I must confess I am not up to date with the latest technical gizmos. So much technology is around today that I believe most people have really lost their identity. I do not think they will soon recover.

I am not against modern technology; I simply cannot keep up with it. I would vote for anybody who would call a moratorium on all updates for the next five years. As soon as I get a product, it is out of date and I need, desperately need, an update if I am going to benefit from this product.

This brings me to the subject of the Selfie. It took me a long time to understand what this was. My clock is not always ticking. My idea of a Selfie is someone who is self-centered. How was I to know it had something to do with taking your own picture? I am not sure what to call people who take their own picture, but the modern term today is Selfie.

People want to believe that they are as good as their Selfie. I do not believe that for one moment. If I am as good as my Selfie, I am in pretty bad shape. I know you can Photoshop a picture to make yourself look a lot better, but then I ask, is that really a Selfie?

I think there are other ways to evaluate yourself.

For me, my worth has to do with the pens I use. The Selfie that I took has no class and certainly lacks a lot of dignity.

Nothing is more personal than a person’s pen. I never leave home without mine.

In fact, I carry on my person at all times a variety of pens. There is a pen for every activity. You can tell a lot about a person by the pen that they use. In my book, it is a fountain pen and I have a variety of them in my personal collection.

When it comes to pens, I have a collection that, well, let’s say it exceeds a few. I have been collecting these pens since I have been able to write. After all, a writer without a pen is not really a writer.

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage has the opinion that I am a wee bit obsessive about my pen collection. I remember in exasperation at my growing pen collection, she once asked, “If you had to choose between me or your pens, which would you choose?”

As a man who has been a husband for more decades and I care to remember, certain questions that come from the other side of this marriage equation should never be answered and should be avoided at all costs. When such questions are put forth, the name of the game is switch the topic as quickly as possible.

I do not want it to be, an “either/or” kind of a situation. I choose to keep both, which has made me happy for so many years.

My idea is simply this, if something is worth writing it is worth writing with a fountain pen. You can tell a lot about a person by the pen they use and if it is a fountain pen, that tells me volumes about that person.

A fountain pen is the choice of the really serious writer. I know there are all kinds of pens these days, and I have my share of them, but when it comes to serious writing, it always has to be a fountain pen. There is something about a fountain pen that makes words flow almost effortlessly.

I take pride in my fountain pens and always have on my person the fountain pen for the day. Each day calls for a special fountain pen. Woe be unto the person who confuses one pen with the wrong day. After all, let us get serious about this fountain pen business.

I was at the post office jotting down some notes while I was waiting in line just using and enjoying my fountain pen. The person in front of me turned around and said, “Sir, could I borrow your pen for a moment?”

There are questions and then there are questions. I froze and simply stared at her. I like being a gentleman as much as I can but when it comes to a fountain pen I really draw the line. Fortunately, for me, I had another pen, which was not a fountain pen for such emergencies as this. Not everybody is worthy of using a fountain pen, especially my fountain pen.

I do not think it is appropriate for someone to ask to borrow one of my pens!

Also, on the other side of the counter, I do not borrow or use somebody else’s pen. I know it may be a phobia on my part, but I am sticking to it. When I go to the counter to pay for lunch, for example, the cashier always offers one of her pens. I refuse to use a pen that has been used by a million other people. I am not a germ-a-phobic, just a pen-a-phobic.

Davidunderstood this when he wrote, “My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer” (Psalm 45:1).

A person’s value is determined by what he or she values the most.