aliencam dot net blog.

My favorite pen right now is my Lamy Vista. This is a fountain pen, and I use a fountain pen for many reasons. First of all, fountain pens force you to either write more slowly, or write more precisely, and think about what you are about to put down (once you write anything with a pen it is clearly visible, there is no wondering if that is simply a copy-machine mark or otherwise.) The pen also writes much more smoothly than a ballpoint or other pens. I also love being able to mix my own ink and do things like take apart the pen. It also is a great conversation starter (even if you don’t want it to be…) Overall, fountain pens are a much better way to write, and are much more classy than pulling out a BIC Ballpoint with the end chewed off.

The Lamy Vista is a clear version of the Lamy Safari. These are very popular because of their ABS plastic construction, ink level viewing window, bright colours, and low cost. I got mine for $18 at http://isellpens.com (amazing service, and right in my backyard so I got my package the next day!) , but you can find them for normally $27 in many art or pen stores (don’t even bother trying Staples or Office Max.) My pen uses a converter instead of ink cartridges, so that I can mix my own ink and refill it instead of having to buy replacement ink cartridges all the time.

The first step in cleaning it is to make sure you have used all (or as much as you can) of the ink that is already in the pen. If you don’t do this it’s not that big of a deal, but it is a little more messy. Once you do this, fill a bucket or sink with water, remove the cap, and unscrew the back portion. If you have a non-refillable cartridge, then remove that as well (over the bucket of water please.) If you have the screw-type converter it is better to leave it on.

Then submerge the entire pen in the water and screw the converter plunger down and then all the way Do this until the water coming out of the pen nib is clean. This does take a long time, and is probably the most important part of cleaning it. You may have to change out the water in the sink a couple of times as well as all of the water gets dyed by the ink.

After this, remove the converter from the back of the pen and blow out as much extra water as you can. (Please do not spit into your pen; that’s gross.) If anyone can think of a better way to do this please contact me. I can’t really attach a can of compressed air to the back of the pen.

Then remove the nib. The easiest way I have found to do this (I don’t remember where i read this first) is to use a piece of tape about 3 cm (1.3 inches?) long and wrap that around the metal part of the nib (see picture) and pull forward lightly (do not pull downward or you could break the nib off.)
Then remove the tape. I always clean the inside of the nib with a q-tip and some 99% Isopropyl alcohol, but some would call me a clean freak. At this point you should take a moment to hold the nib up to the light and notice the many similarities between the shape of the nib and an energy sword in the Halo video games.

This is as far apart as the Lamy Vista/Safari comes. I know it’s not very much, but it is better than those one piece ballpoints.

After cleaning the pen, you need to fill it up with nice new ink. There are two ways to do this, the “clean” way is to dip only the tip of the converter in the ink and fill up only the converter, then clean the bottom, put it back on your pen, and twist it a few times to get the ink into your pen. However, the old school way to do it is to put it back together and dip the whole nib section into the ink, then draw the ink up into the pen.

I would suggest the second method (putting it back together first) because of a few advantages. First, you get more ink in the pen, which means refilling it less often. Secondly, you can draw the ink into the pen, then push it back out, making sure that the “collector” (the black ribs inside) are clean and free of water.

Then just wipe off the nib and handle with a lint-free paper towel, put the lid back on your ink, and put your pen back together. (Warning, this wiping off excess ink part can be messy, have a few paper towels handy.)

The Pen is a Lamy Vista lamy.com
purchased at isellpens.com
The jar I use for ink is a Nalgene 1 oz Translucent jar (it says not recommended for liquids, but it does not leak) http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=971

-aliencam

so if you remember yesterday, my desk was a total mess. well, now it’s clean. W00t! here is a picture of my now clean desk.

so w00t isn’t that nice? next project will be those shelves to the right of my desk. they need to be cleaned out as well… and i need to find a better place for that trash can. aaanyway lol. i decided to try something new to keep my desk clean. For a little background information, there is an exorbitant amount of dust and dirt in the air. that is why i have my air conditioning vent and my door holes (don’t ask… both will be photochronicled in a “unsanitary conditions” post in the future) covered with 6 layers of dryer sheets (what, i didn’t have a spare HEPA filter lying around). AND I have an ionic pro air cleaner thing (i have to clean the plates once a week). and I vacuum once a week, and i recently steamed/shampooed the carpets (i’m not done with that. see unsanitary conditions post in the future). well anyway, i’m sick of this dust getting on everything i own. so since I don’t have pledge or anything fancy like that, i’ve been living with this weird layer of sticky dust. the dust doesn’t come off if you blow on it or put papers on it like normal dust, it kind of “sticks” to the surfaces. Maybe that’s because i clean them with alcohol-based cleaning wipes or something, but i make sure to dry it so no dust sticks when it’s wet, and the surfaces are not sticky when clean. but just the dust is. weird. so on with my idea: i took a paper towel and some “Static Guard” (the stuff for spraying on clothes and carpet and such) and sprayed the static guard on the paper towel and wiped it on everything so far i don’t see any dust, but that’s probably because it’s so soon after i did the cleaning. we’ll see tomorrow (yes, the dust builds up in one day).

so walking out of MSE class today, i was encountered with this written on a piece of drywall propped on a wall:
“Drywall
+ Soy Milk
+Heat
->
TOFU”

here is a picture to prove it:

anyway, i don’t know what that means, i just thought it to be interesting.

I added some links to my blogroll. and found an awesome easy method of adding stuff to blogroll and posting (wordpress is awesome)

the weather now is awesome. it is 13*C right now (at 12:58 AM) which is freezing, but during the day it’s a nice 19-23*C. if only it were this temperature year round. (well a little warmer i wouldn’t mind, i like hotter temperatures) but yeah i love the weather right now.

challenge: press the spacebar with your other thumb.

regarding the weather, my phone actually takes really nice pictures once they are enhanced for brightness using the “enhance” button in gthumb. here are some pictures i was going to post awhile ago when it was raining. these are all from the window inside my room. :

that’s all for now, i really need to go to bed now. exam tomorrow, and i have early classes. and i’m tired. night everyone.

shirt of the day: “hello my name is ingo montoya. you killed my father. prepare to die”

www.luckythreadz.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=280&name=Inigo-Montoya

“How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”
-Ronald Reagan

-aliencam