#fountain pens, inks and paper, #meanderings

Osmiroid/Oswald Copperplate. Nib or Name! Revisiting a favourite blog.

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Osmiroid Copperplate? or Oswald Copperplate?

Some musings on pseudonyms. In both writing and gardening.

Oswald Copperplate. What a great name for a pseudonym. Maybe as magikal as ‘Alter’.

Oswald Copperplate! The name of a writer of script using pen and ink? Writing in your own style is a satisfying process. Looking at your own development with lettering tweaks is very therapeutic.

Writing is all round therapeutic. The simple act of putting anything down on paper. Why? Both the tactile nature in using pen, ink and paper and in what thoughts in words put down in the form of storytelling, poetry, song lyrics and general nutty dutty ness. Writing for the simple act of putting words on paper? Heals the senses.

It seems fun, to me, to write or garden with becoming a different persona. It’s like the comedian Barry Welsh and the names of all his characters.

You smile and talk to yourself at start of the day and, like Jesse in the Fast Show, you say to yourself ”Today I shall mostly be writing as Oswald Copperplate”. Little mad persona inventions to psychologically provide the ’get on with it’ start to the day. A bit like Tom Good both talking to himself to get going on his task or reflecting on successes and failures. It’s a small contribution that boosts humour.

My gardening personalities? Well hey! They emerged last year when I needed motivation and inspiration to tackle a jungle of brambles, ivy and weeds. Not to mention rocks dug up from the ground and chopped down excessive branch brash and resulting piles upon piles of both.

So far? I’ve woken at start of day, looked at the weather and said:

”Today I shall mostly be becoming…………..

The awesome Bartholomew Braithwaite Benjamyn Browne, the Planner. Who keeps changing the story on an hour by hour basis. Because the overall teacher, Mother Nature, actually knows best. And Bartholomew is known to listen to superiority in all things.

The tenacious Walter Workaholic Whimplethorpe, the Workhorse and full on get his sleeves rolled up, but is tired upon tired coz he’s older. But wants to provide his input to the overall team effort.

The sit back, smile and think he’s oh so clever Charles Creativity Chuttlington, the Designer. But he is, in actuality, a novice. An infant with eyes wide open wishing. Designs, he realises, are fluid entities. And other people, as valued friends, can gently say ‘Lovely……but have you considered?’ And Charles being otherwise Bartholomew will nod humbly and say ‘Nope! But willing to go, as said, indeed otherwise’. 

Or the veritable Very Reverential Reginald Radsbottomley, the Recycling Philosophist. Needs to understand consequences. As his lovely wife has shown him. Her customers question the ethics and realities. The customers? Get it both right and wrong. Everyone has to realise, Reginald considers, that there has to be compromises alongside. Weighing up the positive and negative outcomes. 

Thomas Trawler Tarpingood and shall be trawling both books and the internet for inspiration and ideas and finding the concept of Hugelkultur.”

Gardening? As The Good Life showed. A philosophy intended. But with…….Fun times.

Writing? Wonderful ’Me time’ recording ” thoughts, ideas and reflections

By the way. ’Alter’ name?

‘Alter is both a surname and a given name. This was, in part, an omen name which expressed the parents’ hope that the child would live a long life. In part an apotropaic name. Apotropaic magic or protective magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye’. [From Wikipaedia].

16 thoughts on “Osmiroid/Oswald Copperplate. Nib or Name! Revisiting a favourite blog.”

    1. The two shows (The Fast Show and Barry Welsh by John Sparkes) are both comedy shows with various made up characters in sketches. The various characters here regarding the gardening theme are all my own inventions. I retired two years ago and wanted to write blogs more fully. One idea was to write about fictional characters. But I haven’t found the time to expand on this theme. Cheers and all the best.

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    1. Cheers Sheila. I am intending to start writing a fair bit very soon. I have been making recycled leather traveller notebook covers and have bought a fair few dozen small notebooks to use in them. The leather comes from an old large bag I had a while back. I also use old diaries I haven’t used, that have beautiful artwork on the outside cover. Strip out the pages and then line the inside covers with interesting patterned papers. Use the diary pages for spare paper. Cut down to get rid of dates up top.

      The idea when using the covered pocket notebooks is to use them on the go, take them out from the elastic holding them inside the cover and replace with a new one. I make covers that hold three or four. I can theme each one and write quickly without confusing mixing information written into just the one notebook. Lots of YouTube videos on this. Ideas spring to mind, grab the notebook and record them instead of forgetting them. I have themes too. That way I can just record in an individual notebook. Books read or want to read, films to watch or watched and songs heard and liked. A little ‘as to why’ added too.

      You can also line up a bunch of them in a small space, and write down ideas for cooking recipes, aromatherapy synergies, YouTube ideas, song lyrics, etc. No themed limits. And small enough to line them up with titles on the covers to identify and grab when needed. I bought 30 small 30 page notebooks for £18. But I can also make my own individual sized notebooks too if needed.

      This messing about with ‘crafting’ over the last two weeks has been really therapeutic.

      All the best Sheila.

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  4. Ohhh my goodness, WOW!!! Gray, these “recycled leather traveller notebook covers” sound priceless! I can just imagine how yours will turn out due to how gifted you are and with expert craftsmanship! I kind of have an idea, but would need to look these up on YouTube to know exactly what you’re talking about. But I have a few leather journals, one with a little latch on it, very medieval like. And I love them! I love the feel of the etched leather covers! (This is one reason I feel I’ve lived before in olden times.) Anyway, have at it and do offer at least a few for sale please? I’m calling first in line to buy (perhaps via Angie’s shop?) however and whatever you decide to get a few available. I would treasure one made by you.
    You’re so amazing, finding something like this that so suits your personality and soul, Gray, to keep you creating! And of course it’s therapeutic. Yay!!!

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    1. The notebook covers are very simple affairs Sheila. If you look at the Midori or Wanderings Travel journals you will get an idea. I bet you will make one yourself and individualise it. If my skills get better and they become more professional looking, I would send you one. I just gave some passport sized ones to my Dad and Brother. They loved them. I put a little metal tube/bead decoration on the outside containment elastic, a small width of leather to hold back a pen next to the travel notepad/journal and Angie gave me a necklace full of small wooden ethnic rings that I have took apart. I glue a ring onto the top right front cover of the leather. Very nice sage green, terracotta, Indian mustard yellow, etc. colours. No bling! I also found some flat metal copper one ended bracelets that can be hammered down flat. They make a nice ruler and can be contained with a large heavy brass office clip. The brass clip can also be used to hold down the journal paper and keep it all flat whilst writing. I bought three clips. Also, various coloured elastic lengths for the journals too. All Godsends.

      I also looked at leather metal stamps. They have some amazing spirals, Celtic knots and rune stamps on Amazon. You can personalize with them. Or stamp out people’s names if you buy the A to Z /Numbers ones.

      I bet you would really enjoy making your own one Sheila.

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      2. I think the simple notebook designs, and their usability ease, is what I like about them. A patina develops too after constant use. They become ‘friends’. Especially the leather ones. I am buying some different coloured elastic pen holders for identifying each notebook theme/themes. I will write a blog today to explain how this new notebook idea is developing. All the best Sheila.

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