it is the pen which dreams

"So often is the virgin sheet of paper more real than what one has to say, and so often one regrets having marred it."
--Harold Acton

I'm picky about my choice of writing paraphernalia, so when I saw an article on MobyLives linking to a report in The UK Telegraph, about the popularity of the classic (used throughout the centuries by artists and writers alike) Moleskine notebooks, I just had to make mention. Paper and ink, and the melding of the two, is just one of my favorite obsessions. I love new notebooks, I love the feel of a perfectly balanced pen. The correct paper and ink combination offer specific sensations. And for those of us so neurotically inclined, this can make or break a creative session. The ink must be black. The lined paper white collegiate ruled. The page must have a smooth heavy weight (though not too much cotton so as to make it soft and porous) because, the ink must not bleed. This may be accomplished in a few ways, however, the perfect duo includes the aforementioned little Italian notebooks, and the incomparable French-made S.T. Dupont Rollerball pens. Though, if their cost is too steep (and indeed their prices boggle the mind) Rotring makes a fine Rollerball, as does Sensa.