The Pen Addict 285/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	285
Title:	The Love Toaster
Release Date:	November 29th, 2017
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 285
Audio File:	Audio Episode 285
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 285
Length:	7777 min <br />1.283 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 285. Today's show is brought to you by Harry's, Squarespace, and Lovepop. My name is Myke Hurley, and I am joined by Mr. Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: Team Cake for Life, Myke. I just want to throw that out there right now. What is this? All of our BYOB podcast listeners, all of our wonderful friends. I was listening to them while I was... I had finished prepping for our show this morning while they were playing in the background. I love hearing them talk. And it's still continuing in the chat room here. And I put it out there on Twitter this morning. You know, there's always the life, you know, affirming question of cake or pie. And I'm on Team Cake, so what are you?

Myke Hurley: I think cake, just because there isn't as much pie in my life. You know what I mean? Like, pie, I think the idea of pie in the way that we're thinking of pie is definitely more of an American thing. You know, like, pies for me are typically savoury, like, when I think of a pie. Sure. You know, we have apple pie and stuff like that. Actually, last night I had a slice of pumpkin pie. But I'm more of a cake person. Definitely.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. All right. Well, I just wanted to make sure we were on record. So I'm on record as cake. You are cake as well. And we should talk about pins. I just wanted to make sure, you know, all of our bases were covered with the cake versus pie topic. And they do a wonderful job on the BYOB. Great conversation. So you should go listen to them. We'll put a link in the show notes to that fun new podcast from all of our friends. Yes. So you've been travelling a little bit. Yep. As you do. I mean, I think that's your story these days. You're a world traveller, Myke Hurley.

Myke Hurley: I've realised recently that I think that that's become my thing. You know, like, everybody has a thing, like, in a friends group or whatever. And I think my thing is that I travel a bunch.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Where in the world is Myke Hurley?

PodCon Event

Myke Hurley: I have two more international trips this year. Are you serious? I thought you were done. No, I'm not done. I'm going to Seattle next week.

Myke Hurley: Golly. So, by the way, if you're in and around the Seattle area, I'm going to be at an event called PodCon. Get a ticket to PodCon. Come to PodCon. It's going to be amazing. Oh, this is what the poster's for. This is what the poster's for. I'm doing a signing. Oh, that thing is sweet. Yep. There is a poster that is made, and you can only get it if you come to my signing at PodCon. People, except for a select few, including Brad Dowdy, people don't even know what the poster looks like. It is incredible. I'm probably will. It's incredible. It is. It's amazing. I will probably tweet an image of it after the signing. But come to my signing at PodCon. Get a ticket to PodCon. Come to PodCon if you're in and around the Seattle area. It looks like it's going to be a really fun event that I'm very excited to take a part of. But yeah, I'm going to be there. I'm actually going to be recording with you the day I get home, which I'm very intrigued about. See how that's going to fly.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, because we don't have any schedule adjustments for the rest of the year that I'm aware of.

Myke Hurley: We do not. Except for the fact that we're taking the last week of the year off, which you know about. Sure. Because then I'm actually going to be spending my first Christmas in Romania. So that's my second and final trip of the year. Then I don't have anything planned until the pen show.

Brad Dowdy: Nice. Okay. Cool. Well, we bring up this travel topic because living in England as you do, you deal with a lot of American companies. And sometimes it behooves you to try to time shipping of goods, in this case pens, to the window where you're in the US. So what happened recently? Let's tell this story. Because I was very much a part of this story while it was happening.

Myke Hurley: So, I mean, this is the thing. This started years ago. Like, Karis Customs used to send me things when I was in San Francisco or whatever, and it seemed like a good idea. So, you know, I've had, like, Studio Neat send me stuff, just other pen companies. And if I'm getting something new and I'm going to be in the States, just get it sent to the hotel. Because typically it works really well because there's always somebody in the hotel, right? So they can always accept the package. And then I just hold on to it for you. Sometimes you pay them a small fee or whatever, but, like, it works great. And the fee that I pay is going to be way cheaper than the shipping and also no customs fees. So I'm very, very excited about doing that, right? It's, like, brilliant. And also I get my stuff quicker. So I figured I was going to be in Las Vegas for, like, a week. And I had mentioned that I had two purchases on the way, right? My Sean Newton pen and the fifth anniversary Bung Box Sailor pen, right, that I was working on. I was going to give it for those. This was a disaster. It ended up being an absolute disaster. It turns out, for a reason that I have yet to work out, sending to hotels in Las Vegas seems to be a problem. Both deliveries got delayed, and they both followed the same path. They were with USPS. I had a UPS delivery as well. That worked fine. The U.S. Postal Service had serious problems with delivering to this hotel.

Myke Hurley: Both deliveries were, like, out for delivery on the day, then got redirected to some random post box by the airport, like, not even the post office. And then they sat there, and then they said delivered, right? They've been forwarded and delivered. And then the day after that, they just arrived at the hotel, like, with no additional tracking information.

Brad Dowdy: But with you chasing them for a day in between, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I tried to call the post office. That was effectively pointless. Yeah. So then I kind of just was like, well, we'll see what happens. I was working with Sean Newton and with the individual that I'm buying the Sailor Pro Gear from, and we were like, I don't really know what to do here. And everyone's been super nice. Like, oh, we'll refund you. I was like, just don't worry about this. Like, we'll work it out together. So the Newton pen just arrived randomly. So I have that, which I'll talk about in a moment. But the Pro Gear, that one seemed to follow, like, a bunch of different problems. At one moment, it said that it arrived in Vegas, then went back to Florida, and then came back to Vegas again. I'm not sure if it actually did this. But the timing between these events would indicate that maybe it did. It's a mystery what happened here. But where the story is right now, the Pro Gear arrived at the hotel. The hotel very kindly have returned it to the sender.

Myke Hurley: So once they get it, we're going to arrange for it to be sent to me at home. I mean, of course, I'm going to be in Seattle, but I've decided let's not do this. Let's just get it sent straight to home. And I'll talk to them, and I'll probably say, like, send it by UPS or FedEx or something, and I'll pay extra. Like, let's just do this. I mean, I found out recently, it is expensive but reasonable to get something to America overnight via FedEx. I'm always reminded of this every time I do it. Like, this is not the cheapest thing in the world. Yeah, exactly. This is what I'm referring to. But, like, I sent Brad a package, and it was just there the next day, which is a thing that seems – well, it was attempted to be delivered the next day. But, you know, it got to you. And that always surprises me how you can do that for, like – I mean, it's not cheap. It's like 50 pounds, right? Like, which is not cheap. But that is – in my mind, that is a small price to pay for an overnight delivery to Macon, Georgia from London, England. Right? Like, I feel like that is a – I'm always surprised about this, right? Like, that FedEx can do that. Like, just something about the time seems wrong to me. So, yeah, I'll probably – we'll do something like that for the bunk box because I really want that pen. And I want to make sure that it arrives safely.

Brad Dowdy: So, we'll see. Yeah. Which is why a lot of times we just end up shipping to me in the U.S. I'll package up a few things and send them on to you, you know, kind of group ship them. But, yeah, I mean, there's nothing more rage-inducing than dealing with the Postal Service. I mean, we could have an entire podcast of just – if we just wanted to be bent out of shape the whole time talking about Postal Service issues. I have three of the Pen Addict Retro 51 pens that have been run over by trucks.

Myke Hurley: No!

Brad Dowdy: That I've gotten pictures of tire marks on the envelope and a flat pen in the box. Three of them.

Myke Hurley: I mean, I know that happened to the Lanier, like a friend of ours, right? Yeah. Theirs got run over, but it's a bag. So, like, it survives.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, I'm going to send out some – I'm going to post some of these pictures in, like, a little collage. I'm just laughing. I need to see this. I'm collecting them all. I'm getting them all sent back to me. I'm going to take it up to the post office. I probably have no recourse. It'll probably be, you know, turn my hair more gray than I have any chance of getting, you know, any compensation for that. But the pictures are just beautiful. I bet. I mean, they are just straight up flat. It's kind of amazing.

Myke Hurley: So, this probably isn't the right place for this discussion. But did you hold one of those for me?

Myke Hurley: Oh, yeah. Phew. Okay. Thank you.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you got any left? I hope so. I hope I held it for you. Like, I'm pretty sure I did.

Myke Hurley: Okay. But are there any left, though? Are they still available to buy?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, I ordered 600 this time. I did 300 last time. I ordered 600 this time. I think I've sold about half of them. Okay. Which is just over a week.

Myke Hurley: That's pretty good. So, if you haven't held one for me, you still can. And I will work that out with you later. But this is one of the most beautiful retro 51s that has ever been made. It is called the Isometric. What I love about this design. So, I'll put a link in the show notes so people can go and find it. But you didn't just do a Brad Dowdy one again, right? Like, you found some artwork that you loved by a guy called Michael Jacobs who I met in Chicago.

Pen Design Collaboration

Brad Dowdy: Awesome guy. Love working with him. Yeah. I, like, saw his design. I was like, it fit into the idea that I had for a pen. Yeah. And, like, perfectly.

Myke Hurley: You did the pen addict one. It's done now, right? Like, there's no more pen addict versions, probably. Like, or at least that jump out.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's got to be interesting to me, right? I did the one. And it came out wonderful. And I love it. Love, love, love that pen. I can't do that every year, right? I don't want to do that every year. Yeah, exactly.

Myke Hurley: But what I mean is, like, there isn't, like, many, like, just orange ones with the pen addict logo on that you can just keep doing, right? Like, I think that this is more interesting is that you find some artwork or commission some artwork that you want to be on a pen, right? Like, and I think that's really interesting. And this is beautiful. And it glows in the dark. I mean, come on.

Brad Dowdy: I'll tell you a secret about the glow in the dark picture. So, you know, I, to get a good shot of that, I held it under my light box lamp. Like, I stuck the pen up into the lamp. It's like, I'm going to soak this thing with some light bulb breeze. And then I'm going to run into the bathroom and shut the door and take a picture. So, the background of that picture is actually the toilet seat in my bathroom.

Brad Dowdy: So, top secret.

Brad Dowdy: But it came out awesome. It, like, totally blows out the picture. It's glowing so hard. Yep. It's perfect. But yeah. You would never know. But that's how you get glow in the dark pictures, folks.

Brad Dowdy: I love that. So, that was fun. It's a... I love looking at that pen. I'm super happy with how it came out. And I'm glad Michael accepted working with me. Who wouldn't want to work with me? It came out perfectly. Who wouldn't want to work with me? You're a wonderful person to work with. Speaking of another podcast, we should start maybe that one.

Sean Newton Pen

Myke Hurley: The Working with Brad show. I wanted to say about my Newton pen. I wanted to talk about my Sean Newton pen for a moment. I can't take a good picture of this pen. Yeah. I'm going to put in the show notes a gallery of pictures that Sean took. This is Sean's. But even Sean's pictures of this pen do not do this pen justice. Like, that's the problem.

Myke Hurley: I am absolutely in love with this pen. It was completely worth the wait. I looked it up. I don't remember if I spoke about this last time. I ordered this pen in January.

Myke Hurley: And I was really surprised. And I really loved the fact that it took him a day to make it. Yeah. That was the thing that surprised me the most about all of this. Right? Like, I ordered it in January because I assumed, you know, like, I ordered it so long. And I was, like, waiting for it. And we're just assuming, like, oh, obviously, like, it must take him five days to make a pen. Like, I don't know. I don't know how long it takes. Right? And it was just funny to me that it was just done in one day. Which just shows how many pens the guy makes.

Brad Dowdy: He sends an email when he starts. Right? He sends you an email. Hey, you're up. Right? So, you know how long it takes.

Myke Hurley: It's so nice. I like that a lot because I was really excited that day. Just knowing that it was being made was a really exciting thing to me. And then he sent me, like, a picture halfway through. And then an entire gallery of photos when it's done. Like, I cannot speak highly enough of the professionalism and, like, just general joy that working with Sean on this has been. Like, even in the idea of, like, you know, I had problems with the shipping. And he was so attentive. Like, he was responding to my emails, like, immediately about trying to get this sorted out. And I don't believe that he was working this way just because I'm a co-host of the Pen Anik Podcast. Oh, yeah. No way. You know, like. That's how he is. I, seriously, like, his pens are worth the wait. Like, they are worth the nearly a year that you will wait for them. This thing is just stunning. Like, every time I pick it up, I notice a different color in it. And, again, like, I know that a lot of that work comes from Jonathan's incredible work putting the blank together, right? The primary manipulation blank. But just every part of this pen is perfect. Like, every line, you know, the threading on the cap is perfect. The nib is wonderful. Like, everything about this pen, you can tell that it is made by an absolute master of the craft. Yeah, it's great. There is no joke.

Brad Dowdy: I love looking at the pictures, like, the cross section where you see the ends of the barrel and the end of the cap and seeing all the swirl in there. That's super cool.

Myke Hurley: This looks awesome. Without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite detail is the ends. Because, yeah, it just has this beautiful look to it. Yeah, I'm really, really happy with it. And I have the green Ackerman ink in it. What one is that? 20-something?

Brad Dowdy: The bright one or the dark one? The bright one.

Myke Hurley: Hoff Gortier Gron 24, I want to say. I think it's 24. And I haven't used that ink very much because I don't really have many pens that it works in. Works so great in this pen because it's primarily green. Yeah, that's a great, great, great match. So, like, this is without a shadow of a doubt, like, a pen that will always come with me to pen shows and stuff. Like, this is a pen to show off. And it sits on my desk in a little cluster of four pens that I just keep on my desk, which includes my Sky at Night and my two Canalea pens. Like, they all work so nicely together. Right? Because those four are, like, these beautiful Jonathan Brooks, naturally, blanks. And they're all made so wonderfully. And they've all got these beautiful swirling colors. And also, like, they don't – they're all too big to fit in my Dudek docs. They're all too chunky. I should probably talk to Dudek about getting something for these. I might send him a message. That'd be cool. I would like something to put these in because I only have a stand for one of them.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So, quick correction from the chat room. It's number 28, the ink color. I knew it was going to be correct. Which is probably my single favorite ink color out of that entire lineup. It's awesome. And it's perfect for that pen. Yeah. It's really good. Good job. Glad you got to come home with that one from your trip. So, one out of the two. And hopefully, the other one will be there soon. So, speaking of Sean, before we move on, it's the last day, day and a half or so for a Newton Pens auction. This is the Fountain Pen Day Ryan Crusack pen that they gave to Sean to auction off for Sean's scholarship fund. So, we'll have a link in the show notes if you're interested in this. Yeah, it's got two days and 45 minutes left. So, take a look at this. It's a wonderful pen. A wonderful cause. And it just came out beautifully. I was glad to be able to get the original prototype to give away to Pen Addict members, which I did a few months ago back from San Francisco. And I love this pen. So, yeah. Check it out if you are interested.

Commercial Break

Myke Hurley: All right. Should we take our first break?

Brad Dowdy: First break. We got a little bit more follow-up. We got a lot more field notes talk. So, we got a lot to get through. It's been two weeks since we've talked. So, we always have a lot to get to.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. You're peeling back the curtain. I know. It's been two weeks since me and you have spoken. Today's show is brought to you by our friends at Harry's. You surely know by now that Harry's makes amazing quality products at super reasonable prices. This is why three million people have switched to them. And it's the holiday season which makes Harry's a perfect gift. Harry's is great as a gift because it's practical. You can personalize the handles of engravings and you can even choose the color of the razor that you give to match the tastes of the special person in your life that you're gifting them to. Harry's even offer custom gift sets to help you find that perfect gift. And these are even great for people that have already made the switch to Harry's. You know, give them a refresh. Oh, here's a lovely new color for you. That kind of thing. And for this holiday season, Harry's have custom and limited edition shaving sets that come with German engineered five blade cartridges to provide their close comfortable shave. Foaming shave gels that smell absolutely amazing. And they even have a special limited edition winter chrome and emerald green handles for their razors that can be engraved. And they're all presented in beautiful boxes that are ready to gift. No wrapping required. And their sets start at just $10, making them great stocking stuffers too. Now, Brad, I believe you have one of the holiday sets.

Brad Dowdy: I do. And I'm really glad that I didn't think of it before why they didn't do a color match to like their Harry's green color. But now the handles have that. So it's really cool. And the gift set that I have, I think it's called the Winston set. It comes with the fancy chrome handle. Let me make a recommendation. If you're going for the gift set, get a gift set that includes the razor stand. That's like my favorite little piece of what Harry's does. So it's this little small, I think, aluminum cube that just sits on my desk and I pop the razor in it when I'm done. Instead of throwing it in a drawer or me, like I have a basket on top of my sink area where I shave, just toss it in there. I have this little stand that's now, it's like a desk accessory for my sink area. So I kind of like that. It's my favorite little tidbit. That's the Give Deluxe set includes all of that.

Myke Hurley: So they have a couple of sets, as I mentioned. And one of them, the one that Brad's talking about, the deluxe one, it has the little aluminum block that you can just set it in. You can also have that engraved as well, by the way. So there's lots of personalization options as well, which makes Harry's a fantastic gift. This holiday, give Harry's and give handsome. Get your holiday shopping done early and take advantage of free shipping. To get a limited edition holiday shave set while supplies last, go to harrys.com slash penaddict right now. That's H-A-R-R-Y-S dot com slash penaddict. Our thanks to Harry's for their support of this show.

Brad Dowdy: All right, so we had follow-up from our last couple of episodes. This first little bit, I want to talk about the gift guide episode. And I had a huge miss in there. And I'm pretty sure we've mentioned them at least every year since we've been doing the gift guide since they've been around. But Beth emailed me and said, hey, for kids, how about Curse of Logic? I'm like, oh, yeah. We always put them in the gift guide. It's the perfect time of year to give that as a gift for kids. So we'll have them in the show notes. Total whiff on my part, since we kind of did it a little bit differently this year. But I love talking about them. I love recommending them. My kids love those books. They always ask to use them and do them or where's my book because they can't ever keep anything in one place where they know it's at. So, yeah, very good call, Beth. And that's definitely something you should check out if you have any young kids that you want to help learn cursive. It's very cool. The second one, Myke, I have an email that it's pretty long and I didn't put in there, but it was hilarious. So this is from Katie and she was telling us essentially the title of the email. It's like you really screwed up the gift guide by not including the Tiffany Sharpie. And I'm like, oh, my God, you're right. So listen to this story. I want to read this because this is a good story. She says, hi, Brad and Myke. I live in New York City. And while walking down Fifth Avenue to the subway this afternoon, I happened to walk by the Tiffany's flagship store. I had some extra time. So I went in search of the Tiffany's permanent marker. Everything was sparkling jewels and showcases until I got to floor four home goods. I found it sitting next to a $375 harmonica. It weighs quite a lot.

Brad Dowdy: It weighs quite a lot. And the cap screws off to reveal just the point of the marker. The salesman let me take it apart. And inside is a regular old Sharpie. The color looks like a stock color that you can get in one of the Sharpie multi packs. But this one costs $750 and comes in two colors. Tiffany blue or black. She included a bunch of pictures in the email. It says, mixed in with lots of the displays were Tiffany's pencils. I found out the only way to get them is if you buy a $275 pencil sharpener. The sharpener includes three pencils, but they definitely seem like an afterthought. The graphite felt brittle and the wood was kind of splintery by the tip. But the sharpeners must be selling because they were out of stock, so I couldn't take a picture. Wow. There were other pens around, only ballpoint, no fountain pens, but it was super busy, so I didn't ask them to take it out of the case. Anyways, I thought you would enjoy the info and the ridiculous Sharpie picture. If you happen to read this on the podcast, please tell my boyfriend, Corey, that I'm sorry our teeny studio apartment is completely full of markers and pens instead of using the limited space for things like dishes and clothes. In our closet, he gets one shelf for all his clothes. I get seven for art supplies. Keep up the good work and happy holidays. You're a good man, Corey. Yeah. Good job, Corey. You gotta give up the space for the stationery. That's what you gotta do. So I thought that was hilarious. Who knew that the Tiffany Sharpie would be a running theme in the show, but we always seem to find our thing, right? I think it's a great thing. It is. It's fun. I mean, it's hilarious because it's ridiculous in all the right ways, right? So it's perfect. So one of the things that's been ridiculous in all the right-ish ways in the past has been the Star Wars pens. You know, the very expensive cross pens, which were kind of, wow, that's expensive. But this year, Schaefer came out with a grouping of more reasonably priced fountain pens, you know, entry level type. They're $20, $22 or so right in that range. And you got a couple and I got one. So what do you think about them?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, so I'll just say, like, maybe for the first time ever in history, Schaefer sent me these. That's right. You told me about that. Yeah, like Schaefer got in touch or Cross got in touch, which, I mean, I don't know if they would have done it now. Cross just got bought, right, by some, like, investment bank or something.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, like two or three weeks ago. This will be a thing once we figure out what's going on. Not that Cross has necessarily ever been a thing, at least in our run as a show or my run as a blogger. They've never been, you know, on the cutting edge of cool things and stationery. Who knows what's going to happen? It could go in either direction.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, it's like some bank or something, like some firm. I don't really know. Yes.

Brad Dowdy: So I wonder if it's just going to be, like, a turnaround firm or a shut it down and extract the value firm.

Myke Hurley: Like, who knows? Who knows? But Cross own Schaefer, and, you know, obviously they have a deal with Disney, right? Because this is now the second year that they've had some kind of Star Wars stationery. But this year they made a good decision and made some pens for Schaefer, which they can do at different price points. I mean, we spoke about them weeks ago when we saw them for the first time. They sent me the other two, R2-D2 and Yoda. Yeah, and I have Darth Vader. Yeah, you have Darth. We have the whole set. Three of them. I love these pens, man. I do too. They're fantastic. What kind of price range are they? They sit in, what, like $20 price range? Like, this is exactly what I would want performance-wise from a $20 pen. And they are designed so fantastically. Like, I love these designs. These are great gifts, for sure, like for the holiday season for people. And I just think that I'm chuffed with it. Like, I've actually been using the R2-D2 one a bit. And I'll say, like, the nibs are fine. I noted in your review about, like, you had some problems, like, you're thinking the pens were a little bit wet. I wouldn't say that I've necessarily felt that, but I think I can understand where you're coming from. Like, that lays down a thick line, for sure. Right. And I think you're a bit more sensitive to that than I am. Yes. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Like, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm saying it's a thing. And, wow, it's a gusher.

Myke Hurley: So, yeah. It's almost like a broad and a medium body at points. Yeah. And I noted as well as you did. I mean, I didn't even notice as a thing. But what the frick are these refills?

Brad Dowdy: So, even I tried to stick in the refill cartridge on the wrong end the first shot.

Myke Hurley: Oh, 100%. Yeah. Because it looks like the Lamy one. Right? The Lamy one looks like that. It has the kind of the weird stub at the end.

Brad Dowdy: It's a poor design, and it's proprietary. So, I don't even have a converter I could switch out to. This is the only ink cartridge it came with. So, I didn't want to clean it out and put in another ink yet until I used this one. It's just an annoyance. You know, I'll have to get some Schaefer cartridges or get a Schaefer converter to try some different inks in it. Because, like you, I think the pen itself is amazing. And the nib is, like, rock solid smooth. Like, it feels wonderful to write with. I just don't like the ink because of the way the ink flows. It's like a really, really wet ink that just kind of dumps out of the pen. And I don't think it's necessarily the nib or the feeds issue. I think when it's just like a, it feels like a heavy water-based ink. So, when it hits the pay, it just runs. It just goes. So, I'll have to try some different ink. And like my son, Tyler, said, he said it should, because the Vader pen, it should be a red ink anyway. And I said, yeah, you're right. So, Schaefer's got a good red, so I'll probably get some red ink cartridges. Yeah, but their cartridge system is a little bit wonky. And if you've never used a fountain pen before, you'll probably do the same thing that experienced fountain pen users like myself did. And try to jam that thing in wrong, and it just doesn't work. And I was like, oh, I guess it goes this way. So, that was like a, kind of like a failed experience, right? So, but overall, the pen is absolutely killer. I actually love the feel of the plastic build, like the way the cap snaps on and off. The way it posts is very nice. The clip is nice. Like, everything about the pen is nice. The graphics are like really clean and well-defined. And you have little different, you know, logos here and there. You know, it's definitely Star Wars'd up, but not in a gaudy way. Like, you know, I just think they're cool. They did a really good job.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I agree. Like, I was, I think, surprised at how much I like the pen. Like, I thought that it might just be like a cool thing to have and just put in my drawer and just keep as like a fun little thing that I own. But I'm actually going to keep this around on the desk for a while, I think.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, mine is still top of the desk material, which that's the winning spot. That's where you want to be in my home. Because it's fun to just pick up and play with. And, you know, I get to break out the little Star Wars figures, you know, for pictures and things like that. So, yeah. Real good. Real good pen. Pick one up. If you see one, pick one up. Hard segue. You ready? Yep.

Brad Dowdy: You sound so ready. All right. All right. So, Field Notes released in Abercrombie & Fitch edition. That has caused quite a stir in our neck of the woods, and rightfully so. So, I want to go through my, I don't even know what the word is. My thoughts of this, I'm actually going to say. But I want to go through like my process of how I saw this. So, I guess two days ago, I'm scrolling through my Twitter feed, Field Notes post. Hey, here's these pictures of these books we did for Abercrombie & Fitch. And I scrolled. I was like, oh, wow. Those look really nice. And I kept scrolling. Okay. That was it. I was done. Right there. I didn't give him another thought because I don't do the Field Notes chase thing anymore. Right? I don't buy all the editions. I don't need any more notebooks. I thought, wow, these look cool. And kept scrolling. Then like a day later, I get an STPA from a great friend, Michelle. And she says, hey, what do you think about the Field Notes and Abercrombie edition being segregated into gender? I was like, what? I was like, I totally missed that. Like, I saw a floral print and I saw like a fishing print. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I saw a boring fishing print and a floral print that I immediately tried to buy but couldn't because I'm not in the United States of America. That was my – how I came across these two. I saw the two things. I clicked the link and the page was just blank for me. Like, when I clicked the link, it just says sold out. This item is no longer available. But even if they're in stock, it says that because you can't – like Abercrombie have said, like their Abercrombie Help Twitter account has been saying that you can't buy them if you're outside the US. Okay.

Abercrombie & Fitch

Brad Dowdy: So there's another one on the list, Myke. But, yeah, I like stared at the black floral print. I was like, man, that is cool. But then I just moved on. So then Michelle brought it to my attention. If you go to their website, actually in the US, you go – and I clicked over and I'm like, oh, really? So the fishing one, which Field Notes calls Heritage, is listed as a men's notebook. And they're not even like on the same page. There's no like notebooks. There's no accessories. There's just like men's notebook and you can't even like link over to the floral print. You have to like go hunt down in the women's section and find women's notebook, floral print. And this is just dumb. Like I hate everything about it. There's no reason for this to have happened. And, you know, we rail and joke – like Bic for her is the classic joke. I was like, why are you doing this? Just stationary does not need to be gendered any which way. We've been through this. So, yeah. So, you know, I got to thinking about it and started having some conversations on Twitter. And I was – the hard thing about Twitter conversations is they get so broken up. And plus, like I'm doing it like train of thought wise. I was like, okay, well, I see this and I see Field Notes called them heritage and floral. Did they have anything to do with Abercrombie saying this is a men's notebook and this is a women's notebook? And I was thinking no. You know, they probably don't. But as, you know, my friends in Twitter feed was like, well, you can't not know that when you're going into this conversation with Abercrombie who's asking you to make a masculine and a feminine notebook. You have to understand from a branding perspective that this is what they're going to do. And are you okay with that as a company? So, the bigger issue – so I'm going to jump off that real quick. It turns out the things that I don't know is that Abercrombie has done some really crappy things in their past. Like I don't know anything about this, but people enlighten me. So, they've done, you know, sexists, sizists, you know, all kinds of things. Like I was getting texts and tweets with the words hate and evil about Abercrombie as a company. Like people are really upset with Abercrombie in a big picture kind of way. So, they're like, well, why does this brand that I love want to go to this company that I hate? Those are the questions we can't answer, you know. We're not in Field Notes boardroom. But as a company, they also have to realize, hey, these questions might come up if we work with this brand. And is that something we want to associate with? I mean, their answer was, yeah. But, I mean, I don't know. It's a weird thing. I don't like it. I don't like it from Field Notes from their perspective. I don't like the fact that Abercrombie gendered notebooks.

Brad Dowdy: I don't like the fact that a lot of people, like, despise Abercrombie for the awful things that they've done in their past. I don't know what their current situation is. I don't even know what all the awful things are in the past. And so, now you have this dilemma. You know, here's a brand I love in Field Notes, working with a brand that I don't know a lot about, but has done some bad things and affected a lot of people in a negative way. So, that's the other thing, right? You just can't look at it. I can't look at it from just my perspective, right? My perspective's mine, and how it affects me is different from how it affects someone else. And you have to accept that and validate those thoughts as well, right? I can't just say, well, here's what I think, and that's what it is, right? Because I'm coming from the most frivolous position on the planet as a white male, right? Well, I'm not a female who is getting, you know, size shamed by a company, right? So, you would have a different perspective on that. And it seems to me just like a miss from Field Notes perspective as kind of they went in with blinders on as we're going to do this American heritage thing, right? Because that's what Field Notes does really, really well. And Abercrombie used to be this great American heritage brand, you know, 100 years ago. And I think it may, I mean, I don't know. We're all assuming. I think it maybe put blinders on to what the outcome might be in this situation. So, I've rambled enough. I've got more to say, but do you want to add anything?

Myke Hurley: I do. This is a very tricky thing to talk about. Like, in a way that I haven't had problems talking about previous stuff like this. Like, what was the one that we were talking about recently? Who was it that made that pen that drove me insane? Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc made a pen for ladies. Pen for ladies, right? The pen for ladies, which I loved and then would never buy. Because they labeled it as the pen for ladies. And the reason that, like, I have no problem with that. Because, like, to me, Mont Blanc is just this big soulless corporation. So, like, I can just be completely unabashed in my feelings. The problem I have, right? And, like, I'm just going to say this. Like, the people at Field Notes are my friends. And my belief about them is that they are good people with good intentions. Because I believe this because they are my friends. So, it's tricky for me to, like, to just be like, oh, these people, they just did wrong because they're dumb. Right?

Myke Hurley: So, like, I just want to, like, just say that. Because, I mean, I have my opinion. I'm going to go into my feelings about this a little bit more. But I feel like I'm not, I am not probably just going to sit here and be like, oh, they're a bunch of idiots. And they made a dumb, they made a dumb thing. And they're just stupid. And nobody should ever give them any money. Because I like to believe that there are a bunch of good people that wouldn't do something which is intended to upset people. Right. In my opinion.

Brad Dowdy: So, you know. Yes, I have more to say about that. But you go on. So, the thing is that.

Myke Hurley: So, there's a couple of things, right? Me and you didn't know any of the stuff about Abercrombie and Fitch, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: No clue.

Myke Hurley: So, I have a question for you.

Myke Hurley: If you go into business of a company, do you look into their entire history?

Brad Dowdy: Uh, I look into their general history, yes. I mean, how? I might have come up with, hey, they did some weird stuff.

Myke Hurley: Because I still don't know any of this Abercrombie stuff. Like, I don't really know anything about it more than what you've just told me. Like, how recent is this stuff? Like, is this like?

Brad Dowdy: I don't know. I'm guessing 90s, early 2000s. Okay.

Myke Hurley: Because I would just say, again, I don't know the answers to these questions. But I just want to put them out there, right? Has there been a significant leadership change in Abercrombie and Fitch? I don't know.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Right? Like, I don't know the answers to these questions. I'm not trying to make excuses for anyone. But, like, I'm just trying to say, like, how could you go into this? Right? Like, I mean, I'm sure that they have, I mean, I believe everything. Right? Because they're not the only clothing brand to do stuff like this. Like, I think of, like, American Apparel, who do all this sort of stuff. I mean, they're dead now, rightly so. Because they were a disgusting company as well, doing terrible things. So, I mean, so I don't know how much they looked into this. I don't know what the outcome of that is. I mean, you know, I don't know. But about the notebooks themselves, I can see how you could walk into this thinking that you're making a product to fit in with a male and female fashion line for a male and female fashion company. Mm-hmm. And I think that that would be mostly okay. Right? Like, if Abercrombie said to them, we want you to make a notebook for our male and female fashion lines that we're doing this year. I can see how you would do that. The problem is when they are labeled so specifically. Right? Like, the way that I look at this, if they had the men's line and the women's line, and each of those lines had a notebook in them. One of them was called Floral Prints, and one of them was called Heritage. I think I would be okay with that. My problem is it says men's and women's. That's what I don't like. Having them in the respective fashion lines, I think I'm kind of fine about that. But it is the fact that they are so explicitly labeled that is a problem for me because fashion, which in Abercrombie & Fitch is fashion, fashion has these typical trends that appeal typically to men and women. Typically. Right? Right? That, like, if you're looking at things going into the past, right? Like, you might find that women will be more likely to wear a floral print. Now, again, I have lots of floral print, personally. But, like, I'm just looking at what is the traditional things in fashion. And this is, I think there is meant to be something in this line which is meant to be hearkening back to their history or something. Right? So, you know, whatever. So, I can see how you would maybe walk into this and be like, oh, we're making this, like, traditionally men's, traditionally women's, blah, blah, blah. The problem is the fact that they are labeled as men and women. That's what I don't like. I think that's what most people don't like here. I don't know if and when anybody knew about this. I do feel like if Field Notes knew that they were doing this, they have screwed up. Because I think that's a dumb thing to do. But I think that every company is allowed to screw up from time to time. But it's how they deal with it going forward, which is the most important thing. Like, you can miss something. You can make a bad decision. You can do something that you think is kind of fine, right? Like, a lot of people, times you get blinders on. Right? So, like, you're doing something and you think that it's great. And you kind of get lost in it and don't necessarily know how people are going to react to it. Like, I know I've been that way, right? I think you've been that way. Everyone gets that way. Sure. About things that they're doing in their companies. Because you're like, this is so awesome. Like, I think of someone like Dropbox. You know, they just did their big redesign recently. Which is just a dumb redesign. But, like, they had their blinders on about how great their redesign was. And then they put it out to the world and everybody hates it. So, I think the way that I look at it is, like, I think everyone screws up from time to time. I guess we'll see if and how they deal with this going forward. Like, if this is the thing that keeps popping up, that's a whole different situation. But, I mean, I don't know. I don't feel like we've had to have this conversation about them before. Yeah. So, yeah. Look, again, I'm sure that I have said things in the last five minutes, which people are going to feel differently about, right? Like, I think that this is a real hot button issue.

Myke Hurley: I don't really know how to address that. Right.

Brad Dowdy: Right. But, yeah. Yeah. And I tried, too, on Twitter last night. And that's a hard place to do it, too, because everything gets, like, mixed up. And every little micro word gets twisted into something else sometimes. So, you know, I think I just wanted to leave it as they have 10 years of great decisions behind them. People are going to make mistakes. I'm willing to let this one go. Like Andy said, Andy Wellfleet, who was in our Twitter conversation last night, he said, well, Brad, you treat the company, you know, as well. You treat the business decisions as part of the company, you know, just like you did with Bear and Fig. And, you know, you have to treat field notes, you know, by who the company as a whole and who they decide to work with. And I said, you're absolutely right. And I said, I gave Bear and Fig two years of the benefit of the doubt. Before I could no longer work with them anymore. And I'm willing to do the same thing with field notes. It's a one. This is the first time I've seen anything like this. They've got 10 years of track record. That's pretty good. So there's any talk of boycott or limiting them, I think is uncalled for for a one-time event. But it depends on their actions going forward.

Myke Hurley: And your personal preferences. Sure.

Brad Dowdy: Like, I think the bigger issue is that they worked with Abercrombie, period. Like, that's what I'm gathering from people is like, that's the hugest turnoff. The mistake that launched it even further into the stratosphere was the segregation of the notebooks, which is terrible. Like, I don't agree with that in anything. But combining that with the history and the effect that Abercrombie has had on a lot of people, I think just sent it over to the top. So we'll see what happens from here. You know, I'm willing to, just like any other company that I work with, to try to understand their decision. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. And if things play out differently in the future, my opinion is subject to change.

Brad Dowdy: So what they should have done, Myke, as we armchair quarterback, is had a three-pack of a floral, a fishing, and a black. And then we'd all be rushing to go buy the notebooks. But they didn't.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, they didn't.

Brad Dowdy: That would have been super cool. That would have been the super heritage pack. Yeah. But fact is, they did what they did. And, you know, we'll see what happens from here. But I'm willing to try to learn more about why they did it, learn why people are upset, you know, about it, and rightfully so. And, you know, elevate their thoughts as, you know, legitimate and concerning and be empathetic to all kinds of points of views that aren't mine. And so it's a weird situation. A lot of people want to chime in and say it's just stationary. It's just a notebook. And I just think that's dismissive, even though it's not on the scale of, you know, what's going on in the political world and things like that in your real life. We do have companies and brands that we love and respect. And you always want them to do the right thing because you're supporting them with your dollars. And they become part of you when you buy into them. And you want those companies to represent you as a person well. So hopefully this is a learning experience. And we'll see what comes out for it next time. So we'll see.

Love Pop

Myke Hurley: All right. Today's show is brought to you by a new sponsor that I'm very excited about. And they're called Love Pop. So the holiday season, it's upon us. We are in it. It is happening right now. There is nothing you can do about it. And it is that time of year that you want to do something nice for people that you care about. And this is why you need to check out Love Pop. Love Pop's founders, John and 1B, are ex-ship designers. They designed ships. But they decided to take a different course. Get it, Brad? A different course? Wait, like literal ships? Ships. That's what they did. They made ships. Wow. But they took a different course and decided to shake up the greeting cards industry with charm and innovation. Love Pops are more than cards. They are unforgettable gifts that you send in an envelope. I couldn't agree more with this statement. This is something that they put in the copy to send me, but I 100% agree with it. Each one of these Love Pop cards are laser-cut, hand-assembled, and designed to surprise and delight. You probably have at least one friend or family member who lives the other side of the country, maybe the other side of the world. Love Pops creates a moment of connection between you and the people you care about, no matter where they are. Love Pops sent me three of their holiday cards, and I was blown away by these things. So I urge you to go to their website. Go to lovepop.com slash penaddict right now. We've all seen pop-up books and pop-up cards. You know, like part of my childhood, big pop-up books. I love them. I have never seen pop-up cards as intricate as these. There is one, I mean, so yeah, I'll come back to the holiday stuff in a moment, but like there is one of their, and we look, me and Brad were looking at these before the show began. They do a card for anniversaries, which you open it, and there's a ring box, and you can then open the top of the box to find a ring inside. This is in a greetings card. Like these are absolutely unbelievable. So like they sent me a bunch of the holiday ones, and I am keeping them to give to my mom and my nan for Christmas because they're going to blow them away, right? These are going to be my holiday cards this year to give to the people that really, like, so cards in my family are a huge thing. Like is a big thing. Like my mom is, has always been, she always wants a nice card for like Christmas and her birthday and Mother's Day and that kind of stuff. I have one company I am buying these cards from in the future, and that is Love Pop. Like I am absolutely blown away by the quality and surprise of these products. They are unbelievable. I was in Las Vegas, and I went into a store in Las Vegas, and they were in there. I was like, oh, I know you. So look, think of someone right now whose day would be brightened by opening a Love Pop from you. Then go to lovepop.com, that's L-O-V-E-P-O-P.com slash penaddict to get special pricing if you buy five or more cards and free shipping on any order. So share the joy of the holidays of your friends and family this year with Love Pop. There's lovepop.com slash penaddict for that special pricing and free shipping. Look, you're already thinking of someone who you know wants one of these. So go now and pick out the card that they will love the most. And I'd like to thank Love Pop for their support of this show. Seriously, go to lovepop.com slash penaddict and make someone's day.

Brad Dowdy: So the behind baseball thing, behind the scenes podcasting, Myke brought this up to me. He's like, hey, we got a new sponsor. And I think they're amazing. And you should go look at this before. And I was like, okay, you know, Love Pop, what is it? And I opened the link and I was like, oh, my God, these are so cool. So I have an anniversary coming up next week. I'll be married. Well, actually, in two weeks, I'll be married for 20 years, Myke. Wow.

Myke Hurley: This is, again, this happens to me every now and then when I forget how old Brad is. Like, to me, you're just my age.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That surprises me. I acted. Yeah. So I'm an old dude. I will not be buying the diamond ring pop-up card, as I mentioned to you. But I'm fascinated by it. But I'm totally all in on this. So, yeah, I will let you know what I order. They also have.

Myke Hurley: I'm sorry, we're going long on this. But this is so amazing. Like, this is so. When they came to me, I was like, oh, my God, you are so perfect for my show. Thank you so much. They have Beatles cards, which are wild. Like, they are so cool. And I think they have, yeah, they have a bunch of, like, I mean, as well, they have, like, LGBT cards as well, like, specifically, which I absolutely adore. Right? They have, like, same-sex cards. Yeah, the same-sex cards are awesome. For weddings and anniversaries. Like, they are just, this is just a really amazing company with just some super awesome. They have, like, Game of Thrones ones. They have an Iron Throne pop-up card.

Brad Dowdy: Like, yeah, so I'm going through this. I'm looking at the Love Toaster. I don't even know what that is, but it sounds pretty cool. So I might have to go with the Love Toaster. Everyone needs a Love Toaster in their life, Brad. All right. So, Love Pop, thank you for sponsoring us at the Pen Addict Podcast, and I will definitely be checking out as soon as we get done. So we're not done with Field Notes yet, Myke. I want to talk real quick about the Resolution Edition. Did you get them yet?

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: And?

Myke Hurley: I don't like them. Yeah. Okay. They're not good. I love the covers. My gosh, do I love the covers.

Brad Dowdy: They are beautiful. Yeah. Oh, no. The cover's great. Do they smell strong to you? Mine smells strong, but maybe that's just because they're fresh out the package. Yeah, they are.

Notebook Covers

Myke Hurley: But only when I put them right up to my face. I would sniff too much. Oh, my. Yeah. No, but I really love the covers, but I broke them open, and I realized I'm never going to use these, but I'm giving them to Idina, and she's over the moon about them because they're the type of things that she wants, but this just isn't what I think I want in.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, my initial thoughts were proven pretty accurate. I was concerned about the paper. Every other line is like white, gray, white, gray. It's very faint. You have to turn it at the right angle, but that means each line handles the ink differently. Either the paper itself, but I think more likely the coating or the print of it. But so, if you have, so I did like my little ink test, and I used the same pen on both lines, and on the white background lines, the ink doesn't soak into the page as much than on the gray lines, it does. So, it's like the same pen, the same ink, and it looks completely different every other line, or every, yeah, every other line. So, it's just weird. I don't like it. I have no use for it. I didn't even want to open these up to test it, because I knew it would just be wasteful of opening these up, because now I don't know what to do with them. I'll give them to my kids. They'll use them.

Brad Dowdy: It's okay with gel pens. The Schmidt P8127 refill, like, it's two different colors every line. Like, the white line, it's one color, and then the next line, it's a different color. It's like super dark and rich on one line, then dry on the next line, and it alternates over and over and over again. So, like, ballpoint's fine. Pencil's fine. Gel wasn't bad. They feel a little bit weird. But, I mean, they look good. I just don't have much use for them. Black staples are nice. Staple Day in the middle looks cool, but, I mean, I wish I wouldn't have opened them up. I'm not going to use them. So, not going to go down in the annals of my top 30, at least, editions. So, yeah.

Myke Hurley: Did you get the anniversary edition?

Brad Dowdy: Oh, yeah. I did. I did. I didn't bring that in here to talk about. But, yeah. I thought that was cool. Yeah. I like the story behind the brand. You know, if you've been around the brand, you know, for a long time, and you know their backstory and how, like, the first notebooks came about, this is a really cool story to tell about how the notebooks come about. So, I like them. I probably won't open those. I don't know if I'm going to use them or not. If I get around to it, I probably will. But I have other ones I'll want to use before that. I do like those, though. I thought it was a neat edition.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I don't think I'm going to use them, but I have opened them so I could look at them. So, they're three individual books, and they represent three important parts in the company's early history. So, one of the books is, they're all reproductions. So, the first one is from 2002, which is a reproduction of Aaron Draplin's first use of the name and logo. So, it's just the logo on a book. Then, there was one from 2005, which is Aaron's first handmade field notes. And then, one from 2007, which represents their first tiny test run. And they're all different in their own ways, and they've all got these funny little things about them. And one of them just says DDC field notes on it. It doesn't have the regular logo. I think those are like the handmade ones, and it's just blank paper on the inside. And then, like the one where they first used a logo, it's got a grid, but it's like a really heavy blue grid on the inside. And then, like the first run, it has like the number blank of blank on the front of them. And you open it up, and there's a gray grid, and there's like a white line at the top, and it says field notes on every single page. So, it's really fun to look at them to see what's inside. Because, yeah, they're very, very different to how we know them now, right? Like the red one, for example, which was the handmade one, which is about the DDC field notes. There is nothing on the inside of them, like nothing on the inside covers or anything like that. Like, yeah, they are very, very different to what we know of them to be now. And I really like it a lot.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I didn't know that was one of the archive ones. I'm familiar with the original craft paper cover one, but I thought it was cool to see. So, I really like that, but as a fan of the brand, at least for now, Myke. Oh, please, I can't keep going.

Brad Dowdy: I know you love it. All right, so let me, we'll get back into my wheelhouse here, Myke. And we had some follow-up on the inspiration versus knockoff episode and ripoff or whatever we called it two weeks ago. Killer feedback on that episode. And when I say that, some of it was very positive, some of it was negative. And that's cool. Like, I want to hear alternate views on things that we talk about. Like, that's the only way we learn. That's the only way we get better. You know, that goes for everything. So, the feedback was great. I even heard from people involved in the episodes on several times and even had a phone call with one. I'll leave all of that, you know, that's behind the scenes. But that's the kind of feedback we got from that episode. And it was all good. So, come around Thanksgiving. And as you do on Thanksgiving Day, you try to ignore as much of your family as possible. So, I was on Twitter a good bit of the morning while the kids were running around the house. We have Thanksgiving at my house. But Twitter was my escape for that day. And our friend Vito at Story Supply dropped his notebook on Thanksgiving. I'm not sure why he chose to do that, but he did. So, this is the notebook, Myke, that we saw in D.C. I think that, you know, he was toying around with making his own notebook. And he finished up the design and released it on Thanksgiving. I said, InstaBuy. And retweeted it. And, like, immediately I got two tweets say, hey, you know how you talked about that inspiration versus knockoff stuff? This looks exactly like a Baron Fig confidant. So, I want to read my response that I actually used twice because I just, I wrote it once and then I quoted it to the second person that asked me. So, the question essentially, and there's no problem with this question at all. He was, like, apologizing for being rude or being sarcastic. I was like, no, this is a good question. He says, that looks exactly like a Baron Fig confidant to me. So, what makes this inspiration over ripoff? My reply to these questions was, I don't think it's either. It's a notebook with a gray cover and a yellow bookmark. Who owns that? I don't know what else to say about it. It could not be the furthest thing from an inspiration, a ripoff. He chose to use gray cover and yellow ribbon for his notebook. I mean, Baron Fig doesn't own any colorway. Moleskine doesn't own the black cover. It's navy blue. The orange cover. The cover's blue, anyway. Okay. So, whatever. It looks like in the pictures. Okay, it's a gray cover with a yellow ribbon. Who cares? Like, it's a really good notebook made by hand in the U.S. Like, these are not the tweets. These are not the discussions we need to have. Like, I'm good with the discussions on Abercrombie & Fitch, you know, being a bad corporate customer and segregating their stationary products. I'm not good with everything looks like everything else all the time, especially for something as basic as a notebook. So, Moleskine, anyway. Yeah. And it's not even that. And Moleskine's fake. Mm-hmm. I mean, theirs all built off marketing, right? I mean, no one knows the dude's first notebook. They're just making up a story for this other story. So, I mean, it's a notebook with a cover and a bookmark. Like, that kind of conversation is weird to me. Like, no one owns the color of a notebook. Notebooks are easy to produce. Anyone can make a color that they want to make that they think looks cool, you know? Vito's doing something different with his, you know, with the different types of stitching. It's a thicker notebook. It's made in the U.S.A., you know? It looks great. It doesn't have anything to do with what a Baron Fig confidant looks like. So, that's my rant on that. My rant is, that's not a rant. It's like, it's a non-issue. So, what I was going to say, I was going to finish up that tweet, is like, my real issue is what Best Self Co. did to Baron Fig. That's an issue. If you want to talk about issues. And that goes more, that goes deeper than what the color of a notebook and a ribbon is. So, there you have it.

Myke Hurley: Let's round out today's show with some RSTPA. Before we do that, let me thank Squarespace for supporting this week's episode. Enter the offer code INC at checkout and you'll get 10% of your first purchase. Make your next move for Squarespace so that you easily create a website for your next idea. With a unique domain name, award-winning templates, and more, they have everything that you need to put your next idea online. Whether you want to make a blog, portfolio, an online store, just about any type of website, Squarespace is the all-in-one platform that will let you do it. There's nothing to worry about. You don't have to install anything. You don't have to patch anything or worry about security upgrades. Squarespace, they'll just take care of all of that stuff for you. And if you need any help of anything, they have an award-winning 24-7 customer support team right there ready to help you out. You can sign up for a free trial today to see if Squarespace is right for you. And as a customer of many years, I'm confident to say that I think that they will be right for you. And their plans start at just $12 a month and you can get 10% off your first purchase when you use the offer code INC at checkout. That's I-N-K. And you'll also be showing your support for the Pen Addict podcast as well. I'd like to thank Squarespace for their continued support of this show. Squarespace, make your next move, make your next website.

Brad Dowdy: All right, so I know we're going extremely long, but I'm going to give a Squarespace plug here, if you don't mind. I would love that. So I open up the, and it's how they handle problems, right? Like not everything is all rainbows and unicorns, Michael. So our good friends at Squarespace, who I've been a customer of for years, I go to add in some new products on Nock, or excuse me, on the Pen Addict and make sure I have the discounts right for members and things like that. And on one of the shop fields, like I could edit a tag on some of my products and save it successfully. And on some of them, I couldn't. So the cool thing about Squarespace is the live chat is actually fielded by human beings. So I opened, it was frustrating me. I was like, well, this is not a me problem. I've tried all the browsers. I've done, you know, all the normal troubleshooting that you would do. Open up a live chat, said, hey, here's my problem. Here's a screenshot of it. Here's what's happening. She looked and looked. She said, well, let me try. Okay, yeah, I can verify it. And then she basically went into like their bug reporting system and she found a match. Like, hey, this is an issue. And it's not fixed yet. And here's how you can work around it till we do the real fix. And, you know, that might take a little while because that's an engineering, whatever. But yes, we know it's a problem. Here's how to get around it. And then the fix is coming. Like, I'm happy with that, right? Not everything can be bug fixed and patched and pushed on a daily basis, unless you're Apple and need to fix a root login problem. That should probably be pushed today, I hope. But, you know, everything else you need to, you know, it's, I was able to talk to someone. I was able to get validation. They were able to look it up in their bug reports. They knew it was an issue. They told me how to fix it. And then it's planned for future fix. So that's why I like Squarespace. The end.

Myke Hurley: Love it.

Brad Dowdy: All right. We have time for all this. You want me to cut this short?

Myke Hurley: You do as much as you want, buddy. I'm here for you for as long as you need.

Brad Dowdy: You're here for me. Well, I really want to cover this big one. Because number one, it's from Tony at Everyday Commentary, who writes to me like I don't even know him. He's funny. He's like, just, hey, I'm this random guy asking you this question. He's not like, hey, Brad, it's Tony. Just want to see what's going on. Hey, I've got this real question. He's like, dear Brad and Myke, I am a trial lawyer. I take notes extensively. I've done this long enough that at this point I can get very close to real transcribing. Who is this person? That's what I want to know.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah, that's how Tony started. He just goes right into it. He's not like, how's the family? You know, whatever. You know, I've only been on this podcast a couple of times. You know, we talk all the time. But whatever. He just gets right into it. Got to like that about Tony. So anyway, I won't go into this entire email because it's very long. But he has the problem that I think a lot of people are trying to solve. And I wanted to bring this up because I don't have a great answer because it involves testing lots of very expensive equipment. So just to give you an example of his requirements as a trial lawyer and as someone who's taking depositions all the time, he says he takes a lot of notes. A 90-minute deposition last weekend generated 27 pages of notes with only one illustration. So he wants a way to handwrite and then scan in. Right? He needs it digital. So he wanted to know about the Remarkable platform, which we've gotten linked to a bunch. It's called the Paper Tablet. And, you know, he's dismissing the Apple Pencil and iPad for good reasons. He just doesn't like the feel.

Myke Hurley: What is that? Do you know what that means? Like when he says he doesn't like the feel?

Brad Dowdy: I think the tapping on glass type of feel for writing.

Myke Hurley: I don't know if anything's going to be much better than that. Like, honestly, like any screen, any plastic tip on a screen is going to feel pretty similar.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Well, that's where we're going to get to on the second part of this. So the Remarkable is kind of like the Apple situation, right? It's a screen with an input device, say, Apple Pencil type of thing. I don't have any experience with it. So I wanted to bring this up in case anyone did and they could let me know what they think about it. So the second part of it is, well, how about the LightScribe system? I think it's, is it LiveScribe or LightScribe? But anyway, that's the pen recognition where you actually use a real pen on real paper. And it translates into digital. So we've seen in action the Moleskine work extremely well for that. So I think that's the Moleskine digital products work extremely well for that. I've seen it in action. I've used it. It's legit good. And then I just saw related to this that I don't know what Tony's digital setup is, but Microsoft Office or Windows 10, whatever the platform is starting to work natively with these Moleskine smart writing tools. So that could be a real option for someone who's doing this. And the reason I bring this up without having answers is because I want to know from the listeners what experiences they've had with these types of systems. For someone who needs to take 30 pages of notes a day, handwritten, and then scan them in digitally without having to scan them. What are you doing? Do you have something that works? Do you use the Moleskine smart writing system? Have you tried a remarkable tablet? What kind of things are you doing to help solve Tony's problems? Because Tony's an avowed handwriter. Like, he loves writing by hand. Everything's by hand. But it's a lot. And I've talked to him for years about this. And, yeah, so I would just like to know more information from myself because I think this is a really, really good question. And it comes up a lot. And there's never been a really good go-to answer, but I think Moleskine's the closest.

Myke Hurley: I really want to try one of these remarkable tablets, but not to the tune of 579 pounds. Like, I really want to try one of these because it's one of these things that people ask me about all the time. I feel like at least once a week, maybe for the last six months, I have had somebody ask me or send me this link in some way. I really want to try it. I don't want to pay 579 pounds to do that. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I didn't even realize it was that much.

Myke Hurley: It's incredibly expensive. You're looking at iPad money, right? Yeah. I mean, it's not iPad Pro. But, yeah, it's 579 pounds. I mean, yes, I could buy it and return it, but I hate returning things. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe I'll try it. I don't know. Maybe I'll try it. But I'm saying this because if somebody out there in the world has the ability to send me one of these, I would love that. It's what I'm getting at. If you know someone or maybe you are there, right, please send me one to review it and we'll talk about it on the show. Outside of that, I don't really know what to do.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yep. So this will be a good feedback question for us and for Tony. You know what? I'm going to email them.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. You do that.

Myke Hurley: Email Moskine while you're at it. Well, you know, I just figure if I want them to send me one, maybe the best way to do that is to just ask them.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: So.

Fountain Pens

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Fair enough. All right. So let's, we got a few more that are pretty quick and I have thoughts. So at ATC729, am I the only one that thinks the shimmer ink is overplayed? What are your thoughts? You are definitely not the only one. I just don't too much. I don't enjoy it. Like, I understand why shimmer ink is popular because of how you use your pens and inks and not everyone uses them the same. I'm someone who does not have a writing situation to where those types of inks would be the right choice. Are they overplayed? I don't, I mean, who's to say, right? I mean, it's the new, it's the hot new thing for the past, what, year, maybe two years? And it'll die off. I mean, because it's, it's never going to be anyone's staple ink. So the, the cream will rise to the top, they'll stay, and then everyone else will just carry on about making whatever other good inks they make. So I don't think it's overplayed. I just, it's very specific use case based. So that's kind of it. Tsunami Sue wants to know, besides orange fountain pens, I love demonstrators like Frank and Kristoff's. Using them as an eyedropper, they seem to stain ideas for cleaning. I have a lot of experience with this. I eyedropper a lot of my pens, and a lot of those are Franklin Kristoff's. I have a little tougher time cleaning out the ones with like the, that aren't smooth on the inside, that are, you know, kind of brushed, if you will. You know, the inkting tends to stay in there a little bit more. The JB's pen flush looks good. Just soaking them in water works good for me. You know, be sure you're using a reasonable ink, but I have no problem using. Iron Gaul inks in them. And I just, you clean them out, you know, every few weeks instead of every few months. You know, it's kind of goes along with the whole pen hygiene thing. But if you get some JB's pen flush, but I'd start with water first, honestly. Let them sit overnight in water. Rinse them out the next day, and you'll notice most of it's gone. And the thing that I always keep in mind with a demonstrator is I'm going to fill them up with another ink, and you're never going to see those stains. So it doesn't have to be perfect. Unless you're having, like, a show model of your pen on a light box on the wall, and you want it to be crystal clear. You're going to put another ink in there, and you'll never see it again. So I don't have a problem with a little bit of staining. I obviously don't want it to ruin the aesthetic and look of the pen. But if you can't get every little dot of ink out when you clean it, you're just fine. Because the next thing's going to come in, and you'll never see it again. So, last one from my good friend Bump. I want a new, different nib for my brand new Canalea pen, but I have never replaced a nib before. Where should I start? So first, with the Canaleas, you've got to know what they are, what nibs they are, and who makes those nibs, and where you can find replacement nibs, and they're number six Jovo nibs, I believe. That's correct. And as someone who owns several Edison pens who also uses Jovo nibs, I am able to take my favorite Jovo nib, unscrew the nib unit from the feed collar, and screw it right into the Canalea pen. So, honestly, if you're okay with an Edison brand on there, but you can get generic Jovo nibs from lots of different places, like Goulet pens, Seals Loose nibs. And that is J-O-W-O. Yes. So, what I've done is grab that number six nib. I have a gold Franklin Crystal, excuse me, gold Edison nib that I bought once and had modified by Deb Kinney into a fine cursive italic. That's one of my all-time favorite nibs. And I can just move it from pen to pen, as I like, between my Edisons and my Canaleas. The Franklin Kristoffs will work well, you know, will work as well. So, like, I kind of move nibs between all those, just like a few nibs, and just move them from pen to pen to pen. So, where I would start is trying something. It depends on what you want. If you want a basic nib, you can just go to Goulet pens, buy another steel nib for $15, and put it in. And, heck, you know, I'll come put it in for you. I see you enough at the shop. So, I'll put it in for you. It's real easy to do. But if you want something more than that, like a gold nib, or some kind of grind on it, look at Edison. Look at Franklin Kristoff, number six nibs, and they should slot right in just fine.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I've done a few of these, and it works fine. It's not as tricky as... Once you know what nibs you need, it actually tends to be a pretty easy process, mostly. And, or there are also guides and videos and everything, right? You just spend a couple of minutes Googling, and once you've found the nib, and you'll find somebody who's made a YouTube video as to how you remove that specific nib from the pen, right?

Brad Dowdy: Like, there's going to be one. It's shockingly easy. Yeah. It's definitely not something to be intimidated about. But I was terrified. Oh, I'll never forget the first time I learned that a Kaweco nib unit just unscrews. My mind was blown. I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Be prepared to get messy. You just change the nib by unscrewing it. So, yeah. So, that's it. Good episode today, Myke. Long episode. That's what happens when we don't talk for two weeks, and we probably left a lot of things out. So, if you have questions, comments, you can always reach out. How can they do that, Myke?

Myke Hurley: You can tweet with the hashtag AskTPA, and we'll find them. You can hit Brad up in the Pen Addict Slack. How can people get in Slack, Brad? Just shoot me an email. Hello at PenAddict.com. Which is also where you can send email questions as well if you have a longer question. There's a couple of places you can do that. We're both on Twitter. I am at iMike. I am YKE. Brad is at Dowdyism. He is PenAddict on Instagram. I am iMike on Instagram. We'll be back next time. Thanks so much to our sponsors, Squarespace, Lovepop, and Harry's. Please go check them out. It helps support the show. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: Goodbye, Brad.