Rants and Raves – Kenneth's Random Blog

Currently Inked – mid Feb 25

I try to rotate the pens I’m using periodically but the rotation varies on how much I’ve filled the pens and if I’m enjoying them or not. I usually only fill them halfway, but that’s still a lot of pages to write to exhaust just one of them.

Here’s what’s currently in use- and I have two custom nibs in the rotation, so I’ve been enjoying them even more.

That said- looking at the photo, I should have picked out some more variety with regards to the color palatte.

Currently using:

London Pen Co – Christopher 13 model with a 1.1 FC nib loaded with Dominant Industries Milky Way Blue. You can’t tell in that photo, but there’s lots of shimmer with that ink.
Pilot Vanishing Point – F nib – great for work and taking notes quickly without having to fumble with the cap. Loaded with Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo
Lotus Author – with a FC EF SIG nib. It’s a fun nib, good for long form writing. The ink is Colorverse SF Bay.
Leonardo Mosaico Hawaii with a standard F nib. Really nice and feels “classy”. The ink is Roman Praetorian Blue from Stilo e Stile.

Knowing me I’ll clean these out before the end of the month and will load up other pens.

Book Recs from 2024

A number of friends and contacts have posted their 2024 reading lists and recommendations. Some of my friends with really long lists of completed books whittled them down into a top 10.

Also – I was slightly surprised to see folks posting on Instagram that they read 50 to 75 books as that’s a lot of reading time. It makes me curious to know if they were only books, or if they also listened to audiobooks. I tend to discount audiobooks for some reason that I need to explore more.

I took a look at my own list (full list below) – but I’m not sure I have enough titles to create a top 10 list. I read 25 or so books in 2025. Whittling that down just means I’d have to knock off just over half of the titles.

I also changed how I was picking some titles this year, and this will continue into 2025. The big change was joining a book club. When we pick books we each nominate a few titles and then vote on what to read. So I got exposed to titles that I would not have normally sought out.

That said- here are my notable titles:

Non-fiction of note:

Hands of Time by Rebecca Struthers. I picked up this title after listening to an interview of Struthers on a podcast I listen to about watches.

My Effin’ Life by Geddy Lee. A great gift from my brother. I thought it’d be interesting, but it was much more than I thought it’d be. I thought I knew a lot of Geddy’s background and story, but I only knew a small part.

Fiction:

The Peacock and The Sparrow by I.S. Berry.

A book club pick (that I would have likely picked up anyway- I probably nominated it). Not your typical spy novel. Well crafted.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

I did not think I would like this book for some reason. It may have been too recommended if that makes sense. I wound up getting in to it and liking it quite a bit. Good story telling.

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

The second book by Towles I’ve read. I got sucked in and really enjoyed the characters, the references and the story.

My full list is available here on Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2024/586174

Book Rec- Hands of Time: A Watchmaker’s History

I recently finished Dr. Rebecca Struther’s book Hands of Time: A Watchmaker’s History and would recommend it, especially if you’re interested in some history of horology and concepts of time and the history of how we keep time.

I found out about the book via an interview from the author with a watch podcast (yes, I dig watches…) called The Grey Nato. If you’re interested in her interview the episode # is 272 – link here: https://thegreynato.substack.com/p/272-dr-rebecca-struthers

Article: Can a Sommelier Be Sober?

This link was in my backlog – I found it interesting.

I think being a sober sommelier challenges the traditional stereotype of what a sommelier should be,” says France-based sober somm Laura Vidal. “It’s important for us to show that you don’t have to drink to appreciate wine, and that there are many different ways to enjoy it.”
Wine Enthusiast

The others mentioned in the article have different approaches- some don’t drink at all – one just tastes – etc. Interesting perspectives

Article: “Enshittification’ is coming for absolutely everything”

Ali pasted a link to a Financial Times editorial recently and I finally got around to reading it- Cory Doctorow on Enshittification. It’s a good read and I recommend that you check it out.

Link to the FT editorial.

There are four constraints that prevent enshittification: competition, regulation, self-help and
labour. To reverse enshittification and guard against its re-emergence, we must restore and
strengthen each of these.