I got a great new fountain pen for turning 32! I'm very excited about it. I freaking love fountain pens -- used to be hooked on Schaeffer but now just anything with flowy, sloppy ink turns me on.

The new acquisition is a Penatia, by Cross. It looks like this:

Now, try to imagine it as a fountain pen.

The red part is a ridged plastic-vinyl sheath that adds a nice tactile feel. The part you grip (what's the technical term for that??) is metal, so is cold to the touch but warms up quickly. The nib is super-narrow and capable of extremely fine lines. The cap isn't very heavy, like some of my other pens, so you can reverse it without changing the balance of the pen. Overall, this Penatia is an excellent package.

Only one complaint: it dries out fast. I mean, like 5 seconds after you take off the cap you'd better be writing. Maybe that's a positive -- maybe it discourages mulling over words. Maybe this is a first-draft pen!

It takes a marketer's mind to turn a disadvantage into a feature.

Next: what I've written with my Penatia fountain pen thus far...