New hobbies and old interests

[Duchess]

One of the things I've become interested in over the last few years is fountain pens. I haven't followed a typical fountain pen enthusiast path preferring, as usual, to do things my own way. But I never completely abandoned sea related things, so there was no passing up this glorious pen by Ryan Krusac. Moose antler, ebony and mother of pearl. It's so finely crafted that the north star sits above the prow of the ship when the pen is capped.

 

What's new with you? What's old? What is both?

[Coastie04]

Well I’ve not been changing too much since the pub went down. Still driving whale watching boats in Alaska and raising 2 boys. I did upgrade my personal sailboat from a 30’ to a 37’ (about twice the size in boat terms). I’m still a fan of black powder, sailing throughout the ages, and the history of piracy. Though I have become involved with a HMs Chatham naval reenactment group that’s representing the Vancouver expedition. I know, it’s a bit anti-piracy, but being on the far side of the world and a good century later, I don’t see it as a major mutiny. 
 

Arrrgh!

[Coastie04]

Not sure why that uploaded upside down…wasn’t supposed to be. I guess that’s what you get when there’s too many Jack Sparrows in the ship’s compliment. 😂

[William Brand]

Lots and lots of charity events and Firefly shindigs for me.

[LadyBarbossa]

OOoooooo... Love the pen! Aye, fountain pens are uniquely fun! 

Nothing really new other than no longer in radio, stopped doing a lot activities, and was caretaker for my parents since 2018 (lots of scary stuff one after another for a couple years), but now I'm a Lifeguard. I still LOVE anything 18th century and enjoy a lot of stuff on Instagram. Dang! The Europeans know how to really do 18th c events! 

Ok, Duchess... do you have a fountain pen collection going?  

[PoD]

With my Son being a gaming streamer and me having to be his I.T. support, I rekindled my love of technology and gaming.  I got slightly addicted to Minecraft and have been building a pirate port.

[Stynky Tudor]

52 minutes ago, PoD said:

With my Son being a gaming streamer and me having to be his I.T. support, I rekindled my love of technology and gaming.  I got slightly addicted to Minecraft and have been building a pirate port.

That's pretty cool.

Some years ago my youngest built a Minecraft texture set. We would get together and play around the holidays. Very fun, Minecraft is a favorite sandbox type game, plus it has zombies.

[Stynky Tudor]

18 hours ago, Duchess said:

I've become interested in over the last few years is fountain pens. I haven't followed a typical fountain pen enthusiast path preferring, as usual, to do things my own way. But I never completely abandoned sea related things, so there was no passing up this glorious pen by Ryan Krusac. Moose antler, ebony and mother of pearl. It's so finely crafted that the north star sits above the prow of the ship when the pen is capped.

Nice! Where did you find the kit? I assume it's a rough out kit that you sand and seal - beautiful detail. 

[Duchess]

39 minutes ago, Stynky Tudor said:

Nice! Where did you find the kit? I assume it's a rough out kit that you sand and seal - beautiful detail. 

It is a handmade fountain pen from a pen maker named Ryan Krusac. No contributions from me other than saving my pennies for several months.

[Stynky Tudor]

On 2/12/2023 at 4:22 PM, Duchess said:

What's new with you? What's old? What is both?

Other than restoring the Pub and cracking jokes with William, I haven't been up to a whole lot.

I had back surgery about a year an half ago and I'm doing much better for it. In fact it got me thinking about pirates again, I've even broken out the sewing machine and started a few projects.

Since about 2017, I've been part of a beer brewing crew here in Oregon, "Dreadnought Brewing". Basically there are the three of us brewing out of Charlie's garage, we're all climbing in age, with health issues, disabilities, blah, blah, blah. But we manage to brew about 15 gallons at a time, every other month or so. Sometimes a porter, sometimes a light (lo alcohol) dark ale, sometimes a smoked stout.

I designed the logo for our Beer Fridge.

Left to right, Mash Ton, Hot Water & Brewing Kettle & a propane bottle in a tub of hot/warm water - it was cold outside.

Fermenter...

 

[Duchess]

2 hours ago, LadyBarbossa said:

Ok, Duchess... do you have a fountain pen collection going?  

Oh my....yes.... It's doubly dangerous since my spouse is also a fountain pen enthusiast. We've got some interesting modern pens and then I completely fell down the vintage fountain pen restoration rabbit hole. I'll even be teaching some fountain pen repair workshops later this year. It's a fascinating application of all my former gunsmithing skills and satisfies my corvid love of shiny things/collecting.

 

Lady Barbossa, have you got a fountain pen collection?

[Duchess]

2 minutes ago, Stynky Tudor said:

 

Since about 2017, I've been part of a beer brewing crew here in Oregon, "Dreadnought Brewing".

Very cool! I just gave away the last of my brewing supplies and I miss the process of it all. But I was never much of a drinker and we have very limited space in our house, so off it went. I still have a few cases of mead and porter that just keep getting better with age.

Would you be interested in overnighting me some spent grains next time you do a porter? Spent porter grains make an excellent addition to homemade bread. I'll pay the shipping!

 

[Stynky Tudor]

2 hours ago, Duchess said:

Very cool! I just gave away the last of my brewing supplies and I miss the process of it all. But I was never much of a drinker and we have very limited space in our house, so off it went. I still have a few cases of mead and porter that just keep getting better with age.

Wait no, you got rid of everything? I'm so sorry to hear about this horrible tragedy - truly devastating.

2 hours ago, Duchess said:

Would you be interested in overnighting me some spent grains next time you do a porter? Spent porter grains make an excellent addition to homemade bread. I'll pay the shipping!

I'm up for it, how much do you think you want?    

[blackjohn]

I stopped reenacting and jumped back in full time to tabletop gaming. You can buy a lot of games for the price of a musket. Sure, since I never throw anything away, I still have all my stuff, but I'm unlikely to use any of it ever again.

Games I've run lately included Star Trek Adventures, Alien, Vaesen, Old School Essentials, and some others.

[blackjohn]

On 2/12/2023 at 7:22 PM, Duchess said:

One of the things I've become interested in over the last few years is fountain pens. I haven't followed a typical fountain pen enthusiast path preferring, as usual, to do things my own way. But I never completely abandoned sea related things, so there was no passing up this glorious pen by Ryan Krusac. Moose antler, ebony and mother of pearl. It's so finely crafted that the north star sits above the prow of the ship when the pen is capped.

 

What's new with you? What's old? What is both?

I always enjoy seeing you FB pen posts! It is neat to see new life breathed into old pens.

[Mission]

Eight guys took down four aliens? C'mon, son. 

I am researching and writing about day-in-the-life pirate stuff (with a medical bent, 'natch), cycling (1600 miles last year) and working on my art project (my house). For the house, I am currently doing the office (theme: engineering and probably cats, because that's where the litter box goes) and the spare bedroom (theme: art deco and trains). It's 110 years old, so right now I am mostly fixing plaster cracks and refinishing the (formerly) gorgeous wood trim. Oh, and I'm heading up a Rotary project to do a series of pollinator gardens in the local community, so I spent a bunch of time researching that in order to do presentations to sell it. (Turns out, you really don't need to sell it. There are all kinds of grants out there.)

[blackjohn]

8 minutes ago, Mission said:

Eight guys took down four aliens? C'mon, son. 
 

When they can use their pulse rifles, flamers, and smartguns, sure. Especially with unimpeded lines of sight down a long corridor. That was probably the most successful play-through of a mission that I have seen. The norm is for most players to be on a second, or even third character by the end.

Do you still have a DeLorean?

[blackjohn]

Another question for you Mission ol' boy, did you ever do that Jaxxon cosplay?

[Mission]

The Delorean was sold in 2003 or 2004 to put the down-payment on my art project. However, the kitchen is Delorean themed... I even have a DMC grill mounted above the stainless (of course) microwave. 
 

Quote

Another question for you Mission ol' boy, did you ever do that Jaxxon cosplay?

Sort of... I did a Darth Terrabicus cosplay which is basically Jaxxon in Sith robes. (I didn't have a red flightsuit and I didn't want to get one.) For a while, I was doing a lot of cosplay with the twins, but that kind of died off. You can see my cosplays here (the early ones are not really cosplay and they are kind of dopey, but there you are): https://markck.com/pages/costumes/cosplay_costumes.html

 

[Duchess]

1 hour ago, blackjohn said:

I always enjoy seeing you FB pen posts! It is neat to see new life breathed into old pens.

Thank you! It's so satisfying. Particularly the ones that are nearing or over a 100 years old.

2 hours ago, blackjohn said:

I stopped reenacting and jumped back in full time to tabletop gaming. You can buy a lot of games for the price of a musket. Sure, since I never throw anything away, I still have all my stuff, but I'm unlikely to use any of it ever again.

Games I've run lately included Star Trek Adventures, Alien, Vaesen, Old School Essentials, and some others.

 

My husband and I are still running a monthly table top group with a board game focus.  It's been running for more than a decade now, which is hard to believe.

14 hours ago, Stynky Tudor said:

Wait no, you got rid of everything? I'm so sorry to hear about this horrible tragedy - truly devastating.

I'm up for it, how much do you think you want?    

I did have some angst about it. Giving up/changing identities is always a journey. I don't really drink anymore. My parents wanted the equipment out of their house and the place we bought is far too small to house something I likely would never use again. I passed it off to a former student of mine who is very excited to begin her home brewing journey, which made the transition easier.

 

For the grains, maybe 5-6 cups? I use about a cup per batch of bread. It freezes well.

[Stynky Tudor]

15 minutes ago, Duchess said:

For the grains, maybe 5-6 cups? I use about a cup per batch of bread. It freezes well.

Great! Now if I can just remember to set some aside next time we brew.

[William Brand]

I should never be given a microphone and 900 people to control.
 

 

[michaelsbagley]

On 2/12/2023 at 7:22 PM, Duchess said:

One of the things I've become interested in over the last few years is fountain pens. I haven't followed a typical fountain pen enthusiast path preferring, as usual, to do things my own way. But I never completely abandoned sea related things, so there was no passing up this glorious pen by Ryan Krusac. Moose antler, ebony and mother of pearl. It's so finely crafted that the north star sits above the prow of the ship when the pen is capped.

 

What's new with you? What's old? What is both?

That is a gorgeous stylus....

Fountain Pens have become a bit of an obsession of mine as well. I even turn them (from kits).... but nothing that beautiful.

[Duchess]

5 hours ago, michaelsbagley said:

That is a gorgeous stylus....

Fountain Pens have become a bit of an obsession of mine as well. I even turn them (from kits).... but nothing that beautiful.

Please share some pics of what you make! I've played around with 3D some replacement parts for vintage pens, sections and the like but haven't made a whole pen. I'm working on a replica filling mechanism for vacumatics. It started out as piece for a workshop, so people could practice replacing a diaphragm on something delicate but replaceable. But now I'm thinking I can actually use the thing I designed as a replacement part!

[madPete]

On 2/14/2023 at 8:51 AM, William Brand said:

I should never be given a microphone and 900 people to control.
 

OMG - You are an animal indeed!

I'd follow you anywhere Quartermaster! Where's the next Pyrate raid?