "explaining why leaving a legacy is a good thing" is bound to lead to frustration. Add to this that the prompt, which has a clear argumentative or persuasive bent, explicitly states that this essay is EXPOSITORY, and you have a recipe for disaster. (HINT: Just because you're not letting them choose the side does NOT mean that it's not an argumentative prompt.) And then, to really bring it close to the 8th grader, you might mention, as the chief example of "leaving a legacy," PRESIDENTS. Surely every 8th grader can not only relate to the example of presidents, they must find presidents to be engaging and relevant. Surely! No? Hmmm. I guess, being in Texas, I'm a little glad that the assignment didn't focus on passing down land, money, property, or a business to the next generation, because I feel that prompts should strive not be economically privileged, but the legacy of presidents is not much better. So we took some time to get to the root of the problem--that you can know generally what "legacy" means without really being able to think of an example that is concrete and meaningful to you. After talking about the ways in which "legacy" might be understood ("make millions of people happy" à la Kermit the Frog, maybe? or how about that library where someone we know works? or all of those rich people who fund the Press or everyone who wants to publish a memoir?), and considering what was on the television (Pixar's Coco, which is in some ways all about legacy), and Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which she recently decided to read for the first time (along with the rest of the series) for leisure, I offered this as a purpose:

Because some people might think that "legacy" is limited to presidents or those who have influenced history, but it's more than that...

Not for nothing did I study rhetoric--and try to hammer rhetorical situation into my students. It's important to have a REASON for writing.

I emerge with two thoughts about this. First, it is gratifying to know that I have the skills and the knowledge and the tools to help my daughter with writing--and specifically, with being able to take a ludicrous prompt and make it her own (a slow process, but we're getting there). It reminds me that I am, in fact, a good writing teacher--something that it's good for me to remember, since I often feel like I have lost everything I once knew from lack of practice, or that maybe I was never very good, and perhaps even a failure. I often feel like I would be ill-equipped to step back into the classroom, even though I know that the failures are not the whole story. But to remember my strengths also emphasizes the fact that I am not teaching, and that this is a contribution that I could make, that I am unable to make. And that is rather sad. More often these days, I focus on the good--the two students whom I love, and whom I am able to influence. But it is bittersweet.

Second, I wonder often about my own purpose. I do not write as I once did--for most of my life, if I'm honest. I learned to read, and I read incessantly. I learned to write, and as soon as I had things I wanted to express, I wrote incessantly. But now, I don't. Blogging relies both on purpose and audience, and audience is tricky at best. Publishing relies on the same. Wanting to introduce an audience to important ideas about life that they have overlooked in a popular author's work is something I used to feel very strongly about. But who are these people? And what are they really interested in? And what is the point of what I have to say, anyway?

What I'm supposed to be writing is a book about marriage. And while it is an important topic, I'm not really feeling my purpose right now. But I wrote some new words yesterday, on the topic of losing the one that you love, and not wanting that person to leave. There is a reference to Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," though I am writing about Tolkien. That particular aspect of the topic feels poignant right now, when so many people have lost loved ones, and when I'm always painfully afraid to lose someone I love. But more broadly, I wonder--why should I write about marriage? and in this way? Purpose, after all, is important.

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 2

 

It's Inkvent Day 2--and a lovely ink it is, too. This one is called "Garland," and as soon as it becomes available, I would like to get a bottle. This is a shimmering and sheening ink! (And I'm kind of a sucker for these, though the standard inks have their place, too!)

As you would expect of garland, it is green and deep red. An alternate interpretation to the Christmas Garland is that it is Emerald Green, Ruby Red, and named after Judy Garland. But I expect that the first interpretation is the likely one. 

The sheen appears almost blue, particularly in the swab.

It will be interesting to see whether, in a fine- to medium nib pen, the red will dominate.

A very nice Inkvent Day 2!

I wonder what tomorrow will bring? (And when this one will be on sale!)

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 1

For Advent this year, my husband and I decided to further indulge the fountain pen habit that we... not picked up, but enhanced and refined during the pandemic. In 2019 we learned that Diamine has an Advent calendar that they call their "Inkvent" calendar. Diamine is currently my favorite brand of fountain pen ink, given the extensive and beautiful array of colors, including many with shimmering and sheening effects. As they do sell out, we purchased ours well in advance from Dromgoole's, one of our favorite merchants, and a near-local vendor that we took great pleasure in supporting through 2020. Having waited since October, it's time to work our way though the 2021 Inkvent inks! (Drumroll, please!)

Day 1: Seize the Night

The first ink did not disappoint! It is marked "standard," with neither sheen nor shimmer expected. More or less a wine-color, it trends a bit toward purple when less ink is applied. I could imagine it in the lighter shade in my Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen (medium nib). In the large swatch below, you can actually see a little bit of a greenish sheen, which was unexpected.

For testing purposes, I used

• the Pilot Parallel, 6.0 mm (which I used for the wave pattern)
• the Brause blue pumpkin calligraphy nib (a fine nib in a dip pen: kind of scritchy)
• a cotton swab

My favorite of these tools is the Pilot Parallel. I'm not committed to the calligraphy (dip pen) nib, but I'm currently too lazy to try anything else.

The paper is not technically fountain pen paper, but mixed media art paper because I wanted to keep the Inkvent Inks together, preferably on one page. Importantly, it does show sheen and shimmer, so I think it will be okay, although the texture of the paper is a bit rough. Maybe I'll rethink this a bit.

Here were the results!:

Physical Therapy Day 3

 It is not really my goal to have this blog focus exclusively on doctor visits and therapy, but that's one of the things on my mind right now!

Last Wednesday was the third day of physical therapy. You might notice that it has been two weeks since my last visit, when I was feeling a little anxious about heading back in to an open room with other patients and a few therapists walking around. Well, after posting, I reached out to my physical therapist. I told her that I wasn't terribly comfortable with the situation, and she offered a couple of solutions:

• continue weekly therapy in a private room
• discontinue therapy but take away a progressive series of exercises.

Heartened by her willingness to work with my concerns, I suggested something a little different: in-person therapy every other week, starting on the recumbent stationary bike in the open gym area (because I liked that part, and it didn't take very long), and then proceeding to the private room. She agreed! So last week was my first visit of this updated schedule.

This was a very good choice. 

After the last visit, I had a series of exercises that I was supposed to do twice daily and some that I was supposed to do every day. The reverse clamshell and pelvic tilt were twice daily; the sidelying leg raise, the L-shaped hip abduction, and the piriformis stretch were every other day. Unfortunately, I was not usually able to work in two of the twice daily routines, and some days (the days when I was trying to do THREE sequences) I wound up feeling very sore.

To address this, the therapist observed how I was doing the exercises. She noticed immediately that I was using my back to lift my leg up really high--and so not actually working the muscle that was supposed to be worked. So she told me to adjust the lower leg to stabilize my core and not lift so high. Voilà! Working the correct muscle. She also advised warming up before doing the PT exercises, not doing the abduction exercises (the "L" lift and the sidelying leg lift) on the same day, and ending with the piriformis stretch. She told me to do diaphragm/belly breathing every day as well as hip tilts in any position with core engagement.

So on a basic level, I learned that I have been doing every exercise just a little bit wrong for... oh, forever. I'm not sure exactly what this means--that I should really only do exercise while supervised? That isn't very practical. One problem does seem to be that all exercise programs assume a base level of strength. And while I was strong in some areas, I was apparently very, very weak in others. Hopefully, strengthening these key areas will allow me to do other exercise independently.

I did ask her whether I might add in some other exercise some days, like yoga. She said to look specifically for "gentle" or "restorative" practices. I might have been pushing it a little to do a "core" routine, but it was only 10 minutes long and worked on some of the weak muscles. I was excited to avoid the dreaded "hip click" in the "toe tap" leg lower and lift sequence, similar to the below:

Engaging the core--who knew? 

So now instead of trying to do three sets of exercise on one day and one the next, I have two routines that I alternate. It is working well! I was ever able to go outside and do some gardening (with a lot of bending over and squatting) on Saturday without a problem! (Unless you count that my back muscles are still sore two days later, but it's not the same. It's an area that doesn't usually cause me any problem, and, you know, it's muscle soreness. It's just different.)

Today, we resumed our morning mile walk (my husband and I, joined by daughter #1, who finds that it gives her a good start to the day). We slept in both weekend mornings.

Now, the anxiety is still present, it's just not as bad.

I didn't sleep particularly well Saturday evening because of a cough. I don't have asthma, but whatever the internet says about it, allergies regularly give me a cough. All allergy symptoms seem worse for me when ragweed is dominant, and ragweed is dominant. Strange that I didn't even have allergies until the past several years. (Did you know that this can be a little-known symptom of perimenopause? Fun fact.) So I coughed quite a bit that night. Which made me anxious. Because, you know, COVID. As I was trying to rationalize it away on Sunday, with my throat itching and screaming at me, I realized--no, I haven't been limiting myself to just a few relatively safe places, I went to physical therapy. So I worried for a bit that I would have to get a COVID test (we had required texting for work week before last). But I took Benadryl and Advil and felt better throughout the day. When symptoms returned in the evening, I took more Benadryl (a child's dose each time) and forgot all about them. I slept well with no coughing. But in the meantime, every variation from my routine that corresponds to symptoms is bound to increase my anxiety. I'm so tired of it, really.

But overall, things are improving, and the outlook is good! I'm glad I didn't take the "no visits/progressive exercise routine" option. I would probably have persisted in the errors that made me hurt more. I'm really hoping that as I get stronger, I will feel better and be able to enjoy more kinds of activities. I tried to jog last week--a mistake because I think I had something like a mild shin splint (or that kind of pain, anyway) as a result. But maybe jogging can eventually happen. Rowing is rib- rather than hip-related, but dare I hope that I could, one day use my rower? Time will tell.

Cheers!

New Post from The Reluctant Romance Reader

 

I'm picky about romance novels--but also predictable.

As I've binge-read romance novels, I've noticed certain patterns in my reading. I don't have any strict rules about what I read,** per se. But I have noticed that I am more likely to be drawn to, engaged by, and finish romance novels, not to mention emerge satisfied, if they meet certain criteria. Some of these criteria are not easy to pin down. For example, they have to be "smart." Now, what do I mean by "smart"? I haven't a clue. Not self-consciously smart. Not necessarily anything that pushes boundaries. And not really something that makes a point of challenging the norms of the times in which they were written--or at least, not in a way that is implausible. But written in a way that respects my intelligence as a reader, and written by an author who is deliberate about the craft of writing and researching (without making it sound like a research paper with smooching, because research can go too far). I have looked at lists of "smart" romance novels, and picked and chosen from among those. Not all--and not all that were recommended by writers whom I do like--appeal to me. We all have different ideas of what is "smart," I think.

Other than "smart," I have managed to pin down a few criteria....

Read more here.

Cheers!