Thursday, May 8, 2008

More Quizzies

Got this one from Rachael. I actually have the Dragon Tarot, which is my favorite of the two decks I use.
You are The High Priestess:
Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.
The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluctuation, particularly when it comes to your moods.
I'm not a snob. Snob is defined thus: noun [C] MAINLY DISAPPROVING; a person who respects and likes only people who are of a high social class, and/or a person who has extremely high standards who is not satisfied by the things that ordinary people like. When you knit, you find very quickly that there's a huge difference between working with natural fiber and working with acrylic. Not that there's anything wrong with acrylic, but there's definitely a difference and I've come to prefer wool and other natural fibers. Snobbery? Nah.
So, this snobbery thing applies to other things, too. Like... writing instruments. I have three fountain pens which I love very much; all three of them, rather than running on disposable cartridges, get fed with variously nifty colors of ink with such variously nifty names as Smokey, Fireball, and Blue Bahama. Bearing this in mind, I don't actually need another fountain pen or bottle of ink, I've been drooling over a couple websites (here and here) which cater to my papierophilia and plume-o-philia (is there even a word for a pen fetish?) and have a number of cute things, specifically, the Lamy Vista and the Platinum Preppy, both of which take either converters or cartridges and are what they call "demonstrator pens". The Preppy is just plain cute with its clear barrel and brightly colored nibs; the Vista... oooh, the Vista. It's nice to look at, and I suspect it's nice to write with, too. And who could go wrong looking at the Noodler's ink? Names like Dragon's Napalm and Summer Tanager are clearly designed to catch people's attention and complement the colors they suggest.
On the other hand, I can't help but go googly eyed at the J. Herbin inks, either. J. Herbin, according to the website's own blurb, started making ink 300 years ago; such luminaries as Victor Hugo and Napoleon Bonaparte, the website says, once dipped pens into ink manufactured by this very company. Here, too, it looks like the fountain pen inks live up to their label of "la perle des encres", especially with such names as Diabolo Menthe and Rouge Opera. I honestly don't know how people can pick one from all those options... I seriously doubt I could.
In an age when commincation can take place without the use of paper and postage stamps thanks to things like e-mail and instant messengers, I hope these things won't disappear. I told mom the other day that I have plans to learn how to do old-fashioned copperplate, which I intend to use to write letters.
Hoo! Hah! Long live paper, pens, ink, and postage stamps! I do so enjoy being anachronistic. :P

6 comments:

RaeS said...

LOL! That's awesome! Anachronisms FTW!

I love looking at the pretty pens and writing stuff, but I have yet to actually buy any of that sort of thing, except for sealing wax and a seal with a Welsh dragon on it. And I have some pretty stationary, which very unfortunately I almost never use... and I think I got a "Learn Calligraphy" set for Christmas a few years ago from an aunt.

And I know I'm a total yarn snob. I don't even like the higher end stuff with synthetic fibers in them.

La Duchesse said...

I have a seal with a little baroque sun on it, but I get funny looks when I use it to seal letters. I've heard from our mostly-friendly post office folks that sealing wax cracks and leaves chunks in the sorting machinery. Now... I'm not sure if this is true or just a way to keep us from being creative, but... :P

Yes. I've turned into a yarn snob, too, and you know what? I like it that way. :P

RaeS said...

It's possible. I know I've sent some letters with seals on them, but I just put them in my mail box so I've never seen the mail carrier's expression. I suppose sealed letters could be placed inside other envelopes so that they don't break and clog the machines during sorting...

theyarnwhisperer said...

Looks like you scored good on your swap! I'm still undecided about who I am voting for. Maybe Oprah should run. Although, there are some people who have decided that Oprah is the antichrist. Can you believe it?! I think my cat would do a fairly good job of running the country. Or Stephanie Pearl McPhee except she's Canadian.
I wish I had gotten the knack of using tarot cards. I've tried, but it just doesn't come natural to me. Maybe I need to design tarot cards instead of tatoos!

La Duchesse said...

There's always Gracie Allen. During municipal elections, I usually get the urge to write her in since even she would be a better candidate than most of the people who run for public office here.

Rachael: That's a good idea! :)

theyarnwhisperer said...

I am somewhat of a yarn snob but I've been known to use cheap stuff in an emergency. I am, however, a needle snob, and will only use lantern moons or addi turbos. My husband can't understand why I need 6 pairs of addi turbos. Men!