A blog about writing, sketching, running and other things
Started out extra early today, so ran most of my run in the dark.
Two geese and a coot:
Mom and dad duck bringing their babies to the water’s edge:
Duck and egret ignoring each other on the exposed riverbed:
10k done, and my Egyptian goose friend approves:
On Sunday’s running group meet I tripped on a bit of uneven sidewalk in an unlit section of the park. I blocked my fall with my hands and knees, saving my head but tearing my tights and the skin off my knees. So I’ve been on a running hiatus until Friday, giving my knees time to heal. This meant that this week’s 10k was slow, as I was both out of shape and wary of the sidewalk, but at least I got it done.
Spur-winged lapwings waded along the riverbank:
The cormorants, wintering near the river, have a thing for this eucalyptus:
Two Egyptian geese perched on the river edge:
Rowing on the river:
A little egret fishing:
I also saw a moorhen and a pied kingfisher, but didn’t get the chance to photograph them.
Another 10k in the books:
I planned to review the Sharpie brush pen, after spending the best part of a week with it, but as it turns out, I forgot it at the office. I’ve been using the Pentel Fude Touch Brush Sign Pen instead, so here’s a review of this boring little brush pen instead.
Today’s journal comic/review, drawn on a Moleskine Star Wars crawl text blank notebook. This paper is smooth, although not Rhodia smooth, but the pen still really dragged on it. It was worse on any sort of paper with even the slightest tooth, making it super not fun to use.
The brush pen tip is pretty firm, which means that you get a medium amount of line variation, but that it’s very easy to control. If you’re starting out in the wild world of brush pens, either for drawing or lettering, this tip grade is probably the best for you.
The black ink is black, and not greyish or brownish, and completely not waterproof, which can be a good thing (if you want to “stretch” it or use it for shading, as wet it produces a good 50% cool grey), or a terrible thing (if you want to combine it with watercolours).
The pen body itself looks and feels cheap and plasticy, which isn’t too unusual in the disposable brush pen market. Why do all these companies have a thing for a dark pen body with pronounced gold lettered marketing splashed all over it? Pentel’s also put sparkles in its, body, just for some extra garish fun.
The pen is torpedo shaped with facets along the body that somewhat help keep the pen from rolling. It’s borderline too thin to use for long periods of time without cramping, but otherwise it’s comfortable to hold and use.
The Pentel Fude Brush Sign Pen would be a good beginners’ brush pen if there wasn’t so much competition at the same price. As it is, buy a Zebra brush pen, which allows for greater line variation, or a Kuretake brush pen, which is also waterproof, or add a little more and get the experience of two brush pens in one with the Pilot Futayaku. As it is, this Pentel pen lacks enough line variation to make it fun and interesting to use, and it isn’t cheap enough to justify buying it over the competition.
Journal comic created with a Sharpie brush pen on a Moleskine Star Wars crawl text limited edition blank notebook.
And there’s a police station 200 meters away…
Journal comic drawn with a Sharpie brush pen, Pilot Hi Tec-C pens, and a Zebra grey mildliner highlighter on a Moleskine Star Wars scroll text limited edition blank notebook.
Journal comic for January 13th, 2019. Sharpie brush pen on a Moleskine blank Star Wars crawl text limited edition notebook.
Started this week’s long run in the cold, very dark pre-dawn, with a deserted promenade mostly to myself. Things started looking up near the halfway point, with the sun rising and warming things up a little. I’ve had almost a week’s running hiatus because of the rain, so getting back to it on Friday and today (Saturday) was painful, but in a good kind of way.
My iPhone 8 died on me on Wednesday night and is now getting checked out in the lab, so these are iPhone 6 photos, so you’ll extra have to forgive me for the quality. And with that, here are a few pretty, pretty pictures:
I set out at 6AM for my long run and was grateful for it, after last weekend’s pouring rain and freezing cold. A heron greeted me as I entered the park (both it and the fishermen behind it were fishing, but I think that it had more luck then they did, judging by their sour faces).
The owner of the paddleboats was trying to get the seagulls off his boats using homemade contraptions made out of string, poles and old CDs. I wished him the best of luck but had a feeling that it wouldn’t really work. 
Another heron was fishing right across the paddleboat pier, and I only wish that I had a better camera so you could have seen more than a whitish smudge.
On my way back I got to witness just how effective the paddleboats’ guy’s contraption was (not very). You can almost hear the gulls laughing.
A bittern was perched on the the reeds, ready to pounce.
You know that you’re a terrible fisherman when a little egret is standing right next to you, just waiting for you to fail and throw it your small fry.
10k done and dusted. Can you hear the gulls laughing?
I started running before 5AM this week, and so taking pictures wasn’t really an option. It was very cold, very dark, and I saw a night heron and some bats, but that’s it.
Sunrise over the Tel Aviv Marina:
Later on I went to Haifa for the Holiday of Holidays celebration, so to make up for the non existent running photos, here are some Christmas ones instead:
Writing at Large 