Bloat is as real for stuff as it is for holiday stomachs. Binge and purge, catch and release, glee and guilt; we are shades of these states, most days. It takes an effort to not want, or to (more productively, for me) shape the want into something else. Given my heightened awareness of uncertainty, it …
I’ve worked with brands for 25 years. That’s 52,000 hours of figuring out how to make brands engaging, persuasive, convincing – and ultimately, worth a place in someone’s life. The new Esterbrook has caused consternation among pen people. To me, it is an emerging story of the power of a brand, even after its original owners have gone, because of the meaning it holds for the people who love it.
I am going through my pen collection with the eagerness of the several-times-successful resaccer, looking for other pens whose sacs have expired and crumbled in their barrels. I’ve had this Estie for years. The sac survived me and my predilection for poisonous ink since I purchased the pen, but all suffering must come to an …
Back in the day, you didn’t have to change your pen if you became bored with how it wrote. You just bought another nib. Vintage Esterbrook pens are affordable and easy to find, and offer new-to-vintage fountain pen collectors the joy of interchangeable nibs. (Esterbrook.net is the online destination for Estie information, pictures and more.) …
Imagine me, a woman of thirty, trying to grab a rooster by the tail in my grandaunt’s backyard. I didn’t succeed, but my huffing and flailing amused my family. After a good time was had by all, my uncle handed me a tailfeather he picked up. Here, he said, I don’t know what you want …