Copper Tea Kettle

This morning I came across this fantastic copper tea kettle. I wonder how much it weighs when it's full....

Conklin Fountain Pens

Wow: I really love the old-timey design of the Conklin pen website. Apparently, Mark Twain -- one of my favorite writers -- used a Conklin crescent filler, a pen with (I think) an internal inflatable bladder. When a writer depresses the button on the barrel, the air in the bladder shoots out, creating a vacuum. Then, ink can be siphoned into the pen. Nice.

[Image is from the Conklin website.]

Waterman Fountain Pen and Amazing Handwriting

The blogger Leigh Reyes recently featured an older Waterman fountain pen equipped with a music nib. Seeing beautiful calligraphy like this makes me want to learn more how to get more out of my fountain pens. I might have to invest in a pen with a more flexible nib, though. Namiki Falcon, anyone?

Anger and Patience

From the Daily Dharma website:

"As a destructive force there is nothing as strong as anger. An instant of anger can destroy all the positive action accumulated over thousands of kalpas through generosity, making offerings to the buddhas, keeping discipline, and so on. So we can say that there is no fault as serious as anger.

Patience, on the other hand, as a discipline which neutralizes anger, which prevents us from succumbing to it, and which appeases the suffering we endure from the heat of the negative emotions, is quite unrivaled. It is therefore of the utmost importance that we resolve to practice patience, and a lot of inspiration can be gained by reflecting on what is wrong with anger and on the advantages of patience."

Wise words.

Long Live Ray Harryhausen!

I absolutely love stop-motion animation. Something about it conveys an otherworldliness that CGI can't match.

Origami Yoda

I've never been especially interested in origami, but now that I have watched some of this tutorial, I may take it up.

I'm also curious about how Fumiaki Kawahata came up with this design. In fact, how does anyone invent a new origami in the first place? I am baffled.

Black Ink

Today, my girlfriend and I spent the afternoon in Black Ink, a store in the Beacon Hill region of Boston filled with miscellany (my favorite) and knick-knacks. From graphite pencils to ceramic tea cups to giant metal paper clips, Black Ink was stocked with a bewildering array of items that took about an hour to sift though. My person favorite was a giant glass jar filled with featureless cotton bags with drawstrings, ready to accept stamps, or pennies, or what have you. I love looking through stores like this.

[Photo taken from the Black Ink website]