Any fountain pen if bad for me - being a lefty, it means that the page becomes an enormous smudge - or it means that my hand becomes a weird crab-esque shape. That said I've started teaching myself to write with my right hand - after a week it's going pretty well so I might be able to give a decent pen a go at some point.
I love buying quality kit whenever making a purchase. If the internet has taught me anything it's that there's a whole world behind every item out there and a true connoiseur explores them all when making a purchase. Of course, there's always the finer experiences as well. A few things I enjoy: -Late night diner trips with friends. -Long and empty roads on a sunny day. Even more once I get my hands on a decent car. -Getting out into the wild. Not much beats looking out for miles and seeing not a single trace of man. -Having a good talk. Sitting down and having a meaningful conversation is somewhat rare in a busy world.
My dad received his Mont Blanc ball point pen about 15 years ago at work but never used it. He offered it to me about a year ago and I have been using it everyday since. My parents bought me my fountain pen (Le Grande with extra fine nib) for my 25th back in January. I take it everywhere with me and use it everyday. I don't let it out of my site when I am out of the office!
I'd agree with many of the aforementioned - need to get into the habit of wearing watches, in work it's just not practical which sort of put me off them. The only thing I can add is my hand made 23 bottle Llanberis Slate wine rack. Beautifully and naturally made, and unique. Shame it's in storage at the moment, not sure I trust it in a shared house!
My personal list: Mechanical Keyboards Headphones IPS Monitors Good cookware Custom Desks (coming soon a project log, which will include a sold maple/cherry desk ) SSD
You are thinking of civet coffee. My coffee of choice is Monsoon Malabar. The best one I know of is sold by the Algerian Coffee Company in Soho, London.
The cool side of the pillow and the 1 hour snooze button on Sunday mornings. Also +1 for nice pens. At the moment I only have two really good pens - a Porsche design TecFlex ballpoint & rollerball. I am not really a huge fan of fountain pens, but owning a good pen still makes me appreciate good writing instruments I'm hoping to get the TecFlex mechanical pencil at some point to complete the set - there's a fountain pen as well but I'm not interested in buying it
Kopi Luwak actually isn't too bad. Not worth the price in terms of taste, but you have to have it at least once to say you've had it. A double-and-a-bit hit of Fazenda Cachoeira greets me every morning, something midway between espresso and ristretto - I'm a sucker for a thick, molassesly kick when it comes to espresso. When it comes to filter, La Ilusión is my cup of choice. I got rid of the vac pot a while back due to it's inconvenience though, but I've learned to love the ease of use of a somewhat more traditional filter maker. Most of the Indian coffees taste like an ashtray to me, but Monsoon Malabar seems pretty well regarded, I'm just not a fan though. If anyone hadn't guessed, coffee is one of my "finer things". As you can see from my avatar, I'm very clearly serious about coffee. Wine is the other one, for me. Hi-fi, knives, watches - all that stuff too I suppose, I appreciate quality. IMO though, they're the sort of things that once you get the "right" one, it's just there - It's no longer a "finer thing", just part of everyday life. I enjoy just sitting back and taking in music on the hi-fi for instance (perhaps with a glass of wine or cup of coffee...), but I wouldn't exactly call it indulgent or a "finer thing". And perhaps a guilty pleasure, but I'm a sucker for fashion. Call me shallow, but I could totally whip together a GQ photo-shoot in a pinch... I'll blame the Mrs for that one though, her wardrobe still puts mine to shame. I can't quite squeeze in to a size 6 though.
Earl grey tea. Drink loads of the stuff. Endorsed by Captain Picard. Grey goose, frozen. Goes down beautifully. Thickish sirloin, cooked medium in my smoking hot ribbed Le Creuset Skillet. Le Creuset cookware is worth a mention as well, those pans will outlast you. Sleep -- the deep restful kind that I never get anymore :S BBQ-- You all forgot my BBQ thread! I'm still refining my technique. Haven't had much opportunity due to the relentless crap weather, spoke too soon when I thought there was actually going to be a summer here this year. Education -- Knowing stuff is cool -- doesn't necessarily need to be anything practical or from a high ranking institution, I just feel its a hallmark of a refined gentlemen to read philosophy, religion, politics etc. I like the concept of quality -- proper quality, not brand names -- so many of the things we consume and use in everyday life are mass produced low quality trash.
This struck a chord with me. I distinctly remember going outside and watching the sunrise (as I will do this fairly often when work allows) whilst the mass grounding was in force due to the Icelandic volcano. I have never seen such a beautiful or awe inspiring sight, complete sunrise without a single contrail anywhere, in any direction, for probably a thousand miles; even the skies over the Sahara had the odd one or two. That will stay with me forever. I have to agree with the comfy bed too. Like wise it's the morning when it's always at it's most comfy. I don't sleep well at all regardless of bed quality but when you get the position just right (with a cold pillow of course ) it is bliss. One last one for me is swords and/or non-kitchen blades of varying forms. Not for any bizarre obsession but simply for therapeutic reasons. Sitting polishing swords is so relaxing and I have no idea why. In fact anything like I find therapeutic, friends dirty PC's is a classic one that I will happily sit and do enjoying every minute of it. Maybe that's some hint of a slightly OCD character but I don't care, it keeps me occupied for a couple of hours. (Anyway, I don't have OCD I have CDO, it's like OCD but with the letters in alphabetical order, as they should be lol)
Good audio for me. I'm not talking about some soundblaster card through some creative 5.1 speakers audio, I'm talking about A live band through a Midas desk, into 1000's of watts of Lab Gruppen amps and out of some amazing l'Acoustics V-Dosc. Luckily that's what I work with now so I wont complain However honestly, I've been spoiled. At home now I'm always disappointed! But honestly, there is no better large speaker brand than l'Acoustics. I challenge anyone to dispute that!
Ah, tea: the amber nectar. China Yunnan Black Gold for me, or Gabalong Oolong. But also Ti Guan Ye Oolong, a good quality green tea like Spiral of Spring Jade or Guyokore Yame Sencha. Or Silver Needle. I like tea.
Very true, my family has a set and they are fantastic for cooking in. They hold heat extremely well too, we cooked a dinner for some friends and they arrived over an hour later. Worried that dinner would need re-heating we took the lids off the pans and the food was still scorching hot! Awesome. Forgot to mention, the same set of pans are older than me (22) and they still cook perfectly. Infact, their so old that the value of money has changed so much that when you look back on it you wonder why people would buy any other set of pans.
For me, when I see the below I think - "what else matters?" This is a photo of my 26month old son last week. The key part to this is he, on his own, worked out that the three elements all had to work together to get the end result. The balls, the holes and the button - the blue button doesn't work until all the holes are covered. Unaided he worked it out, I am not sure what he was more elated about - the end result or the fact he worked it out himself. I will probably never know.
I can't really say that I'd consider a lot of the things in this thread to be "fine". Children and family, time spent with friends, your health, I'd consider those to be fine things. Physical belongings, I've never put much stock by them, but the things that make you happy, that make you laugh and make you feel relaxed, those are the things worth cherishing. That's not to say I don't have the "classical" fine things, a mechanical keyboard, IPS monitors, good headphones, a Cross fountain pen, etc. It's just that I could still be just fine without them.
Interesting Nexxo... Monsoon Malabar is my partners favourite, she's not running low at the moment, but I like treating her, so I'll see what her thoughts are (and some Blue Sumatra for myself.) My preference for imbibeing coffee is turkish, though it's been about six months since my last. Coming in from the winter cold to a hot fire and a warmed malt; or coming in from a sweltering summer to a cool house and a vodka from the freezer. A beautiful mineralogical specimen, at the moment I'm rather taken with a piece of titanite with adulara and orthoclase. Some other pieces which make me take pause are a single crystal of rhodochrosite on psilomelane, a large mahogany obsidian sphere, and a five inch aquamarine on orthoclase to name but a few. A good pair of shoes; I spend most of my time in Dr. Martins or Birkenstocks and they're okay, but I have a (1) pair of nice shoes (still off the shelf but...) beautiful soft supple leather and a firm but flexible sole they're a treat to wear.
Lots of the stuff in here plus. Mattress and linen... Is there any more important purchase in your life than your bed, pillows, duvet and sheets! Do it propertly.
Nope. We spared no expense on a comfortable mattress --at a decent (king) size. UK double beds are just pitiful. It's 400 thread or higher pure cotton sheets for us. And may I add to the list: BIG bath towels, and big towelling bathrobes. Civilisation is hot water. @asura: open fires are awesome. We have been putting back working fires in all the rooms of our Victorian property.