I’ve been wanting to get away from my iPad and some of the digital distractions — and have been experimenting with using a paper calendar book again. Apparently I’m not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of people who join the “Bullet Journal” subreddit on Reddit, and another 259,ooo members of Reddit’s board on fountain pens.

Some people spend a great deal of time and money looking for the exact right nib, the most beautiful sculptural pens, and the notebooks that don’t allow “feathering” of ink bleed-through.

I’m pretty satisfied with an entry-level Lamy pen and a Leuchtturm1917 notebook. But, I also have a bronze Montegrappa that I fill with Ambre de Baltique ink from Jacques Herbin, just to change things up. I’d be curious to know in the comments what NR readers are using. It’s not very reactionary of me, but the pure, functional, modern genius of the Lamy Safari pen is just impossible to beat, in my book.