brush pen

When Palladian mentioned brush pen I was struck, "What? Such marvels exist?"

Surely such an instrument will cost dearly. I must begin saving. For that is the coming together of the desires of ages. Like hang gliding is the pinnacle of human flight, you'd think it'd be a rocket but no, it is to fly like a bird with minimal machine, so too the brush pen is the pinnacle of desires of scribes and calligraphers through the ages, the excellence of brush with modern materials and minimal fuss, ink directly to bristles, and excellent bristles at that. Just hearing about it sent a thrill.

What's next, landing like birds on branches?

Stated so casually too, dropped by way of aside. Why am I always so late, alway among the last to hear of great things?

Meininger's is right down the street. I need mat board.

The Meininger's sales lady showed me the brush pens. But not behind the display case as I expected valuable pens to be, not where I was looking. I looked around the whole island of display cases holding pens and brushes and air brush kits, and higher end items, the cases arranged in a square forming a fort for clerks to reside or hide or help people on the other side of the cases. Not there. No. The pens are hanging on display cards with all the other regular nondescript ordinary pens and various markers. I'd never have found them without her.

They are treated as if they're nothing special at all.

That amazes me.

I am dumbfounded. Baffled with the nonchalance of handling excellence. Don't you realize what you have here?

Once I got the clerks talking about using the pens it became clear they do all agree the pens are impressive. They are all artist-types working there, so at least there is that.

She is carrying my mat board cut into strips and wrapped up and various incidentals including a very cheap brush pen, I'm thinking, man, the traditional Japanese calligraphers would kill for a pen like this. She was going on about the ink cartridge inside, what to expect. I said,

"This pen is made for Japanese calligrapher, I know they would love this pen. I bet they do already since I'm late to the game. Traditionally they mixed their own ink."

"They do?"

Now that surprised me. I assumed I was idly saying something she already knew. Is she playing me?

"Yes. It's a mess too. A stick of hard black stuff. They use water and mix ink for each session. That's one of the reasons why it's such a ritual, the other reason is everything is ritual."

If you take a class in calligraphy, or if it happens that part of your grade school curriculum is Japanese Culture as it was at Narimasu and at Camp Drake then the whole time you'll be thinking, "Man, this ink-making each time is a pain in the butt. Screw that." And their brushes are bamboo, and of course everything is always taken to extreme to finest bamboo and finest animal hair. Plus all the attending implements, weight stone, ink stone to mix the ink from the ink stick, mulberry paper. A student engraves one's own seal. 

Does she understand the spirit of the language is wrapped up in its calligraphy? Does her artist heart get at all that without knowing about mixing ink? That language writing is art and art is writing and back and forth. Does she wonder as I do what it is made of, octopus ink or soot?  

She knows where this brush is in the store, what it can do, about its ink cartridge, how to use it, she is probably adept with the brush herself but she does not know the history of writing and what a stupendous brush like this means. 

It means mankind can go no further when it comes to writing brushes. We have reached the end of excellence. We should all be rejoicing for this wonderful period.

When she holds her technically advanced and incredibly inexpensive and available pen in her hand and uses it to make marks does she harken back to those earlier bamboo pens with animal hair bristles and their inconvenient messy ink kits, or earlier reed pens with smashed cellulose bristles and even messier and terribly inconvenient ink kits as I do?

Does she trip out on brush pens like I do?  

Yes, she does. She would appreciate not having to tote her black and red powder with her everywhere she goes like Egyptian scribes did to mix her own ink every day. 

I can tell all that in the distance from the back to the front by the way she responded with interest. Intense interest, not regular polite interest. Too bad we didn't have more time. I almost made a bid for more time with her by asking for help out to the truck even though I don't need it, just to spend it with her and elaborate on Egyptians fussing with ink.

That is your fix, for an Egyptian scribe, make sure you have your two powders, make sure you have a few decent brushes for the day, probably reeds with the ends smashed up. They do not mention this or draw this on their art that I notice but surely their fingers would be messed up with black and red ink and that is how you would spot a scribe, his hands are all inked up.

This is the word for "scribe" it is a determinative sign, categorized Y3 or Y4.

They match!

Anything having to do with writing gets this determinative sign, the kit itself mnhd and for writing, ssch. Associated with a person it means, "He can write!" And that is something to brag about. But not for a noble. You do not see scribe listed as accomplishment among the epithets of nobles because it would be like saying, "Lord of Two Lands, Son of Horus, The Sun on its Horizon, the Pa of Ra, and he can write."

The ink cartridge is stabbed and well-seated but nothing happens. I shake it. I flick it. Double check it. Dead. Bristles work, ink works, something between bristles and ink does not work. I call Meininger's. 

"My pen doesn't work."

"It takes a while for the ink to make its way down. Give it time. Relax. I thought that too. No worries. It's slow at first." 

The first guy I spoke with knows all about the brush pen. That is how famous they are.  I went back to the pen and the bristles turned black. It works! And it is brilliant.