I have a pen.A very expensive pen.
I have never used it.
Because it is expensive.
And it doesn't work.
It is this pen
It was a prize in a writing competition many years ago. So long ago that, if you squinted slightly, I could have almost passed for a young 'un. Pebble Mill was on the TV and it was this very programme in which they said 'write a story and if you win, we will give you a pen and put your name on screen'. Denise Robertson, bless her, was the judge. The story was awful. It had a moral. But soon I was the owner of a very fine, expensive pen (that doesn't work) and a book (paperback) signed by some writer I can't remember. Sally someone. She'd probably been in the studio the previous week and done them a favour. And she didn't so much sign the book as just write her name, in the top corner like she owned it.
Anyway. The pen. I could see it was a nice pen but as it didn't work, I didn't really bond with it. I could have bought a replacement refill but refills for the montblanc solitaire meisterstuck 1648 are not cheap. And besides, what would I do with an expensive pen apart from lose it. So it stays in a drawer. Every so often, usually when faced with the gas bill, I get it out and debate whether to sell it. But I dither. Sometimes I think I'll splurge, buy a refill and see if old Monty and I can bond over some words. Sometimes it reminds me of the day when Denise Robertson announced my name and I pogo-ed vigorously for a few minutes. But it also reminds me of something else that happened that day. The phone rang and I thought it would be my mother bursting with congratulations. Well, it was her alright but her voice was funny. My father had been attacked at work - hit over the head with a hammer in a bungled burglary and left for dead. He didn't die but that's a story for another time.
So it was a bit of a mixed day. And the pen remains... just a lump of expensive metal to which I have no real emotional attachment. Very pretty but not fully functioning. A bit like a WAG amongst pens. Which may, or may not be sold.
37 comments:
God, I'm left reeling with the story about your Dad..... Why dont you auction the pen? Fx
It is a beautiful pen, though. Why don't you check out Ebay and see what these ones usually sell for? At least then you'll know if it's worth selling it or not.
The story about your Dad sounds bad! No wonder that day doesn't just hold good memories.
Still, I don't think you should sell the pen.
That story about your dad is incredible - rather puts the pen in its place. Mor eplease!
Good grief, that sounds scary about your Dad. I hope he's okay.
I've also got a Mont Blank pen but I've also never used it. I couldn't work out how to plug it into the computer.
$600! Good grief, your story must have had a very strong moral ending to have won you a pen worth $600.
I only won a little medal for my writing probably cos I wouldn't have recognised a moral even if it was wearing fishnet tights and high heels.
Sell the pen, Lane and tell us the story about your Dad if you care to. It sounds like he got away with his life.
Oh my word, Lane, your poor Dad. Crumbs, ALSO, you write so well... you had me chuckling away, and then I was going, 'oh my God.' To what happened to your Dad.
As for the pen, if it has memories of pogo-ing around the room, best keep it!
Although they say ONLY keep things if they are beautiful or useful, don't they? Gawd, I'm wondering if they do actually say that now!
Perhaps now is not the best time to sell anything but I'd sell at some later stage if I were you.
I'm glad your Dad lived to tell the tale but that must have been really scary for all of you!!
As for the pen, well, if your going to sell it then use the money to buy yourself something that you really want rather than to pay a bill.
C x
Ps. There is an award for you over at mine :-)
That is absolutely bloody shocking Lane. You must feel like ripping their heads off for hurting your pa like that. I am truly sickened to read what has happened as you must all be so upset and worried about this. It's the after effects that are the longest lasting damage. Hope the cretinous b'stards get what is coming to them.
I'm off for a moan now..
OMG what a horrifying story about your Dad. I can see why you didn't bond with the pen.
I can see why you have mixed feelings about the whole thing. That must have been such a surreal day. Maybe selling the pen would be therapeutic.
I was reading this and thinking 'what is wrong with this woman - she must use the pen'. And then I got to the bit about your dad ... Good God, no wonder you can't get along with that pen. You should have had such a huge celebration that day, affirmation of your talent. How very, very sad.
Lane,
the "Meisterstueck" pen has a cameo in "The shadow of the Wind"(highly recommended)
OOOOO! A Mont Blanc! Covert, covert. They go for a small fortune on Ebay. I keep looking hoping I'll find a bargin, never do.
Bloody hell! Hit over the head with a hammer!?!?! I hope he got a BIG compensation payout for that one.
It's a real shame that you haven't bonded with your expensive pen but congratulations on winning it. When I retired my US bosses bought me a Mont Blanc pen with my initials engraved in italics on the handle. I really treasure it and keep it on my desk at home (afraid to lose it). The refills cost about £5. I hope you'll keep your pen on your desk, use it and then grow to love it.
Lane, your writing packs a real punch sometimes, and is always fascinating.
Maybe if you sold the pen you could use the money to buy yourself something that will recall only happy memories one day :o)
The worst thing about using something valuable is indeed the anxiety factor - putting it down carefully, not sucking the end, not letting it roll off the table and be carted away by the canines for further investigation. It's a big responsibility. I've got a pen my mother gave my father for their silver wedding anniversary. It is beautiful like yours but I never use it - it's too fancy. I prefer a basic Bic and then I can chew the end happily.
Dreadful story about your dad there - what a nightmare that must have been.
Yikes, what a story -- and you wrote it so well I was laughing and then, whammo. I suppose that was a while ago and all's well now, but -- as I said before -- yikes!
I have a pen just like that! My bank created a big blooper and I complained. I received a letter saying "sorry" and would I like to choose a present. I chose the pen over case of wine, chocs or flowers. I looked up the pen on internet and found it was worth £40.00. The pen arrived shiny and new about 5 months later but it refused to function. Perhaps I should write another complaints letter and choose the flowers?
Reading Lindsay's comment I'm wondering if any of those pens actually work. Maybe they make all the money on the refills.
I say put it up on ebay. It sounds like it's not worth anything to you but rather bad memories.
Just think what you could do with the bit of money you might get for it. You could buy a whole box of pens that actually write! (with you at the wheel of course)
I do hope your poor father was all right after such a terrifying attack.
Your pen is gorgeous, and your story must have been good to win it too.x
While I was reading this I was formulating what I wanted to say to you in my comment, about how I thought that the pen must mean something to you because you have kept it for so long, and I was going to suggest that you bite the bullet and buy that expensive refill. But damn. When I got to that part about how it also drummed up the memories about your dad and what had happened to him that day I came to a full stop. Such a mix of emotions associated with that lump of expensive metal... If I were you I'd just put it back into the draw... I have this quote I just added as a sig to my emails, and reading this made me think of it. "Life is like writing with a pen; you can cross out your past but you cannot erase it. - Anonymous
That's a super picture of a super pen so could you frame the picture - after writing on it the date of your national competition win - and sell the pen?
Terrible about the attack on your father.
Intrigued as to what book you won.
And well done you.
Right or should I say write. Sell the blinkin' pen woman and go out and buy YOURSELF something nice with the money - say like a colourful collection of notebooks, a case of fine wine, a day ticket up to London or the Coast.
Hope your Dad was OK and had no lasting problems m'dear. TFx
I'm sorry the pen holds sad memories and also that it never worked. Why not get rid and treat yourself as TF suggests?
I think Fiona's suggestion that you photograph the pen and then sell it is a good one - best of both worlds. If that pen had been meant to be an inspirational tool it would have been by now - sell it and get something more congenial. Congratulations on the competition win (I know what it's like to pogo ...!) - but blimey, what an efficient ambush partway through your anecdote! What a terrible thing to happen - and then you tell us it's a story for another day! Hope it will be a day sometime soon as we're all racked with curiosity, Lane.
Bought myself a Monty once. Too heavy. Given Cross pen and pencil sets before but the ink wasn't "juicy" enough and the lead too hard--put away in original box. Bought a green marble fountain pen in Salisbury and used it for years--even taped top and bottom together. Nice town--pen to prove it.
Reading this post was akin to being on a roller coaster ride. I enjoyed it but wasn't sure what was coming next which made me a bit nervous. I laughed lots too until I got the bit about your dad :(
Blimey, fancy having two such monumental bursts of news in one go :0(
I would sell the pen and buy yourself a nice replacement, one that holds happier memories. I was given a Mont Blanc fountain pen a few years ago and I absolutely love it - along with my Waterman brown ink.
Proper writers always have to have a special writing pen, even if it's not an expensive one.
X
It's very strange how life gives then takes away in one moment. Still, I'd bet you'd rather have had a working dad than a working pen any day!
I should be more affected by your pen. Perhaps you have communicated too well your emotional detachment from it.
I am fairly shocked about your dad, and am left idly speculating about jobs that involve heads and hammers:
DIY storekeeper
Sub Post Master
Security Guard
Vicar
But mainly I'm hoping you've moved on from writing moral stories to writing amoral ones. So much more fun.
Thanks for your comments chaps. Sorry not to reply individually but my laptop has decided to play dead. Quite what can be saved from it, if anything, is still in the hands of the Geek Gods.
Hope to be back soon.
God Lane that's terrible about your Dad! How awful..thank God he was ok.
I think you should keep the pen, useless or not, you still won it! and it looks pretty.
Lord. Sell it and buy your dad a drink. Sounds like he needs one (I'm leaving out tasteless joke about how he can have one drink, but don't let him get hammered). Hope he's ok.
That was quite the story, Lane. I can see why you never bonded with the pen, even if it's beautiful and a lovely prize. I'm so curious to read the story about your dad now too.
Hope you find a good refill and bond with the pen, or sell it and buy yourself something lovely.
x
What an extraordinary post that was! Brilliant. Isn't it funny how inanimate objects can hold such memories and meanings for us. I'll still be reading you Lane ... see you soon!
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