I love pens. There is something more about the connection of thought to the motion of handwriting. I'm sure someone has researched it and typed a wonderful essay or paper about it, although I would imagine typing can catch stream of thought more easily.

I own one fountain pen and only use it for the novelty, because I much prefer this pen. You cannot beat Japanese or Korean pens because the particulars of their written languages require good function. Writing kanji or hangul with the Bics you can buy at a gas station would be incredibly frustrating, I imagine.

It writes like pushing melting ice across a smooth surface. The sound of removing and replacing the pen cap makes me feel like a Japanese man spent weeks at a lathe getting the fit perfect just so it would resonate as it does. When you put cap back on, the sound pitches up until it reaches the catch. The suction when placing and removing the cap to and from the back of the pen just makes me feel so satisfied. It's like pulling your finger out of a tube that fits so snuggly around your finger it makes the "pop" at exit, but without the pop.