I have had a
long-standing fascination with the fountain pen. When I first began to experience those teasing thoughts
about art replacing medicine a Parker 45 pen was my constant companion, plying its
trade in both my sketchbook and my journal. Over the years I have acquired a modest collection of pens;
with the exception of those gifted to me by my dear wife, each of my pens have
cost less then $100.00. I say this
because serious collectors will pay thousands of dollars for a pen. Currently I have about two-dozen
working fountain pens.
 |
| Parker 45 |
I recently logged on to
eBay to see what was available under “writing instruments”, and was amazed at
the selection of pens available.
What really caught my eye was a fountain pen from China for $8.00 with
no shipping charges. My experience
with pens has taught me that an $8.00 pen will probably provide $8.00 worth of
performance, but I was intrigued, and was willing to pay $8.00 to satisfy my
curiosity. I placed the order (it
was a “Buy It Now” offer) and about a week later my Hero arrived, Hero being
the name of the pen.
 |
| Hero |
It was small, very
light, and had a fine nib that produced an even, crisp line. I was surprised and delighted with my
$8.00 treasure. But the joy was
short lived; about 2 weeks later I dropped the pen and damaged the nib beyond
repair. To ease my grief I
returned to eBay and ordered another pen from China, this one for $12.00, with
no shipping costs. And once again
I was the owner of a wonderful writing instrument with the brand name, Hu.
 |
| Mr. Hu |
You can probably guess
what comes next. I’m back on eBay
looking to make another China connection, and feeling a little flushed, I spend
$39.00 for a very elegant looking Janhaio that writes like a jewel.
 |
| Janhaio |
I am now thinking very
highly of myself, and am allowed to do so for a few weeks before the fountain
pen gods intervene to take me down a few pegs. Writing in my journal with my new best pen, the dreaded fear
of all who write with fountain pens, especially pens under $100.00, becomes a
reality as the Janhaio suddenly deposits a blob of ink on the paper. I quickly continue writing on a piece
of test paper and find that the ink leak occurs only after I’ve bee writing for
several minutes, and then it writes normally until it happens again. And thus we arrive at the title of this
narrative.
Being a tiger, I am, at
times, fearless and willing to face certain risks to pursue the work I am
called to do on my own terms.
I have chosen to use the Janhaio in my journal, judging the safe time I
have, and stopping before the leak occurs. This challenge adds an entirely new dimension to journal
writing.
