The Pen Addict 460/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	460
Title:	Congratulations, You Are Correct
Release Date:	May 5th, 2021
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 460
Audio File:	Audio Episode 460
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 460
Length:	6565 min <br />1.083 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 416. Today's show is brought to you by Harry's, Pen Chalet, and ExpressVPN. My name is Myke Hurley, and I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad.

Brad: Hey, Myke. How's it going?

Myke: Good. How are you?

Energy Levels

Brad: Good. I'm very good. Is that the energy you're bringing to today's show, Brad? I mean, isn't it similar energy pretty much every show? I'm just so excited to be here every week. I'm excited to talk about things. I'm excited to stick my foot in my mouth. I'm excited to get yelled at and get in trouble. I'm excited to talk about pens and paper and pencils and ink and all of those things. So, I mean, what's not to be excited about? Is there a problem here? No.

Myke: Okay. I just wondered if the energy that you were bringing today was imitation energy.

Brad: Myke. Because that's not good for a podcast, you know? No. Have you ever seen me have imitation energy? You just did it. I don't even know what that is.

Myke: So, I got an email yesterday that I was very pleased to receive. Okay. It was from Knock Co. Oh, nice. You have revised the fodder stack. You've revived, I should say. Yeah. It's back to life.

Brad: One of our most requested products ever. And I am so happy to have this little, small, interesting, unique pen case back available. Because it's kind of... It was a late product to the Knock Co. party, right? It wasn't a launch product. It wasn't kind of like our first, you know, new product. But it's this product that kind of represents a lot of what Knock is. It's this really unique, fun, and functional product. And it shouldn't... It's one of those things that it looks too simple to, like, actually be good and effective. But it actually works extremely well for what it is. And what it is, if you're not familiar, is essentially a pocket protector. For three and a half by five and a half notebooks or note cards or anything smaller. With a pen slot or pencil slot or multiple pen slot in the front. And that's it. It's just like this... It's a pouch, right? You can stick it in a pocket. Stick it in a bag. Find it in a purse. It's like 17 bucks. Like, this is not like a $50 product. It's like this little inexpensive product. But it means so much to Knock, I think. Because the things that went into making this, it was super challenging. Like, Jeff tackled this. It's like, we need to do something. But it can't be like anything else. And trying to figure out how to manufacture this. This was the product I told you about way, way, way back in the day. That we made that our manufacturer could not reproduce. Like, they shot video of Jeff putting this together and could not replicate how to do this. And these are like the professional manufacturers. So, it's just a fun case. It's fun to tell those stories. I love carrying it around. And I love tossing it on my desk when I'm done. Like, I'm just happy that it is now back. Back available on the site. And I think a lot of people were happy to see it back as well.

Myke: Why was it gone?

Brad: Just timing. Right, right, right. You know, we had to get some other things done in the interim. We had, you know, a lot of things to catch up on, you know, money-wise. Like, over the last year. Just trying to reorder everything that needs to be manufactured. And it just kind of just continually kept getting pushed to the end of the line. Like, it's been in the queue forever. But it's just kind of got pushed to the line. So, now I finally was able to get it back out. So, it's kind of the last new thing that I've been waiting to get out. Just, like, back up on the site. And now, starting after this product, we're going to start doing some new colors, new styles, and things like that. Hopefully get some more new stuff out there on the site.

Myke: And it's just available in the clay colorway right now.

Brad: Clay and sandstone. Yep, yep.

Myke: Very cool.

Brad: So, yeah. Thrilled with it. Love it. Sitting on my desk right now, staring at it.

Myke: Yeah, it's a fun little thing. Especially, like, it's a really nice little product for if you are a note card type person, right?

Brad: Yes. Note card or pocket notebook, right? It'll fit your field notes. Anything that's that standard 3.5 by 5.5 size, it's going to fit. It will not fit one millimeter wider than that. Like, it's made to, like, almost have a tight fit on those things. So, like, your right notepads will not fit in there. Things like that.

Myke: Right.

Brad: Or even, like, a thick, small, hardbound. It's not made to be that. It's made to be, like, a slimline.

Myke: No, I mean, this is one of those products, though, where, like, what it is made for is to fit the specific note cards that you make. And then your mileage may vary of other stuff, right? Right. You know what I mean? That's why... I think it's perfectly fine. It's like, if you really want to use the note cards, this is the perfect case for it. You might be able to squeeze something else in there, but we're not guaranteeing that for you.

Brad: Yeah. That's why it gets pushed to the back of the list, because it's not as universal as some of our other pen cases. Right. Yeah. Because, I mean... This isn't something, like, super seller. This is, like, a super fan product, not a super seller product.

Myke: Always did well at pen shows, though.

Brad: Absolutely.

Myke: People would pick it up.

Brad: It's practically an add-on.

Note Card Case Discussion

Myke: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's kind of, like, for a lot of people, would be a fun add-on to the note cards, right? It is a product for people that already kind of feel like they want that kind of product in their life, I think.

Brad: Yep. Yep. So, it was good to have it back. It was good to finally get it launched. I've had them for a few weeks, and it's just taken me some time to get everything done.

Myke: I know that feeling.

Brad: Do you, Myke? How's the subtle notebook launch going?

Myke: Yeah. So, I've been referencing this for a little bit, and it is now available. If you go to cortexmerch.com, you will find now the addition of the subtle notebook, which is, in effect, it is the theme system without any of the theme system printing inside. So, it's got the same construction as the theme system journal, just with dot grid paper inside and a different color cover. Outside of that, it's pretty much identical. Paper's the same. The binding's the same. The, you know, it's all page numbered. It has the corner perforations that I love, and it has a different debossing on the front, which is to go in line with the clothing that we've done before, like the subtle sweater and the subtle tee. And the whole idea of that was where a typical podcast shirt, which is one we currently sell, big logo, right? Like the journal, big logo on the front, where the subtle one, just a more subtle logo in the corner, and we replicated that with the notebook. Like, I'm really happy with it. You know, it is a, for me, it's a product that I really wanted because this is kind of, I think, a lot of people that have gone through the journey that I've gone through, the journey that Brad already went through. Once you make something from scratch, right? Like you make all of the decisions, you've ended up building, in most instances, the perfect product for you. Mm-hmm. So then I was unhappy with other regular notebooks because I made what I felt was the perfect notebook for me, and it was the theme system journal, but that was my journal. So then I wanted an actual notebook to take notes in, and so we went ahead and made the central notebook. Plus, it was an easy next product for us because we'd done all the hard work, and so it was a logical next step for us product-wise to offer just a regular notebook. Sales have gone pretty well so far. I'm happy with the introduction. It hasn't sold out, but it wasn't going to because unlike with when we started with the theme system journal, we ordered a lot of these, right? Because we didn't want to make the mistake that we've made in the past because I've had some people say to me, like, oh, if I buy this, like, am I going to struggle to get it? You know, like, can I rely on this? The answer is yes. Yeah. We have a lot of them by choice, and we've ordered, you know, we have so many that we ordered that we would always have enough time to make more. If that makes sense, because we can see the stock levels. So now I feel very confident that this is a product we can keep in stock. I'm actually also pretty confident that we can keep the journal in stock now without any trouble, especially considering the amount that I currently have getting ready to make their way over to Cotton Bureau.

Brad: Good. Good, good, good. Well, congratulations. Looks like the feedback's been super great so far.

Myke: Yeah, people like it, which I'm pumped about. I mean, you know, and I was having some conversations with some people, like, some people have had some issues with their fountain pens, but there's a million things, right? Like, somebody sent me a picture of they were having some feathering with one of their pens, but it's not a thing that happens with mine, and I use pens of all different shapes and sizes and nib sizes and stuff. But my expectation is just that ink that that person was using just doesn't meet, like, couple with the paper very well. I'm sure this is the kind of stuff that you've experienced, too. It's just like there's so many permutations that, yes, this might not be right for you, but there's literally no way I can find that out. But what I know is I tested this paper in the journal and in the notebook with basically every fountain pen and pen that I own, and it was great for all of them.

Brad: Yep. All right. So that's our products. Yeah. Now it's the part of the show where I talk about other people's products and probably become a huge, gigantic hypocrite. Amazing. It's my favorite time. That's my favorite part of the show. This is the best bit.

Brad: Because I'm actually a little bit uncomfortable talking about this particular product, and this particular product is the Blackwing Palomino edition. And I say uncomfortable, not from a product-wise, but I'm not, like, totally versed in, like, the pencildom, like our friends at Erasable or people who are just, like, hardcore pencil users. Like, I love my pencils. I love my good pencils. I understand the Blackwings and what they've done, you know, and all that. I'm obviously a big, big fan. And I saw these Palomino editions come across. I'm like, oh, that's cool. They're updating the Palomino, or they're doing something, redoing the Palomino, which was one of the...

Myke: Because the Palomino is a pencil of its own, right?

Brad: Yes. Yes. It was kind of a launch brand when the Cal Cedar Company, and forgive me if I'm getting this wrong. I didn't write down all these specific notes, but basically when Cal Cedar decided to make pencils again, like, 10, 12, 14 years ago, this was kind of the premium pencil that they made at first, right? It was the Palomino HB, then there was an orange one, then there was a with eraser, without eraser. So it was kind of like the launch edition. Then they had the HB, and then they had, like, an artist pack and a few different things like that.

Myke: And Cal Cedar is the company that owns Blackwing and Palomino? Palomino?

Brad: Right. So this was... This isn't confusing. No, no, no. And this is why I'm pretty sure I'm going to get some of this wrong, and we'll hear some of this. Because, like, I literally do... I'm doing this from my head. I don't have this all written down. So anyway, this Palomino was a very popular pencil, right? It was this orange pencil, H standard HB core, and there was a blue model, you know? And I was like, you know, they were just good quality pencils. And that was the premium offering before there was a Blackwing revival from the brand, okay? So now, all these years later, Blackwing made a Palomino edition Blackwing Palomino.

Myke: Oh, I don't like that sentence.

Brad: So they've taken the aesthetic and the colors of the original Palominos, the orange and the blue, and put on the Blackwing ferrule and used a Blackwing core and charged a Blackwing price, which is $30 a dozen.

Myke: But these aren't Palomino pencils. Palomino pencils still exist, right?

Brad: Correct. So you can get a dozen Palomino HBs in orange barrel for $14.95. Or you can get a dozen Blackwing Palominos for $29.95.

Myke: So basically, the Blackwing Palominos, they're just orange and blue Blackwing pencils.

Brad: Yeah.

Myke: Okay.

Brad: I don't know what they're doing here.

Myke: This is incredibly confusing.

Blackwing Palomino Edition

Brad: Yeah. And it's, take all the confusion out. Like, I just, I'm, this is a curious decision by Blackwing to basically premiumize an already beloved product that they are known for. It's weird. But like, they've barely done that though, right?

Myke: Like, so does the Blackwing Palomino share anything other than color with the Palomino pencil?

Brad: No, besides the name.

Myke: Right. So that's, it's like, it's, it's very confusing to me because it's not even like it's a nostalgia thing because you can currently buy Palomino pencils, right? Like if they'd stopped selling the Palominos in the 90s or whatever, or the 40s, whenever it was, and then made a Blackwing Palomino edition, it would be like awesome. But like, this is really confusing to have a Blackwing Palomino and a Palomino and a Blackwing Palomino is just a Blackwing pencil that's orange or blue. It doesn't, like if, if for example, the Palomino had a specific like graphite composed, like composition, right? And, you know, and then they were bringing that graphite composition to the Blackwing pencil and you got all the features a Blackwing pencil gets with the core from the Palomino. That would be intriguing to me, but that doesn't seem like at all. They don't really seem like they've done anything like that.

Brad: Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad you're actually on, on kind of seeing where I'm coming from with this. Like, I don't know why they had to do this other than just like for money. Like, I mean, like if I'm sitting in, like, let's be clear. If I'm on the Blackwing creative Zoom call, right? And it's like, all right, we're shoving products down everyone's throat at an epic pace. So let's keep going because that's what Blackwing is doing right now. There's volumes, there's limited editions everywhere. Like, every store has their own limited edition now. It's just like, they're just shoving just like field notes and like retro, like, which is fine. Like, I'm not saying that in a derogatory term. They're just like everything everywhere. Yeah. So we're in our Zoom call, right? Creative Zoom call. I was like, all right, I got this idea. Let's, you know, the Blackwing Eras was a real popular like side version. Like, it was not standard stock, but not volumes edition, but it was a limited edition release that we just threw in the middle of everything. What if we did one where we took the old Palomino pencils and just made them orange and blue and stamped the Palomino name on the Blackwing? Everyone would go, yeah, that's dope. Let's do it.

Brad: And so would I, if I was sitting there. But in retrospect, I was like, what are you doing? Like, you don't have to do this. Like, do something different. Like, don't, like, kind of ruin the classic thing that you have and confuse everybody.

Myke: I think there's a way to do exactly what they've done and it be not so tricky. I think what makes this tricky is it says the word Palomino on the side and they're calling it. Like, for example, if they would have called this, like, Blackwing P, I feel like that would be, I would be fine with that. Right? Because it's like we are evoking the colors and branding of one of our most popular pencil lines in our other pencil line. But, like, for me, I don't, you know, and again, like, we, this is what we do on this show. We just pick these decisions apart. But I think that it is peculiar to stamp, like, the other brand name on one of your other products and then all you just did is color it. Like, all you're doing with the actual product is evoking the other brand. So I feel like that the branding should also be just evoking, but it's not. It's just straight up using it.

Brad: Yeah. So it's weird. I would like to read you some lyrics I wrote this morning that I think about when I think about this product, Myke. Okay. And it's, the song is from the Smiths. The song title is called Paint a Vulgar Picture. You know, I used to be a huge Smiths fan with the off-the-rockerness that Morrissey is currently displaying. I am no longer a Smiths fan. But this song is basically about the old artist and the greatest hits compilations. You know, the famous lyric is reissue, repackage, repackage, reevaluate the songs. Right? Like, it's just like, just keep redoing the same thing over and over again and the people are going to keep buying it. Right? Right? Best of, most of, satiate the need, slip them into different sleeves, buy both, and be deceived. Right? Like, this is exactly what I feel is like happening here. But the best lyric, the one that never gets, you know, brought up when people talk about this song is, but you could have said no if you wanted to. And I think that's what Blackwing should have done here.

Brad: I don't think this was a necessary product, and it makes them look like a money farm.

Myke: Yeah, it may have been just one step too far.

Brad: Yeah. But I'm telling you right now, if I was in that room, I would have gone, hell yes. Yeah. But in retrospect, I don't think it was a good decision.

Myke: It's easy to get caught up in your own thing. Yep. So, I think that the idea of this product is cool, but I think that they...

Brad: Honestly, I think most of their customers are going to go, ooh, an orange Blackwing, or ooh, a blue Blackwing.

Myke: Yeah.

Brad: And my reaction was not even close to that, knowing what I know about all the other pencils, right? So, it's a little bit different. These are obviously going to do perfectly fine, and they'll sell well. But we're now talking about $30 dozens of pencils, and that's very expensive. And that's fine. But now, it's just constant $30 dozen pencils, like, all the time, every day. So, anyway, I found this to be super, super interesting for them to do. And, yeah, I just wanted to talk about it a little bit. So, I'm interested to see what some of the other super pencil fans have to say about this. Because I could just be flat out wrong on everything I just said. I don't know. This is just kind of how I felt about it when I saw it. I was like, oh, no. No, no. This is not good.

Myke: This episode is brought to you by Harry's. You shouldn't have to choose between a great shave and a fair price. And with Harry's, you don't have to. Because Harry's delivers a close, comfortable shave at a fair price, which is still as low as $2 per refill. For a limited time, Harry's is offering their starter set plus a free travel size body wash at harrys.com slash penaddict. Harry's is a young brand, but they've embraced centuries of blade-making tradition. They bought a German razor blade factory that has been making blades for over 100 years. Their craftspeople grind strong steel into a gothic arch shape, creating a blade that is strong at the base and sharp at the tip. They believe in no gimmicks or unnecessary features at Harry's. Their design team have combined a weighted ergonomic handle with a textured grip and flex hinge. It's a smart, simple razor designed for delivering a close shave along all contours of your face. Harry's also believes in fair prices. Owning their means of production and using only the most crucial features allows them to keep their prices as low as $2 per refill. And Harry's stands behind the quality of their blades so much that they have a 100% money-back guarantee. Brad, can you tell penaddict listeners why they will be satisfied with Harry's products?

Brad: I mean, have you ever used a gothic arch blade, Myke? I mean, you have, but have our listeners? Have our listeners? I think a lot of them have. I think a lot of them have, but if you have not, you are missing out. Myke, do you do this thing where you're alone at your house and you're maybe getting ready for the day and you're shaving? You have your shaving products and you do the thing and you kind of run through a little Harry's ad in your head while you're shaving. I kind of do that.

Myke: That's knowing the product so well, Brad, like you do.

Brad: Yeah. It's one of those products like I just have to have. Like I think about how bad it used to be back in the before times with, you know, the products that I used to use and used to overpay for worse quality. And I'm just really thankful that Harry's is in my life. It's like the weirdest thing to say. But like when you don't have to worry about that one thing because, you know, Harry's is going to give you a good shave, then you can just move on with your day and not have to not have to worry about how rough the other blades are going to be or how much they're going to cost you to replace much more frequently and just have a good gothic art based shave and go on with your day. It's wonderful.

Myke: For a limited time, Harry's has made their exclusive offer even better for listeners of this show. New customers get a special offer and a Harry's starter set and body wash at harrys.com slash pen addict. You'll get a five blade razor, weighted Truman handle, foaming shave gel, travel blade cover and a travel size body wash. There's never been a better time to try Harry's. So go to harrys.com slash pen addict to redeem your offer today. Our thanks to Harry's for their support of this show and Relay FM.

Brad: We're going to do something I don't think we've ever done in the history of the show. We, I don't know, we maybe have. I haven't listened to all the episodes again, you know, yesterday or anything like that. But we're going to talk about the Field Notes 50th edition without the Field Notes 50th edition actually being released.

Myke: Yeah, we could be causing a, we could be making a real error here, right? That by the time you listen to this episode, they may have released it.

Brad: I don't think so.

Myke: I don't know when they do. I don't know when they do.

Brad: So that was the thing is like, I've been getting anxious about this, right? They're running behind, like definitely running behind. Like it's a quarterly release and we are, let's see, the last one was in December. So we're practically five months since the winter edition. And they actually, I think they're running so far behind with it that Jim Kudal put a note on their blog saying, this was like April 28th. So like a week ago saying they need a couple more weeks to just like really lock it down and get everything done for it. And it's the 50th edition. Like, so you excuse that. I think it's just perfectly fine. Right. They're working on this. They want to get this like extremely right. And then I got to thinking, I was like, what could this even be? Like what, like, I don't want you or you or I to have to design our own 50th edition necessarily. But like, what is your gut feeling tell you we're going to see for the 50th edition? Like I kind of have some ideas of what it's not going to be. But I, what do you think we're going to see here in the next week or two?

Myke: I think I saw maybe it was on Instagram or something, or maybe it was in an email. They made reference to the fact that the limited editions used to be called the colors editions. And I think that this 50th edition, you know, like if it's me for something like my 50th edition, I'm, I'm going to, I will want to evoke the nostalgia for what I've created over that time. And so I would expect that they will be doing something which includes simple colors, like they kind of used to be when they were starting out, but executed in a incredibly premium way. Like, and I know I haven't really given a lot there, but like, you know, like back in the old days, back in the very old days, it was like, this one's orange. This one's blue. This one's green. And so like, yes. Right. And I kind of imagine them to do something like that, but there is like an extra twist to it where maybe on the face of it, it seems like they've gone with a simple color, but it's like, oh, but it has this thing that it does, or it's made in a specific way that would really speak to the audience. I mean, as well, I think it's, for me, it's key in the fact that they're late, they're never late. So, yeah, I expect what they are working on is quite complicated. That would be my expectation.

Brad: Yeah. It's funny how close of your ideas to my idea. Like, like my perfect edition has always been grass stained green, right? Which was what? Third edition, maybe for something like that.

Myke: It was the third one. Well, I guess like technically the second, depending on how you look at it, it went butcher orange, butcher blue, green, but orange and blue were at the same time, weren't they?

Brad: Yeah. Yeah. I still call it, I do refer to it as third.

Myke: Yeah.

Brad: But yeah, they were, no, they were separate. Orange and blue were separate. Okay. They were separate. So, but the green was just a letterpress stamping, which was like uneven and like not great. Like it wasn't pristine, perfect. It was great.

Myke: It was your first time doing it.

Field Notes Speculation

Brad: Yeah. And a green grid. And I was like, this is it. This is everything. This is everything I need. Like who knew what they would end up being, you know, later down the line. I would like to see, like, I would take like a new, like a rainbow batch of letterpress solid color pages, right? Like just give me a bunch of solid colors with the matching color grid. I would be in heaven. I don't, I think we're going to get more than that.

Myke: Like the obvious would have been to like just redo orange and blue, but they already did that.

Brad: Yeah. Like what I think we're not going to see is we're not going to see some, let's jam all 49 previous editions into a three pack and like figure out like, like throwbacks to all the other divisions. Yeah. Like a best of thing. I don't think we're going to see any something like, like self-congratulatory. I don't think we're going to see like Draplin's face all over it or something like that. I don't think we're going to see a big Americana on it, which they've always been.

Myke: No, I think this is a celebration of the company would be my expectation, right? Right. Right. It's more celebrating yourself than America or whatever.

Brad: Yeah. So I'm interested. I'm certainly anxious. I haven't bought a field notes in a long time, but I'm anxious to see what this is and we will certainly talk about it. But I just wanted to bring it up because of how far behind it is, which in this case, that's perfectly fine. Like, I think that's totally cool. Yeah.

Myke: I mean, I imagine the problem for them right now, though, is like it's building expectation. But you never really want to be in that. Like you don't want to ever go too far down that road.

Brad: Yeah. Yeah. They're not sleeping well right now, I assume.

Myke: Yeah. Yeah. I feel for them and I am very much looking forward to whatever it's going to be.

Brad: Yeah. Yeah. All right. So that was that. I didn't have much more to say on that. I don't want to like speculate too hard, but that was just kind of once I started talking about those black wings, then I realized how late this the field notes 50th edition was because we thought we were going to get an announcement a few weeks ago and it never came.

Myke: Yeah. A lot of the imagery that they're using for this blog post features black and green. So maybe you'll get what you want. Maybe you'll get grusting green, too. Nice. Nice.

Brad: All right. I am getting something from another company that I've always wanted, and that's the Dome Paper Composition Notebook. Give me all of these. Give them. Just like that's it. Like we're done. Close up shop. Just give me the notebook. I'm a huge composition notebook fan, especially one that is traditionally styled with marbled covers and tape binding. Right. Like I'll never forget the comp notebook that was on Kickstarter. That was not a composition notebook whatsoever. I will go to my grave in that. Yeah. Like I will stand up for that for forever. This is a composition notebook. Right. Then, you know, now it's modernized. Right. It's made with the, you know, in collaboration with the Roaring Spring Paper products, who was the original marbled cover composition notebook manufacturer. So this is a great throwback. It's done exactly how you would like to see it done. It's like one giant signature in the notebook. Right. So it's, it's a true, it's one of the truest representations of what I would want in a composition notebook. And I definitely ordered these. They are on the way here. So I was not going to pass these up. So if you're a composition notebook fan like I am and still like 10 bucks, I'm, that's a really good price. Like I thought they'd might be a little bit more. So yeah, I, I'm very happy to see these, this collaboration from Doan Paper. And staying true to the original more so than some of the modern interpretations of the composition book. So this one, I can't, I'll, I'll give it my full stamp of, of composition book approval once I receive them. But it looks like the legit expectation of what I want in a composition book.

Myke: I have one thing that bugs me about this product. Can you guess what it is?

Brad: The random round logos on the front?

Myke: Yeah, the stickers on the front, the pre-applied stickers on the front. I would want to do that myself. I agree. Wouldn't want that done to the book.

Brad: Agree. I would be fine if those were not there.

Myke: Like, I feel like maybe they wanted to put the logo one. I feel like maybe just one of them on the back would have done the job.

Brad: And the, the idea just to extrapolate on what you're saying, this is what a kid would have done after receiving the book. Yeah. Right. Is to load it up with their stickers or their artwork or color all over it. Right.

Myke: But I would want to be the person doing that. Right. Right.

Brad: Right. So I, like, that's why I answered like I did. Like, I knew that would be the thing. Because I'm with you. And I was like, oh, that's the, oh, no, those are actually on there. Okay. Like, I'll, I'll get over it. But I can see that. I see exactly what you're saying.

Myke: Yeah. I mean, yeah. Like, I don't have the nostalgia for this product. Yeah. Like, this is not a thing that we had. So.

Brad: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Exactly. All right. Speaking of a thing you don't have, do you have, like, cicadas swarming out from under the ground once in every 17 years? Thankfully.

Myke: But I've experienced it in Memphis. Yeah.

Brad: So Memphis is, is covered. What we're talking about here is the Story Supply Headbone Collaboration for Brood X, Brood X notebook. This is an iPhone X, iPhone X thing, right? Like, it's, it's Brood X, right, is, is what we're on. But, like, you cannot pronounce it Brood X. So if I say Brood X, that's just what I'm going to say, even though I know it's Brood X. Don't at me. How cool is this notebook? I mean, for me, like, it's, I love it.

Myke: I don't like bugs. Yeah. Yeah.

Brad: So it's not for me. The coolest part, Myke, is if you go to the product page and you try to go learn more about this, you go to cicadamania.com, right? Click over to cicadamania and then hover over one of the leaks. Hover over one of the links, Myke, in the, on the page.

Brad: Cicada. Oh, Brad, I hate it. Cicada mouse.

Myke: Oh, I, I, I clicked that website and immediately closed it. I couldn't.

Brad: Cicada mouse everywhere.

Myke: I can't do that. So like the point of changes to a cicada. The pointer. Oh, I hate those things. They're gross. Yes. They're terrible and I hate them.

Brad: So we are out of the range map wise where I live. We're a little bit further south. But this is, this is a cool notebook. I'm glad to see story supply pop up. Cause you know, we love them. Even though Myke doesn't like bugs, he's not gonna, he's not gonna go for this, this notebook. I super, super love these. Um, like it's, this is a funny, I was gonna say a funny thing. I guess I'm gonna say it anyway. This is what you expect from a bug notebook. It's a, it's a, my point being, it's a graph paper. Looks like a scientific research notebook was, was my thought that was behind the, it looks like a, the proper bug notebook. But I think it is, it's like a field notebook for cicadas when you go out and check out Brood 10, Myke, which I know you're gonna make a special trip. This will be your first, uh, post pandemic flight. I feel like you're gonna go back to Memphis. Possibly. Just for cicada mania.

Myke: No, I mean, it will be in spite of, right?

Cicada Notebook Collaboration

Brad: Mm.

Myke: Mm. But yes, it is very possible that my first trip could be back to Memphis. And I'm sure it will be in the height of cicada season. Oh, I think it's usually bad when I go in August. That's when, but I'm not gonna be going in August. So maybe, I don't know if they'll still be around in September.

Brad: Should be clear. Maybe just some crunchy stuff under your feet or something like that.

Myke: Please stop. Let's move on. I can't talk about this anymore.

Brad: All right. I'll, I will be nice and move on to like a, a, a very 180 degree turn. TWSBI price increases, Myke. Like if a price increase happens and it doesn't make a sound, does it really even happen? I like it. I feel like TWSBI did what this is expected, right? They're raising the price on the standard eco versions by $2. And they're raising the price on the 580 aluminum versions by $5. Right. And that's it. Those are like in the 10% range on there. Like this is like the norm. Like it's like, okay, I see. Yes. It has been this price for a while. It's probably more expensive to produce these now. And this is how much you're telling me you need to charge me now to continue with the same, you know, adjusting for the new costs and new profits that need to be made and, and margins and things like that. And yes, please. Thank you, TWSBI. Next. But I almost feel like I don't even have to talk about it.

Myke: No, I mean, it's, you know why I think this is worth mentioning? Because it is maybe in contrast a little bit to some of the other price changes that we've seen in the last little while where this, this, that kind of price increase, like a couple of dollars or whatever, kind of feels like a typical price increase that you would need to do to cover the increased cost of something or other, you know? Right. Right. So, you know, because like one of the things that I'm familiar with at the moment is like resin is more expensive right now. There's, there's a, there's like a, along with everything else, I believe there is a global resin shortage. Nice. Right. It's this, so it's like, you know, they, who knows what these companies are going up against, but also shipping's more expensive right now. Everything's more expensive right now. And I think the amount that they're increasing the price by, which is less than 10%, right? Or kind of like around the 10% range. Yeah. That seems pretty fair.

Brad: Yeah. Like that's the norm. Like that's what you see. I think that's why, like I, the sailor almost made me like have a panic attack because it was in the 25 to 30% range and like the price of them, the base product is more expensive. So that just, even though it's the same percentage, like that extrapolation is just really, really high at that rate. So yeah, like you get used to seeing, like you understand companies that have like a 10% increase, but like when you drop these big numbers on already expensive prices, it just kind of makes you go, whoa, what is happening here? It's like, I get it though. Like, I mean, they're not, they're trying to make money. And if this is, you know, what they need to do it, then, you know, we'll see if the customers can continue to pay it. But like the TWSBs, like they pretty much don't even, this doesn't even register, you know, in the grand scheme of things. The only thing you like look for, it's been so many years since they've done it. I doubt you'll see this, but you worry sometimes when you make things and you have to raise the price when the next price increase is going to be. And you hope it's just not too soon from what you do. Like you don't want to do this twice in a year, right? This is like every two or three year thing you hope, but you know, just sometimes things are out of your control too.

Myke: This episode is brought to you in part by our friends over at Pen Chalet. Pen Chalet sell authentic, amazing roller balls, fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, and so much more. They have all of your favorite brands like Monteverde, Pelican, Lamy, Pilot, Namiki, Sailor, Kaweco, and many more. And they are an authorized dealer on all of these companies. They have the very best customer service, fast and reliable. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee at Pen Chalet because they want you to be happy. And they have the best prices. They're always donating discounts twice a month. Every couple of weeks, they'll have closeout specials as well. And on top of all this, they're always adding new styles of pens. You can go every time you go back to Pen Chalet, there's going to be something new for you that's fun, exciting, and you haven't seen before. They also sell limited edition stuff and accessories. So if you want inks or you want refills or you want converters, carrying cases, no matter what it is, Pen Chalet have got it. They have free shipping on orders of over $50 in the United States and sell internationally as well with very reasonable shipping rates. So go to PenChalet.com, that's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com and click the podcast link at the top of the website and enter the password Pen Addict for this week's special offer and to get the code that you need to save 10% on anything at any time at Pen Chalet. Brad, what is grabbing your attention?

Brad: This is a big whoa page today, Myke, full of whoa, that one, whoa, that one. Pelicans abound.

Brad: The 101N, gray blue. I love the 101N. That's maybe my favorite Pelican shape because it's not the standards, but it's a kind of a throwback classic, like a modern throwback. It's a shorter pen, you know, like the smaller pens and things like that, and they have a gold nib, and I just think they're super cool. And this is a really, really compelling price for what this pen offers. There's also the Pelican Moonstone in there. You know, May the 4th was yesterday, but there's a cross Chewbacca rollerball in there, which, you know, you might want to check out. But, yeah, it's just like these Pinniders. There's, I don't know, it just keeps going on. That Moonstone Pelican? Yeah, that's what I just said. Yeah, I love that one. The Natuno pens, I have not tried, but this looks like a really good price to like give something like that a try. The Vanishing Point rollers, though, there's another Pelican. Yeah, lots. Oh, there's another Pelican. Lots in this list today. Go check them out. But huge fan of the 101. I have one of those. I don't need another one. And that Moonstone is just great. So go check out all the awesome deals.

Myke: I got distracted when I went to the Pen Chalet website. There's a new sailor that I hadn't seen before. Yes. This is like on the main part of the website. The slim blue-green nebula.

Brad: Oh, literally called blue-green nebula. It's great looking, right?

Myke: Yes, nice color. I like gold on that.

Brad: That's a classic sailor LE pen, right? Green and gold. That's like a very traditional for them to do in a limited edition type pen. It looks great. They're doing some cool stuff out there now.

Myke: And you can find it over at PenChalet.com along with all of the other great pens that we mentioned. And you can get that 10% discount on anything at PenChalet. Just go to PenChalet.com. Click the podcast link at the top of the website. Enter the password, PenAddict, and you'll get everything that you need right there. A thanks to PenChalet for the continued support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad: All right. I cleaned all the pens yesterday or Monday. I cleaned all the pens. And I do this frequently. Like we talk about how when I clean pens, I kind of don't pick and choose. I just kind of take everything I have because picking and choosing just leads into just more pens being inked. So I'll take everything that I have, every fountain pen, bring them over to the sink, and we clean everything. Even if it's like my favorite pen to use at the time or something I'm using a lot, you know, just to write with. Or if there's still plenty of ink in a pen, you know, I might dump it. Like they'll be in various, you know, ink levels in them. They just have to go because I want to get some new pens into the rotation. And I was just wondering if other listeners do that. Say if someone has 10 pens inked, do they just write one clean, set it aside to be cleaned later, and then ink up another one? Do you grab all 10 and say, let's replace them all with 10 more pens? In my situation, that sounds like me because I have that many pens. Not everyone does. Or are you just kind of like picking and choosing? And I think I would do really, really poorly with picking and choosing. I would end up, okay, I have 10 pens. I'm going to clean three. I'm going to re-ink three. And now I have 10 pens inked up again. And then, oh, these other two I want to ink. And it's like, well, now I have 12. And that's how I would go. And I hate that. I hate that. So I literally have one fountain pen inked up right now. And that I love because I know which fountain pen I'm going to use. Now tomorrow, I'll have to have something else inked up. But it's just the way it's going to go, right? There's no attempt at trying to keep a singular pen for any amount of time. Like, I'm not worried about filling one up. But it's kind of nice having one pen inked up right now. How do you do it with all of those pens inked up at one time?

Myke: Oh, I mean, I don't even want you.

Brad: We're not going to get into that. But I'm just, like, curious. Like, that would drive me crazy. Because I, but only because I wouldn't want to add to that, right? Like, I'm fine with having it.

Brad: But I'm never, right, my fountain pens are never 100% filled. Like, all of my pens are never all filled all the time. Then it would be fine. Right? So you got to pick and choose. And then that's where I fail. I'm either all of them or, like, one of them. So I don't know. That's just kind of the way I do it. And I just wanted to mention that. Because I really, really enjoy having a single pen inked up, at least for only these few days.

Myke: Well, I mean, this is how I end up in a situation where I am right now, where I pick up a pen to use. And it's either empty or needs to be cleaned. And I'm like, ugh. And I put it back because I just procrastinate. And I grab another one. It's like, okay, that one's working. So I'm at this. I keep having this thing bounce around in my brain right now where I'm like, okay, I need to do my pen cleaning refill day. And that, look, I am who I am, all right? It happens on an infrequent basis for me. But I have, like, one pen where, like, I have Mont Blanc Lucky Orange in it, which, for me at least, is a little notorious for getting a bit crusty. Oh, absolutely. And I have one pen. I took the camp off the other day. And it was a horror show in there, Brad. So, you know, I've got to get out. I've got to get that little aspirator thing. I've got to really, you know, go to town, clean it up. Yeah. And I'll do it. But usually for me, the cleaning, it happens kind of just, like,

Myke: when I can't take it anymore. Alan has said in the Discord, this is very funny, Myke, cleaning pens every four years, whether they need it or not. Which is kind of what I do because I will pick a time and it's like, I'm going to do them all now. And I do it all in one go.

Brad: Yeah. And I think that's not uncommon. It's just I have to rotate a little bit more just because I try not to keep that many inked up. So, anyway, that's how I do it. I just start from scratch whenever I want to ink up new pens. So, like, I'll slowly build this back up. I'll try to stop around four or five. That turns into ten. And then that's when I start having, like, panic attacks. Like, everything has to go and we have to start over. So, that's the rotation that I'm on.

Brad: Somewhat related to a clean pen, Myke, do you keep stickers on your pens? Like, when you buy a new pen and it's got a sticker on it, do you keep the sticker on or do you remove it?

Myke: You actually, in our document, answered kind of perfectly for me. The point says, leave them on, peel them off. What about vintage pens? Like, that's my answer is I remove them unless it's a vintage pen and it's on there. Then it adds to the look sometimes. This isn't. For me, so, for any new pen I buy, it's all coming off, right? If it can be removed, it will be removed because that's just who I am. Because I know that over time, whether I want to keep it on there or not, that thing's coming off because I'm going to, like, pick at it or whatever. But I have, I don't, I know I have at least one vintage pen where I've left a sticker on because it actually aesthetically looks right. Correct.

Brad: So, congratulations. You are correct. Oh, thank you so much. Correct answer. Yes. This is the only acceptable answer. I am not fielding questions or commentary from the crowd who will buy a new pen and leave a sticker on it. You are heathens. You are disrespecting the pen. You are disrespecting the manufacturers and the artisans of said pens. You're disrespecting the machinery that those pens were mass manufactured on. No one needs to see your skew. If you can't remember the color, you should write it down. And it's just not acceptable in any situation. Now, I get to say this because no one's yelling back at me on this podcast. On Twitch, they yell back at me. Right, I see. So, you're in a safe space here with me. I'm in a safe space. So, I'm going all in. Uh-huh. And I'm just, what is, I don't get it. You will never convince me that a sticker on a modern pen is a normal thing. Uh-huh. It's just not, you're wrong. Now, vintage pens are a different story because there's no way you're going to get that off without, like, additional work. And it's kind of become part of the aesthetic, you know, 50 years on and however old some of these stickers are and things like that. But stickers on modern pens, they come directly off. There's no other answer.

Myke: I mean, I'm not going to argue with you on it.

Brad: Yeah. You gave the correct answer. Like, it's just, I'm just doubling down stating the fact. Like, it's facts. These are facts. Not opinions. Facts. Please, just all of the feedback.

Myke: Straight to Brad. I said what I do. I never told you what you had to do. Mm-hmm. I'm telling you. This episode is brought to you by ExpressVPN. How did you choose the internet service provider that you decided to use? Unfortunately, for many people, there is little choice because ISPs have control in regions that they serve. This means that you could end up with an ISP stacking a deck against you. With data caps, streaming throttles, the list goes on. But some ISPs can also, or may also, log your internet activity. They could sell that data to other companies and use it for advertising. I protect my devices with ExpressVPN. This means that ISPs wouldn't be able to see my internet activity when I have it turned on. ExpressVPN is a simple app for your computer or smartphone. That's even for smart TVs, too. It encrypts your network data and tunnels it through a secure VPN server so that your activity stays just that, your activity. Think about how much of our life is on the internet. Every site that you visit, every video that you watch, this could be information that could be tracked and it could be sold or used without your permission. That's why I recommend ExpressVPN as the best way to keep your information private if that's important to you. Go and download the app, tap one button on your device, and you're protected. And ExpressVPN does all of this without slowing your connection down as well. That's why it's rated the number one VPN service by CNET and Wired. I really love ExpressVPN. It's super easy to use. I use it for all kinds of things. So I use it for what I'm describing here. You know, if I'm in a situation where I want to have my information protected, turn it on. It's easy. But you can also use it to get around geo restrictions. Sometimes it's silly things. Like I want to read an article on an American news website. It's like, hey, you're in Europe. We can't show you this, which just doesn't make any sense. But I can turn on ExpressVPN. I can route my traffic through the US and get to that article. Easy peasy. So stop handing over your personal data to ISPs and other companies who want to profit from your information. You can protect yourself with the VPN that I trust to keep my information private online. Just go to expressvpn.com slash penaddict. That's expressvpn.com slash penaddict to get three extra months for free. That's expressvpn.com slash penaddict right now to learn more and get those three extra months for free. Our thanks to ExpressVPN for the support of this show and all of RelayFM.

Brad: All right. Let's hit some ass TPA this week, Myke. We got some good ones.

TPA Segment Start

Myke: All right. First one comes from Bethany. I have a new book coming out next month and would love to give my editor a thank you gift. I know that he uses mechanical pencils to edit and has at least one nice one, though I don't know what it is. Do you have any suggestions for a gift for this person? Another mechanical pencil or something else? I'd like to stick close to a $50 budget. Well, I'd love to be more generous, but this is poetry we're talking about. No one becomes a poet to make money. But if you have any amazing suggestions that don't fit that budget, I'd love to hear what they are as well. Even if all I can do is draw over them online.

Brad: Number one, I owe Bethany an apology. I meant to answer this last week, then I forgot and didn't reach out to her directly, which I should have. So my apologies, Bethany. I hope there's still time to answer this question and get you some help for this. So the editor is a mechanical pencil fan and they need a gift one. And I think you know what I'm going to say. Maybe two of the things that I'm going to say. Number one is the classic rotary. Either the 600 or the 800. The 600 is everything you ever need in a mechanical pencil. It's about 30 bucks. The 800 is your big upgrade to allow for the tip of the pencil to retract into the body of the pencil. And those are over $50. I think they're closer to 60. But it's in the ballpark. So that's just, you know, kind of a style preference thing. Like I don't necessarily find myself ever needing the retractable lead pipe, but it's super valuable to those people who do, right? Who are putting their pencils in their pocket all the time or carrying them around a lot and they don't want to damage the tip of the pencil. The second one is a spoke model for which full disclosure, I'm part of the company that makes these. This is, I can't say this fairly. It's one of my favorite pencils ever, but take that with a grain of salt because that's a company I'm part of. But what the model...

Myke: But this goes back to what I was talking about earlier on. Like you feel like you made the perfect pencil along. Yeah. The two of you came together and made that perfect product. So you and Brian, like that's what you want to exist in the world.

Brad: Yeah. So there's been, Brian and I talk about this a lot. So there'll be more spoke model number pencils, right? So there's been spoke model one through five so far. But when you make one like the model four that is consistently wanted and it becomes a flagship on its own without being, you know, without you going out and saying, this is our mainline pencil. It just happened. Like the customers say, this is the one. And so we've leaned into that one and continue to make more colors, more grip styles, more accessories, things like that.

Myke: That even though there is a five, you continue to make the four because the four really capture people.

Brad: Yeah. It is the flag. It's the flagship pencil. It just is. And that just happens naturally, right? You don't, like I said, you don't go into it. So that one you can get in like different colors, right? Like the rotary, you can get in silver or black. And they do have some, the blue and green and red models that came out this year. And then the spoke, you can get like some wilder colors, you know, some bright blues or purples or limes or oranges or different things, different materials. So those are the main two gift type mechanical pencils. Then you get into like some really technical pencils that I don't know would, would work that well. And I'm trying to think like outside of like the Pentel carry, which is a really unique mechanical pencil. It's about 20 to 25 bucks. It's a capped mechanical pencil, which is very rare. And I just kind of love it. And an editor might like that because it's got a cap and you can clip it to things like a shirt or a bag or a backpack or anything like that. How do you spell that one? K-E-R-R-Y. Pentel Sharp Carry. It's fantastic. I rave about this pencil quite frequently because it's such a unique design. So those are probably like my top three gift type mechanical pencils. So check out the aesthetics and see if you think something might be a fit. Oh, I remember this. I don't like this one. Oh, it's brilliant. Such an amazing design. Love it.

Myke: This was one of the articles that was a collaboration article on your website.

Brad: I don't know. I've reviewed two or three times. So maybe. Okay. There's at least two or three reviews on there.

Myke: All right.

Brad: I think. But yes, I know someone's written one. I think I've written my own. And I don't know if Jeff's written one or not. I can't remember. I'd have to go look. But I rave about it anytime I can. Yeah. It's so underrated.

Myke: I don't like that middle part.

Brad: I get it. I get it. I don't like the middle part. That's why it's probably not more popular than it is.

Myke: I mean, I think it's fantastic. I can thoroughly endorse both the rotaring and the spoke. They feel different to me in what I would use them for. I can't explain why. Like, what I like about the rotaring, the rotaring is tried and true. It's like the standard bearer. Like, that's the pencil that every other mechanical pencil tries to be or tries to be different to. Like, it's just mechanical pencil.

Brad: Like, for Bethany, if Bethany doesn't know anything about mechanical pencils, the rotaring 600 is the one you would find in, like, a design museum as a pinnacle of, like, simplistic design.

Myke: And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this is the product that Bethany's editor is already using. Who knows? Who knows? I don't know. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me. I'm not saying it is, but it just wouldn't surprise me, right? Because Bethany said that they have a nice one, right? Yeah, true, true, true, true. I'm copying it. The spoke pencil for me is like the it's always ready pencil because I have the little stand that it goes in, right? So that's what I like about that product is, like, I don't really have a lot of products like this where I feel like it's just always ready to be grabbed at any moment and used. Yep. This next one comes from Shobit who asks two questions, which I love. One, what is the first thing that you had right every day? What is the answer for you?

Brad: Oh, we're going to go ahead and answer now. Oh, I was not prepared.

Brad: It's some stupid task note or something. Something work related. It's typically a task thing. To do or task. Yeah. I don't have, like, a morning session, like, for thoughts. So it's usually a task slash work related. How about you?

Myke: My first thing is typically the episode name and number for my first podcast of the day. Right. I'm writing my edit notes. Today, it was actually notes from a meeting. I had, like, a call. And so it could be that too, right? Typically be one of those two things. I'll add in, like, in a second. For me, the last thing that I had right every day is my journal. Right. Gotcha. Just journal in the evenings. And two, are there days when everything is normal? For example, you're not traveling. You're not unwell. But you do not write anything, handwrite anything at all. If so, why?

Myke: Yes.

Brad: Really? Mm-hmm. Okay. It's pretty rare. It's pretty rare. And the reason why I can answer that yes is because I've caught myself, like, the following day. I was like, oh, I didn't write a thing today. And I'll have to catch myself and think about that. I was like, why did that happen? So it's like, why is because I just get busy and forget, right? Like, if I'm just, like, if I'm writing an article and shipping products and doing emails and checking the accounting, I may not pick up a pen in those situations. A lot of times I do, but it might be that day where it just kind of rolls through and it didn't happen. And I always notice it, right? It's noticeable when I don't, which means it doesn't happen very often. It's not like a recurring theme. But I notice it and I was like, oh, okay, I need to catch up on this and this and this and I'll get out my pen and paper and write and, you know, do whatever, fill out my journal or, you know, write whatever thoughts I have going and kind of catch up a little bit from the previous day. But I don't like it when that happens because it's noticeable to me. How about you?

Myke: For me, to not handwrite anything is a day where I am horrendously busy. Like, something bad has happened. Yeah. You know what I'm, like, for me to go an entire day, I mean, that's meaning that, like, I'm working so much that I've blown past my journaling time and then for many hours more. Right. Right? And so, like, something bad's happened, I feel like, if a day where I've not handwritten anything, because that means, like, I'm incredibly busy and I'm not recording anything. And that would typically mean that something's going on. Well, this would be work days. Very normal for me to not handwrite anything on the weekend.

Brad: Very, very normal for me. It actually does come up more on the weekend. Yeah. But I'm usually working on Sunday at least and that's usually, like, a writing day for me. So, I'm always using, you know, pens and paper then. Saturdays, I may not. But, like, that, I don't catch, like, that's just, like, a weekend, like, off day. It may not be doing anything. But, like, if it happened on a weekday, like, I notice it. Yeah. So, I giggled when you said this is a good question. I actually replied when Shobit put these in Twitter. I was like, oh, these questions are great. So, I should do more morning handwriting. You know, like, with my coffee or, like, I usually have about, you know, 30 minutes or so where I just sit and drink coffee and scroll on my phone or something in the morning. And I could use that time to write instead or at least split it up. So, I think about, I thought these were good questions because I think about this. And, yeah, it's something to work on.

Myke: Last question today comes from AtMatch3 who asks, I'm a Lamy Safari newbie. I find that if I put my fingers on the indents on the grip sections, the nib is oriented in a way that doesn't write well. Am I doing this wrong? Is this something I can adjust?

Brad: Oh. The great Lamy Safari problem. Yeah. We say every pen.

Myke: Really? But Lamy just make it obvious to you.

Brad: Right. So, the question is, am I doing it wrong? And the answer is no. Yeah. Because your grip is not what Lamy has determined the proper penmanship grip is. But I am telling you that your grip is the proper penmanship grip because it works for you. Yeah. Now, Lamy's are pre-molded grip sections and they're not subtle, right? These are not subtle grip sections. So, if you have a non-standard grip, either, you know, you have a finger overlapping in a different position or like a finger coming across the grip, it's not going to work well. And the only thing you can adjust is your grip. Now, maybe that adjustment is maybe it helps you. But I'm of the opinion that like I'm pro the Lamy Safari grip, obviously, right? But I'm also pro the individuality of your grip.

Myke: Hold it however is comfortable for you, right? Like, you don't have to hold a pen in the way that the pen seems to suggest it should be held. Right. As long as the pen is comfortable to you to use the way that you write, then that's great. But like, for example, there are many pens where the way that the grip section is created means that I can't use it comfortably with my grip. You know, so we spoke about this before.

Brad: Know that this design was born out of like penmanship lessons, right? Like in the 70s. And so, like, they're trying to force you.

Myke: Because the Lamy Safari is used in German school, right? Like that's one of, it's one of, so like, you know, it's intended to be some element of my first fountain pen. Lamy actually make a my first fountain pen. It's called Lamy ABC, which is a fantastically cute pen. And it also has the same grip. But yeah, it has the triangular grip, which, you know, is helpful, especially for kids to learn how to hold a pen. But don't force your hand to conform to what it's doing as long as it's comfortable for you in the way that you are currently writing.

Brad: Right. You just may not be a Safari user. You may not be able to be that person, right? And there will probably be a few other grips out there that are not for non-standard tripod grips. So, it's just a thing. And that's what Lamy does. And that's why we can't just recommend Safaris as much as I love them. We can't just recommend them carte blanche over everything because of that issue.

Myke: If you would like to send in a question for us to answer on the show, you can set out a tweet with the hashtag AskTPA. You can use question mark AskTPA in the RelayFM members Discord. If you have a longer question, you can email it to us at hello at penaddict.com. Penaddict.com is where you can also find Brad's writing along with many other talented individuals. You can find Brad's products at knock.co and spokedesign.com. You can find mine at cortexmerch.com. If you want to find Brad on Twitch, go to twitch.tv slash penaddict. Brad streams live on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. Eastern. I will be streaming as I do on Friday this week. It's typically around 10.30. I'm actually going to be doing 11 a.m. Eastern time this week at mike.live. You can find Brad on Instagram. He is penaddict. I am imike. I am yke. And the same on Twitter. Brad is dowdyism. D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. In trying to be more detailed this week, I made this way more confusing. Thank you so much to Express 2PM, Pen Chalet, and Harry's for the support of this episode. And thank you for listening. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad.

Brad: Goodbye, Brad.