The Well-Appointed Desk

I promise that today is the last day that I will inundate you with Apollo 11 links and whatnot. Since this is an opportunity that comes around once every 50 years, I’m taking full advantage of it. I grew up on science fiction movies, tv shows and novels and the wave of history that, by the time I was born, a man had walked on the moon.  It was possible that, in my lifetime, we could live in space, drive flying cars, and have Rosie the Robot attend our every need… or at least I hoped so. And while we don’t have flying cars or Rosie the Robot, I do have an app-controlled R2-D2, NASA has landed rovers on Mars and we have somewhat reliable robot vacuums. So, I love this stuff.

So, in the spirit of successful space travel (and a successful splashdown) and all it made possible both on earth and for future voyages, I give you a few more links.

Just because you’re not a knitter, don’t skip over the “knit to this” link — it’s a recommendation for an amazing podcast that you can listen to while driving, doing the dishes or working out. If you do knit, you’ll appreciate it too. And the Glamourdaze link provides some background history about the women who assembled the spacesuits (hint: they were the seamstresses working at Playtex) and some of the cross-pollination of the hight tech fabrics from undergarments to spacesuits and back again.

And the Oz Typewriter link has a field trip to the relay site in Australia that helped transmit signals from space back to Houston. Pretty neat!

Links of the week:

• Video: Complete Descent of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (via Kottke.org)
• NotOnSunday celebrates the moon landing’s 50th anniversary with three badges for the Scouts (via It’s Nice That)
• Playtex – From Bras to Space Suits on Apollo 11 (via Glamour Daze)
• Sony’s Proto-Walkman that Went to the Moon (via Kottke.org)
• Apollo Playlist Part 2: Music Inside Apollo, Musical Critique from Outside Apollo (via Smithsonian Air and Space Museum)
• One Giant Leap for Mankind (via usps.com)
• Knit to This: 13 Minutes to the Moon (via Mason-Dixon Knitting)
• The 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing and two Royal Express Typewriters (via oz.Typewriter)
• The Iconic Neil Armstrong Spacesuit is Back on Display After 13 Years (via My Modern Met)

Pens:

• Sailor Pro Gear Tequila Sunrise (via The Pen Addict)
• Getting Lucky with a Medium-Fine Sailor (via Writing for Pain and Pleasure)
• Faber-Castell Grip Fountain Pen (via The Pen Addict)
• Do Fountain Pens Need to Cost a Lot? (via dapprman)
• TEACHER’S PEN: Professions Series from Montegrappa (via Inked Happiness)
• FPnibs.com Ronda, F soft (via Too many pens)

Ink:

• Thornton’s Luxury Goods Inks-Part 2 (via Mountain of Ink)
• Kyo-Iro Swatch Tests (via FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART)
• Robert Oster Melon Tea (via Hand Over That Pen)
• Straits Pen Honest Ink Slowpoke Green (via Alt. Haven)
• The Gentleman Stationer reviews new Herbin Kyanite du Nepal ink (via Quo Vadis Blog)

Pencils:

• Penco Prime Timber 2.0 mm Mechanical Pencil (via The Pen Addict)
• The Best Colored Mechanical Pencil Leads (via JetPens Blog)
• Eraser Review: Staedtler Mars Plastic (via Polar Pencil Pusher)

Notebooks & Paper:

• Nice paper going to waste? Make your own notebook! (via Polar Pencil Pusher)
• Post-vacation re-evaluation (via Quo Vadis Blog)
• New Goalbook, New Me (via Rhodia Drive)
• 2019 Travelers Notebook Review: Part 1 (via The Finer Point)
• A History of the “Little Black Book” (via Notebook Stories)

Art & Creativity:

• Man Sets Japanese Animation Studio Ablaze, Killing 33 and Injuring 36 [UPDATED] (via Hyperallergic)
• Stella Park’s warm illustrations reflect her outlook on life (via It’s Nice That)
• Surprised Dandelions and Frustrated Erasers Come to Life in Delightful Illustrations by Sean Charmatz (via Colossal)
• Book Review: Working With Color by Shari Blaukopf (via Doodlewash)
• Brighten up a t-shirt with a free flower embroidery pattern (plus a bonus design idea) (via Think.Make.Share.)
• The Best Sketchbooks For Every Medium (via JetPens Blog)

Other Interesting Things:

• Viktor Hachmang’s Bookshelf is “a physical database of obsession” (via It’s Nice That)
• A Photographer Takes Photos Of Toys That Are So Epic, They Can Outshine Any Blockbuster Movie Shot (via Design You Trust)
• Paper Hole Punch – 100 years and still going strong! (via Philofaxy)
• Does It Ever Make Sense to Stockpile Stationery? Maybe Sometimes. (via The Gentleman Stationer)
• Transform Yourself Into a 15th Century Portrait Using AI (via My Modern Met)
• Why waiting can be more effective (via Flow Magazine)
• Why guilty pleasures are good (via Flow Magazine)
• David Bowie Barbie Doll Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of ‘Space Oddity’ (via My Modern Met)

You knew I would go here, right? With the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, its been a permanent celebration at our house. I am streaming the live feed mirroring the moon landing (link below), writing with the ink from the Colorverse First Moon Landing set and generally being our most space geekiest that we can possibly be.

Join in the fun with some of our links of the week:

• Channel 4 launches livestream mirroring the 1969 moon landing, to the exact second (via It’s Nice That)
• Studio Neat “Mark One: Apollo 11” Limited-Edition Space Pen (via Tools and Toys)
• The Atlas of Moons (via Kottke)
• Studio Drift’s drone art to fly over Kennedy Space Center today for Apollo 11 launch anniversary (via It’s Nice That)

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Pens:

• Platinum Procyon Fountain Pen (via The Pen Addict)
• Video : Prometheus Writes Alpha Bamboo Pen (via Nib & Ink)
• Pilot Custom Heritage 912 FA (via Dapprman)
• Lamy Nexx (Lime, Fine Nib) (via Hand Over That Pen)
• Comparative Overview: Lamy 2000 Stainless Steel & Makrolon (via Scrively)
• Guest post: Pens for New Writers – What to Look for in a Vintage Pen (via Paper Pens Ink)
• Esterbrook Phaeton 300R Fountain Pen (via The Gentleman Stationer)

Ink:

• Cult Pens Diamine Deep Dark Purple Ink (via Gourmet Pens)
• Diamine Lilac Satin & Firestorm Red (via Parka Blogs)
• Sailor Ink Studio Swatch Tests – Part 11 – Blacks, Olives and Magic – (via FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART)
• robert oster signature astorquiza rot (via Ink Sharks)
• Troublemakers • Milky Ocean  (via Inkantadora’s International Desk)
• Troublemaker inks • Abalone (via Inkantadora’s International Desk)
• Vanness Pen Shop compares yellow fountain pen inks (via Quo Vadis Blog)

Pencils:

• Pencil Review: Marco Grip-Rite (2B w/ Bonus Sharpener) (via Polar Pencil Pusher)
• The Best Lead Holders (via JetPens)
•  Vintage Colored Pencils: Eberhard Faber Design (Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)

Paper & Notebooks:

• Artist Loses Sketchbook (via Notebook Stories)
• Pen Chalet Endless Recorder Notebook (via Fountain Pen Love)
• My 2019 Journaling Setup: Nanami Paper Cafe Note and Midori 5-Years Journal (via The Gentleman Stationer)

Art & Creativity:

• These Embroidered Cakes Look Almost Too Good to Eat (via Brown Paper Bag)
• Printmaking with the six-year-old (via Austin Kleon)
•  Amsterdam Sketch Kit: Same as Every Day (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
• Meet Catherine Segura, the Young Woman Who is Keeping Tintype Photography Alive (via Atomic Redhead)
• Favorite NYC Spots Lovingly Illustrated (via Kottke)

Other Interesting Things:

• Galen Leather Tool Wrap vs. Superior Labor Leather Pen Roll (via Gourmet Pens)
• 7 Tips to Improve Your Hand Lettering (via The Postman’s Knock)
• Journalist Nellie Bly Will Receive a Monument on the Grounds of the Asylum She Helped Close (via Hyperallergic)
• Classic Rock And New Wave Songs Brilliantly Reimagined As Vintage Pulp Fiction Paperbacks (via Design You Trust)