It’s not hard to appreciate the virtues of thick, strong, smooth paper. Now that I write with fountain pens, I value them even more — what better way to showcase my lovely J. Herbin inks? For the past year, I’ve been using my fountain pens for everyday deskbound tasks like writing and note-taking and lists. (The next step, as I mentioned earlier, is taking them out of the house.) And I’ve been able to integrate them into nearly everything I do at my desk, with one strange but stubborn exception: Post-it notes.
I don’t use post-its that often now that I’ve begun to incorporate a Rhodia mousepad into my quote-unquote time management system. But I’m always looking for ways to prevent myself from overlooking the little things I need to do or keep track of each day, and bright yellow Post-its are a still an integral part of that arsenal.
Post-it brand post-its are actually pretty sturdy. But they’ve got this strange sort of sheen overlay that’s just death for fountain pens. Even Herbin ink performs badly; it’s splotchy and there’s lots of feathering. Here it is in a fine-nibbed Pelikano:
And here it is in the same pen on 90g Clairefontaine:
In the grand scheme of things, of course, this is hardly a big deal. (For whatever reason, my Phileas, whose medium nib is comparatively thin, performs somewhat better on post-its.) I’m still curious, though: what does the sheen accomplish? Does it make the post-it stronger or less susceptible to water damage? At this rate, you’d be better off writing on cheap printer paper. Maybe I’ll have to try the 4X4 Post-its that get such good reviews on FPN…
This morning’s post, from guest blogger 
