An Unexpected Introduction
Hello & Welcome!
My Name is Emily, and I like pens.
But why start a blog?
Well, more specifically, I have an all-consuming obsession with fountain pens and the various accoutrement that goes with them.
Because of this, I thought, why not start a blog that details my experience and relationship with fountain pens? Though, if I'm being honest, it wasn't as simple as that. I had thought of starting a blog a while back, but I kept finding reasons not to: there are already so many blogs out there, I said, and I won't ever be as good as them; they have established followers, how will I ever make up that ground? My handwriting isn't very good - it's not neat or pretty or anything special, no one will want to see it. What's my angle? How can I possibly do something that someone else hasn't done before? How can I improve upon something that already exists?
After thinking, procrastinating, hemming and hawing, and then mulling it over some more...the answer to all of the above is - I don't know. I didn't know then, and I still don't know now if this will be anything special or helpful or good. But with the pandemic raging around me, finding myself unemployed and listless, I figured I might as well give it a go so I'm not wondering "what if?"
My general plan is to create a blog that includes a few things: detailing my evolving thoughts and feelings about fountain pens (and more specifically, nibs, bodies, styles, etc.), inks, and paper in a variety of ways, honesty about life and its joys and complications, and to compile a resource list that I've found helpful in my fountain pen journey.
I think gatekeeping and elitist attitudes are the worst so I'll do my best to ensure things are beginner-friendly, while still maintaining interest at all levels. As with many new things, this is a work-in-progress and will be evolving as I learn. Feedback is great and patience is appreciated.
Who Am I?
As I mentioned previously, my name is Emily. I'm a woman (she/her) in my early 30s and I have a lot of interests outside of fountain pens. I am always down to geek out about my interests with other people, so I'll list a decent amount of things here in case anyone shares these loves and wants to talk more about them:
Anime (stand outs- Naruto, Inuyasha, FMA Brotherhood, My Hero Academia), reading (fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction, historical non-fiction), Tolkien everything, musicals (Les Miserables and Hamilton are my favs but I love many), science, Doctor Who, DND, Magic: The Gathering, board games, craft beer, whiskey, traveling, video games (the switch is my fav console b/c Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, & Fire Emblem, but also I love Final Fantasy [IX's the best] and other RPGS; also I'm a recovering WoW addict), and finally, I love fancy lattes and coffee.
I'm currently unemployed due to the pandemic, and I'm also a bit lost because of it. I think I was lost before it, but I didn't realize how much until I was left with so much time on my hands and nothing to really put my mind and energy to work. Since I don't know where to go or what to do right now, I'm doing this and maybe I'll figure it out eventually.
I also do not plan on making this a "political" place, but my personal opinion is that nothing is free of politics and if you think it is, then that comes from a place of privilege. I consider myself a progressive and the ideals that go along with that will likely leak out from time to time because that is who I am. I don't say this to exclude or to be unwelcoming to anyone who has different opinions, but more of a heads-up that I won't by shying away from this fact.
Always happy to make new connections, so please feel free to strike up a conversation if you'd like.
Why the name “An Unexpected Letter”?
So, with all that being said, why the name "An Unexpected Letter"?
I'm a huge fan of Tolkien and towards the beginning of the pandemic/quarantine/lock-down, I decided to re-read The Hobbit and do a "deep-dive" by also reading The Annotated Hobbit by Douglas Anderson, The History of the Hobbit by John D. Rateliff, and Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" by Corey Olsen. I recommend all of these books if you really want to dig deep into the creation of our friend Bilbo and the world he inhabits!
Anyway, you might know that the first chapter of The Hobbit is called, "An Unexpected Party." With the most recent re-read on my mind, and the fact that I do have some pen-pals with whom I write letters to and receive correspondence back from, it seemed an apt name.
There is nothing like the thrill of going to the mailbox and getting an unexpected letter from a dear friend. The whole experience is magical - you never know what the letter will look like, what it will say, what might be included (stickers, drawings), and the personality of the person shines through like a beacon. What does their handwriting look like? What color did they choose to write with? Are there little notes or "PS's" scrawled in the margins? The feeling of the paper, the act of opening it, and the unfolding of the contents all contributes to an experience like no other.
I also always write my correspondence with a fountain pen, and for me, that makes the experience all the more special.
Hopefully this has served as served as a helpful background on the who/what/why of this blog and I look forward to the coming experiences this will bring!