Thanks for all your kind and supportive thoughts, Allison, Bianca, Erica, and Kacy!
I haven't been able to do much pointed pen calligraphy lately. I had a bit of a traumatic brain injury this winter that has left me with a slight tremor in my hand for four months now, so I've been concentrating on broad edge work, which is my academic focus anyway. But I think I'm getting some control back. You can still see the wavering in the hairlines in quite a few of the flourishes though. And of course, all I can see are the flaws in technique and execution, and practice deficit, so I really appreciate all of your generous words -- you've given me the courage to keep trying.
Who knows - it may never completely go away, but it didn't stop the medieval scribe we call "The Tremulous Hand of Worcester," so I'll carry on. I penned each of the Whitman poems with a different nib from a sampler I recently got (at least a dozen poems/nibs) - I'm having better results with some than others. The Hunt 103 and the Hunt 106 have emerged as new favorites, probably because they're a bit firmer than my old standby, the Leonardt EF Principal.
Does anyone have any other nib suggestions?