Stalogy A6: I finished one!
Chunky finished Stalogy on top of my TN. The gold-edged notebook in the back is the 520 page Sterling-Ink notebook that I am using next.
I have done it! I actually wrote through an entire A6 Stalogy from cover to cover, an achievement I wasn’t sure I’d ever make. Thick notebooks rarely end up with writing on every page since I usually get tired of them when I get to the back. I don’t know if it’s getting bored of the paper, the back pages being harder to write on, or just getting ready to move on/worrying I will run out of pages before I’m done with a thought. I generally don’t have this problem with inserts strangely enough.
The A6 Stalogy has 368 pages, which is similar in length to a Nanami Cafe Notes A6 at 384 pages. Although the papers are very different. I did use a Cafe Notes as a daily journal at some point last year and even then I didn’t fill up every page, despite it being tomoe river paper. Yet, with this red Stalogy A6, I did it! It took me from May 14, 2024 to August 26, 2024.
What made the Stalogy stick this time?
Part of it was simply the aesthetic of the notebook. When I was pondering which notebook I wanted to use next back in May, I remembered that I had this red covered book. I decorated it with some of the fun stickers I’d collected this year (and a few from previous). Just seeing the color combined with the stickers made me want to have this notebook out. When a notebook is within easy reach, I am going to write in it. The cover is also tough. It has survived a little over three months of being used daily and also going with me on my epic road trip. Other than the now very curved spine (which still lays flat!), it looks as nice as it did when I first wrote in it.
Bendy, bendy notebook spine.
The paper is also a joy to write on. Stalogy paper is white with a light gray, 5 mm grid. There are very tiny month/day/dates at the top of each page, but I didn’t really utilize those. The lines and words fade away once you get ink on to the page. The paper is fountain pen friendly with some ghosting. My experience has been that it is very bleed resistant, even swatches don’t show through on the other side. Nibs move across the page with just a little bit of feedback, just enough to keep my pen from running away from me.
I utilized the lines on the pages in both vertical and horizontal format, sometimes single-spaced and sometimes double-spaced. Really whatever mood I was in at the time. I think that also helped fill up the pages since I didn’t limit myself to how I should write or even what I should write. This book ended up filled with journal entries, notes from my trip, blog drafts, story scribblings, lists, and more. It’s a hodgepodge and I love it. It’s been a total delight to flip back through and see words sprawled, crossed out, white space, and no white space.
Although I have many more papers in my stash to still try, I would certainly add a Stalogy to my stash again. Stalogy notebooks come in both full year and half year (which is thinner). There are also size options of A6, B6, and A5. One thing I wish Stalogy would do is produce the A6 in the same fun limited edition colors that they do the A5 ones in occasionally. There was a very nice earthy tone set a little while back (sold out pretty much everywhere, but here is Yoseka’s product page for them). They aren’t the cheapest notebook out there at around $20 to $30 for the standard notebooks in various sizes with special edition colors costing a bit more. However, I got three months of use out of mine and it was a great experience, so the cost and quality matched up for me.
Currently Inked
Note: I was on a transition time as I like to switch up my inks at the beginning of the month. However, I also don’t like to waste ink (especially ones I like) so I did some cartridge swapping and have quite a few pens inked at the moment. I've written down and mentioned that inks that I just put in my pen yesterday, but will save commentary on those until next week.
Bungukan Hirai Bridge - Kaweco x Galen Leather Sport Carmine 14K BB ‘journaler’ - my header ink for the month of September.
Diamine Bliss - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo B ‘imperial’
Sailor x Mitzutama Seitzuru - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye 14K BB CSI
Sailor Ink Studio 280 - Kaweco liliput copper M stub
Pennonia x Amarillo Azul Frida - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaler’
Ferris Wheel Press Purple Jade Rabbit - Kaweco Ice Sport Red B - This was my header ink for August and I have a feeling it’s not going to last long in this pen. I just really adore this ink, it’s too bad it was limited edition. It’s has a silver shimmer and a blue undertone to the purple. It’s very fun.
Ferris Wheel Press Dancing Thyme - Kaweco Sport Burgundy M - I do have to say I like this ink better in a stub nib, it shows off it’s shading a lot more. However, this is still a very nice leafy green and I feel like it works for summer/autumn seasonal feeling.
Colorverse Grand Prism - Kaweco Sport Mellow Blue B ‘premium’ - This ink is growing on me, although I still need to do a head to head comparison between it and Colorverse Sky-tinted Waters which was the Minnesota ink.
Ferris Wheel Press Knitted Nettle - Kaweco Sport Dark Olive BB - I’ve decided that this ink is at its most fun when it catches the light. The pink shimmer really highlights the moodiness of the underlying teal. It feels like an ink that a forest fairy would use in their journal.
Ferris Wheel Press Pumpkin Patch - Ferris Wheel Press Roundabout Rollerball Little Miss Jubilee - This ink ended up being too dry for the rollerball so I ended up adding a little white lightning ink additive and that really helped. I’m not particularly wowed by this orange (Diamine Pumpkin is probably my favorite in the bright orange category), but this is like a more subtle version of that ink. The pen itself is interesting. I have three fountain pen ink rollerballs now (a J. Herbin, a Kaweco Inkball, and now this one) and they all feel completely the same. This one is similar in price to the J. Herbin rollerball, but more colorful. I think these are really useful when you’re not sure what you’re writing surface will be while at work or conferences.
Ferris Wheel Press Bearington Black (releasing Sept. 6) - Ferris Wheel Press Carousel M Hearty Harvest - I think this actually might be the first standard black that FWP has released. There have been a few grays (April Showers, Atlas Iron Ore…) and the Roaring Patina Black special edition (which is really more of a dark, dark blue), but no blacks. This one is blue undertone shading black, with the blue tone only really visible in swatches. Not super unique, but well-behaved and a great work-friendly option for fans of FWP.
Ferris Wheel Press Little Miss Jubilee (releasing Sept. 6 - FWP exclusive) - Ferris Wheel Press Carousel M Brilliant Beanstalk - This ink is interesting. The story behind it was that it was created (along with the Roundabout and Carousel colors) to celebrate the Jubilee Creative Ambassador program (of which I am a part). It’s a magenta with gold shimmer. It’s not really my style, but the ink looks great. It’s like Pilot Yama-budo with gold glitter. It definitely has the potential to grow on me. When it launches it will be exclusive to ferriswheelpress.com for a little while (my code JA-DIME will get you 15% off).
Woo! That is a lot of ink for me! Hopefully I write some pens out this week and can shorten the list!