Marginalia (1)

Well... I knew for many years now that H.P.Lovecraft likes his Waterman pens. I only use pens in primary school almost thirty years ago. But a gift from three years ago from one of my friends rejuvenated my interest in that form of writing. So... My wife takes a note and when she does that the results are surprising. Lately, I've received a parcel with a Waterman pen... Try it and was surprised how good and pleasant writing is with that pen. Now I know why Lovecraft wrote these words...

“You’ll recall that I obtained a pen a piece for SH (Sonia) & myself last October at a price of $1.28 … we found the sale still on [&] the salesman still willing to make exchanges. …to obtain real satisfaction one must invest in a real Waterman … I did not escape from the emporium till a $6.25 Waterman reposed in my pocket — a modern self-filler corresponding to the ancient $6.00 type which I bought in 1906 & lost seventeen years later amidst the sands of Marblehead Neck in the summer of 1923 … the feed is certainly a relief after sundry makeshifts — tho’ I think I’ll change this especial model tomorrow for one with a slightly coarser point — one less likely to scratch on rough paper. It is certainly good to be back among the Watermans again …” — Lovecraft to Lillian Clark on 30th January 1926.

[The “sundry makeshifts” apparently included a self-filling Conklin, loaned from Moe after Lovecraft’s pen was lost “amid the sands of Marblehead”]. 

Library Update (11)

Last time I show You my newest possessions of Stefan Grabiński's books. They are now on my "List of Shame". A couple of days later I've received another package. This time parcel comes from the Polish publisher of The Call of Cthulhu - Black Monk. Not an RPG book itself, but second in line of Paragraph Games - Beyond the Mountains of Madness! I will play it when the winter comes...

Library Update (10)

This time something from my corner of the planet. At the same time that H.P.Lovecraft wrote some of his best stories, in Poland wrote another great horror writer - Stefan Grabiński. He wrote super cool stories and novellas. This is the second publication of his works, the first since his death in 1936. Those books I've bought are from 1980, so they are a little older than me! I think these are completely weird works of this writer. They are older than me! I've got other versions of this book, but they are classics for me. If You never read something from S. Grabiński I highly recommend changing it. He is so... Weird and special. Especially for Polish readers. Another three positions to my "List of Shame".

P.S. It's a shame that nobody used his creations for some roleplaying adventures.

 

Book Nook

I was fascinated for some time now with the idea of a book nook. At last idea of one cleared in my head. I took Rolls Royce Armoured Car I use as a prop in the Armoured Angels (best adventure in that collection) scenario from Fearful Passages and ask my wife to create an entrance to an ancient temple. So after a couple of hours, we've got the box, the stone wall with the entrance to the temple. Also, I find a nice miniature of some Archeologist and paint it. Also got some form of moss to enrich the overall scenery and little led tea lights for ambient light. 

Building the wall.

Lights and moss.

Armored car, only one wall completed and another miniature for tests.

Gluing everything together.

Top-down view.

Above You can see different kinds of color palettes I can create with LED tealights.