Long time between posts, but we've been a bit busy

Only two days and 3,500 words left. Sounds like I may make it this year and be able to say once more that I wrote a novel in just 30 days. To be fair, the book won't be complete come December 1st, but I will have met the requirements to be a winner of NaNoWriMo (in fact, my wife is sitting next to me ordering my winners shirt). 50,000 words in just 30 days is tough, but the feeling of completing that massive goal feels pretty good. 

The kids are pushing through on their own writing goals, pushing through that last barrier between them and crossing that line that they have set for themselves. Whether they finish or not, I am proud of each of them for taking on the challenge to begin with, and hope that this experience will spark the joy of writing in them. 

Thank you for all of the support that you have given to me and the kids over the years. This month would not be possible without it. December 1st I can finally slow down, so be on the lookout for more posts to come. 

Happy Fountain Pen Day!

We are one week into NaNoWriMo, and the kids are putting words in the page at an amazing rate. This might be a banner year for word counts. 

Today is National Fountain Pen day! Started in 2012, National Fountain Pen Day was started to celebrate and share, embrace and promote the use of fountain pens. Check out FountainPenDay.org for more details. 

To celebrate, I'm at the beach. I've got my pen and journal and I'll be plugging away on my word count all day long. So far I'm 1,000 words behind, but there's plenty of time to catch up. It's a rainy and cold day here, but I'm weird and like beachy days like this. I love rain at the beach. 

So grab your favorite pen and write a letter, journal entry or just doodle an celebrate your love of fountain pens. 

Preping for NaNoWriMo

A few students have asked about things that they can do to get ready for November. Remember, you cannot count any words until November 1st, but there are plenty of planning options available.

First off, I'd recommend checking out this page and reading through some of the planning options they suggest: NaNo Prep - Planning vs. Pantsing.

Concerning those of you who are wondering what your word count should be, look at these two places: Word Count Calculator & Setting a Word Count Goal.

Good luck in your planning. We'll start meeting around October 1st to plan out those exciting adventures!

The School Year is Here!

And here come the writers.

I hope that everyone has had a great summer. Now that we have things rolling along here at Hutto Middle School, it is now time to start planning for that eventful month of November. I already have quite a few kids that are signed up for this year's NaNoWriMo. Most are repeat writers, but I am starting to get the 6th graders interested as well. As donations and prizes start to show up, I'm starting to get more and more kids stopping by my windows to check out the goodies.

Thank you to Laura Kellner at Kikkerland Design for the boxes of Leuchtturm pocket notebooks (I had to specifically as how to pronounce the name. Try luke-term). Also thanks to Philip Wang and TWSBI for donating some great pens for the third year in a row! (I'll have pictures of those pens coming soon).

As promised in my earlier email, there were a couple of stories that I wanted to share. I'll relay one of those today and the next soon.

One of my former students (she is in high school now) stopped me one day during summer band and excitedly proclaimed, "I bought a fountain pen this summer!" While on a family trip to Colorado, this student visited an antique store with her mother, and there in the glass case was a fountain pen.

(sorry for the sideways picture)

It is an older style Tuckersharp lever filler, and it was the only thing that she wanted. We've discussed how to water test it for leaks, and how to fill it from a bottle of ink. When I get some time, I'll get over to the high school and walk her through the process, but I am proud to saw that there is a new fountain pen geek in the making. And without the support of all our sponsors over the years, it would not have been possible.

Thank you again for the help over the years. I honestly believe that I would not have been as successful if it had not been for all of you. If you can help out again this year, I -- and the kids -- would appreciate it.

Brent
brent.acuff@hutto.txed.net

Sculpting new geeks.

The last day of school. A joy for teachers; the bane of parents...

The last of the kids have brought their pens in for ink refills before the summer, and now it's time to get things closed up for summer. All of the kids are going through the end of day parties, yearbook signings, and good-byes for summer, but a few of the kids have asked to hang out in the band hall and work on their geekiness.

Killer Bunnies has been the favorite this week, but there are a few that have had a lot of fun with Munchkins. I actually have two versions in the box: Munchkin Booty (pirates) and Munchkin Bites (vampires & werewolves).

I have had a lot of fun introducing these kids to games that don't require batteries or cables. Honestly, I'm not sure that some of them realized games like these exists.

So now I have a new moniker to add to my list. I'm the guy who writes with "old" pens, and the guy who plays "old" games.

And I like those titles!

It's Gone... Again!

And once more, my beloved Fisher Space Pen is gone. Slipped out of my pocket sometime the last Saturday, and despite looking everywhere for it, no luck.

This particular pen was given to me by my father a long time ago. It's dented and scratched, there's some rust on the inside of the cap, but it goes with me everywhere (well, WENT with me everywhere...). This was the pen that was always in my pocket -- at the grocery store, beach, pool... You name it, that pen was there.

The Fisher Space Pen is one of those pens that I think everyone needs to own. It will write anywhere (come on... Anything designed to write in SPACE, will write anywhere). The bullet pen fits easily in a pocket and is always there when you need it. It is not the go-to pen that I pick up when writing a book or short story, but it is the workhorse that will do what you want, when you need it.

And it's gone...

I'll definitely be replacing my Space Pen at some point, but not before I head to the beach next Sunday (and it was going to be my beach pen...). The blue or black Field Notes Space pens are in the lead.

 In the meantime, I'll have to make do with something a little less than perfect for my pocket.

I'm a winner!

For someone who enjoys nice pens and paper, winning an "Ugly Pen Contest" is something of a love-hate thing. A while back, I came across a post from Pens Boutique on Facebook, asking their followers to submit their most ugly pen. The one with the most votes would win a White Leather Retro 51 Tornado. I scoured my school desk looking for something to post, and came across the perfect pen.

That's the "ugly pen" next to the prize Leather Tornado. The pen was given to me by my father who knows I love pens AND pirates. He is actually the one who started me on my pen obsession when he gave me a Sheaffer Prelude almost eight years ago. And what could be better than a pirate pen? 

Maybe three pirate pens (with the Tornado for reference). These three pirate pens live on my desk at school in their own special cup which read "Dead 'til I gets me coffee." (Yes, I have a thing for pirates. Unknow to me was all of the extras that were in the box with it! A special thanks goes out to Pens Boutique for the giveaway and all the extras.

My six year old daughter has already claimed one of the pink pencils (and her mom the rest...), and I'll use the extra winnings as prizes for my writing club. The blue Preppy pen is tagged for one of my wife's students who have been writing his own zombie story. I always try to encourage and reward young writers, whether they are my students or not. And thanks to all of you, I have been able to do that.

School is wrapping up soon, which means we are all in super stress mode trying to finish up. My apologies if posts are sporadic. I'll try to get on a more frequent schedule. 

Take care, and keep those pens fill with ink!

Edit: added clickable links to Pens Boutique

Current pen: Lamy Vista with ink converter and fine nib
Current ink: Noodler's Army Green (original version)