The Pen Addict 30/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	30
Title:	Inks On A Plane
Release Date:	November 20th, 2012
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 30
Audio File:	Audio Episode 30
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 30
Length:	3434 min <br />0.567 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: Hello and welcome to episode 30 of The Pen Addict podcast. My name is Myke Hurley. The Pen Addict podcast is your weekly show where we discuss pens, paper, and the analogue tools that we love so dearly. Of course, I am joined, as always, by The Pen Addict himself, the man who orbits the sun of ink somewhere in the sky. That is Mr. Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: I didn't think you were going to get through that.

Myke Hurley: Man, I didn't know where I was going.

Brad Dowdy: Sometimes. I know you don't think of it before. It comes out of your mouth, so I know that's pretty good, as always.

Myke Hurley: Basically, when I say your name, my brain just goes, right, what's the first image? And then we go from there. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail.

Brad Dowdy: It's always a success in my book.

Pen Addict Shout-Out

Myke Hurley: So, Brad, I'm going to have to start this show off by giving a quick shout-out to something. Okay. That's very important for everybody this week. Last year, we did our first Golden Headphone Awards on the network. Basically, this is our award ceremony. So we celebrate our years at 70 decibels by having a little award ceremony. So this is up for the public to vote on, and they can either go to the show notes at 70decibels.com forward slash pen addict, the pen addict, sorry. Or they can go to 70db.net forward slash golden headphones. And when they go to this page, they will see a little post from me, and then you can click through to a link where you are able to vote for your favorite show, your favorite host, and many, many more categories. You can even suggest your own categories. And then we will finish off the year with a big blowout episode where hopefully I'll be able to get all of the hosts, or at least pretty much all of the hosts, in one recording, and we'll have a lot of fun. And that will be our Christmas present to you all.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that's really cool. I remember that episode from last year. That was pretty cool, how many people you had on at one time, and it was pretty funny.

Myke Hurley: Hopefully we'll be able to get you on this time.

Brad Dowdy: I should be there.

Myke Hurley: Excellent. Excellent. So this week, what do you want to talk about?

Tredio Stylo Review

Brad Dowdy: Well, let's talk about the review I did on Monday, which I don't normally write a review on the blog and then talk about it on the podcast. But this particular pen, which I reviewed, the Pinto Pulemon JM20, actually is one that you have. So, you know, and I asked you how you liked it, and you said you liked it. And I said I didn't really care for it. So it's always good to get the differing opinions on pens. So, you know, my take real quick for those who aren't familiar with it, and I'll link this review in the show notes. It's basically, Pintel came out with a pen called the, they've had for years called the Tradio, or the Tradio. I don't know the exact pronunciation. And it had this kind of, they call it a fountain pen, but it's basically this triangular, fibrous tip pen. And it's really, it's almost like a marker, as far as I'm concerned, the way it writes. And, you know, it's very, the tip is very pliable, and it's bristly. And you can kind of feel the fibers in the tip when you're writing. Excuse me. And, you know, why they call it a fountain pen, I don't know. I put that in my review, and I don't really get that. Maybe the shape of the tip a little bit. But basically, you know, my comment, my overview of this pen was it's a perfectly fine pen. It's just not for me. You know, I see uses for this pen in artists and creative types, someone that's going to do sketching and large kind of freehand type drawing and artwork. But when I write with it, it's a really rough writing pen. And I mentioned that to you, you know, like on Twitter. And you're like, you know, I've been using this pen for a week straight. It's the pen I grabbed today more than anything else. And, you know, and I know you're probably just, you know, doing general writing with it. So what's your feedback on it?

Myke Hurley: So I have the Tredio Stylo, which it looks slightly different. And I guess it's the one that's considered to be the fountain pen one, right? And it was just out of coincidence that I picked this up a while ago because it was in the fountain pen category on JetPens. And obviously it isn't a traditional fountain pen, but it's kind of made to write like one is the idea behind it. And out of nowhere, I just opened my pen case and saw it in there and picked it up. And I was using it for a few days. And I don't know why I was kind of stuck with it. But, you know, like initially, you know, and I'm not still sticking with it because it's now my favorite pen. It's just one that I've, you know, I think we all do this. We just choose something else for a little while, just for a bit of variety. But I really, I think it's really comfortable. I mean, it kind of, for me, has all of the things that I like in a fountain pen. Bearing in mind that I like, you know, I like a thick width. Right. On, you know, in inks and things like, I mean, I like broads and stuff like that. And this is a very thick line that it gives me. And I think, you know, something that we've both always shared, Brad, is that we like a felt tip.

Brad Dowdy: Yes, that's that's a fact.

Myke Hurley: So this, the Trudio for me kind of combines my two loves. So it feels to me like a fountain pen. It writes like a fountain pen, but has the feel of a felt tip. Gotcha. So I've really been enjoying it. I mean, it's by no means perfect, but it's a real for, I mean, it's not a very expensive pen, I don't believe. No. But it's very, for me, it's just a very nice little, a nice little quick buy, I think. I would actually recommend it, which is interesting. It's very rare for us to be so polarizing.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's a really good looking pen. I like, I like the, the looks and I like the style and I like the idea of it, but I just have a little trouble writing. Now, when you write with it, do you ever get any of that, that bristle feedback, like it snaps or flicks the ink or anything like when, when you're writing?

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: That seems to be a common.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, it does. And I think that comes just from the fact that it's, it is a cheap pen, right?

Brad Dowdy: Well, yeah, I mean, it's, I think it's all on the tip design, like a normal, normal porous tip pen, you know, which is just like a, a plastic tip with, you know, it could be like a tight fiber bristle in the tip. It doesn't, doesn't really break apart necessarily. Like the fibers don't really move. It's just like a solid piece of plastic where this actually has, I likened it to, it's practically a brush pen just because there's some movement in that tip just a little bit. And if you get it going the wrong direction, it'll, it'll give you some interesting feedback. But, you know, overall, I mean, they, I think you, one of the reasons why you like it and one, probably one of the best features about this pen is the, is the ink is really strong and vibrant. It's a real inky pen. And, you know, like the blue color is really cool. I just can't, for the way I use pens, it doesn't really work for me. So that's, that's good that it works for you because it's, it's a pretty cool pen. And it's, it's extraordinarily popular pen. I remember back when I, when I started the, the pen addict, the, the Tradio, Tradio was out, out then. And it had been out for years prior to that. And everyone was saying, you need to review this pen, you need to review this pen. And I reviewed it way back, way back then. And my, you know, my feelings were pretty much the same when I, back then as when I reviewed this, this newer disposable version. Cause actually some of the older Tradios are refillable and you can buy cartridges and, or just replace the inserts, things like that. Or this is a more cheaper and disposable model. But yeah, it's like I said, it's in the, in the review, it's one of those pens. You either, you either like it or you either, you know, love it. And, you know, it's, it's, it's something you use a lot or you just don't have any use for it. Not that it's a bad pen by any remote stretch, but it's really got to fit a need, I think.

Brad Dowdy: So what else have you been using? You got anything else new you've been using?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So, um, after last week's episode, um, and I was talking about how I wanted, um, to get my hands on some of the traveling salesman field notes. Mm-hmm. Um, oh no, I didn't say who it was. There's somebody on Twitter, um, I think a couple of people sent it, but I'm going to have to find it. Before the end of this episode, I will find out who it was that sent me that, who sent me this tip on Twitter. Um, and there is a UK distributor called Bureau Direct. They do, um, they're just a stationary distributor and they carry some field notes stuff. So I went to them and I was able to find, um, some of the traveling salesman field notes. So I have a pack of those now, which is nice because it's a very nice book. I mean, it's a field notes book. We're going to talk about those a bit more soon, but I bought a couple of other things from them as well. Um, one thing that I bought was a little pen set that they were quite heavily promoting. Um, it's called J, the J Herbin, uh, rollerball pen. Mm-hmm. I know it. And it's, um, the reason that I bought it is because it's a rollerball, but it takes fountain pen ink. Exactly. And I thought, this is pretty cool. I'll try one of these out. Um, I'm more impressed by the fact that it takes fountain pen ink than by the pen itself. It's kind of, it's a nice rollerball, but it's a rollerball. So it still has all of the problems that I have with rollerballs where I just find them scratchy and, and, and, and not, not the most pleasant of pens to work with. Um, but I've got some really nice color ink. I've got a blue, a green, and a gray. Um, so I've actually got these inks now. They're standard cartridge refills, so I can use them. Um, but yeah, it's, it's, it's just, if you are a person who enjoys rollerballs, I would look at picking this up.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that's a, I've seen that one. Um, and I, I did a post on the pen addict and it made it, it made it come out of a podcast, one of the podcast episodes where I had a question about, um, fountain pen ink refillable rollerballs. Cause the only one I've ever used is, uh, Kaweco makes the, there's the regular classic, you know, the regular plastic barrel, um, in a rollerball tip with the ink cartridge. So that's the only one I've ever used in the past. And, and like you, I found it to be a little bit scratchy and I think it's probably more properties of the ink than anything. Um, you know, the fountain pen ink is, is more water-based and I don't, I don't think it's just necessarily like, um, if you buy a, you know, just whatever, Uniball Vision, whatever, Rollie Ball, Rollerball. That's a little bit more of a formulated viscous ink to where it's going to be smoother on the ball as it writes across the page, right? Where the fountain pen ink, you're just, you know, popping in that cartridge and, you know, the, the ball mechanism is just going to work with whatever ink's going in there. And it's a, it's not, it's not necessarily formulated for that type of writing. So it's, it, it works fine. But like you said, it's a little bit rougher writing than just a traditional rollerball, if that makes sense.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Um, I found who it was that, that, that recommended it. Um, and I saw her avatar in my head, but I couldn't remember the name. And now I, I, I'm very, so this isn't, you know, when sometimes you see a name and you've only ever sort of read it in your head, but you have no idea how to pronounce this. So I apologize in advance. Um, it was at Kinooni, Kinooni Renashin on Twitter. She's a big fan of the pen addict and is always suggesting real great things because she, she lives in the UK. So, uh, Exactly. I know who you're talking about. Exactly. So we share, we share customs woes together. Um, and also, I mean, it's, it's great. It's good to have UK pen addict listeners for me because they find these little places, which obviously is good for me. I like to find, you know, I like to, um, to come across them.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And I haven't heard of that shop. So definitely put a link in the notes cause I'd like to check it out myself. I always like to see what else is going on.

Notebook Features

Myke Hurley: I bought one more thing from them. It's an interesting, um, notebook. Now I want to, I want to make sure I bring up the page as well. for them. Uh, where are we? It's called a, it's called storage dot it. Um, it's by a company called Mark's storage. Um, it's a Japanese, um, Mark's Tokyo edge is the name of the company that makes these. Um, and they, this, this notebook series is called the storage because it's basically a Ziploc bag, a, a plastic Ziploc bag, Ziploc bag, which is the cover for an A6 notebook.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: So you know how, like, um, with our, um, Preras, no, not Preras. What's the, what's the, the, the leather journal that we both have?

Brad Dowdy: Oh, the Pele.

Myke Hurley: Pele. The Pele journal. You know, you've got like the leather cover. Right. Imagine a plastic cover, but it's also a Ziploc bag. So you can store things in the cover of the notebook.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. Now you've got my interest peaked.

Myke Hurley: So I'm going to send you this on IM so you can see it. But like one of the pictures, it has somebody putting their phone in the cover. Mm-hmm. Um, I would send it to you on IM if you're on IM, but you're not. Oh, sorry. Um, but yeah, I put it in the show notes so everybody can see it. And it's a really interesting, I just bought it because it was cheap. It was eight pounds. Mm-hmm. But it was, I just found it a very interesting thing. Like it just seemed like a, so peculiar that I thought I wanted to get one of these. You know when you just see something and you're like, that is so ingenious.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I do that. I do that a lot. Unfortunately, you know, my wallet doth complain sometimes. And, you know, I do that sometimes and they still sit in the packaging in my closet with everything else that I haven't opened up yet. But that seems pretty interesting. I definitely want to take a look at that. So is it about the size of the Pelé journal? I mean, is it a smallish? Yeah, small. Instead of like an A6 size?

Myke Hurley: It's an A6 book. And it's got, um, it's got a pen loop attached to it. Okay. Um, some places for business cards in the, through inside covers of the plastic. Um, and then the whole thing unzips and you can put things in both sides of the notebook. So I'm putting, as we speak, putting my iPhone 5 inside the cover of this notebook. And now I'm closing the book and zipping it up. Awesome. So it's like a little bag and, and, uh, a notebook. It's one of those things I'm not sure yet what I would use. Oh, am I, I can use my iPhone for it.

Brad Dowdy: It's a, uh, waterproof now.

Myke Hurley: Well, except for the fact that the Ziploc bag obviously would let water in because it doesn't seal, make a perfect seal. Oh, okay. I like, yeah. So now I'm using my iPhone through this plastic bag, the cellophane. But it's, it's like that sort of rubbery plastic that I can't really, can't really explain without you feeling it. But you would know what I mean. It's like, it's basically the type of material that pencil cases, like children's pencil cases are made out of. Right. So yeah, that is my, uh, those are my purchases this week.

New Stationery

Brad Dowdy: Cool. I'm not sure I got anything new this week. Um, uh, I did get some things in the mail just from, um, some, some companies I'm now, um, reviewing some, some products with, but, um, we'll, we'll save that for, for another date. We'll, we'll, we'll tease that cause I still need to do some, some more reviews and spend some more time with these products. But needless to say, they're pretty, pretty cool products. So, uh, they're, I'll say they're, uh, Kickstarter related in, in, in one either current or former products now that have, that are currently active or have lived on and now into their own company. So we'll, we'll, we'll tease that a little bit.

Myke Hurley: People send me pens, Brad. Why do I have to buy everything?

Brad Dowdy: You know what? I need to send you more pens. I think all this time on our show, I think I've sent you like one package, like right when we started.

Myke Hurley: Before that even.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it was a before we started. Yeah. So I need to, I need to hook you up with, with some more goods.

Myke Hurley: You do. I, I, I am in total agreement of this. I'll tell you what, I haven't bought anything, um, since we, when we were on our break, but getting a package of stationery in the mail was a, was a very lovely thing again.

Brad Dowdy: I know it's fun, isn't it?

Myke Hurley: It is kind of like, uh, I mean, an obvious, I mean, I don't need to, to, to be bashful about this recording this show. But receiving pens and paper, there is actually quite nothing like it. There is no other type of purchase that feels this way. Yeah. Yeah. In my opinion. Yeah.

Pen Addict Start

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's, it's, it's a weird thing. Like, you know, when I started the pen addict, you know, and it's like the feeling of just, you know, getting a new $2 pin, it, it puts a smile on a lot of people's faces and it's just an odd, odd little thing. And, um, you know, I think it's, it's maybe because it's, um, you know, it is, you know, somewhat of a, of a for an affordable hobby, unless you get a little bit crazy. Like we, we have definitely gotten, but, you know, even just the smallest little pad of paper, you're like, Oh, this is cool. I can do something with this. And, you know, Oh, here's my ideas for, you know, it just kind of gets the, uh, the, the, um, the brain gears, uh, going on, you know, things you can do. And it's just, uh, it's, uh, puts you in a happy place.

Myke Hurley: It's a, it's a, it's a good thing. Yep. Yep. Good thing indeed.

Brad Dowdy: So, um, let's, let's put one of our sponsors in a happy place.

Myke Hurley: Yes, let's do that. And then in turn, all of our listeners as well, because that's right. That's right. So our sponsor this week is the fine folks over at Squarespace. Squarespace, they are the company that give you absolutely everything you need to make an amazing website, um, blog portfolio, your home online, Brad Dowdy. He has his site on Squarespace. I have my sites on Squarespace. So if you trust us and you know, you should trust the fact that we think that this company is fantastic. Um, let me tell you some of the things that Squarespace give you. They give you beautiful templates that are out of this world. They're really clean. They let your content do the talking. They are kitted out with responsive web design. So no matter what design, sorry, no matter what device you look at a site from, you know, all of the content is maintained and it looks absolutely fantastic. They don't just throw up some cheap looking mobile web view. They make sure everything looks as intended, but fit for the device that you're looking on. Everything is integrated from, um, hosting support, which is 24 seven and out of this world domains. You can either integrate an existing domain or if you buy one of their, one of Squarespace's annual plans, you get a free custom domain name at the purchasing screen. And also the design of the template, uh, being able to build your pages. That's all drag and drop within the interface. So you can just easily move things around and add new elements into your website. You can create pages in seconds. Um, analytics are built right in. There's an iOS and Android app that lets you manage, um, your site on the go as you post on the go and view your stats as well. When you sign up for a year with Squarespace, as I said, you get your free custom domain name. If you want to pay month to month, you are able to link your custom domain name. And they also set you up with Google apps integration too for your domains. There's no credit card required to try out Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com 4 slash 70 decibels. And you can start your free trial. After the trial is up, Squarespace is just $10 a month for the standard plan and $20 a month in a limited plan. If you sign up for a year upfront, you'll get 20% off the total cost. And if you sign up for two years upfront, you'll get 25% off. If you decide to purchase a plan with Squarespace, you can enter the offer code 70decibels11 at checkout and you will receive an additional 10% off your first purchase. I would like to thank Squarespace for their continued support of 70 decibels and the pen addict. Um, I want to thank everybody that signed up with them and I want to thank all of you that do.

Myke Hurley: Hey, Brad. Yes, sir. So you went on a trip recently.

Brad Dowdy: I did. I did. So, um, I had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas for a week for a work conference. Um, and I think I was thinking about it and that's the first time I had flown in. I think probably since I started the pen addict. I mean, it's been a long time since I've flown. I mean, I travel a lot, but it all just, just, you know, by happenstance, you know, it seems to be local by car, you know, half day trips. I just don't have the opportunity to fly very much. So, um, I had two, two thoughts run across my head. One, this would be a good opportunity to test, test out. People always ask, you know, what's an airplane safe pen? And, um, you know, one of my thoughts was to pack as many pens, different styles of pens as I could and package them up and put them in Ziplocs and pack them away and put them in my suitcase. And, um, I, I chickened out. I didn't go there. I didn't want to have to deal with any of the accidents that would, uh, that would come forward. That's a terrible idea.

Myke Hurley: That could have gone horribly wrong for you.

Brad Dowdy: I know. And this wasn't a trip where I needed things to go horribly wrong. So, you know, it, I, I was like, man, here's my opportunity. I can test all these pens out and, you know, let's see what happens. But, you know, the, the, the chicken in me went out. So I actually went the exact opposite route. I wanted to see, I wanted to make it as minimal as possible. So I took one pen and I took one notebook, which for me, the notebook, one notebook is, you know, a pretty normal thing. But I'm, I mean, I'm never with about, you know, 20 pens within easy reach, you know, fountain pens, markers, highlighters, pencils, you know, whatever I need. So it was, it was actually kind of a stressful, stressful thing to just pick out one pen that I'm going to use for the whole week. And I'd be in class all day. So I'd be, you know, writing notes, you know, all day long. So this wasn't something just to have just to lay around while I went and, you know, gallivanting all around town. It was, you know, I was going to be in class Monday through Friday. So I needed something to write with and something to write on. And, you know, instead of bringing my pen case and letting them explode everywhere, I picked out one pen and one notebook and stuck with it for the whole trip. And what I took with me for the pen was the County Comm Embassy pen, which I've talked about, I've reviewed on the blog. We maybe kind of glossed over it in one of the episodes of the podcast, you know, when we talked about tactical pens. And the reason why I took it is because it uses the Fisher Space Pen Refill, which is airplane safe. So I wanted, you know, a cool pen to take, but I wanted it to just be one pen. I wanted it to be solid, durable, nothing that I'm going to break. Hopefully I'm not going to lose it. And the refill, you know, as much as I would prefer to take like a gel ink pen probably, you know, that would be my – or a fountain pen to take my notes with. You know, I sucked it up and went with a ballpoint pen and especially the Fisher Space Pen because of the pressurized ink refill. And you know what? I mean, I used it every day, all day, and it did exceptionally well. One thing I did with the refill, the stock refill that comes with it, it's a 1.0 millimeter refill. I did swap out. They have a fine refill. So I have like a 0.7 blue ink ballpoint refill. And, I mean, I'm just really happy with how the pen performed over the week. So it was a good experiment for the pen. Now, from a paper perspective, a while back I had gotten a deal on a Rickshaw Bagworks Moleskine Folio. So it's this little – I don't know if it's – it's not really nylon. It's basically some different type of fabric.

Brad Dowdy: You know, actually they call it a sailcloth, the particular one that I have. It's just – you know, it's a nylon-feeling zippered case that, you know, a moleskin – the medium-sized moleskin slides into the hardcover versions. It's a little case. It's got various pockets and zippers, and it's a nice little thing. You know, I could put, you know, business cards and notes and other scraps of paper in there that I wanted to. But, you know, between using a ballpoint pen and a moleskin notebook for any extended period of time, it was kind of a new experience for me because that's not something I use on a day-to-day basis. And, you know, at the end of the day, I was really, really happy with my selections there.

Myke Hurley: I bet you just – you must have just looked like every other conference goer. A moleskin and a ballpoint pen. Who is this guy?

Brad Dowdy: Actually, I didn't. I didn't because, you know, I'm in the IT field, so it was an IT conference. And there was very few – most everyone was using – you know what? The predominant tool for taking notes in these classes was an iPad, and it wasn't even close.

Myke Hurley: Right, of course.

IT Conference

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. You know, there was lots of laptops, lots of MacBook Airs, but there were iPads everywhere. Actually, I didn't see many other people using pens and paper, which in this type of conference didn't surprise me very much.

Brad Dowdy: So it was just – it was a good experience for me because I'm usually not comfortable just carrying one pen and having one pen available with me for an entire week. And, you know, using a moleskin, which I never do. And actually, the only reason I chose to use that because I was using a ballpoint pen. If I was using a gel ink pen, I probably would have brought something else to write in just because I'm not a huge fan. But, you know, for ballpoint, moleskin notebooks are really good. They're really perfect.

Brad Dowdy: The embassy pen worked well on it. The notebook held up good. The moleskin, the folio, the Brickshaw Bags folio worked well. I don't think I've done a proper review of this folio on penaddict.com. I've had it for a while, and I carry it in my backpack a lot. But I haven't done a proper review. And it was funny. Just yesterday, I saw one of the guys I follow on Twitter and also has a blog. His name is Ivan Romero, and I'll get you the link in his Twitter handle. He just posted a review of the same Rickshaw Bagworks bag that I'm using.

Brad Dowdy: Posted it yesterday, as a matter of fact. And I had planned on talking about this last week. So I will send you the link so everyone can kind of see what I'm talking about for this folio cover, which is perfect for travel. Worked out really well. So that was my – as minimal of a kit as I could bring on a trip when I travel. So I don't know if you travel a bunch, Myke, but I tend to obsess about the little things that I bring like pens and paper on travel. So for ending up with one pen and one notebook, there was a lot of thought and stress that went into that decision, which I can't exactly – doesn't exactly come out on a podcast. But it's – everyone who's a pen addict knows how those decisions go. Sometimes it's pretty crazy in your own little brains on what you're going to do.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I mean I always have a selection of pens in my back. I always have a retro in there. I have one of my retro 51 Tornadoes in there. But then I just have a couple – I have like a Pilot G2 and just some random pens so I can give them to people. And then I always have a handful of Field Notes books just because they're easy to get in a bag. Right. But if I was traveling anywhere and knew that I was going to be note-taking, I would probably still take a Moleskine. I mean I'm going to be going back to Moleskines, by the way. Oh, are you? I love my Rodia, but I have two Moleskines on my desk. And I don't want to buy any more notebooks before I get through these. I have the Evernote Smart Notebook. Okay, cool. Which came out when we were away actually.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, came out in October.

Myke Hurley: So I will talk about that when I actually get to use it, but that might still be a little while away. Okay. And I also have the Moleskine Squarespace sent over.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Which is awesome. I have one of those. Which is very sharp. Very sharp.

Rodia Notebook

Myke Hurley: So I'm going to be using those next. But then I don't know if I will go back to Rodia after that. I have loved the Rodia book though, so it would be a shame not to use them again.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that would actually be my preference. I prefer the Rodia web notebook. It's one of my favorites. But this Rickshaw Bagworks folio, the dimensions are extraordinarily tight. I mean, they are exactly for this Moleskine. And if you had the Rodia web notebook in one hand and the Moleskine journal in the other hand, you probably wouldn't notice right off the bat that their dimensions are a little bit different, but they are just, they are fractionally different in width. And it makes it not work as well in this folio. So that's why I chose the Moleskine for this because that's the only thing that fits in this folio. And that's what I wanted to travel with. I do like having, generally speaking, I do like to have my notebooks covered, you know, in some way, shape, or form. Like we talked last week about those Field Note leather covers that came out. I use the Dome Paper Utility leather notebook cover. I mean, that's what I carry. My Dome Paper, you know, little pocket-sized notebooks. And I carry those in my pocket. I just, in the leather, you know, it's like a wallet for your little notebook. I don't carry the notebook naked, as you will. But, you know, I tend to have a cover some way, shape, or form on these products. But, you know, it was a, I like to have my bases covered with pens, you know. So, you know, I always carry like a pen case with me when I'm going out locally. Or if I'm traveling in the car somewhere, you know, I'll take, you know, 10 pens with me. Even, you know, even if I'm going on vacation and may not use them, I still have them. So it was a little bit weird going with one pen. And, you know, I stuck with it the whole week. I was like, hey, this is pretty good. It was fun. But I did surprisingly stand out in the technology crowd as one of the few people doing a little bit of writing as opposed to typing on their whatever device they were using at the time.

Myke Hurley: So you ended up looking like the crazy guy.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, pretty much. Well, it's, you know, in the IT crowd, I think crazy guy is probably more of the norm, you know. So, you know, I probably fit right in in my own little weird way.

Brad Dowdy: But it was a good trip. And, hey, I didn't leave all my money in Las Vegas. So, you know, so that was an added bonus as well.

Myke Hurley: Well done, sir. Well done. Have you got anything else that you wanted to talk about this week?

Brad Dowdy: I don't think much particularly today. You know, it's kind of a short week here in the U.S. So, you know, I'm kind of in vacation mode. Didn't have a full, you know, tons of topics to talk about on the episode today. But it was just a neat little topic I wanted to cover. And I don't think I have much else, sir.

Myke Hurley: Well, happy Thanksgiving to you and to all of our listeners, too.

Brad Dowdy: Well, thank you. I appreciate it. And I work tonight that I'm going to enjoy a nice four days off and see how many pounds I can put on in that short time frame. Because that's what it's about.

Myke Hurley: Excellent. Yes, of course. What more could you need? So, Brad can be found online. He can be found at penaddict.com. Have you done the redirect yet? I'm going to check. I didn't.

Brad Dowdy: I didn't.

App.net

Myke Hurley: I didn't. But you did do one thing, though. You joined app.net after my chastising of you last week.

Brad Dowdy: I did. I did. I got to get into, you know, I'm working on that. I think about app.net all the time. But I'm not using it all the time like I necessarily use Twitter. Although I'm not a super high-volume Twitter poster anyway. I'm mostly a responder. People ask me questions and I reply back. I don't just go off on topics. App.net, I'm trying to figure out where I'm at on that right now. Because I don't want it to be a duplicate cross-post type of thing, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I mean, I found it to be much more for conversation, really.

Brad Dowdy: Right, right. It is definitely more of a conversation. It's definitely more of a sausage fest over there, I'll tell you that.

Myke Hurley: Oh, for sure. Definitely. Nobody's offering you free iPads. Brad can be found. He is at dowdy. D-O-W-D-Y on app.net. And you are dowdyism on Twitter, D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. Yep. I am iMike, I-M-Y-K-E, because I like to keep it simple. Same as everywhere. And we will be back next week on The Pen Addict for episode 31. Thank you all for listening. And until next time, bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.