fountain pens – Rainy Saturday Creative

Older woman in easy chair here before me reading a magazine. I put my laundry in the washer. I take a couple photos around the laundromat. There is a new tattoo machine. I post the photos to Instagram.

I settle down at one of the booth tables as I like to do. Before I can get too settled a flurry of new people come in. There is a lot of conversation by the washers on the other side of the laundromat. I don’t know who is talking to who. In the background is the worst of the 80s music. I am more Bauhaus and Siouxsie and less Billy Joel and Phil Collins. I always forget to bring headphones with me.

Tonight I finally decided to tackle a project I have been meaning to do for a while, fountain pen art. I am horrible at art but I keep trying. I have some blank spaces in my commonplace journal, time to fill them in. If you get a hand written letter from me you will always get that sun in the end.

The man I see every Friday, who comes slightly after me must have snuck past me. I just put my clothes in the dryer and all the commotion of earlier is gone. Just that guy and I minding our own business.

Now some new people for a bit. Some of my fountain pens won’t start so I squeeze the ink a bit out with the piston. I best be careful or I will have ink on my fingers and then my clean clothes. I think all my pens need a good cleaning!

Oops!

At some point I am done though the page is not near filled. Thankfully I am not too princess precious about my commonplace journal. I am sure throughout the years I will look back and laugh, and that has a lot of value too!

I go and wash my hands. Seems the new family is sticking around while their clothes get washed. I have about 45 minutes to play games on my phone while I wait for my clothes to dry.

I decided to get some of those tattoos. The one machine wasn’t working so I got three from the other side! They are hilarious but you won’t see me wearing them. 🙂

The one man that comes after me leaves before me, but I like my clothes bone dry, I leave them to dry for over an hour. Finally a song I like comes on. Joan Jett “I love Rock n Roll”! I take my backpack with my notebooks and pens out to the car and come back in and wait for my clothes to dry. I am finally by myself. But there are plenty of washers and dryers going waiting for their people to return to them!

Last couple of days I have been feeling bedraggled, for lack of a better word. I am not physically unwell. I could blame superficial things, but those aren’t really the problem. I think sometimes we all have days where, for no reason, we just feel down and exhausted.

So I have been trying to think what can I do to lift myself up. I never been one into massages or manicures. I have almost been taking too many naps lately. Somehow strawberries were the first word in my mind. And I’m like hmmmm…. Maybe buy some strawberries, angel food cake, and whip cream. Lately I have developed a great love for fountain pens. What I love most are the inks! I am sort of tired of writing quotes and working on my handwriting. This could backfire, but I want to try and make art. I completely suck at making art, and when I feel up for trying I am usually more stressed than before, but I feel like giving it a go!

Written later:

I am home now and the strawberries, waffles, and whip cream were lovely! I went with waffles instead of angel food cake. A Facebook friend wondered if there were any married couples on the Andy Griffith Show (while it was called that, not after it was renamed). That was a fun conversation and as best we know there were not. I no longer feel the need to potentially stress myself out trying art. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I am going to spend the rest of the evening watching the YouTube channel AlmazanKitchen. Outdoor ASMR cooking at its best!