Rickshaw Bags is having a flash sale today on their new City Tote bags. Get any one of these simple little bags for half off today. But act fast, this offer expires tomorrow (06/01/12).

Promo Code: totetastic

Order online or in store. Offer valid from 05/30/12 to 11:59 6/01/12 PST

Now, I need to go play with the color configurator… tweed or cordura, tweed or cordura?

Pens

• Kaweco Lilliput Review (via Gourmet Pens)
• Neil Gaiman uses a TWSBI (side bar to the BBC News article about sales of fountain pens rising)

Pencils

• Midori Brass Bullet Pencil Review (Pen Addict)
• El Casco Pencil Sharpener Review (via Pencil Talk)

Paper

• Field Notes (on Pinterest)
• Stillman & Birn Sketchbook overview (Ink Nouveau)
• Quo Vadis Habana vs. Rhodia Webbie Showdown (Cole Wardell’s The Orchard)
• Leuchtturm 1917 Review (Lady Dandelion)

And finally,

You Know You’re a Paper Nerd when… (via Cecilia Frid)

The new Lamy Safari is in the most delicious shade of apple green (my signature color!). If only I could love the special grip utilized by Lamy in this model– its so lefty-incompatible! But I can still lust after the color.

Remember: if you order anything through Notemaker, Well-Appointed Desk readers get a 10% discount at checkout with the code WELLAPPDESK through August. And they have flat rate international shipping. Its never too soon to plan your back-to-school purchases!

(via Notemaker’s blog Field Notes)

A peek inside the handwritten dictionary of Nick Cave from 1984. From Nick Cave Collection at the Arts Centre in Melbourne.

Punk rock legends not your speed? How about a snippet from Mark Twain’s pocket notebook including what looks like an assortment of potential character names. I think “Syphilis Briggs” is my favorite.

Visit the Flavorwire for a dozen more notebooks from artists and authors and see all sorts of handwriting, notebooks and a few choice notes!

Wow! We received 121 entries into the Celebrate Summer Kaweco Giveaway and all of the responses were wonderful. Thanks to everyone for sharing your Kaweco plans and thanks to JetPens for making it all possible.

Drum roll please for the Random Number Generator…

Looks like its comment #1, Rori! I’ll be contacting you by email to make arrangements for the delivery of your Kaweco!

Notebook Stories embellished a plain black notebook with a bunch of wonderful, patterned washi tapes. What a great way to identify one plain black notebook from another. I am notorious for buying an endless stream of A5 black notebooks and just sticking a couple stickers on the cover to identify one from the other. But this…. this is a beautiful solution.

Check out the full post for other design ideas and more excuses to stock up on washi tape.

Isn’t this a delight to see Edgar Allen Poe’s handwriting? I’m amused to see that the original correspondence was sent in November but Poe did not reply until February. Procrastination is not a new concept.

(via Why Evolution Is True)

First step is to collect the necessary supplies:

• a pen in need of a little inky love (in my case, Kawecos as they are cartridge-only)
• a long syringe (with about a 1.5″ long needle, approx 1mm in diameter. I got mine from Goulet Pens but if you know someone in the medical profession, they might be able to find something comparable for you)
• an empty cartridge, cleaned and dry
• ink (sample vials or a great big bottle will work equally well)

I save used cartridges just for this purpose. Since most Kawecos come with one cartridge, you’ll have one right away. I am not sure how many times this trick can be done before the cartridges get too loose but I’ve reused the same cartridges at least a half a dozen times with no ill effects.

Gather the empty cartridge you want to fill, your ink and your syringe. I lay a little waste paper down on my table, just in case but so far, this is a fairly tidy process.

Uncap your ink and insert the syringe. Carefully and slowly, pull the syringe plunger until you have a LITTLE bit of ink in the syringe.

No need to fill the syringe completely. My syringe has measurements on the side and I tend to fill to about 1cc to 1.5cc.

Then slowly fill the cartridge. I usually have a little bit of ink left in the syringe so I just push it back into the original container.

I only fill the cartridge to just below the ridge so it does not overflow. Then just stick the nib unit onto the cartridge while holding the cartridge upright. Push firmly. Then twist the body back on and you’re done.

Then you’ll need to clean out the syringe. I get a small glass of cold water and drop the dirty cartridge in it. I draw water up into the syringe and then plunge it to cycle any ink remnants out. I do several cycles of water until the syringe is clear. This will sometimes require pouring the water out and refilling it with clean water. Once completed, the needle can be twisted off at the yellow part and stored inside the plunger for safe keeping.

The same technique for filling a cartridge with ink can also be used to clean out a used cartridge. Just fill with water using the syringe and then suck out the dirty water. Repeat until water in cartridge is clear. Then let it dry out overnight.

Ink used is Noodler’s Turquoise American Eel purchased from Goulet Pens. Pen is a Kaweco Sport in white with an F nib from JetPens.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

These are some of the last photos from my trip to Hong Kong. These are some insider shots at the various office supply/pen shops I visited. A lot of stores are very touchy about photography so I had to be fast. Oh, the delicious colors and selections! I just had to bring a few photos back to share. If you ever needed a reason to visit Hong Kong, this might just be it.

This is a retractable pen lovers dream. How do you pick just one?

Pilot Frixion Point and Colors in a wide array of configurations. A reader commented that these are great for planners as meetings often get cancelled or rescheduled and being able to erase a meeting is more aesthetically appealing than repeatedly crossing them out, especially in those small spaces.

Lots of gel-based pens in an array of brands and colors.

Being able to select refills for my Hi-Tec-C from a whole display was a joyous experience. The thrill of instant gratification, for sure.

(All photos were taken with my phone inside either City’Super or Log-On except the first photo which was taken at CN Square.)

These multifunctional pencils were created Trevor Duncan as Pencil Works. They were on display this week at NYC’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Each pencil included an alternate tool including a handsaw, magnifying glass, protractor, paintbrush and others. Quite clever and beautifully constructed.

(via Gizmodo)