The Pen Addict 386/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	386
Title:	Massive Massive Mistake
Release Date:	November 20th, 2019
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 386
Audio File:	Audio Episode 386
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 386
Length:	7272 min <br />1.2 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Brad Dowdy: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 386, and today's show is brought to you by HelloFresh and Pen Chalet. My name is Myke Hurley, and I am joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad Dowdy. Hey, Myke Hurley, how are you doing today? Fine and dandy, my friend. Fine and dandy indeed. Good, good. I'm nice and cozied up, enjoying the cooler weather here in Georgia, and enjoying some sunshine, but yet cool weather, and it's made me want to use stationery. But I guess that's any day.

Weather Impact

Myke Hurley: Is there any weather that makes you not want to use stationery, out of interest?

Brad Dowdy: I mean, really hot weather, because my hand sticks to the page. Yeah, you don't want to do anything. Like, your hand kind of sticks to the page. You know that, like, when you're writing, and like, that's just a gross feeling, and you're like, I don't want to write on a page where my arm just stuck to. So yeah, that's a no-go for me, generally.

Myke Hurley: I think that's a different level of humidity than we get, I'm afraid.

Brad Dowdy: Probably so, probably so. What is happening to this show? Like, right out the gate, I am, like, on it today.

Field Notes Review

Myke Hurley: You are. You're firing on all cylinders today. Speaking of which, Field Notes Group 11. The nearest release from Field Notes. It's just appeared. Now, this is the winter, 2019. Now, we have said, we have said, leading up to this last edition, that me and you have posited the idea that 2019 has been Field Notes' strongest year. Right? Like, that they, we had said, so we had, what, Mile Marker, National Parks, and Autumn Trilogy. No miss in the bunch, right? It's usually one edition. Right? It's like, ah, that doesn't work for me. But now we have Group 11. So the Group 11 edition is a three-pack, dot graph paper. They have white covers with copper, silver, or gold metallic hot foil stamping. And that is, copper, silver, gold is, like, the theme of the edition. So they're all white. But they have, they have ink on the inside that matches the color. They also have staples that match the color, copper, silver, and gold, which is apparently the second time only that they've done that. But what's more is, they have gilded edges to the pages, which is the second time that they have done that as well. Mm-hmm. They did it, didn't they?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I mean, that's, it, the best way that I can describe this edition is that it is correct.

Myke Hurley: Yes.

Brad Dowdy: They did it. Does that make sense?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. This was, this was the perfect way to finish the year. They didn't do anything bonkers. They didn't change the format. They didn't do anything, you know, like anything super wild. What they did was, they doubled down on something that people loved from a previous edition. So, was it, yeah, fall of last year, the Endpapers edition? The only thing I liked about that edition, was it Endpapers? No, it was a different one, wasn't it?

Brad Dowdy: Which one, with the gilding? Yeah, with the gilding.

Myke Hurley: Which edition?

Brad Dowdy: Gilding is ambition. I have a whole, I have a whole spiel here about that.

Myke Hurley: All right, well, we'll let you get there in a second, but I'm not finishing it. Ambition. Ambition. Which was, in my opinion, the only good thing about that edition was the gilding, because they did, like, a 48-page ledger, a date book, and a graph. Like, it just didn't work for me. Exactly. And I think they changed the sizing a little bit, too. Like, it just did not work. That one did not work for me. Other than being very, very pretty. It was beautiful. The gilding was incredible. Opening those up was just a beautiful thing. The sound and the feeling of opening the gilded edges, because they're all kind of a little bit stuck together. You kind of crack it open. I've always loved white cover field notes. It's just a personal favorite of mine. I think they went simple, but, like, absolutely nailed the execution. So, I think they did it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so this is the holiday gift-giving edition of field notes.

Myke Hurley: 100%. This is the edition you buy for, like, that family member, right? Like, 100%. Which is probably why they ordered, I think, slightly more. It's like 37 and a half. Or maybe it's something to do with the production. But anyway, they did a big order on that one, it seems.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so that thought made me think, along with, okay, this is the gift-giving edition, and it has the gilded, like, the ambition was also a winter edition. So, it made me wonder, what are all the winter editions? Do they all fall in this category? So, we have, let's see, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. This is the 12th winter edition. Did you know, Myke, that the very first edition, Butcher Orange, was winter? Did you know that? Didn't know that.

Myke Hurley: Well, it didn't matter then, did it?

Brad Dowdy: No, it didn't matter then, right? So, we're going to discount that edition. So, after that, I'm going to read all of the winter editions. Just Below Zero, Balsam Fur, Northerly, Expedition, Cold Horizon, Ambition. Do you believe that was 2014, Myke? Ambition that you said was maybe last year. 2014. Get out of town. Nope. Jeez. Snow Blind, Black Ice. Resolution, Clandestine, and Group 11. So, out of those, you know, Discount Butcher Orange, there are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, are like directly winter related, like the gift giving edition, right? And I'm not counting Expedition in there and Clandestine. Those are storytelling editions, right? So, they do two type of editions in my book. They, like, this is a notebook edition, and then there's storytelling editions. It's clandestine was, you know, the spy wheel and, you know, figuring out the- They do this every now and then.

Myke Hurley: Byline, dime novel, three missions, you know. Yeah. They're like, they're telling a specific tale.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And Expedition was the Antarctic Expedition, which, with the Yupo, the waterproof paper.

Myke Hurley: The un-terrible, yeah, all that one.

Brad Dowdy: Right. On a whole, though, as a group, the winter editions are some of the poorest as far as, like, people who obsess over field notes, as far as, like, how they would rank them. And I think it's because it serves a different purpose in general, I think, when the idea of producing this issue comes, right?

Myke Hurley: There may be attempting to be a little more gimmicky.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Winter Editions

Myke Hurley: Right? So, like, when you look at some of them, right? Like, Cold Horizon was the one that changed color, right?

Brad Dowdy: No, that was Snowblind. Cold Horizon was the blue gradient covers. Oh, the Metallica one.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: That were kind of poor. No, the Metallica one is Black Ice, which also did kind of poor. Cold Horizon did very bad. I liked Black Ice. Black Ice, I liked. A lot of people did not like that edition. Do you know what I found when I was doing this? That the resolution edition was the 2017 one. It was the red, white, and blue one with the memo books and the calendar might be the single worst-selling edition ever because it is still available.

Myke Hurley: Wow.

Brad Dowdy: And, like, I hated that edition at the time. And I can't remember what you thought about it. Like, it was fine, but it is still available. So, I think that one wasn't. That's an L. That's an L. That's an L.

Myke Hurley: That's an L for me because they, I don't like the, when they mess with the print format to give me, you know, something like, these are 248-page checklist junk. Like, it's just not what I want. Right.

Brad Dowdy: Which is what Ambition did. Yeah. Like, that's what you were saying. Like, that's what Ambition did. So, all of this is to say is that I think they did a really good job with Group 11.

Myke Hurley: I can't believe three missions are still available. It's probably because they did 50,000 of them.

Brad Dowdy: Yes, they did a ton of them.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. But I think Resolution, I didn't scroll through the whole list. I think it's the oldest edition still available. You are correct. But it's pointless now, kind of. So, that's two years ago, the winter edition. So, anyway, I just wanted to put that little list up because I think they generally experiment more in the non-holiday release issue was my hypothesis. And I think that's correct.

Myke Hurley: I see what you're saying. Yeah. I think that there tends to be, as I say, there tends to be like a, in my opinion, like a gimmick to them. Like, they tend to have like a thing about them, which means that they would show up in holiday gift guides. Right. And like this time, it's like, oh, it's got gilded edges. How fancy would you feel? Right. Or like, clandestine was like, oh, it's got a code breaking thing. Right. You can give it to Uncle Bob and he'll try and work it out over the Christmas dinner table or whatever. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. So, like, they have that in them. But I see they don't, you were right, like, they don't push the envelope in the ways that would appeal to maybe the typical Field Notes customer in those situations. But nevertheless, 2019, if you were a subscriber in 2019, hit it out. You were very happy. I would imagine so. They hit it out of the park every single time.

Brad Dowdy: I would imagine so. One last thing as I was putting together this list, then we'll move on to our next topic. I was a subscriber back when Balsam Fur came out. This was 2010. Do you recall them sending a branch of a Balsam Fur tree in the envelope? Yeah, I remember that.

Brad Dowdy: That was amazing. What were they thinking?

Unlisted Extra

Brad Dowdy: I forgot all about that until I put this list together. I was like, oh, my gosh. I remember that completely.

Myke Hurley: Was that an unlisted extra? Like, that was just something that came in the bag?

Brad Dowdy: It must have. I don't even know. It was great. It was like, what is happening to this envelope and all these little pine needles falling out?

Myke Hurley: Well, I'm looking forward to getting these ones in. I'm looking forward to opening them all up. Cracking them all up.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I probably won't use them. I like them fine. I mean, just, yeah, they're good. I have other ones I'm using right now. I will say, Brett. I'll continue to use the Fall Edition, and I'm using the Wilco Edition for something.

Myke Hurley: This is, it kind of pains me to say this. I kind of don't even want to say it, but I will say it. This is my fourth subscription of four. I'm not going to renew.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, I've already decided, yeah. I still have two more to go. I'm done.

Myke Hurley: Absolutely nothing against Field Notes, right? Yes. Because I said, like, they have done the best work, but, like, I am not using them. Yep. So, they are just pretty much building up, and I plan to maybe pick up a couple of editions that I, like, absolutely adore here and there, or I'll eat my words and end up buying them all and then re-subscribe again. Like, I'm kind of just, I want to see it as, like, an experiment for 2020. Like, what do I do? Yeah. And is the FOMO too strong? But I have a drawer that is filling up of these things. Yep. And I feel like I'm not doing the best thing here by continuing to spend the money and stockpile these little books. It seems like it's strange. Considering they always sell out, it's kind of like there are people that want them more than me. So, I don't think at this point that I should continue just buying them or putting them in a drawer.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I mean, you're preaching to the choir here.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Spartan Pen

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Um, I don't have a fun or funny segue into this next topic other than the literal topic itself. I have been watching the Graffon Faber-Castell Pen of the Year releases for the past several years. They're usually the big, outrageous, gloriously expensive, fancy pen. Let us show off our, you know, capabilities in manufacturing and design in making a very unique, high-end pen. Like, it's the pinnacle pen of their year, right?

Myke Hurley: It's like what Montegrappa do, right? Is it Montegrappa? Yeah. They do, like... Who is it that does the Chaos Pen? It's not Montegrappa, is it? Yeah. Yeah? Montegrappa. Okay. Yeah. Mm-hmm. There you go. It's like what they do.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah. It's like a very high-end, design-rich, you know, not-for-everybody type of pen. It's the show pen, right, of the series. And it's their pen of the year. And they've made a bunch of great designs in the past. Like, I've considered them. They're a little bit expensive. And, I mean, they're a lot a bit expensive. That was a misspeak.

Myke Hurley: What sort of money are we talking, Brad?

Brad Dowdy: I'm actually trying to look that up now. But we're talking, like, $2,000 to $5,000, I think, is what we're looking at.

Myke Hurley: It's very expensive. But that is not, like, $70,000, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: But as I look at the pen of the year 2020 Sparta available at the end of November, I'm looking for a price point, and I don't see it on Fabric Astor's page. I'm sure it's on some vendors' pages who are pre-listing it for sale. So, and, you know, I saw this pen pass, you know, through my feeds earlier this week. And I just saw, like, the, you know, like, the red kind of statue design and then, like, the silver pen. And you could tell, like, the helmet shape on the clip, right? And I was like, okay, cool. There's Fabric Astor's pen of the year design. Then I just moved on to the next thing.

Myke Hurley: And the body of it is kind of like the armor, like the skirt, right? Yes. Kind of pleated skirt.

Brad Dowdy: Like the pleated skirt. They're, like, studded. Like, you know. And, you know, for the execution of it, sure, it's fine. Looks good, right? Like, they had a design. We're going to do Sparta. And this is how they executed it. And they executed it correctly. Then my friend Sarah tweeted at us this morning. And pointed out something that I did not notice in my initial glance because I just didn't care that much.

Myke Hurley: Why did they do this? I hate it. I hate it so much. Like, I want to burn it. I hate it.

Brad Dowdy: So, the traditional Spartan warriors were not head-to-toe armored, let's say. I think that's fair. You're saying this is essentially a leather skirt and a chest plate. Mm-hmm. And, you know, in general, they showed off their physique, you know, their biceps.

Myke Hurley: We've all seen 300, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah. You know, there's some well-chiseled warriors. There's some, especially the ab region, Myke, or is, you know, a very good highlight of these fighters. And Faber-Castell has decided to honor the ab region by placing a set of abs on the grip section of the pen.

Myke Hurley: It's not just abs. There's pecs in there, too. And pecs. If you look, you've got an entire torso sitting in this. I hate it. I hate it. It makes me feel so weird to see this pen with a human physique. It makes me so uncomfortable. It looks so weird. I don't like it. I don't like it.

Brad Dowdy: You know what my biggest problem is? Is I think it's upside down for how I would want it if I was, like, into this.

Myke Hurley: No, but then the nib is the head, right? I think they've done it the right way. The nib is the head. But is the nib the head? Because, no, because then the skirt is below the body.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. Right?

Myke Hurley: Technically, yes, you're correct. And then the helmet goes on top of the nib, right? Yes, you're correct. But also over the abs, which is so you've kind of broken with the idea there. But I think that's why they did it.

Brad Dowdy: It's anatomically correct. You're correct. But, like, visually, I'm, like, when I'm riding with it, you know, because that's how I'm pretending.

Myke Hurley: No, Brad, visually, there is no correct way to do this. Because that is a horrific thing to do to a pen. They put abs on a pen. Why'd you do that? You ruined it. Like, you went from evoking something to just doing it. You may as well have just made the entire pen in the shape of a warrior. Like, you went too far, Faber-Castell.

Brad Dowdy: Like, so we'll have the link in the show notes to this. I want you to scroll down to the section. This is a great marketing page. You know, all the headlines, heartland and perfect. It looks good, though.

Myke Hurley: Like, the page looks great, right? Like, it does its same.

Brad Dowdy: Bravery and masculinity. So scroll down to the precise and powerful section and look at that image in relation to the warrior that they're showing. And you're like, oh, my God. Why did they have to do this? They did not have to do this. And that's the picture that makes me say, this is just a massive, massive mistake. I mean, it's...

Myke Hurley: Why did they do this? Why put abs on the pen? There's abs on the pen. No, the worst one. The worst one is you scroll down a bit further and there's a heading called black and high carrot. And it's, like, super pronounced.

Brad Dowdy: Dude, that is, like, washboard, like... That's, like, some serious abs right there.

Myke Hurley: Why did you do it? Oh, it's even worse on some of the other models. Like, the rollerball. It looks even worse on the rollerball. This is what our life has become, Myke. Why did they put abs on the pen? Oh, my God. Don't put abs on the pen.

Brad Dowdy: So, welcome to Pen Addict Lore, Sparta Pen. You will not be forgotten. I promise you that.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, you're gonna... This is gonna be one of those things that comes up for a while.

Myke Hurley: I'm gonna be questioning all designs now. I mean, all of the other years, they didn't put abs on them and they look lovely. Like, there's a Viking one. They didn't put any anatomical details in the Viking pen.

Brad Dowdy: I mean, those guys were a lot colder. Like, they bundled up a little bit more. I guess.

Myke Hurley: Well, they didn't put any fur on it. I will say, just going through the Pen of the Year website, these are all very beautiful pens. They are. It's a great... I love looking at this site. They ruined it by putting abs on it. Because this 2020 pen, everything about it, I actually like. I think it's designed nicely, right? Yeah, with the cap on it, it looks great. The helmet is fantastic, right? Like, the helmet cap. Like, it's a genius. Genius design. That actually just looks like a really nice pen. But then they put abs on it. God.

Brad Dowdy: I love this so much. In the worst way possible.

Myke Hurley: So, is the ink the blood then?

Brad Dowdy: Is that what we're saying? Ooh. Right? Is there an... There's got to be... Do they not sell a red ink with this? It's got... All the imagery is a lot of red in there.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I don't know. It's got to be red, right? You got to ink this up with a red ink.

Myke Hurley: I feel like you'd have to, because there's abs on it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I'm looking at the presentation box. It's like a three-level pen box, but I don't see any ink.

Myke Hurley: The box is... Bananas. Why... What is that middle tray?

Brad Dowdy: Yep. That's exactly what I was going to say. I don't know what the middle tray is for. So...

Myke Hurley: Do you put all your other pens in it, maybe? That's extra abs. It looks like a pen storage. Yes, the abs. Just the abs of the box.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Box abs. After they've won the war, and they're all eating and drinking, there's a smoother section with a little bit of a wine belly to it that you swap in.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And then you have the retired Spartan, and he just kind of lets off go a bit as he goes into older age.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right. So I think that's where the extra ab sections go.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. They're just extra ab sections. I like ab sections. That's fun. Mm-hmm. This is the worst thing.

Myke Hurley: Oh. You're a high-class brand, Graf von Weber-Castell. Don't put abs on the pen. Don't do it. This is Sparta.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, we did it, Myke. We made it through. I'm only crying a little bit because that was worth it.

Myke Hurley: I put abs on the pen. This episode is brought to you by HelloFresh. HelloFresh makes cooking delicious meals at home a reality, regardless of your comfort in the kitchen. From step-by-step recipes to pre-measured ingredients, you'll have everything you need to get a wow-worthy dinner on the table in about 30 minutes. Break out of your dinner rut with HelloFresh's seasonal, chef-curated recipes every week. There is something for everyone. There's family recipe options, calorie-smart options, vegetarian, and their fun menu series, like their Hall of Fame, so you can get what HelloFresh customers are considered to be their best meals, or a Kraft burgers selection to pick from as well. HelloFresh has more five-star recipes than any other meal kit, so you'll know that you're going to get something delicious, and it's super flexible as well. You can add extra meals to your weekly order if you need to, as well as some tasty treats. Maybe you want to, you know, have something on the side, some garlic bread, maybe some cookie dough for dessert. You can add all of that on as you please. Now, Brad, I have the pleasure of following Mary Beth on Instagram, and I noticed there was some cooking going on in the Dowdy household recently.

Brad Dowdy: I am so excited to talk about this, because my son Tyler, who is 11, he loves having these kits and the directions so he can be the chef. He gets enraged if you try to help him make these dinners. He was yelling at me to get out of the kitchen, and that my son is able to follow these directions. Like, he didn't, he's obviously not, like, you know, catching himself on fire. We're not letting him do, like, those types of things. But he'll do all the prep work, all the cutting, all the mixing, all the actual cooking with, you know, myself or my wife in there, you know, making sure. But he is so proud of being able to work through these recipes, and if my son can do it, anybody can do it. And on top of that, the food's amazing. Like, we had tacos one night, we had burgers one night, and, like, these are all, like, you know, the fancy burgers. Like, had the, you know, just this great sauce, and, you know, he's cutting up the potatoes to make the french fries. And he was obsessed with HelloFresh, and, like, we're going to just have to continue to get him, because I kind of like Tyler making us dinner, where we don't have to work at it. So, it's great. He is so proud of doing it, and takes it extremely seriously, and I loved every second of it. And on top of that, we loved the food. The food was outstanding.

HelloFresh Offer

Myke Hurley: You can get nine free meals of HelloFresh by going to hellofresh.com slash penaddict9 and using the code penaddict9. That is hellofresh.com slash penaddict and the number nine, and use the promo code penaddict9 to get those nine meals for free. Go check out the information there, hellofresh.com slash penaddict9. And our thanks to HelloFresh for their support of this show and RelayFM. Now, you sent me a message yesterday, and you were like, don't worry. I have it covered for tomorrow. I'm going to make a list of everything I have on my desk. And I was like, all right, sounds like fun. I opened up the document today. There's about 100 things in here.

Brad Dowdy: Did you count? I should have counted. I can probably go put a line item on my document where I wrote this down. So I had an epiphany, Myke, yesterday while streaming, of all things. I had this thought, and I was sitting there streaming, and I realized that every day that I stream, which is Tuesday and Thursday, every day that I stream, I bring the same kit with me, if you will. So I'll get my backpack, and I'll throw in the same notebook, the same pen cases.

Brad Dowdy: This usually, you know, whatever pens are in them, don't swap out that much. And we'll talk about the whys and the hows of all that. And I noticed yesterday that it's always the same thing every day that I leave the house with to pack up and go stream. And it's just like the stuff I want to have. And I realized it that I'm grabbing the stuff off my desk, and this particular grouping, there must be something to it, because I continue to use it. And that made me think, well, my desk is a pretty good proxy, I guess, of what my favorite things are that I personally want to use. Like, not necessarily the review items, right? My personal stationery, pens, notebooks, pencils, all the stuff I want around me at my own desk within reach that give me joy, give me writing pleasure, you know, give me, you know, a great visual, you know, whatever is inspiring me at the time. And those are the things that live on my desk. And I thought, well, if I can list all these things out, then I'd have a pretty good snapshot of all of my current favorites, probably of the last six months worth of pens and paper and things that have crossed my desk. What has lived and not been put away in the closet of doom? What has been, you know, a recurring theme about the things that I use? So I sat down last night, flipped open my laptop. I could have written this down in a notebook if I weren't sharing it with you. But I flipped open my laptop and just looked around my desk and started listing everything. So this is the list I've come up with. And I think it's kind of telling, one, in that it is massive, right?

Myke Hurley: It's 103 items, by the way.

Brad Dowdy: 103 items, probably missed some here and there. And this is not just pens and stationery, but it's probably 80% pens and stationery. And then, Myke, which I'll include in the show notes later, there's a picture of what this is. And the picture doesn't really add up with the amount of things. I think that's very tidy. Yeah, the picture made me have other thoughts. It's like, wow, this is how all of our money gets tied up in stationery because you can't see it, right? Like all the things I'm about to talk about really don't take up that much space. So let me go through the fountain pens. And then we'll go through some of the other lists. We may not go completely thoroughly through. And then there's probably a few things we'll talk about. We didn't discuss how we'd present this beforehand other than I don't want to just read like an entire list. That would be boring. But the fountain pen list is not that long. And we'll go through some of this, some of the whys, and then we'll expand in some of the other areas. Like I have a header for fountain pens, a header for standard pens and pencils, and then a header for paper, and then a header for accessories and ephemera. So let's hit these pens. And this is kind of what started it for me, that I was bringing the same Brasstown pen case, and we'll talk about accessories specifically later, with the same grouping of pens and the Sapelo XL with the same grouping of pens and notebooks. I was like, these are clearly my favorites of what I own and have been for a long, long time. So the first one I list, though, is one of the newest ones, and it's the Schoen Design Pocket 6. And I put in all the ink colors with the pens. So I'm using the Caran d'Ache Chromatics Hypnotic Blue ink cartridge with this. This pen I'm carrying because I like it, and I like Ian's designs, but I'm also going to be reviewing it. So there's like certain reasons why I carry certain things, but I can see this pen hanging around for a while. Then I have the Sailor 1911 4AM with the Sailor Ink Studio 941. I obviously really enjoy that pen. It's a great writing pen. It's a great looking pen. It's a fun ink. It's also a recent acquisition. The Lamy Studio Aquamarine is one I'm thinking about reviewing, but I just like the Lamy Studio. Like, it's one of the great underrated pens. It will probably come up in our gift guide episode next week, I'm sure, because it just fits. It's an answer to so many questions about buying pens for other people. It fits in a lot of categories, and I have it matched up with the Lamy Turquoise cartridge.

Myke Hurley: So just to note, because otherwise the entire CMS may explode, I'm going to only put into the show notes the rarer stuff, or stuff that we don't talk about very often, right? So like, I'm not going to put a link to the Sailor 1911 4AM. We speak about it like three weeks in a row. But stuff that we don't talk about maybe is new, like the Lamy Studio Aquamarine. We haven't gone into detail on that pen on this show, I don't believe. That's in the show notes. Is that clear? Yep. Yes.

Brad Dowdy: So we will not have 103 product links in the show notes, and we will break things. But like the Lamy Studio Aquamarine is a great example of why I wanted to do this, because I rarely talk about it, I rarely photograph it, I haven't reviewed it, but I personally find it to be a great pen and do not want to not have it available to me. So I keep it available to me, inked up, in a pen case, nearby, accessible, right? So like, it's kind of one of those prime examples of why I wanted to kind of break this down a little bit.

Brad Dowdy: Next up is the Aurora Optima Flex. It's the one that I got from Fountain Pen Hospital last year, but you and Anna, when we were there, and I am testing the Venta Azure ink in it, but I just, I tend to have that pen inked up because it has a flex nib. And even though it's not a flex nib, it's a soft nib, it gives me some cool line variation, and I like the Optima. I like how it feels. Then I have, of course, the brand new fancy pen, the Namiki Milky Way, with Pilot Orozuzuku Tsukiyo. This pen's going to change a lot about my fountain pen collection. That's a topic for another day. Another long, exploratory, Brad rambling episode. We'll save that for another day, but I am thoroughly enamored with that pen. The Nakaya Portable in Kuro Tamanuri. That's the black with the red undertones. It's inked with the Akramon Dutch Masters No. 5. That's just a glorious writing pen. I smile every time I pick that pen up. Again, it's like this is not a pen I just talk about all the time. Even though I talk about Nakayas all the time, I just want this pen available to me at all times because I enjoy writing with it. Same with the Sailor Rialo YY Pen Club Edition. We've talked about that ad nauseum. I have a needlepoint grind on that with Sailor Bung Box Sapphire in it. And it's just great. I really like that needlepoint. Same with the Pilot Custom Heritage 912. It's got a PO nib. I like my extra, extra fine nibs. Both of those are very different. The YY Pen Club is a little soft. The 912 is very firm. I like writing with both of them. The Pilot Falcon is the one that I have the Jonathan Brooks barrel on. So I love that pen. I just love how the Falcon writes. And I just keep a basic Pilot black cartridge in that. And the last fountain pen. So I don't know how many fountain pens that is. That's about 12 I have currently inked up. Is the Kaweco Frosted Sport Blue Raspberry. That pen lives on my desk. So, you know, I can use it and grab it, take it out, whatever, with it. And it's got a pink ink in it, Waterman Vibrant Pink. And it's just a cool match. It's something I use for, like, notes, highlights, things like that. So as I go back through this list, I have 11 pens. And nine of them are inked up with some form of blue ink, which I just realized. And then we have the Pilot Black cartridge and Waterman Vibrant Prink. I don't have any orange ink inked up right now. But that's about to change.

Myke Hurley: I have a question for you. Yes. If they're all... So most of them have blues. How do you know what blue was in them? I mean, we've been through this before, right? Like, I don't know what oranges are in my orange pens.

Brad Dowdy: I could probably blind test and get at least seven out of nine right, if not more than that.

Myke Hurley: All right. Because... Humble brag.

Brad Dowdy: Two of them are bright. You know, Hypnotic Blue and Lamy Turquoise.

Brad Dowdy: Sailor Ink Studio 941's in two of them. I know exactly what Tsukio, Bungbok Sapphire, Shinkai look like on the page. I could pick all those out. The Israel Zeeblau, I would be concerned about. The Venta Azur, I could pick out out of this collection because it's massively sheening.

Brad Dowdy: So yeah, I think I could... The only ink I would have a problem with is the Akramon going, I'm not sure, maybe it's this. But in this context, I'd know what it is because of process of elimination. Right. I could name... I could blind test all of these inks. For sure.

Brad Dowdy: So, this is what I like. Like, this is why I wanted to write this down. Because you don't realize that I have nine of 11 pens inked up with blue ink. Like, I didn't realize that. I thought... I would have bet I had an orange and a purple in there somewhere. I do not. But it's pretty clear, like, this is what I enjoy writing with. Especially for the pens that will stay, you know, in these state. You know, in active use. Like the Namiki and the Nakaya and the Sailors and the PO nib and things like that. Like, some of these might rotate in and out. Like the TWSBI Eco. So, you know, I use that for ink testing. Things like that. You know, the Pilot Falcon. It just depends on if I'm in the mood for that. Sometimes I'll just clean it out and store it. But in general, like, I don't have any of these pens that I don't want to use all the time. Like, I'm not... Like, this is a great setup for me. And that's what I wanted to see in, like, a black and white thing. Which is why I wrote it down.

Brad Dowdy: It also shows me that I have too many fountain pens inked up. I don't like having this many inked up. Because I will end up not using them all before I'm ready to move into other pens. And want to clear some space. Like, this is maxed out level. I would prefer about half of this. Like, six pens would be great to be inked up. I don't know if I can ever get to that. Because I do keep some for test.

Myke Hurley: I have more fountain pens on my desk than you do.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, this is it. Actually, when I did my last... My sale recently. I moved all my fountain pen storage into the closet. Like, I cleaned it off my desk. So, that ties into the future story. Yeah, but you see... Probably tell later.

Myke Hurley: Then we have this next category of 25 items. And, like, I don't compare to that. By the way, I want to do this. We have a couple of episodes planned for the next few weeks, I think. But once we're done with those, I want to do a massive breakdown of Myke's desk.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. Yeah, this would be a cool thing to try. You know, like, twice a year I should do this because I'm just interested in tracking this information. Mm-hmm. Like, this is the personal list of things I like and want to use that have stood the test of time, you know, throughout my reviews and throughout my usage. Like, some of these I just have years and years of usage with. Some of them I have weeks of usage with, right? So, it will rotate and change over time. So, I don't think I want to read this entire next list, but it is your standard pens and pencils list. But there are some things... Actually, I will probably close to reading them all, but it will be more in a grouping type of situation. So, like, I have the Ajoto Ebonite pen, which is a new pen to me. I am an Ajoto fan. This is their newest Ebonite model. It's insanely expensive, and I love it. This pen I will eventually review because it falls clearly into the category of superfans-only pen, right? If you're an Ajoto superfan, you'd be interested in this. You really have to be. I would never, ever in a million years recommend this pen to anybody. And, like, I think that's a fair stance to have. I personally love this pen.

Myke Hurley: So, this is the one that's all wild colors and stuff?

Brad Dowdy: Yes, but it's made out of Ebonite, so it is lightweight. It feels like you're writing with a plastic straw. It is so light.

Myke Hurley: Because they have a few different... I mean, I'm on their website, and they have, like, Tiger Blue Ebonite, Sand Ebonite, Indigo Ebonite. Do you have one of those? I have the Tiger one. Tiger Blue. Yeah, that's... Oh, man, that looks good. But it's 230 pounds. Yes. On a pen that you can otherwise buy for much cheaper, right?

Brad Dowdy: Well, their metal pens are not that much cheaper. They're, like, 150 to 200 pounds.

Myke Hurley: They used to do a cheaper version than this, didn't they?

Brad Dowdy: They have one basic brass that I think is in the 150-pound range, but I'd have to look at it. 145.

Myke Hurley: But they used to do... I'm sure they did aluminum.

Brad Dowdy: Well, the Kickstarter, they have done aluminum in the past. I just said, wow, I just repeated your word. When I did the brass Kickstarter, I want to say it was a 90 to 100. That might be one of those. So that was years and years and years ago, like my original. Yeah. So I just enjoy the brand. They're very expensive. I find this pen to be amazing, but it will always be on my desk, and, like, I would never tell anyone to buy this pen. No one in their right mind should buy this pen unless you're, like, the Ajoto superfan.

Myke Hurley: Just to be clear, like, this carries the Schmidt refill, right? Like, it's, you know, it's a very, very expensive Mark I or Retro 51. Retro, yep. But we spoke about Ajoto in the past because I also backed the Kickstarter, and I love mine. But I have just the aluminum one, which it seems like they don't make anymore. They've gone higher end, which more power to them because they make a very good product.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I actually have one of their... It's not listed on the page anymore. I bought one of their stainless steel models because I love stainless steel metal pens.

Myke Hurley: So... Yeah. They have a... They do have a stainless steel version now, but I think it's different. They have a natural spun stainless steel.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Mine has this weird, like, copper flame cap that looks pretty cool. Oh, yeah. So, yeah. Like, these are the types of pen... This is the perfect example of the pen that is on my desk, but probably not anyone else's. But it will always be on my desk because I personally enjoy it. And that's what I was trying to get out of this list. Right. So the next two items are the last two Retro 51s I've done, the Pastel Shiba and the Pink Robots. I use them all the time, both of them. I use the Pastel Shiba mostly because I think I like the silver trim. I like the look of it. And I put the Oto Flash Dry Gel refill in there. So I'm, like, kind of turning the corner on that refill, and it's pretty cool to use.

Brad Dowdy: And then, like, just sitting there, I have the CW&T Pen Type-C, which is that little flip pen. I never use that pen. That pen's going to be removed from my desk. Like, it's cool. I'm glad I owned it. It was a Kickstarter reward. And it's just a neat design, but it's going to go away.

Brad Dowdy: This next little group is all in a pen cube that I just leave on my desk because I sometimes want to use these pens. These are not the most commonly used pens on my desk. But the Caran d'Ache 849 Viking Edition that I bought on our trip to CW Pencils last year, the Caran d'Ache Fix Pencil because I always lose it because I use it so much. Pentel Smash 0.3 millimeter mechanical pencil. Tough Rider Flamed Titanium Pen. That's a pen I use that has a Fisher Space Pen refill. Like, if I'm going, you know, out for baseball practice, like, that's a good pen to have to get out there and bang around and get dirty. I have the Parker Jotter from Mad Men that I want out on my desk because it's just a cool story. Like, I rarely use it, but it's in a little pen holder and I want it there. Same with kind of the Mont Blanc M rollerball. I don't use that pen a lot, but, like, it's so interesting. We've talked about that pen a million times. It's just there. The Sharpie Ultra Fine and Orange. And those all just kind of sit in this one little cube. Those are not actively used, really, except the Fix Pencil. So, these pens are if I have a specific need where I want a very fine mechanical pencil, say.

Brad Dowdy: Or I want to write with the 849 ballpoint, which I love. Or I'm going out of the house and want a pen I can beat on, like, the Tough Rider. Like, those are the type of pens that go in that situation. Like, anything that's in, like, a pen stand on my desk are the least used pens on my desk, but I want them there for a reason. But, so, I have the Spoke Pen Joker Pen and the Box Pen Pen Addict Edition Pen sitting on my desk, too.

Myke Hurley: The Joker Pen, the Joker version, that's the one that I've kept on the desk. Yeah. I thought I would have kept the Orange Crush, but the Joker is the best one. Oh, that's funny. Yeah, good to know. I just think it's super weird and fun, and I love it. Yeah. When will the Spoke Pen be generally available?

Brad Dowdy: Maybe, like, as soon as next week. Wonderful. Like, we're almost done. Like, Brian's processing a bunch of pens right now. Then we're just going to get together to hand them off, because I'm doing all the fulfillment. So, it's really close. Close, next week or two.

Myke Hurley: What colors will be available?

Brad Dowdy: Most of the standard. I think most of the standard are going to be available, and we're hoping to have at least two new colors.

Myke Hurley: Two new colors. Don't quote me on that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: All right, but, like, because I thought this was the case, but I didn't remember, like, the Orange Crush and the Joker were Kickstarter exclusives, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, they're not. Those, I'm talking about, like, just the base colors. Yes. Yeah. We will not have the Orange Crush and the Joker.

Myke Hurley: You'll be replacing, basically, those with some new ones that you couldn't buy before. Cool.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. Yes. Yep. The next batch is a bunch of random pens that I use for marking or drawing, like the Uniball Signo DX in pink, the Tombow Neon Brush Pen in pink, Copic Multiliner, Secure Pigmo Micron, Kuretaki Zig Mangaka, all of those types of pens. A lot of those sit in a different case where I have, like, a visual journal where I keep and do some notes and things like that. Then I have some other machine pens that I like laying around. So I have the pen type B in titanium. That actually stays in one of my pen cases because I use that all the time. I have the Sunderland MK1, which I just got back, you know, full disclosure, Brad advertised on the blog this week. I love this metal pen. It's an aluminum pen. It's got some unique characteristics with it. I have a Pilot Juice 0.38 black, blue-black refill in it. That's what I use to take my field notes this morning. Like, it's just a cool pen. Like, I want those pens laying around. It's got a classic one to it. Yeah. And it's really, really well done. It has the threads are, like, underneath the grip section. Like, you'd never know. Like, the top threads on there. It's wild looking or wildly made. And then I have, like, just a random, like, the Kaweco Sport Clutch Pencil. That's laying there because I was thinking about reviewing it, but I actually think it's a pretty bad product. So I may not even review it. I've been testing it about a bunch. That's also another, like, category that lives on my desk sometimes is things I have to review, but I need to test them first. So I'm always using things like this Kaweco Sport Pencil to get an idea so I can later, you know, tell a story about it when I'm doing a review. And right now, that story is I may not review this pencil because I think it's actually pretty bad. But maybe I'll – I'm borderline on whether I should spend the time reviewing it. But then I have my Tombow Erogiton Color Dictionary Volume 1 set of colored pencils. This is one of my personal favorite products that I own. It's three sets of 12 colored pencils. I use them in my theme system journal to fill in my habit tracker. Yeah. And I just – it's, like, my main colored pencil set that I use for everything. So I love these. I highly recommend those. Those live on my desk because it's, like, they come in their own display boxes. So it's an easy thing to have on your desk. And it sits on top of a Harry's gift box, which I've talked about before, that I have loaded with dozens of wooden pencils. Right. And, like, sharpener accessories in there. We're not going to go through all those. But, you know, I keep wooden pencils there. Yeah. Just a bunch of stuff. So, like, these are – I use my fountain pens the most. But these – it's pretty close to, like, a 50-50 breakdown between fountain pens and then things like the Johto, the Retros, the CWTs, the Spokes, those types of gel pens. Those are – that's probably between the fountain pens and those type of pens. If you add them all up, that's probably 80% to 90% of my writing is with that type of grouping of pens. And then you have your drawing pens, mechanical pencils, ballpoint pens, sometimes fill out that – colored pencils fill out that last 10 to 15, 20%, whatever it is there.

Myke Hurley: But just by pure numbers, you do have more non-fountain pen writing implements on your desk at any one time.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Yep, yep. So these are just all, like, available on my desk.

Myke Hurley: But you've got to have something to write on, right? Yeah. Which is paper.

Brad Dowdy: Which is paper. Where can we find some really good paper, though? I'm pretty sure we might know somebody.

Myke Hurley: I'm so pleased that you asked. You can go to Pen Chalet to get all that sort of stuff. Pen Chalet have everything you need, right? They have paper. They have notebooks. They have fountain pen converters and pen holders and carrying cases and inks and, of course, amazing rollerballs, fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, and so much more from all of your favorite brands. Pen Chalet are always adding new styles of pen. Every single month, you will find new stuff. What you'll also find is discounts. They run special discounts twice a month and closeout specials as well. Pen Chalet believe in giving you the fastest and most reliable customer service that they can and also getting your products to you in the quickest and cheapest way possible. They do free shipping on orders of over $50 in the United States, but they also sell internationally as well, and they have great shipping rates for that, too. Pen Chalet has low prices on high-quality pens, and they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and they are a wonderful supporter of the Pen Addict Podcast. If you go to penchalet.com, P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com and click the podcast link at the top of the website, enter the password Pen Addict. Do this at any time, and you will get the code that you need to save 10% on literally anything over on Pen Chalet. And you'll also find some wonderful offers. We have some pens and ink offers this week, but also some ceiling wax supplies. Not like for the ceiling, but for ceiling and envelope.

Brad Dowdy: I am shockingly interested in these because these are made for glue guns. So this is the Pen Chalet glue gun sealing wax. So being a parent and having students, you own things like glue guns at your house for school projects. Like my sister, my sister, my daughter had like a recent science project where we had to like make a nitrogen atom, and we're glue gunning things left and right. And to have the ceiling wax and then the seals, which are also listed on the site, I am completely like into this. Like I'm going to look at this a little bit more and see if this is something that would work for me. Because I might start writing letters. Don't hold me to that. Uh-oh. I'm, yeah. Like I just had this, this is all in conjunction with this whole list that we're doing here on the podcast. So, yeah, this glue gun sealing wax and these brass seals, like I'm going to go explore these. They look pretty cool.

Myke Hurley: There's also some other stuff lower down. Some other different types of wax and sealing things. So if that's something you're looking for. Yeah, a bunch of great ink from, from, uh, some great individuals who live in Australasia, I think.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah.

Myke Hurley: You can go get those inks right now. So one of the selection of products, go to penchalet.com, hit the podcast link at the top of the website, and use the password. So pen addict to get your hands on these offers. Our thanks to Penchalet for their support of this show and Relay FM.

Brad Dowdy: All right, before we get into the next section, one point I'd like to make, and then one lead-in question. One point, are you finding this useful? Sure. Do you think there's some use in doing this? Okay. Because I was not sure. Like, this is a very weird thing. Hey, let me read off the list of this stuff on my desk.

Myke Hurley: No, no, no. All anybody wants to know is what products is Brad Dowdy using? Any one point in time, that's all people want to know. So this extends to that.

Brad Dowdy: So I find it useful for a lot of reasons, which we'll continue to get into as we go through. But yeah, I was wondering, like, I felt like this would work for a podcast episode. And like, maybe, you know, once or two, like I said, once or twice a year, maybe it works. Um, the second point I want to lead into the paper section here is that the first two sections of pens, fountain, and standard pens, pencils, comprise 36, uh, 36 items. The paper section comprises 27 items of its own. Do you see a problem here?

Myke Hurley: Yes, that's too much paper. I would, I would, I would posit.

Brad Dowdy: This is the story of my life as far as paper goes. I can't narrow down my paper usage to a handful of favorite things. So I'm going to go through this list and talk about, you know, why I have all this stuff. Um, aside from this paper storage is my biggest flaw right now, like in the closet of doom. Um, I'm getting there with like my pens and inks and that kind of storage paper storage is, is just a mess. So let's go through some of these. So I just had to, I ran out of a bunch of Rhodia paper recently in all sizes. So I just reordered. Um, I like to have those around for ink testing and just general note taking. But really I like to see how fountain pens behave on Rhodia paper. It's a good baseline paper for a lot of things. So I have the Rhodia A5 ice pad, uh, gridded that just sits on my desk. I have the Wilco field notes box set, which I'm using to transcribe Wilco album lyrics in. So that's a project I've just taken on. So that sits there on my desk. I have the theme system journal, which Myke, I'm getting into like page 40 now. So I've been very consistent. I don't know that I've missed. I maybe missed one day in it. I don't think I have. So you're doing the Monday through Friday thing. Um, so yeah, I'm, I'm not quite halfway through the dailies yet. Um, it's been a very good thing. I've enjoyed it and we'll talk about that more. I think that's maybe more of a, uh, we'll explore that more as we get to the end of the year, beginning of next year, as we're working on these things.

Myke Hurley: Um, can I give us a quick update? Just sure. Yes, please.

Brad Dowdy: Because one of the things I needed was, well, this is going well. I'm going to need to order a second one. Oh, there aren't any.

Myke Hurley: No, you're calm yourself, my friend. Uh, they're currently production samples being sent to me for us for our next printing run. Uh, they are stuck in customs, uh, as everything. Everything is consistently stuck in customs. Just some level of customs. But once I approve that run, we will then have, uh, an amount that will be in stock before the end of the year. And then an amount in stock in the beginning of the year. With the hope that then before the end of Q1 will be the revised edition. Okay, cool. But there will be some in stock before the holidays is the plan. And then some in stock after the holidays is the plan. This is all the plan. Shipping may destroy the plan, but that's the plan.

Brad Dowdy: That's the plan. Best laid plans, something, something.

Myke Hurley: The best laid plans get destroyed by customs.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, there has to be a ban called Stuck in Customs, right? I mean, that seems like the most obvious ban name ever. Certainly there was a ban. They were obviously a failure because we've never heard of them. But it seems like just an appropriate ban name. Anyway.

Brad Dowdy: 2020 Hobonichi Weeks is sitting there waiting to be launched on January 1st. So I keep that on my desk because it will get lost and eaten by the monsters in the closet of doom. And I may never come up with it again. So it's just hanging out on my desk while the theme system is actively used on a daily basis. I have the Life A5 bank paper pass.

Myke Hurley: So what you're saying is, like, you know, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but what you're saying is theme system's the best. It is. It's what I'm getting. Because you can use it whenever you want. The theme system is continuing.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Just use it now. So, very good points.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: Hashtags always be selling. Yes. Always be closing. Sorry. Always be closing. Life A5 bank paper is a new thing to me. It's a recommendation. So it's sitting there waiting to be used as well. My Longsterm 1917 Red Bauhaus Journal is maybe half full with just random journaling stuff and some notes I'm taking for different projects. I have two NotCo A5 spiral pads, one of the greatest pads ever made. Yeah. I'm not embarrassed to say. Okay. That have, that are in various states of usage. Uh-huh. Always be closing.

Myke Hurley: Always.

Brad Dowdy: Turns out. It's a fantastic product. I use it for a lot of things. It is my wife's favorite notebook. She's gone through, like, I don't know. I think she probably has, like, eight of them going right now with different projects. She's like, oh, I just finished one. Give me another one. And so it's, like, constant. I have the Yoseka notebook, which I've really been enjoying for ink reviews. It handles ink in a very unique way. And I'm enjoying using that notebook a lot. I have the Papercuts A5 52-gram Tomoe River notebook. That is what I've referred to in the past as my hashtag DGAF notebook. That's where scribbles and ink testing and samples go when you don't want to ruin your new notebook to make sure, like, your pen is actually going to write. That is my DGAF notebook. I have a Rhodia A4 dot pad and a Rhodia A4 ice pad. The dot pad is almost done. The ice pad will be about to replace that. It's just, like, a sheet or two away from being done. So those are in transition. The CW&T Studio Sketchbook, which I use for just that. It has some product sketches in there. I have the WritePads meeting book and the WritePads landscape ruled notebook. Those could probably be filed off the desk because I only use them for specific reviews, like the meeting book I'm using for mechanical pencil reviews. And I don't do those even once a month. So that's probably something that could be off the desk and then be grabbed as needed. Same with the landscaped ruled notebook. I have NotCo A5 dot dash notebook, which is the brown cover one. I prefer the spiral pad, but I've used this one to go in as inserts in other A5 cases like my seed notebook covers. I have the Elemental Notepads Oxygen notebook, which is my visual journal. That's the one where I cut out pictures and write and do different things. I have the Studio Neat Pano book, your favorite, which I use for reviews. So that's kind of in the same category as the Write Notepads. Those don't get used as notebooks. Those get used as these are places where I'm going to write to do a review to further take pictures in the future. So that's that category. The Pebble Stationery Glacier Edition and Nero's Notes pocket notebook live in my Sinclair because they're the pocket notebook size. I have three types of NotCo note cards in use. The Weekly Doc Dash, the Line Plus Blank, and the Petite. I've already used two Petite cards today, so they are actively used. I have the Coloring, which is my ink sample book. I have the 2020 Gibun Techo, which I'm going to give away. So not everything is in use on my desk. I have it on my desk because it's a giveaway item and I need to move it to the shipping station. So it's just sitting there. Field Notes Autumn American Elm version. It's the yellow notebook. I just use that for random notes and paper testing. The William Hanna A5 Journal, which is my most used paper product right now. That's the one that travels with me when I go to stream. It goes with me at all times. It handles my week. I have a place for notes. And then I have a new Lamy notebook, which is just sitting there for a future review. It's waiting to be tested. So out of, what was that, 27 paper items, I use well more than half of them regularly. And then the other half could probably be put away.

Myke Hurley: You're very though compartmentalized, you know. This goes here and this goes here. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: They all have, there's reasons, the reasons may not make sense, but there's reasons for all of them. It makes sense to you. Yeah. It makes sense to me. But like some of the reasons are like few and far between. So they probably need to be moved off my desk to be quite honest, right? Notebooks take up a lot of space. But they're hard to store. So I, they, they stack well. So I just end up making towers on my desk and then grabbing the ones that I need. And the, the most used ones matriculate to the top of the stack.

Myke Hurley: Yep.

Myke Hurley: This, the most, uh, the most links have come from this section.

Brad Dowdy: It's an interest. I found this section to be very interesting because I was shocked at how many of these I actually used and shocked at the overall total, which is too much. It's a lot. Like I can go through this list and say, yep, I use this this week. I've used this this week. And then the ones that I haven't used in a week or two actually need to move off the desk. Like the, the big write note pads, um, you know, just a couple of things. Then I have a couple of things for review. Like the coloring doesn't necessarily need to live on my desk. I use it frequently when I'm doing ink testing and stuff, but when I'm not using it, it's not like I'm taking notes in it, right? Like it's just sitting there.

Myke Hurley: How long has the weekly note card been a thing?

Brad Dowdy: A year or two. It's a great design.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. For some reason, this one seems to have passed me by.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. It's a, I mean, it's a toot my own horn thing. Yeah. It is a brilliant design.

Myke Hurley: It's very clever.

Brad Dowdy: For what it is. Mm-hmm. I absolutely love that that card exists. We sell a good amount, amount of them too. Yeah. People like them. It's very useful.

Brad Dowdy: All right. So we've done pens, pencils, paper. Now we have stuff. This is where you get in trouble. Like I'm, I'm already in trouble. Like it's clear. We're well past trouble here. You're listening to a podcast about pens. We're beyond the trouble phase. There is a lot of stuff on here that is stationary related. And it's not that much that's not. Some of it's just like, you know, technology. But the storage falls into this category because all of it lives on my desk. So the Keras Customs cube, that's the red anodized cube that you'll see in the picture later. Um, that we'll have in the show notes. This is where those pens live. Like the 849, the, the Rotring, the Jotter, um, the Tough Writer. The pens that I don't use frequently, but I want them accessible for when the need arises. Is that what lives in the cube? I have an old Knocko Dudek Idea Dock, which we don't sell anymore. That holds all of my different size note cards right now. So I have the Weekly and the Petite sitting on that. Um, that's where I grabbed my note cards from. Then the Knock Brasstown and Violet and Raven. That's where all those fountain pens go that I mentioned earlier. So I have seven in there right now. Six in the six defined slots. One in the additional pouch. The Knocko Sinclair in camo, which is my favorite one. That has three of the pens and the pocket notebooks like the, um, Pebble Stationery and Nero's Notes. The Knocko Tallulah holds my Petite Index cards. And the Sailor Rialo and, uh, Pastel Shiba Retro 51 because I use them so much. The Knocko Sapelo XL in Violet and Sunshine. That holds the theme system journal. Um, the Retro 51 Pink Robots. The Pen Type C. The Pink Neon Tombow Brush. This is kind of my non-fountain pen carry case. It also holds, uh, note cards and notebooks. Like, the pocket size. So that's where my lined notebooks go. That's where my Wilco field notes go, um, for that project that I'm working on. And then I have the Knocko Burton, which is where the visual journaling stuff goes. The elemental notebook. The drawing pens that I listed above. The Copic Securas. Um, it also contains, um, neon washi tape and a pair of fancy scissors that I got from JetPens. Um, so all of that goes in there. So, like, all of my storage stuff, I can tell you what's in it without even touching it or looking at it. Like, I'm not looking at any of these things. I know exactly what's in all of these cases right now. Um, practically in slot order for the larger size cases. So, I don't, because I've used them as their setup right now so much. Uh, again, that's, like, the reason why I said, well, I should probably write this down and take this snapshot of what I'm using all the time. Because I think it's useful. Um, then we get into the randomness. So, I have my chop stamp that our friend Thomas Hall, uh, helped me get made. So, it's got my name in, uh, I guess it's Katakana, but I could be wrong on which exact, um, exact lettering is on that stamp. But it's cool. I use that in, when I make drawings, I sometimes just put a stamp on there like I'm, like, some cool official artist, right? It's, like, my signature thing there. I have some spoke design prototype pen stands that we're playing around with, with, uh, Brian's 3D printing machine and his knowledge of magnets. We've been playing around with some funky stands. Oh, interesting. That's a long, like, that's a, like, a way, way, way not imminent thing. But it's, we have this really cool idea.

Myke Hurley: The magnets is cool.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, we have this idea for this modular pen stand thing that would work with magnets. But it's, like, pre-alpha. Like, we're way, way, way far away. But we both love the idea. It's just a matter of time type of thing. Um, I have my little speaker. I keep the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom on there. I have all my technology devices. iPad. I'm full. Apple ecosystem. iPad Pro. 9.7 Apple Pencil. Apple Keyboard. Touchpad. Watch. Uh, the Rain Design M stand for my laptop. Um, I also keep a loop on my desk in case I'm having any trouble with any pens that I can get a close-up look at. Um, I also have the 12,000 grit sandpaper I can modify. You know, any nibs. If I want them smoother or whatever, I'll do that on my desk. And, uh, you know, I have the, a mobile microphone for my phone that I use. Not enough that I want to use more. Uh, by Shure. I have my KH20 Pencil Sharpener, which is my favorite pencil sharpener for all my pencils. I have an empty Y Studio fountain pen box because it's made out of wood and it holds all my pencil shavings. Midori Index Clips, which, um, Myke, they are the perfect thing for people who want a bookmark for their theme system. They're like these wafer thin index clips that I just got in and I have two of them. One for my active daily pages in the theme system journal and one on the habit tracker pages. You don't even know they're there, but they're instantly accessible. Are they little ducks? They're fantastic. No, these are not ducks. These are just, I think they come in maybe different shapes. These are just a basic, like a brass looking rectangle or copper looking. Um, they're so thin that, and, but they work really well. Then I have a binder clip that I use for notebooks sometimes if I'm taking pictures, like to hold down the pages, um, washi tape and scissors, which I mentioned. I have a card deck on there just for fidgeting. Um, it's a dynasty card deck done by Brendan Hong, who also did my ink stamp, um, that I'm not using enough and I need to use more. And then I have a deck of, uh, self exploration cards, which a really good friend sent me those called know yourself, sex, sex, sex, self exploration cards. That's a different set, uh, by the way. Um, so these are just for like writing prompt cards is basically what they are. So I keep those on my desk for like inspiration. Um, I have a bunch of books. Most of the books on my desk are either for like reference or the books that I need to read next, like out of water by Sarah Reed, who writes for the pen act. Who's really awesome. Um, so I have a whole bunch of books there, like the ones I use for just like reference, like Tokyo storefronts, um, and brand by hand. I like just looking at those and then I have other books I need to read. Um, I have candy, Myke. I have the herbal candy that our friend, uh, Glenn from Hong Kong, uh, sends us every year. So I keep that on my desk and a military challenge coin that another friend of the show gave us at the Atlanta pen show. I have my destiny figurines. You know, you got to personalize the desk a little bit. So I have my Cade six and, uh, I Cora little figurines, pen addict coaster, because I always have a drink, either coffee or water. Usually, um, Warby Parker, um, glasses case with my little cleaning rag, because if I'm on my desk all the time, my glasses get dirty and I need my cloth and have a lamp. Myke, we love lamp.

Myke Hurley: Are we done? That's it. Wow.

Brad Dowdy: That was a lot of stuff.

Brad Dowdy: So at the end of doing this, so like I said, I had my laptop and I had Ulysses, my favorite writing app up, and I'm just sitting here typing away and looking at my desk. And as I finished, like I closed my laptop, put it on the stand, um, you know, moved a couple things on my desk. And I was like, is all that stuff really on my desk? Because it doesn't look that bad. It's like, this should be like a volcanic ash explosion of a desk from what I just laid out there. And it's a little bit messy and a little bit, you know, unusable in parts of it, but it's really not that bad. I don't think in the grand scheme of things, it could be worse. And some days it is much worse when I'm really spread out. But with all the pins in storage and the cases zipped up and closed, it doesn't look ridiculous for all the ridiculousness I just listed out. So I put up a, an image, which we'll share in the show notes on Instagram. Like I could barely get to the edges of the desk and the picture because, you know, Instagram layouts and things like that.

Myke Hurley: You need the new iPhone, you know, get the ultra wide.

Brad Dowdy: I have it, but I didn't even think to like try to do that. That's what it's for. I know. Didn't think about it. Didn't think about that.

Brad Dowdy: But yeah, the, it's, the desk is totally usable. I like scooch everything's to the side. It's like a long skinny desk. So I can scooch everything out to the side and kind of work in the middle and I like it and it's mine and that's all my stuff. And I use all this stuff a lot and I'll be interested to see six months from now how much of this stuff I'm still using a lot.

Myke Hurley: I want to do this. Okay. Are you sure? Yeah. Mine's not going to be as much as yours. Probably about half. Well, good. But I want to do it.

Brad Dowdy: I was actually, when I started this, my idea was to get you to do it too. And then I started it and I was like, oh my God, this is a lot. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I was thinking when I opened the document today, I was like, right, let me go to the office and I'll start my inventory. And I looked at it and I was like, no, mine's not today. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yup.

Myke Hurley: That's fun.

Brad Dowdy: So it was fun for me. I hope other people liked it and I'm glad to answer any questions.

Myke Hurley: Oh, this is going to be one of those episodes where people write to you and like, oh, I love the episode. You watch.

Brad Dowdy: We'll see. We'll see. But yeah, like on Monday, I didn't have any ideas for the episode. On Tuesday, this just hit me and I said, I think I can do this and let's see what happens and we'll see what happens. It's now recorded and out there for everyone to listen to. So I'll be interested to see what the feedback is on it. And, you know, it was more coming from a place of not look at all this stuff, but like, let's figure out why I use all these things and see if this is, well, reasonable is not the word because none of this is reasonable, but for what I do and how I use things, is this, you know, in line with what I like and how I like to use things. And honestly, I have to say it pretty much is like I wouldn't change very much out of this list, which is kind of scary to say out loud. I think it's good.

Myke Hurley: All right. If you want to find, they've got a lot of links. If you want to find those links, go to relay.fm slash panadict slash 386. Go to twitch.tv slash panadict every Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. Eastern time. Brad will be streaming for your enjoyment. You can also find Brad at panadict.com, knock.co. He is dowdyism on Twitter, panadict on Instagram. Nobody knows all of the places that you go to, but that you're available at better than me.

Brad Dowdy: If we could just get that Twitter account bought out, we'd save a lot of problems.

Myke Hurley: We would. We really would. I am iMike. I-M-Y-K-E everywhere. Go follow me on Instagram. That's my favorite social network. Should be yours, too. Go follow me there. Thanks so much to our wonderful sponsors for this episode. The fine people over at HelloFresh and Penchalet. Okay, Brad, we'll be back next time. We've got a special episode next time, right? Do you want to tease it?

Brad Dowdy: Gift guide episode with Anna Reiner from the Well Appointed Desk for our annual gift guide episode. So if you have any questions and you're still listening to this podcast, send me your AskTPA on Twitter with your gift guide questions. Be as specific as you want. I want to do a very specific answers gift guide episode as opposed to a general gift guide episode. So we'll be working on that over the next week.

Myke Hurley: All right. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back then. Until next time, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.