The Wahl Eversharp Doric

Sometimes I look for particular fountain pens to add to my collection. Sometimes pens find me. This is one of those pens - I am honored to be its current guardian.

This beautiful and iconic Art Deco lever-filling fountain pen is the Wahl Eversharp Doric. Its celluloid cap and barrel each has 12 sides, and it sports the very unique adjustable 14k gold No. 5 nib. The slider on top of the nib can be moved to any of 9 slots, which determines how rigid or how flexible the nib's tines will be. The closer the slider is to the writing tip, the more rigid it is; the closer it is to the barrel the more likely the nib is to flex and produce writing with shading and flourishes (if you know how to write Spencerian or Copperplate script. Here's an example on Youtube).

Wahl Eversharp was one of the top 4 fountain pen manufacturers of its time. This particular Doric was manufactured circa 1935 (later Dorics are plunger-filling pens). It is a standard-size, "Popular Price" Doric, which was sold in those days for USD5. The bigger "senior" or "oversize" Dorics had a Gold Seal above the clip, which indicated a lifetime guarantee (which my pen doesn't have; but it is no less beautiful to me). My pen also sports the plain clip, not the earlier roller-clip of the first-generation Dorics.

This green marble celluloid is named "Kashmir", one of a number of lovely colors. Unfortunately, Kashmir is one of those unstable colored celluloids that has shown a tendency to discolor, craze or crystallize (a condition where the pattern becomes somewhat transparent and colors tend to flouresce and create tiny cracks under certain temperature/storage conditions). Luckily, this pen does not exhibit any crazing or crystallization, although the barrel's green marble now has a faintly olive tinge. This may be due to the fact that it may have been stored through the years until its original latex rubber ink sac had deteriorated and released gasses that changed the color of the celluloid. I removed the section from the barrel to check the condition of the existing sac and was pleased to find that it has been fitted with a silicon sac, which should last for a good length of time.

Here's a writing sample, using J. Herbin Lie de The ink on a Clairefontaine notebook. I have little experience with flexy writing, so this is what I could manage. I have a gold-filled Wahl ringtop with a No. 2 nib that is perhaps quite a bit softer and easier to flex than this Doric's adjustable No. 5 nib. (I try to be cautious and not write with such a heavy hand that I may inadvertently spring the tines.) The nib has a slight kink in it, as if someone tried to flex the nib in the past without moving the slider. This does not detract from its writing performance; I am able to write rapidly with it. The Doric feels good in the hand.

The cap band is somewhat brassed (the gold plating has worn off in some areas), but this does not bother me much as I acquire pens to actually write with rather than to display. There are faint use scratches. But yes, the Doric is one of those pens worth restoring to its full glory, as it is not that easy to find.

(For more information on the Wahl Eversharp Doric, please visit The Fountain Pen Network's Wahl Eversharp Forum, moderated by Syd Saperstein aka "Wahlnut". Other information for this blog came from Penlovers.net, Richard Binder, and Rick Conner.)

Little Girls, Team Sports

When I was a little girl I was bookish and not the least bit sporty. I did, however, love swimming, climbing trees, running with the dogs and playing games the neighborhood children played. I even endured hula dancing class. It wasn't until high school PE that I became one of the goalies of the girls' soccer team. I sometimes walked home all covered in mud. The only time I was goalie and we played against another school, it was a long, hard match that ended in a draw. No big deal - we had sandwiches and we had our stories, and we enjoyed ourselves.

I had a place in the team, a role and a goal, and I tried as much as possible to achieve it. The sense of belonging and pride in the team was exhilarating. For once I was the doer, not the watcher. Many people prefer to just watch, and never give themselves a chance to do.

Many years later, I watched my goddaughter Jassie play girls' Little League Softball. Their team won the right to represent the Philippines at the International Little League World Series that year. I cheered myself hoarse that day, and was so proud of my friends' little girl. I remembered thinking that when I was a little girl I could never hit anything on cue even if I tried. I was hopeless at shooting a basketball or returning a volleyball serve. The only thing I knew how to do was kick a ball in certain directions and block it with my body. I thought it was great that kids nowadays had all these organized activities that gave them opportunities to discover physical and social skills, activities that weren't available or fashionable when I was small. All we had then was a choice of learning dance, or a musical instrument, or art, or kiddie cooking class. Very few little girls then participated in team sports, unless you counted school patintero and Chinese garter games at recess.

Last Saturday I watched my niece Lilo play Little League T-ball. It was a very hot and humid day, but families gathered around the El Circulo Verde field, cheering on their kids. There's something so appealing about watching 6-year-olds running around a diamond trying to catch a ball. Each of them had a job to do. Lilo batted twice; later she had to exit the game due to heat exhaustion. They only played for an hour in the sweltering heat, but they all got their exercise, which is one thing kids always need enough of.

When Lilo started out with the International Little League Association of Manila's Major Holdings team, she was the smallest girl (and one of the youngest) in the group. They practiced once a week on a weekday and played virtually every Saturday in the school year. In the beginning she didn't understand the game rules. She cried whenever she was tagged out. Eventually she learned to hit a ball on a tee strongly, even hit a coach's pitch, and to catch a ball. And she learned to run as fast as she could. There were days she didn't feel like playing, but she played anyway. There were days she was more interested in daydreaming while in the outfield. But she played anyway. Her teammates didn't all go to the same school, but they all became friends.

A year later, some teammates moved into the next age group. Some stopped playing in favor of other pursuits. This year Lilo plays in a mixed boys and girls group. (More new friends!)

This sort of experience is so important. It's not about dressing up to look sporty, or so you have something to brag about (although some people do that). It's about learning to work with others, and to do your job the best way you can so you can contribute to the team's success. For most little girls, it's trying out what you initially think you're not inclined to do, with the hope of finding out that you really like what you're doing. And becoming the better person for it.

The last time I participated in a team sport, it was in Philippine airsoft, from 2001-2003. I was a member of the PPG, an all-girl assault squad of Team Wyvern. We participated in the first Kalis competition, where we had to successfully complete an assault module, a defense module and a hostage rescue module. We held a respectable middle place in the competition, not bad for first-timers. Here's a couple of photos from those days when I was 20lbs lighter and had sharper cheekbones:

That's Ria Miranda-Regis and me clearing out the first room of the FTI warehouse in Taguig.

The PPG disbanded at a time when some of us became wives and mothers. Those are important roles, too - except your team is your family this time. As for me, I passed my airsoft gear on to my godson Raffi, who uses it mostly for cosplay.

Those with young children should take advantage of opportunities for team sport. If you're thinking about things like the expense and the time it takes up, believe me, it's worth it. Let your children join something, have fun and learn to play well with others. There are many, many lessons one can learn from experiences like this, but playing well with others is one of those skills that you may not realize means a lot when it comes to living well in this world.

Lilo's Halloween Costume

My 6yo niece has a very vivid imagination. She's wanted to be Medusa for the longest time. Last October 22 she had her fantasy realized - thanks to Mommy Joy's crochet skills. Joy found the free crocheted yarn snakes pattern by Lucy Ravenscar at Craftster.org.

The 14 snakes are made up of combinations of yarn colors, crocheted over four days. The eyes and tongue are sewn on. They are attached to a plastic headband, along with black yarn "hair". The "black" lipstick is eyebrow pencil rubbed over lip gloss. The rest of the costume was a black sleeveless dress.

Lilo was even more thrilled when she won a special award for her costume! Even now she's thinking of a new costume for next year...