New pen

I use a calligraphic pen for a significant part of my inking. A while ago the 1 mm tip of the pen I had been using for ages died. It just won’t write anymore, regardless of how much I clean it. It’s a cheap Shaeffer pen which I have a hazy memory of having gotten during a visit to the UK or Ireland. But it could have been Germany too. I was probably 10-13 years old at the time.

Anyway, now that I’m drawing more again, I needed to replace it. I headed to the Kaufhof Galeria department store on Alexanderplatz, one of the few places that was still open at 8 PM. I looked at what they had. But why get a fancy pen for 20-30 € when you can get a cheap-ass pen with embarrassing design for less than 10 €?

This pen has some very disturbing “tribal” dragons on it. There was a slightly nicer one with a “pirate” theme, but it only came in a set with a ballpoint tip and an extremely disturbing cheap-ass studded bracelet.

I tend to panic when I’m in extreme Capitalist settings like this. Something about being exposed to these very cheaply made pen sets with terribly ugly design, in boxed sets with %&§#ing bracelets, was extremely distressing and made me break out in cold sweat. It became harder and harder to think straight, as my heart was shouting “GIVE ME BACK SOCIALISM NOW!!!!!”

So I messed up, and in the end I got the wrong tip.

I was supposed to replace my 1 mm tip, but I got a pen with a 1.4 mm tip. These pens come in 0.8, 1.2, 1.4 and 1.8 mm, and the 1 mm tip I had has always been a tiny little bit too broad, so I should obviously have gotten a pen with a 0.8 mm tip.

So I have to GO BACK tomorrow and get another tip. (>_<);;;;