In my jobby-job, I work with people in Hong Kong on a daily basis so the ebb and flow of Chinese New Year (CNY) is a regular part of our yearly planning. In China and Hong Kong, almost everyone takes some time off in the weeks around CNY. Factories, offices and businesses of all sorts close for a week or more. So, this week, as CNY looms closer, our Asia partners are out of the office, enjoying time with family and friends and getting some much-needed time off. Stateside, I like to celebrate by making dim sum and saying “Gong hei fat choy” to everyone which is the Cantonese for “happiness and prosperity”. If you want to learn to say a traditional CNY greeting in Mandarin, try “Xīnnián hǎo” (shin-yen-hao) (新年好). There are great pronunciation samples available here!
If you stalled out on your goals or resolutions for the new calendar year, use CNY as a chance to reboot your plans on Lunar New Year (which is officially this Sunday, January 22 but is celebrated until about Feb. 2).
Pens:
- A fountain pen update: A tour of starter pens (via Urban Adventure League)
- PenBBS 469 Double Ended Fountain Pen Review (via The Pen Addict)
- Review: M205 Apatite (2022) (via The Pelikan’s Perch)
- Workhorse Pens: Considerations and Pitfalls of High-Capacity Pocket Fountain Pens (via The Gentleman Stationer)
- A Cheeky Pilot Kaküno (via An Inkophile’s Blog)
Ink:
- Ink Review #2021: Pilot Iroshizuku Hana-ikada (via Mountain of Ink)
- Kakimori #04 Karari on Muji Planting Tree (via Inkcredible Colours)
- Fountain Pen Inks Explained! What Ink Should You Use in a Fountain Pen (via Yoseka Stationery)
- Ink of the Week – PenBBS #178 Rose Quartz (via Fountain Pen Love)
- Ink Review #746: IWI Color of Nature: Beginning of Winter (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist)
- Endless Observer – ink tests of another kind. (via INKED HAPPINESS)
Notebooks & Paper:
- Foglietto Memo Cards and Archive Box Review (via The Pen Addict)
- Ode to my art of analytic journaling (via mnmlscholar)
- journaling: leuchtturm 1917 (via A Fleeting Ripple)
- The Best Journaling Supplies (via JetPens)
- STATIONERY – 2023 diaries (via print & pattern)
- Mini Review: Uglybooks, No. 2 Wide (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
- Ghosts of Planners Past: Chronodex (via Writing at Large)
- Wall Calendars (via Philofaxy)
- 2022 –> 2023! (via Notebook Stories)
Art & Creativity:
- Way too much stuff! (via Liz Steel)
- My “Downstairs Studio,” Part 2 (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
- Starting with marker shapes (via Liz Steel)
- From Junk Drawers to Phone Books, Artist Bernie Kaminski Captures the Nostalgia of Banal Items Through Papier-Mâché (via Colossal)
- AI can’t kill anything worth preserving (via Austin Kleon)
- Is “laziness” the key to creativity? The Lazy Report argues for the art of kicking back (via It’s Nice That)
Other Interesting Things:
- How I use my iPad Pro (via Hjertnes’ blog)
- Review: Metal Pen Tips for Apple Pencil – Are they safe? (via Parka Blogs)
- Ease into the New Year: Welcoming 2023 with New Words, New Projects (Same Me) (via My Giant Strawberry)
- The Mandalorian. Season Three. Official Trailer. (via Kottke.org)
- Self-care: A Simple Plan for 2023 (via Modern Daily Knitting)
- Lunar New Year Forever Stamp Highlights Year of the Rabbit (via USPS Newsroom )
- A Clean(ish) Slate (via From the Pen Cup)
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