carol o

Mostly non sequiturs. She/her. I probably followed you because you posted a picture of your cat. Fan of stationery/fountain pens and sports (WNBA, MLB). AsAm, but the east coast kind. Vegas local.

Some posts also shared on bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/carolou.bsky.social

personal website: https://notes.partlark.com/

Last Notes

2026-07-30 04:51:49 UTC

this will be the largest bottle of fountain pen ink I've emptied just by writing. (and ok, maybe the occasional paper towel daub to clean off the section after inking!)
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/117/007/126/982/827/368/original/4c38e3e263ec59c1.jpg

2026-05-18 07:56:43 UTC

was on the fence about assembling a custom fountain pen at Ancora Ginza, but then learned I could opt for a fude nib instead of the default MF! fude is +550jpy (iirc), limited to 2 section colors and only gold-colored not silver, so i wound up changing up some of the other colors i picked, but hey
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/116/594/502/393/493/027/original/bccb39938b6827e7.jpg

2026-04-03 18:46:43 UTC

do like eyedropper fountain pens for using up ink samples. can just tip the whole rest of the sample in there
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/116/342/258/293/860/902/original/18cfc7bd9eb2329b.jpg

2026-02-06 00:44:56 UTC

I've been pretty content with my two Pelikan m205 special edition fountain pens (Olivine and Star Ruby) and figured I wouldn't ever pick up another.. but then I was clicking around on Pen Boutique for other items to try to hit free shipping, saw they had the Rose Quartz on sale, and here we are. 😂
Pen Boutique only had the broad nib available in gift set packaging... figure that if I don't like it, it'll have plenty of tipping and I can still get it ground.
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/116/020/907/932/007/094/original/8a22327a5a8637ac.jpg

2025-12-24 19:43:54 UTC

going through my fountain pen ink sample collection and just discarded two where the ink had dried out, which is a good reminder to use up these samples!
per my data in Fountain Pen Companion, I'm net -8 samples on the year, leaving me just 77 left to use 😭😭
thinking I might set a sample/week goal and see how far I get...
next up: putting the rest of this Pelikan Star Ruby ink sample in the Pelikan m205 Star Ruby pen
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/115/776/248/319/974/187/original/71b11aafa9ceb11e.jpg

2025-11-07 22:37:56 UTC

a currently inked post for Fountain Pen Day!
that Pilot Lightive on the right has been a fave of mine since I picked it up on my Kyoto trip this past winter. a well-balanced pen w/smooth nib that I find enjoyable to write with, have basically had it continuously inked (w/a few cleanings) since then
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/115/510/804/813/206/059/original/c4807b398d1d11ea.jpeg

2025-07-25 22:03:25 UTC

- reply

it came with the pen only in the sense that the vendor bundled them together (it was something like buy the m205 olivine, get the italic nib for 50% off). this was ~2019. the m205 itself came with a fine nib installed.
hopefully this pic gives you an idea. had to angle it a bit to not get too much of my phone reflected in the nib. and yes, the nib's a little inky!
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/114/916/122/391/481/498/original/0f0d0beb3b0cb85b.jpg

2025-07-25 19:43:12 UTC

- reply

1.0 seems about right. i couldn't get a quick pic of the nib without a lot of glare, but it's just marked "I" on the nib

2025-07-25 17:16:51 UTC

these two came up in the rotation this morning and it turns out morning pages really fly by when you write them with zoom and italic nibs 😂
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/114/915/001/999/445/966/original/32830d68762f0be1.jpg

2025-07-10 17:25:35 UTC

a lil JetPens haul. still a little amazed that JetPens has kept their free shipping threshold at $35 when some other pen/stationery places now (reasonably) require 2x that
(the two inks are my latest in a very slow quest to find stock/house inks for all the main colors..)
#FountainPens #FountainPenInks
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/114/830/100/860/661/702/original/e7afbbb549e0b20c.jpg

2025-06-18 03:11:37 UTC

ok, so there's at least one Montblanc in The Phoenician Scheme, probably more, but the other fountain pens flew by too fast for me to identify them. there's a scene near the end where most of the actors wind up writing with the pens and I think they did fairly well.
was a little underwhelmed by the movie on first impression, but the pens perked me up 😂
#FountainPens

2025-05-26 16:35:49 UTC

think I've worked through the entire rotation since the last time I posted.
still using a nice amount of ink writing morning pages, otherwise I wouldn't normally have two eyedroppers and the 580 (and 6 other fountain pens) inked!
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/114/575/040/205/423/463/original/1629582110670253.jpg

2024-12-29 23:43:50 UTC

repurposing a Tul discbound journal as a fountain pen and ink log was supposed to be a stopgap measure.. but I still use it 4+ years later! it's divided into two sections, one for pens and the other for inks. the pen pages use regular Tul paper but the ink pages use hole-punched Clairefontaine #FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/738/761/393/108/015/original/52a578c427ae3392.jpg
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/738/762/714/360/350/original/ba9d6ed4ceaa7f79.jpg

2024-12-08 21:53:59 UTC

p.s. closest color match to Monarca Mar Caribe that I saw on the trip was probably the mid-morning shallow water off Grand Turk #FountainPens #FountainPenInks
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/619/406/532/970/780/original/b0eb8927b368723d.jpg
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/619/414/324/259/301/original/fcb88b197fad94e4.jpg

2024-11-27 19:46:50 UTC

I've done very little packing for my trip, but I have decided what fountain pens I'm going to bring! two with sea-themed inks, my trusty Platinum 3776, and an Itoya Blade disposable/sacrificial lamb
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/556/639/465/503/580/original/89b0f21ca28260e1.jpg
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/556/639/554/371/911/original/c86ee0e221404667.jpg

2024-11-01 19:59:15 UTC

shopping my own stash for Fountain Pen Day and decided to open a bottle of Birmingham Molten Tin. haven't tried this ink before.. lays down more purple and then dries into this interesting lavender-gray color
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/409/468/319/625/483/original/dd29fcc41a250366.jpg

2024-10-14 16:51:23 UTC

sort of randomly threw a Kaweco Sunrise Orange cartridge in this Schon DSGN Pocket Six fountain pen, and I'm kinda impressed by all the shading I'm getting. the broad architect nib gets some of the credit, of course. 🖋️ (p.s. ink's a little lighter in real life than in the below pic)
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/306/807/620/825/552/original/f1659f811d616695.jpg

2024-08-31 17:54:54 UTC

vowing to use more of my existing stash of inks before I buy more. picked up this Monarca Mar Caribe ink a couple years ago and I don't think I realized it came with this cute little stand? the ink's a nice bright blue too.. makes me think I need to schedule another beach vaca soon 🖋️🏖️
#FountainPens
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/057/916/047/055/535/original/c1a85f0552eba8e6.jpg
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/057/916/142/430/676/original/7cb857edd0b9b0fb.jpg