Since @djundjila posted his, let me show you the latest testament to my complete inability to control myself.
You are seeing in the top row a MRED/Le Père Lucien badger brush made of Ebony, then the matching aftershave and soap. The scent profile is vintage, and if you want to see more, check here.
In the center, a vintage Parker 51 fountain pen with an M nib from the 1950s, in excellent condition (yes, another expensive hobby), and which writes excellently.
On the bottom (and according to Gemini), a Man-Hoshi 24 (meaning “Full Star”) Japanese straight razor from the 1950 or 1960s with celluloid scales. It has an asymmetric kamisori grind, and came in a very inoffensive state of honing. I honed it yesterday, and saw under the microscope that there is an area where there are slight problems on the edge. We’ll see how this works out in a shave.
But now, I swear that it will be GRUYE!
I like the idea of doing calligraphy, but I can’t see myself practicing and putting in the work to git gud 😬
It takes quite some time indeed. I haven’t been practicing much lately… I wonder if you get a bit of a benefit from being able to do straight razor shaving. Something about the fine motor skills transferring over, moving an object delicately with mostly arm movement, having a soft touch / managing pressure.