Ron Payne

@accipiterf1

Birder. Reader. Otter Creek Audubon Society President. Vermont eBird hotspot reviewer. Tsundoku master. He/Him. Book reviews in 500-characters or less:

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Ron Payne@accipiterf1· 23d

My July reading month.

An infographic generated by The Storygraph showing @ronpayne's June 2026 reading Wrap-Up showing he read 10 books and 2865 pages, with an average rating of 4.1. Highest rated reads were The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (5 stars), My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell (5 stars), and She Who Knows by Nnedi Okorafor (4 stars). Average book length: 236 pages. Average time to finish: 6 days. Genres read were Fantasy LGBTQIA+, Literary, Magical Realism, and Romance. 100% of the books were fiction. 80% print books, 20% audiobooks.

A collage generated by The Storygraph showing @ronpayne's July 2026 Reads with book covers and star ratings. Chocolat by Joanne Harris (4 stars), My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell (5 stars), The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (5 stars), Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher (4 stars), A Mouthfull of Dust by Nghi Vo (4 stars), A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo (4 stars), Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame by Neon Yang (3 stars), The Wizard by Gene Wolfe (4 stars), She Who Knows by Nnedi Okorafor (4 stars).

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jul 1

Suddenly realizing that even if I don't have the spoons to book blog anymore, I can at least post storygraph wrap-up graphics.

An infographic generated by The Storygraph showing @ronpayne's June 2026 reading Wrap-Up showing he read 6 books and 1,935 pages, with an average rating of 3.38. Highest rated reads were Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (4 stars), The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan (4 stars), and The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks (4 stars). Average book length: 342 pages. Average time to finish: 14 days. Genres read were Science Fiction, Thriller, Historical, Fantasy, and LGBTQIA+ 100% of the books were fiction. 67% audiobooks, 33% print books.

A collage generated by The Storygraph showing @ronpayne's June 2026 Reads with book covers and star ratings. The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper (4 stars), The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (3 stars), The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Naylor (4 stars), The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks (4 stars), The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan (4 stars), Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (4 stars).

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jun 5

Handwritten, cursive text in green ink on lined paper saying "Some people compliment my handwriting. I think they are full of it."

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jun 1

Finished off a bottle of fountain pen ink for the first time ever. A 30ml bottle of Pelikan Blue-Black, which I do not recommend. It's too dry. It took me almost a full year of writing morning pages to get through it, and I'm glad to be almost done with it. Only the 1/2ml I put in a pen to go.

An empty bottle of Pelikan Blau-Schwarz Blue-Black ink tipped on its side with its cap off sitting on a paper towel splattered with various colors of fountain pen ink.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Apr 13

A passage from Timescape by Gregory Benford that I probably would have just breezed past, other than to make a joke about nerds needing pocket protectors, before I got into fountain pens.

A picture of part of a page of a mass market paperback. The text reads:
"Cooper worked in precise ballpoint; Gordon used a Parker fountain pen, even for quick calculations such as this. He preferred the elegant slick slide and sudden choking death of pens, and the touch of importance their broad blue lines gave to a page. One of the reasons he had switched from white shirts to blue was the doomed hope that ink stains on the left breast pocket would be easier to conceal."

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Mar 26

A handwritten, cursive note in red ink on lined paper reading, "That's too many things in your left pocket."

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Mar 7

A library book sale find. Today I learned this is a Michael Whelan cover.

The 1984 Del Rey mass market paperback of 2010: odyssey two by Arthur C. Clarke. The cover shows a spaceship orbiting a planet that has the image of a baby superimposed over it.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jan 3

The funny thing is that the special forces guys who captured Maduro probably traffic more drugs than the entire country of Venezuela does. Source:

The cover of the book, The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special forces by Seth Harp

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Dec 23

I got myself a Peter Pauper Press brass fountain pen with a mushroom design. A surprisingly smooth writer for $20.

A black pen with red and whte mushrooms on the cap sitting on a notepad with the following text written in cursive on it:
Peter Pauper Press

The Write Stuff • Designer Pens
Mushroom Fountain Pen
• Solid brass construction
• Beautiful lacquer finish
• Gold-plated, iridium nib for smooth ink flow (no lie!)
• Fine 0.5mm line
• Universal cartridge and piston

A black pen with red and white mushrooms on the cap sitting on a notepad. The cap is posted to the back and the two-tone gold and silver colored nib is revealed.

Close up of a black fountain pen nib showing the two-tone gold and silver design with embossed scroll pattern.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Sep 12

Here it is. Disassembled Pilot Metropolitan for scale. It fits perfectly onto the section like a cartridge or converter giving a perfect seal to run water through it. I should note this is for the proprietary Pilot cartridges and converters, not the European standard international version.

A translucent, blue, plastic elongated bulb with an tube opening on one end sitting on a folded piece of card stock alongside the cap, body and nib section of a disassembled, purple, Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Aug 17

A corvid-like bird hand drawn in purple ink perched on the ground with its bill open like it's calling with the word "RAWK!" written above it in black ink.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Aug 10

Went to a charity shop today looking for notebooks and instead found a Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop Fountain pen. It had a cartridge with dried ink in it, but it cleaned out easily. I refilled it and it's writing perfectly fine now. Literally. It's an F nib and is by far the the finest nib I own.

A cigar shaped, metallic-purple pen with a decorative silver and blue patterned band in the middle sitting on lined notebook paper on which text is written in cursive in purple ink saying, "Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop <F> Hongdian Purple."

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Aug 5

Yes! Monarch Baby! 🦋 #invertabrates

A Monarch butterfly caterpillar feeding on a common milkweed leaf.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jul 10

Now I have moved morning pages into another B6 sized notebook purchased during the same charity shop visit. This one is something originally sold at Claire's stores, and has paper almost as nice. Just some slight bleed with ill behaved inks, but not with the Preppy I write use, so that's fine.

A softcover B6 notebook with a French flap style closure. The cover has a keyhole on a flap, and the main cover has the text "imagination is the key to unlock your dreams." Sitting next to it is a translucent dark gray Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen.

A page of a B6 journal showing various writing tests listing pens and inks used in them. Holding the page open is a translucent dark gray Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen. The text reads:
"Pen test Sailor Tuzu <M> Diamine Oxblood
Pen test Pelikan Twist <M> Diamine Eau de Nil
Pen test Asvine V126 <M> Diamine Meadow
Pen Test Sailor Lecoule <MF> Sailor Black
Pen Test Ooly Splendid <F> Lierre Sauvage
Pen Test le Grip <?> Noodler's Widow Maker
Pen Test le Grip <?> Pekikan Brilliant Brown
Pen Test Jinhao 10 <F> Pelikan Blue-Black
Pen Test Platinum Preppy <.5> Pelikan Brilliant Black
Pen Test Sailor Feude de Mannen <MF> Pelikan Brilliant Black (followed by three lines at different widths)

A page from a B6 notebook showing writing from the other side showing through and lightly bleeding through the page.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jul 10

I've been doing morning pages for 46 days now, and I finished off this B6 notebook yesterday morning. The stickers on the cover are my decoration covering the branding of some children's charity event. I found it for cheap in a charity shop and it has shocking good paper. No feathering, no bleed...

A B6 notebook with a cardboard brown cover decorated with a Drop In Brewery Sunshine and Hoppieness Golden Ale sticker, and a sticker of a fictional, fork-tailed, parrot-like bird. The notebook has a blue elastic band to hold the cover shut, a blue ribbon bookmark, and a blue pen loop with a translucent, dark gray Platinum Preppy fountain pen stuck in it.

A page of a B6 notebook with a translucent dark gray Platinum Preppy fountain pen holding the page open. various writing samples in sloppy cursive, listing the name of a pen and the ink it is filled with. It reads:
"Asvine V126 Diamine Meadow
Pelikan Twist Diamine Eau de Nil
Sailor Tuzu Diamine Oxblood
Sailor Lecoule Sailor Black
Ooly Splendid J. Hebrin Lierre Sauvage
Le Grip Noodler's Widow Maker
Le Grip Sailor Manyo Sumire
Pilot Precise V5 Red
Pilot Precise V5 Blue
Sharpie S-Gel 0.7 Black
Uni-Ball One-P Black
Pilot Acroball (with a swirly line and the text "smoothness check!"
Jinhao 10 Pelikan Blue-Black
Sailor Fude de Mannen Pelikan Brilliant Black
Le Grip Pelikan Brilliant Brown
Jinhao 10 Colorverse Andromeda
Jinhao 10 Hongdian Purple"

A page of a B6 notebook with a translucent dark gray Platinum Preppy fountain pen holding the page open. The page is blank showing only light show through or "ghosting."

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jun 28

Another update. After struggling through a week and a half of hard starts with Pelikan Blue-Black, I refilled the pen with Hongdian Purple, and it works fine again. If you want a purple fountain pen ink that is just plain purple, Hongdian Purple sure is purple.

A silver Jinhao 10 fountain pen with a wavy guilloche pattern sitting on an notebook below handwritten script in purple ink reading, "Jinhao 10 <F> Hongdian Purple."

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jun 27

I saw an orange butterfly flying around my milkweed patch and thought it was a Monarch, but it turned out to be a Great Spangled Fritillary instead. 🦋 #invertebrate

A butterfly perched on a milkweed leaf showing its brown and tan underwings, with with large white spots. the fringe of one of its orange upperwing can be seen as well.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jun 2

Jinhao 10. It did not work well right out of the minimalist plastic bag it came in. It either didn't like the dryish ink I was using, or it just really needed a serious flush. But now it's writing beautifully. I didn't think I'd like the whole capless fountain pen thing, but gosh, it sure is neat.

A silver colored Jinhao 10 retractable nib fountain pen with a wavy guilloche pattern on a wooden table.

Closeup of a silver colored Jinhao 10 retractable nib fountain pen with a wavy guilloche pattern with the nib extended on a wooden table.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· May 15

New pens. A Uni-ball One P, because I am sick of the crappy ballpoint I've been using for my carry notebook, and a Platinum Preppy, because I am incapable resisting buying a fountain pen I find in a store in real life.

A thick, short, brick orange colored Uni-ball One P gel pen, and a translucent black Platinum Preppy M 05 fountain pen.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Mar 25

I bought a fountain pen at the Dollar Store.

A fountain pen with four cartridges blister packed to a cardboard backing with a $1.25 price tag on it. The backing says:
Fountain Pen/Stylo plume
Includes four refill cartridges
4 Cartouches d'encre inclus
Le Grip Combo
Black ink/Encre noire

A fountain pen with a black barrel and a clear cap. The clip is black with the words "le Grip" printed on it in white.

A fountain pen with a black barrel and a clear cap posted on the back sitting on a notepad. On the notepad, written in cursive is, "Why is this dollar store fountain pen so smooth?!"

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Feb 18

A Common Loon where it probably ought not to be. I'm in contact with people who can probably help if it's necessary. 🪶

A common loon in nonbreeding plumage floating on water.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Feb 7

A meme made from the Facebook Crisis Response status update. It shows a blue pennant above the words, "Marked Safe From Connecticut Sun Today."

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jan 31

My method.

A fountain pen ink sample and an empty fountain pen cartridge stuck into a 1oz plastic tub of blue Play-Doh.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jan 24

Wow. Looks like a pretty big year for Snowy Owls. Just not in Vermont.

An eBird range map for Snowy Owls showing sightings from this year. There are large clusters of them along the St. Lawrence River and around the great lakes, and more modest numbers along the Atlantic Coast. In Vermont there is just one sighting in the north/central part of the State.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jan 18

Seen in the Middlebury village today.

A bus in the colors of the Connecticut Sun WNBA team parked on a snowy street.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Jan 12

A four panel comic from theycantalk.com
Panel 1: A squirrel standing in snow pointing at some tracks says, "you can see where the squirrel's footprints stop"
Panel 2: Close up turning to another squirrel continues, "and where he sprouted wings and flew away.
Panel 3: an above view of the squirrels both looking at the tracks ending in the imprint of owl flight feathers in the snow.
Panel 4: The second squirrel looking up to they sky saying, "whoa."

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Dec 29

This is it. This is the collection. As for inks. Four bottles, 6 samples, and three packs of cartridges.

Seven fountain pens laid in a fanned out pattern. A green Ooly Splendid with its barrel held together with a zip-tie. A black Pilot Varsity. A blue Pilot Varisty. A frost blue Pelikan Twist. A matte black Asvine V126. A red Sailor Tuzu. A Green Sailor Fude de Mannen.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Dec 20

Oh, look how long this thing is. It's like a magic wand! You can post it too, but then it's really absurd.

Two fountain pens, A green and black torpedo shaped Sailor Fude de Mannen and a black and blue Pilot Precise Varsity. The Sailor is about four centimeters longer.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Dec 20

First impressions. The barrel feels cheap and plasticy, but it's just a holder for the nib, so... It came with two black ink cartridges, one of which I installed. At high angle it gives a nice medium-fine line, but writing that way is a bit awkward. at a normal angle it's good for larger writing.

A writing sample on white dot grid paper with a green and black torpedo shaped fountain pen. the test reads. "Sailor Fude de Mannen <MF> (at high angle) - Sailor Black Ink Cart."

"Line variation" Next to three lines of varying width.
"BIG BLOCK!" in thick lines.
"It's a Little Hard to controll!" in cursive.
"But very versitle!" in fine print.

Ron Payne@accipiterf1· Dec 20

You all really let me down here, folks. (It was for sale at a local art supply store. Resistance was futile.)