Grass Padrique | The Fabulous Scientist One of the most dangerous assumptions you can make while traveling is thinking you'll only come home with photographs. Sometimes you come home with a painting. That happened to me during a recent trip to La Union. After spending the morning hunting for leaf fossils in Sto. Tomas, La… Continue reading The Painting I Couldn’t Leave Behind: An Unexpected Art Purchase in La Union
Tag: writing
Jacques Herbin Emerald of Chivor: The Ink That Got Away (Until It Didn’t)
I've wanted Jacques Herbin's Emerald of Chivor ever since I fell down the fountain pen rabbit hole. You know how it goes. One minute you're buying a perfectly sensible fountain pen for note-taking. The next minute you're staring at ink swatches online at 2:00 in the morning, convincing yourself that your life would be significantly… Continue reading Jacques Herbin Emerald of Chivor: The Ink That Got Away (Until It Didn’t)
Why the Majohn P140 is a Must-Have for Pen Collectors
Grass Padrique | The Fabulous Scientist Every fountain pen enthusiast eventually faces a tricky time when they think they have enough pens. I was in that phase when I first encountered the Majohn P140 more than a year ago while browsing Everything Calligraphy's Lazada store. I took one look at it and thought, "That's nice,… Continue reading Why the Majohn P140 is a Must-Have for Pen Collectors
Why Mentoring Works Better for Me Than Watching YouTube Tutorials
Grass Padrique | The Fabulous Scientist We live in an age where you can learn almost anything from YouTube. Want to bake sourdough? There's a video for that. Want to repair a fountain pen? Someone has probably filmed a 47-minute tutorial complete with dramatic background music. Want to learn Muay Thai, play the ukulele, or… Continue reading Why Mentoring Works Better for Me Than Watching YouTube Tutorials
Podcast Episode: Why I Stopped Typing My Notes
Pip: Welcome to The Fabulous Scientist, where fabulousgrass makes a compelling case that the most sophisticated piece of lab equipment you own might be the one you fill with ink.Mara: Today we're looking at the science of how we actually process information โ why the tool you use to take notes changes what your brain… Continue reading Podcast Episode: Why I Stopped Typing My Notes
Podcast Episode: Affordable Luxury Fountain Pens
Pip: The Fabulous Scientist is back, and apparently the magpie instinct is fully operational โ if it shimmers, shifts color, or evokes a Victorian novelist, it's getting reviewed.Mara: fabulousgrass has been writing about fountain pens that punch well above their price, covering chatoyant resins, piston fillers, and the question of whether affordable really has to… Continue reading Podcast Episode: Affordable Luxury Fountain Pens
The Majohn P139 Endurance: The Luxurious Pen for People on the Budget
Grass Padrique | The Fabulous Scientist There are fountain pens that whisper sophistication. Then there are fountain pens that stride confidently into the room wearing a tailored suit, gold cufflinks, and enough presence to make your other pens question their life choices. The Majohn P139 Endurance belongs firmly to the second category. At first glance,… Continue reading The Majohn P139 Endurance: The Luxurious Pen for People on the Budget
Affordable Luxury: Asvine P20 Fountain Pen Overview
Grass Padrique | The Fabulous Scientist There comes a point in every fountain pen enthusiastโs life when you realize you may have accidentally developed a โtype.โ Some people collect understated black cigar-shaped pens. Some gravitate toward vintage flex nibs. Me? Apparently, I collect pens that shimmer, glow, shift colors dramatically, and look like they were… Continue reading Affordable Luxury: Asvine P20 Fountain Pen Overview
Inky Review: The Troublemaker’s Butterfly Dream
Troublemaker Inksย is one of those Filipino fountain pen brands that quietly sneaked into the global pen community and created a good international following. Founded in Cebu as a tiny hand-mixed ink studio, the brand became beloved for its experimental shading, sheen, and shimmer inks that look less like office supplies and more like bottled weather… Continue reading Inky Review: The Troublemaker’s Butterfly Dream
Tiny Pen, Big Personality: My Review of the Wancher PuChiCo Arctic Blue
by Grass Padrique | The Fabulous Scientist There are fountain pens you buy after hours of research, careful comparisons, and deep contemplation over nib sizes. And then there are fountain pens you buy because your brain immediately goes: โOh noโฆ itโs tiny and adorable. I need it.โ That was exactly my experience with theย Wancher PuChiCo Arctic… Continue reading Tiny Pen, Big Personality: My Review of the Wancher PuChiCo Arctic Blue