The Pen Addict 500/transcript
| The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript | |
|---|---|
| Episode: | 500 |
| Title: | Pens! |
| Release Date: | February 9th, 2022 |
| Hosts: | Brad Dowdy |
| Guests: | No guests this episode |
| Additional Information | |
| Official page: | Episode 500 |
| Audio File: | Audio Episode 500 |
| Podcast page: | The Pen Addict 500 |
| Length: | 180180 min <br />3 h <br /> minutes |
| Previous Transcript | Next Transcript |
Anniversary Reflections[edit]
Myke: From RelayFM, this is episode 500 of The Pen Addict, a weekly show where we discuss pens, paper, and the analogue tools we love so dearly. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by the quincentennial king of the pen and pencil, the 10-year pro-gear, my friend and yours, Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad.
Speaker 02: And I said I wasn't going to cry. Like there was no chance. This is a very busy episode.
Brad: Oh my god, I started crying already.
Speaker 02: And now that it's actually real, my eyes are watering and we did 500 episodes with you, my buddy. And this is not supposed to happen.
Myke: We've got so much work to do and I'm sitting there crying.
Speaker 02: We fully intended, like, ah, no, there's no way we're going to cry. We've done this before. Like, this is old hat and now here I am, just sitting here, just like, my gosh, Myke, 500 episodes of a podcast about pens.
Myke: No, it's not the 500. It's the 10 years that gets me.
Speaker 02: It's 10 years. That is really a special amount of time.
Myke: My relationship with you is outside of my family, like, my second longest relationship of my life.
Speaker 02: Yeah, earmuffs, Adina, earmuffs.
Myke: We haven't known each other for long enough. I know. I hope, honestly, that my relationship with Adina last month. But to be honest, you're never going to go away. You're like 26 years old.
Speaker 02: Yeah, yeah, right, right. Yeah, thank you, Myke. I would not be here without you. Like, I think that is known for longtime listeners of the show. And I didn't plan out a speech at the beginning of this. Maybe I've been trying to, like, kind of avoid it this whole time. It's like, ah, no, it feels like such a weird thing. But I'm extraordinarily proud of what we have done, what we've made, how much fun we have, how our friendship has evolved, and how our listenership are just, like, genuinely the greatest people on the planet. And I'm just very thankful. That's really all I want to say about today.
Speaker 02: And, yeah, like, I'm just thankful for you and thankful for our listeners. And 10 years, man, it's amazing. I love it.
Myke: Everyone knows this by now, but I will recap. Obviously, this is episode 500. But the day that we are recording, which is February the 9th, 2022, is the exact 10-year anniversary of the first episode of The Pen Addict, which is February the 9th, 2012. So very special day for us. I'm very pleased that we're able to make this work today. We have a lot to go today. You can probably look at the runtime of the episode now as you're listening to this and understand what's ahead. So there'll be time for feelings later on, I'm sure. We have put out a call to The Pen Addict listenership with one simple question. What is your favorite stationary item? And what we wanted was your responses. We currently have – well, not currently because we cut it off because we're smart like that. We have 278 pen addicts who wrote in. A few more wrote in, actually, Brad. I cut a couple out because they weren't serious answers. So I would say close to 300 people written in.
Speaker 02: That's our literal entire listenership.
Myke: No. That's not true at all. I will say again, our listenership is a five-figure listenership, which is something that we don't really talk about. We don't. And I kind of can't believe that that is the case.
Speaker 02: It's serious business. Yes.
Myke: And that is kind of an incredible – honestly, the most incredible thing, more incredible than the fact that we've been doing this for as long as we've been doing this, is that we have that many people that actually really want to listen to this thing, and we love every single one of you, that you care enough to join us every week. But anyway, I'm getting off track. I interrupted my fault. We promised we would read all of the responses, and so we're going to do that.
Myke: There is probably not a lot of time for dilly-dallying in today's episode. We will stop occasionally because some, I think, we may want to discuss a little bit. But by and large, we're going to be turning this episode over to the Pen Addict listeners themselves to tell us a little bit about their favorite products, because you have to listen to us talk about ours all the gosh darn time. So Brad, do you want to start off?
Speaker 02: Yeah. I want to give our listeners a tip this episode. We are not going to have the most epic-length show notes. Oh, no. So what I suggest – You just have to Google this one. Yeah. Get out your favorite pen and piece of paper right now, and if we say something interesting –
Myke: I hadn't even thought of that, Brad. Yeah. Like 350 links in the show notes. Yeah, no, that's not going to happen.
Speaker 02: No, that's not going to happen. So you should play along because I'm doing that as well because the very first reply made me think of this. It was like, oh, I should have bought this a long time ago. So let's get it underway with my good buddy, Shmevelin. J. Urban. J. Urban.
Myke: J. Urban. J. Urban.
Speaker 02: This is kind of a perfect first link, by the way.
Brad: We can't even finish the first one. Yeah. We're already jumping in.
Listener Contributions[edit]
Speaker 02: Because now I have to say Violette Pensée. I don't even know if I said that right. And now we have a whole episode about pronunciation, Myke.
Brad: I was going to read Violet Pensée.
Speaker 02: We're never going to get through this.
Brad: I think it's probably right the way you're saying it.
Speaker 02: My first bottle of ink, my first purple ink, still my favorite.
Myke: All right. Mine comes from Cecilia. Although fountain pens are my obsession, my very favorite stationary item would be my Visconti Homo Sapiens mechanical pencil. What? For seven millimeters. I didn't even know this product existed. The weight, feel, patina, and with a 2B lead, it is my most used and versatile writing implement. Also, I bought it when I resigned from my previous job, which was meant to stay in the course of my life. So it has amazing memory associations each time I use it.
Speaker 02: All right. I'm two for two on writing things down, Myke.
Myke: Did you know that they made mechanical pencil resin for Dharmas Sapiens? Now I'm fascinated.
Speaker 02: See, this is why we did this. This is going to be a very expensive episode for me. All right. Tim writes, My traveler's notebook I made myself. It has been with me through many years and helped me in a million ways. Like that's the kind of importance that we're talking about here. I love that stuff.
Myke: Rachel Cooper says, My pilot decimal that is engraved with my name and credentials. My parents got it for me as a gift after I passed my registered dietitian exam after six years of schooling.
Speaker 02: Nice.
Myke: Nice.
Speaker 02: All right. Carol says, Fabiano T. Tipolo, printmaking paper, platinum century, 3776 UEF. Yes. Specifically, Chartres blue. I studied this cathedral for decades, visited France in 2016. Pencil, Rotring 600.5, runner-up, spoke, model four. Shout out to the spoke, model four, pencil ink, diatramentous document brown. These are very special because they represent my tools and medium used daily in my life as an artist. I like that. It's like a whole kit of.
Myke: Carol is the first rule breaker. We have a first rule breaker. We can keep it. What were the rules? That's not favorite thing. There's more than one thing there.
Speaker 02: Her favorite thing is what she uses to be an artist. Look, I'm not,
Myke: I'm not doubting any of this, but I'm going to, I want to keep her rule breakers tally here. So that's one.
Speaker 02: She will be happy to know she is a rule breaker. She's my,
Myke: there are some people, Brad, who broke the rules so badly. I had to remove them. Like there were a few people that were like, okay, I'm not going to do this. Here's my list. I'm like, no, we told you what we wanted. And you broke the rules. Only a couple of people removed for such fragrant rule breaking. Mine comes from Chris. I think my favorite item right now is the Hobonichi five-year tech show in the A6 size. I think it's more specific. I think it's more the specific size of the A6 that I like more than anything. I just started using it this year and it's my daily stoic entry journey. I think they meant journal. I just got into stoicism and it really helped me find my yearly theme as well. Honestly, I would love a little more room for each entry as I generally do my main daily journaling in the day, a page, Hobonichi tech, tech, tech, tech, tech, and A6 as well. Uh, I'm just not willing to give up the aesthetics and portability of the A6 for the larger A5.
Speaker 02: These, these five-year techos are getting me. Courtney Lewis says, while they're all special, the Sailor Shikiori spring rain with an architect nib, my husband bought me for my birthday in 2021. He's not a pen person. So it means a lot to me that he is so supportive of my hobbies.
Myke: It's very important that you have supportive partners. Like I have Brad. That's my supportive partner here. And Brad has me. Uh, Courtney, AKA finally Chicagoan, uh, Pelican Pelicano in blue left-handed version sadly vanished a couple of years ago. I think a pencil case vanished while I was moving because I'm missing kind of around five daily drivers. It was my first brand name fountain pen. It got me down the rabbit hole. Pelican Pelicano Junior in aqua left-handed and Pilot Cocuno in white, soft, violet, medium. My current daily drivers, they're smooth writing, reliable, and durable. Okay. Courtney gets added.
Speaker 02: I was going to say, that's two pens. Are you, is that the list? I'm keeping a tally here,
Myke: Brad.
Brad: We're going to,
Speaker 02: all right, let's,
Brad: we got 278 responses. At the end of this, we'll work out the percentage of people that did not follow the rule. The one simple rule.
Speaker 02: I can't believe this. All right, Steven Laverty, you're on deck. Let's see if you can handle this. Cause we, I didn't pre-edit all of these. We didn't read all this stuff. Myke did a really good job putting together this. I skimmed.
Myke: Basically what I did, I'll tell you my, my, my thing here. I would, if this was me that set this up, I think Brad was way too generous with the character count. Shocking. I said this to him, uh, when we were putting this together, way too generous with the character count. Uh, so what I did is the ones that were really long. I did read them just to make sure. Cause some of them needed editing. They didn't get cut. They just got like tightened a little bit.
Speaker 02: Yep. Yep. Yep. All right. Steven says the desk sharpeners that teachers had on their desk when I went to primary school in the 1980s, when your pencil was broken or blunt enough and the teacher decided if it was blunt enough, you could go to the front of the class, pull the little lever to open the sharpener, insert the pencil, release the lever. And the pencil was gripped in the metal jaws that left a toothy ring around the paint of the pencil. You then turn the handle and felt the shavings drop into the sharpener. The whole process of walking to the desk and using the sharpener and getting a new sharp point was exciting and often the highlight of a school week. Isn't it funny how we have those, uh, those great memories of our stationary uses when we were young.
Myke: Big sense memory for me though.
Speaker 02: Mm hmm.
Brad: Mm hmm.
Myke: Mine comes from Chris Hockinson, the Baron Fig Squire. I know the company gets a lot of flack in our circles, but it's a darn good pen. No tip wiggle, perfectly weighted, slightly widened grip section. I keep trying new pens and keep coming back. I just can't quit you, Squire. Great pen. Great pen.
Speaker 02: They crushed the Squire. Yeah, no argument for me either. I praise the Squire any chance I can get.
Myke: The original one. I don't like their click one. I don't like the way their click mechanism. Correct. The original twist. They used a bad click mechanism, but the twist one is fantastic.
Speaker 02: Yep. Zach B says, It is definitely not my most used, but my favorite just on history grounds has to be my vintage scriptomechanical pencil. It's black, marked property of US government, and identical to the ones used by NASA astronauts during the Mercury and Gemini programs. The 1.1 millimeter lead is hard, but not impossible to come by, unfortunately. Regardless, it lives in my NASA flight jacket pocket, ready to be used. Killer.
Myke: That's nice. That's real good. Kathleen, a.k.a. Galantium. Cathine. Is that Cathine? Or is that just spelled wrong? Cathine. Cathine, okay. Oh, I should also say, we are going to pronounce your name wrong. Yes. Facts. You know, there's kind of nothing we could do about that. I mean, maybe we could have said, give us a phonetic thing, but that still doesn't usually work. Anyway. Yep. So, this is just blanket apologies for names, okay? Mm-hmm. My favorite stationary items, uh-oh. Plural. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Or at least the most sentimental, the Pilot Precise V5 and TWSBI Eco. The Precise was my gateway to good pens in general, when I mindlessly picked one up in middle school, and it led to me, it led me to Brad waxing poetic about the purple ones on the blog, and you can guess what's happened since then. Mm-hmm. The Eco is my favorite pen, full stop. A clear Eco and a bottle of Diamine Red Lustre was my first dip into fountain pens, and TWSBI continues to make great pens that aren't the most bland thing you've ever seen at great prices. And that price is what, is really what makes the Eco, and now the swipe and go so special. The accessibility of these pens cannot be underrated, and without them, we'd have a lot less pen addicts in the world, and I'd be among them. I really appreciate that. I think it's completely true. It's one of the things I love about TWSBI, but, uh, Cathine gets into the rule breakers list.
Speaker 02: Johnny from Louisiana. For me, this was easy. It's my Pilot Metropolitan and Black Crocodile with a medium nib. This is the first fountain pen I bought when I started listening in early 2017. Little did I know, this would be the same pen I'd use when I got married three years later. Very nice.
Myke: The crocodile thing, that's the grip section, right?
Speaker 02: Yeah, so in the first batch, especially, they did some, uh, like reptile pattern prints, uh, in the, not in the grip section, but right above, like a barrel band type of thing.
Myke: Thomas H. The Lamy Safari. It's a reliable, relatively cheap workhorse pen of a utilitarian design that I find beautiful. I have several in a variety of colors and always keep them inked up.
Speaker 02: Let me just tell y'all right now, episode 501 is gonna be hot. It just, just be ready for episode 501. We're getting into Lamy's new stuff that we are. Oh, yeah. It's gonna be on. It's gonna be on. Fox Peterson. Fun fact, Myke, there are actually three shades of gray Sharpie brand permanent markers available in both the fine and ultra tip pen. I know this because when I'm looking at a pen cup containing baseline fountain pens, gel pens, paints, roller balls, et cetera, of decent quality, I nearly always have a reason to grab one of the ultra fine gray Sharpies first. Drawing a sketch, the lightest gray Sharpie is easy enough to color over and provide shade. Making a note, using the darker gray Sharpie and annotate on that spare piece of tape you have within arm's range. Gray is close enough to black to be readable in monotone photos you choose to scan and gray Sharpies have the alcohol base that's great for layering, blending, and even coloring in the tiny blotch on my car seat cover left from where I learned that I accidentally sprayed bleach on it. I'm no big spender, but I've got a few retro 51s and a Benu pen and a large collection of Lamy Safaris and limited edition colors, but my favorite pen is the least colorful of them all and the least unique. Pour one out for the ultra fine gray Sharpie in any of its three shades and hey, if you spill, you can always color in that blotch with your Sharpie while you're at it.
Myke: I'm going to say Fox didn't break the rule here.
Myke: This one feels to me that they were just making some comparisons. Okay. I mean,
Speaker 02: I agree with you. I'm just shocked at your lacks so far.
Myke: I make the rules now. Okay. I'm the pen addict now. That's what happens for the next 500 if we swap it around. Fox Peterson, by the way, sounds like an anchor, like a TV anchor. Yes. Like that's a great name. Like they sound like, hi, I'm Fox Peterson and welcome to the 6 p.m. news. Anyway,
Myke: Neil Sivola, Sivula, Neil Sivula. Why did I put an extra V in there? Neil Sivula, Levenger five-year journal recommended years ago by friend of the show, Patrick Rohn. Neil said friend of the pod and I couldn't bring myself to say that. Like seriously.
Speaker 02: That's one of your words.
Myke: I don't like pod. Doesn't, no. Just started my third five-year journal. Wow. I may not be able to journal more proficially, prolifically during my day, but the last 10 years I've been faithfully jotting a few ideas down while I make my morning tea. It has been a real pleasure to be reminded of important events over the years. I bet I could go back and find an entry about Brad's brief sabbatical from the podcast all those years ago. Yes, I've been here since the beginning. Congratulations, gentlemen.
Speaker 02: Man, if I didn't do that sabbatical, we wouldn't have hit this date, right?
Myke: Ages ago. No, we wouldn't have hit the date and we would have hit 500 ages ago, but then we could have had two separate celebrations, you know?
Speaker 02: Michael C., all the beat-to-heck field notes that my father had used. He always had one sticking out of his shirt or pants pocket along with a mechanical pencil. If you put him on the list, I'm going to hurt you.
Myke: No, that's fine. Okay,
Speaker 02: all right.
Rule Breakers Discussion[edit]
Myke: Because it's not specific products. Okay, thank you. It's like, the issue I have is like, hi, I'm here to tell you about my four favorite things. It's like, no, that's not what it said. All right, so we're on to number 18 now, right? Woo! Yeah. My Kokoyu Jibun Days Planner, my Pen BBS Fountain Pen and Washi Tape, you see? I'm retiring sooner than I would have liked, so I'm not sure how much I will have to plan, but it might help me with the new job hunt. Plus, I get a ridiculous amount of pleasure keeping track of tasks and decorating each day. It is a nice ritual.
Speaker 02: Lots of notebook representation and planner representation in this first batch here.
Speaker 02: Temporarily awry, Big Eye Design Pens, TI Arto. Before I got this pen, I was content to use my Retro 51 and limit myself to the huge number of Parker G2 refills available. It was completely fine. And then I got my hands on the self-adjusting grip of the Arto and realized I could have every refill. No more hacking ends or using 3D printed adapters. It just works. I hate the term game changer, but that's what it was. I don't think I could ever go back to not using this every day.
Myke: Really cool. That is cool.
Myke: Scott says, Love that one from Scott. Love that one. I do wonder if somebody keeps buying Scott a new one and he just doesn't know.
Speaker 02: Julie Paradise. My favorite stationary item is my vintage Mont Blanc Meisterstuk 142 with its fine medium stub. I flattened the round tipping myself. The pen might look unassuming and scratched up, but it's a dream to write with. It has a bouncy nib and perfect flow. It makes me want to write all the time. Favorite pens that are great and also a beater, that's the way to go. That's the way to go.
Myke: Daryl. Two-speed diamond 580 ALR Prussian blue. This pen was mentioned on the Pen Addict and I love the look of it. It was the first pen that I saw and thought I really like how that looks. I would go back and look at it every once in a while, but I had never had a fountain pen and I wasn't sure if I wanted to get one. I finally emailed Brad and asked about it as a starter pen and what inks to go with. He gave me information and I ordered the pen and some Crimson Pilot Hiroshizuki Yamabudo ink. I love the pen and even though I have added a couple of other fountain pens since then, this is still the one I use every day at work.
Speaker 02: Yeah, that Brad guy's okay in my book. He's all right. Albert Hernandez, my favorite item is my leather notebook cover. I bought some leather and built it myself. It's sized to carry three Baron Fig notebooks and they're not quite a five size. I've had it four or five years now and it's wearing very nicely. What I like about it is that it's become familiar and comfortable imagine if I found something like this at a thrift store I would think to myself that it's old and beat up and ugly but because I made it myself and I use it every day it's special and full of character and charm.
Myke: Stitchpunk, my two Scribo Piuma fountain pens. Classic, simplicity and appearance, unique and interesting colors and gloriously soft and bouncy nibs that ride like nothing else I've ever used. I have the extra fine and medium in the 14 carat flex nib and I want more. Scribos, Scribos, Scribos, customer service. It's also excellent and very responsive. Since I got these pens I really haven't wanted to use anything else. They're just that good. Yeah, on my list. On my list. I'm going to let them slide through here by the way.
Speaker 02: I think that's singular. Yes. All right, Tyler, not my son I'm assuming although he has a taste that I would appreciate. Yeah. Oh no, listen to him. My best pen is my Y Studio portable brassing. Like father, like son. That's a good kid. I cannot explain it but this nib is just so smooth and it's a joy to write with every time I pick it up. However, my most sentimental pen is my Kaweco Lilyput Fire Blue because it was a gift from my partner. I love the fact that my burn pattern is utterly unique formed on Michael Guterle's desk and I can't help he didn't write that was my edit. I don't think I believe this is true. It's the lore, Myke. I know,
Brad: but I don't believe it's true.
Speaker 02: And I can't help but stare at it sometimes when I should be focused in a meeting. Happy 500. Thank you, son.
Myke: Happy five rule breaker to Tyler.
Myke: Gordon B. My favorite item of all time is the paper mate eraser mate. Back in the 80s, it caught my attention and started my love of stationery. By the way, I recently found one on eBay in its original packaging and had to buy it. It writes horribly but I still love to look at it and remember how I wanted to get all the colors back in the day. This is a mechanical pencil, Brad. I don't know if you are familiar with it.
Speaker 02: No, no, no, no, no. This is a pen. This is one of the first erasable ballpoint pens. Gordon and I must be of similar age because this was a pen you had to have like in the 1980s and it is straight garbage but you had to have it, right? So that was one of those things.
Myke: I was thinking of something else.
Speaker 02: Mm-mm-mm-mm. Brittany Elmer, the 0.38 Muji gel pen. I always have a few knocking around while I don't use them as often as I once did. They will forever be the stationery item that let me know there are better things out there. That's perfect.
Myke: Eric Lineman, Brad, I have my father's Montblanc 149 that his mother gifted to him when he got his PhD in 1974. It is in a brass pen well in the huge eight-foot oak roll-top desk that he made for my mother. Just sitting at this desk and using his pen brings me memories that both my parents have passed away. I will gift it to one of our sons when the time is right.
Speaker 02: Gosh darn it, Eric. I mean, I'm glad I got some of my crying out because I don't need it later in the show.
Speaker 02: David Reed, while I normally have such difficulty in selecting a single favorite anything, I think that my single favorite stationery item can be chosen. It has to be my Pilot Custom 743 with a posting nib. Yes! It's nothing special to look at, but when you write with it, oh boy, it lays down a smooth, precise line on any paper I need to write on. While the pens I have inked shifts around, this one is absolute constant. Always inked with Kiwaguro. Always ready to do exactly what I need it to do. This pen performs and only disappoints in its appearance and the difficulty getting it. Why Pilot makes the PO nib so hard to get and only puts it in pens that are lackluster in appearances beyond me. Tell them, David. If I could get a posting nib and a nice dark green custom 83, another pen that deserves better colorways, I would be an extremely happy man. But a plain black 743 with a posting nib is still a joy to write with and that's the important thing, right? David's definitely a listener of the show. Oh yeah.
Myke: Kim, my favorite stationery item is the Hobonichi Techo English version. I often feel like this planner holds my life together. I tried other daily journals, other planners, but nothing clicks with me the way the Hobonichi does. So thank you, Brad and Myke, for discovering it for me all those years ago. Also, happy 10th anniversary. I know Kim, by the way, has been listening since episode one.
Speaker 02: Yep.
Myke: I'm sure there are lots of people here. Yes. Like, I have no doubt about that, but this is one that I know. yep. That makes me happy.
Speaker 02: Ulysses Xerces. Yeah. I got that one. my purple Twisby Eco with a 1.1mm stub. It's a great writer and a cool pen, but much more importantly, a friend who I have lost had this same pen, and I think of her whenever I use it. Awesome.
Myke: Kenneth L., I really am enjoying my Lockby Field Journal. It's a great size, it's easy to carry, and the paper's great. It has a refill with calendars, dot grid, lined, and blank. Easy to use for whatever you want. I have no idea what this product is.
Speaker 02: I know exactly what it is, and that's why this show has worked for 500 episodes, Michael.
Myke: That's the point. I don't know anything.
Speaker 02: Adam, my Sailor 1911-esque royal tangerine. What do I love? It was, what do you know? It was a wedding gift from my wife who had it engraved with our wedding date and to have it to hold. She was very proud of her pen pun. Ah, I get it. It was my first really nice pen and sent me down the path of buying many more Sailors, 11 in total. It's a pen I will keep forever and always makes me remember that special day and my wife. Get it to have and to hold, Myke. Get it?
Myke: For what? for inky and, I don't know. I was trying to think of some kind of pun, but I don't have one.
Myke: Because I'm also trying to find a different name for this person
Speaker 02: so I don't have to read. Myke is vamping right now, Chad.
Myke: I'm vamping because I don't want to read this name. Do you know who this person is?
Speaker 02: Just by the handle, but personally, no, I don't. But the handle is very well known to me.
Speaker 02: Let's say...
Myke: Ink Farts says, I don't know, this is gross. It's not my all-time favorite stationary item, but one that I'm so grateful exists, Waterman Serenity Blue. Pens, papers, and trendy inks fall in and out of rotation, but Serenity Blue has been my go-to ink when testing new pens and while grinding nibs, and it is itself a beautiful blue that I never tire of. It's affordable, safe, predictable, and even sheens without being a pain to deal with. Just a classic ink with enough character to not be boring.
Speaker 02: Yep. Agree completely. Dr. Lamb Chop in New Zealand, Myke. A stamp of my name made from individual lead-type letters. On a visit to Tokyo, my friend Yui took me to an old-school small maker of posters and books. They also have a service in which they make a stamp of your name by inlaying the lead-type into a wooden holder. Crammed into this tiny shop were rows and rows of Japanese characters and a much smaller section for all the Latin letters used in English. Off Yui went in one direction to find the four characters she needed to make the stamp of her full name, and I went off in the other direction to find the 13 letters I needed for mine. An additional 14 I needed to make the stamp for my partner. I was... Is Lamb Chop 13 letters? Wow. I was done with this task in five minutes, but Yui had to look for about a half an hour. Afterwards, we went out to eat and drink. The item is special because that day was great fun. The craftsmanship in the stamps is excellent, and my stamp reminds me of the four times when we could travel, see our friends, and have adventures. Isn't that what it's all about, Myke? Our friends.
Myke: I think so. It's not about the pens. It's the friends we made along the way. Mm-hmm. Ricky says, I won two A5 Apple notebooks. The covers are leather with an embossed apple. I don't know if they're genuine, but they're special to me.
Speaker 02: Might need a picture of those, Ricky. Send it in if you get a chance. I don't know that I've seen those. Hide it from the wife, Visconti Homo Sapien, the way it feels and writes, and my first Grail Pen purchase.
Myke: Kiri. Pentel Pocket Brush. It was my introduction to bristle tip brush pens and changed everything. The versatility of the bristle tip brush is unmatched, and the convenience of a pen means it gets used way more than my other real brushes do. Brushwork is the very, brushwork is the characteristic of my art that most people remember best, and it's all thanks to this pen.
Speaker 02: That is factually correct. One of the great, great pens of all time. Brian C. I love writing with my newish Lamy Safari Terra in my new Minimalism art-dotted notebook. The Lamy Safari is my first fountain pen and I love the way the pen writes. I never realized writing could be such fun and therapeutic experience like this until I first started writing with this awesome piece of German engineering. And now, since starting up on the paper from this new notebook, my obsession has been taken to a whole new level. The pen writes comfortably without being too wet or scratchy and the ink dries fast and perhaps most importantly doesn't bleed through the page. I know that technically this is two items. Thank you for making
Myke: this decision easy for me, Brian. I was going backwards and forwards a bit there,
Speaker 02: but you put yourself in this club. He says, sorry, not sorry, but these both have really made staying organized as a traveling music teacher most enjoyable experience. You two definitely helped guide my first few stationery purchases as a freshly inked pen addict and I couldn't be more happy with the informed purchasing choices you helped me make. Thanks, guys.
Myke: This is from Powell. Fountain pens and pencils. They are the best tools to help me understand when I am really thinking and reflect on it. Also, typewriters. I'm a fan of mechanical keyboards, but this is different. Rescuing them, fixing them, and giving them a spark of life again is so much fun, also for journaling. I don't even know what to do with Powell, Brad, because Powell didn't actually give us anything.
Brad: Just like, hey,
Myke: I love it all.
Brad: All of it. I don't think I'm going to put them in any category. Maybe I create my own category for Powell. Actually, yeah. Powell's going in their own category.
Myke: Just call it Powell. Yeah, one. Of like, what is it? People who suggested no products. One person so far.
Speaker 02: All right, Matias. I still love my Pilot Custom Heritage 92 demonstrator. It was the first fancy pen I got for myself and it goes with me everywhere, so it has seen all the milestones. I need to ink mine back up. Great pen.
Myke: Kit. My Field Notes National Park set. The edition came out right as I left university to start a graduate job, and from the get-go, I have used this set to keep track of my daily to-do lists. I have slowly worked through the whole set and intend to mount and frame the full set, oh, nice, once it's finished as a memento of my achievements through a challenging time to embark on my career. The fantastic art has inspired great wanderlust while chained to a desk. Good luck with the reading and congratulations on 500 episodes. See you at 1,000. Oh, I don't like the thought of that for some reason. 1,000 seems like a lot, but why not?
Speaker 02: Geert. I don't know my best Dutch D.
Speaker 02: Best Dutch G. Nice work. You really nailed that one. Nailed that one.
Myke: So Geert said, because no one else can see what you can see, so I have to explain this. So Geert, oh, Geert, Geert said, in brackets, let's hear your best Dutch G, and I don't know what that could mean.
Speaker 02: Yeah, I failed. I failed pretty aggressively, I think. Lamy Joy Calligraphy with 1.5 millimeter stub nib and registrar ink. The reason it's so special to me because it's the pen I use to write the handout notes for the Dungeons & Dragons game I run. Great underrated pen.
Myke: Registrar ink, is that the like, what's so special about that?
Speaker 02: It's the, it's not just Iron Gaul, it's like aggressively permanent.
Myke: It's funny to me that it's like these Dungeons & Dragons games, they are like significantly pumped.
Speaker 02: But the registrar's, the registrar stuff, we did an episode back around like the wedding time and the British requirements for documentation.
Myke: That was why it was like too difficult for me to take a pen on my own. Yep. Joe Casabona says, I want to say the Leonardo, uh oh, I've lost my place, I pressed the key by accident. 44, 44. I'm back now, I'm back now. Yeah, so we are on number 44 by the way. Joe says, I want to say the Leonardo Memento Zero Grande, but to me, the Mark 1 by Studio Neat is the most perfect pen ever created. I can use my favorite refill, the Schmidt Easy Flow 9000. It's a great weight and that knock. I have three and love them all. An orange pen attic version would be an insta buy for me. That's not a bad idea. That's not a bad idea whatsoever. Joe, you're in the bad crew. There you go. You're in the Raw Breakers Club. Wow. It was a good idea at least. It was two things. You can't do that. You can't just be like, oh, I wanted to say this thing, but I actually mean another thing. Well, don't say the first thing then.
Speaker 02: All right. All right. Jenny Realia says, I have fond memories of the Dixon Ticonderoga, both the number two and the Carmine Red checking pencil. The most basic of basic pencils. There are better pencils and I use them, but the Ticonderoga is omnipresent and never fails me and has never failed me since I was a child. I like this. We are of two minds. We definitely have some throwback important stationery here. I like it.
Myke: I do love saying Ticonderoga though. That's a great name.
Myke: Capitiano says, I told myself when I bought the Shone Design Peak that I wouldn't use it until I passed the Japanese language proficiency test N3. The test results are out now and I'm using my new pen. Congratulations. Yeah.
Speaker 02: That's awesome. And I'm also writing down Is that the ghost one? It is the ghost one. That's nice. I'm writing it down because it needs to go on my list because I keep saying I'm going to buy one. Alex Ibarra, it was a Pilot Kakuno. I love the little smiley face and writing with it was just a pure joy. It made me realize I could make my life happier by just sprinkling in little bits of joy and in many places as I could. That's a great subtext for this podcast. Myke, we sprinkle a little bit of joy as many places as we can.
Myke: Nathan says, my favorite item for the past few months has been the Pilot Decimo. It's the perfect fountain pen to use at my job since I often have to write quick notes on the go while switching between different paper types. The Decimo provides a great writing experience with complete reliability and zero fuss. It is a tool I can trust. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 02: Mm-hmm. I have five things written down on my list now. The odd copy. I love my Lamy 2000 but I have to give my love to the Fine Point Sharpie pen. I've spilled more words into legal pads and journals throughout college with the Sharpie pen and it'll be hard for any other writing tool to catch up. I love how this pen makes my handwriting look and still makes me grin when I pick it up all these years later. And this is the Sharpie pen, Myke, that we've discussed many, many times, not the permanent marker pen. Eight.
Myke: What? Eight. Up to eight rule breakers. Oh! When I give you that number, that's what I'm counting. Oh, wow. Yeah, well, look, there's two in there. Okay. Aaron R says, park a jotter with a red plastic slash gray metal body because this is what got me into stationery as a kid.
Speaker 02: Facts. That was Myke's favorite response so far. Very clear, very defined. One item. Go. Bork and Bork.
Speaker 02: Bork Ben Bork says, Lamy Safari Terracotta with a gold nib ground to a stub. Reliable, everyday carry and fantastic writing experience. Pairs well with the Lamy Petrol and any pocket notebook. Bonus points for the nib as it was ground by a great friend and penabler.
Myke: All right, so that was number 51. I'm going to take a break now. All right. We've got something special today from one of our longest running sponsors and biggest supporters of the show and that's our friends over at Pen Chalet. Pen Chalet sell all of the products that you're looking for from all of your favorite brands. They sell rollerballs and fountain pens, mechanical pencils. They sell inks and refills and pen holders, carrying cases, all the accessories you're looking for as well. They do free shipping on orders of over $50 in the United States and they sell internationally with great shipping rates. They do fast and reliable customer service. They run discounts twice a month and they're always adding new styles of pens and products over at Pen Chalet. Pen Chalet has low prices on high quality pens with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. So, go right now 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. Use the password Pen Addict and you'll get the code that you need to save 10% on anything at any time at Pen Chalet. And also, Brad, what else are they going to find there right now?
Speaker 02: They are going to find something that Ron and I worked on for this special 500th episode and as a thank you to all of you wonderful listeners, Ron has set up a big 500th episode giveaway of Brad's favorite things. It's actually celebrate the Pen Addict's 10th anniversary. So, and it says enter to win one of Brad's favorite things. He also officially gives you permission to remember them anytime you're feeling sad and then you won't feel so bad. I didn't write that copy but that's pretty funny. All right, we're giving away five sets of items that I put together on Pen Chalet and let me tell y'all, Chad, this is just for y'all. So, like, if you're listening to this episode, go over to PenChalet.com type Pen Addict in the radio podcast feed and then you will see a way to enter into this giveaway. You should keep this to yourself because then you have a better chance to win but you should support our friends at Pen Chalet. So, let me tell you what you can win. You can win a TWSBI Eco and Jade with TWSBI Grape Fountain Pen Ink. That's one combo. That's one giveaway prize. You can win a Lamy Studio Fountain Pen with a steel nib with Lamy Crystal Amazonite Ink. That's number two. Number three giveaway, Bennu Euphoria Bora Bora. It's one of the really cool, I love the Euphoria shape and the Bora Bora is one of the great colors. Ink that up with Pilot Orochizuku Konpeki. Next up, we have an Estabrook Estee in Sea Glass with Estabrook Lilac Shimmer Ink. And then we have the last item, one of the new Leonardo Memento Zero Brooks Resin Pens and Leonardo Red Ink. So how cool is that that Ron wanted to do this, wanted to let me pick out some of my favorite pens, which, hey, I love all of these. The Eco, the Lamy Studio, the Bennu Euphoria, the Estabrook SDC Glass, Leonardo Memento Zero, all of them from the amazing Pen Chalet, a long, long, long time supporter of this show, of the blog, of, you know, this whole pen community as a whole. And I just thank you so much, Ron. Let me tell you directly that I really appreciate your friendship and your support over all these years. And I appreciate our listeners supporting our good friends over at Penschalet.
Myke: So go to penschalet.com, P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com. Click the podcast link at the top of the website. Enter Pen Addict. You'll get the special offer code. You'll see a bunch of special offer products because there's always a ton of great stuff there.
Speaker 02: By the way, I wrote down a product for me to check out, the Lamy Studio Special Edition Rollerball in Aquamarine. is really, really speaking to me. That's a great price. There are deals down there too. But also at the top
Special Offers and Giveaways[edit]
Myke: of that page is where you'll find the ability to enter into that giveaway. Thank you to Penschalet for the continued support of this show and Relay FM.
Myke: All right. Is it me now? It's me now. Yeah, you did Bork Ben Bork, right? So mine's from Mel Martin. I have a Sailor Sapporo in some version of slightly sparkly purple. Maybe it's blueberry that several of my friends pitched in to buy me for my 40th birthday. It's my favorite color and the subtle sparkle always makes me smile. But what really makes this my favorite all-time station item is the love and thoughtfulness that my friends put into coordinating such a wonderful gift.
Speaker 02: Yep. Perfect. Perfect. Gene says, Pelican M800 blue stripe fine nib. Hard to list all the reasons but it's just gorgeous in its design, function, ink capacity, prominent place in the fountain pen world being a flagship Pelican. Most of all, it just fits in my hand and flow and line is silky smooth. Perfect.
Myke: Elizabeth, a bottle of Yamabudo, Yamabudo, Yamabudo. That's a charm. There he goes. Hiroshizuku ink
Brad: because a very thoughtful student gave it to me.
Speaker 02: That's our second mention of Yamabudo. We should have a Yamabudo tracker. That's a very great thing.
Brad: I'm not tracking it. How much stuff do you want me to keep track of here?
Speaker 02: Brooklyn Becca, congrats on 500. This is a fun idea. I've been thinking about this since yesterday. I think my favorite stationery item has to be paper. Too simple? Too easy? Boring? Maybe. But when I think of all my favorite stationery products, they all revolve around paper. Books, cards, notebooks, clippings, birth certificates, diplomas, marriages, licenses, art, diaries, planners, keepsakes in general. While not necessary to sustain life, paper is central to many, many good memories. If you must know specifics, there is a lot of ordinary paper, but I prefer to use even just slightly better 32-pound paper in my Tomoe River original paper notebooks from Hipponodo. What are you going to do, Myke?
Myke: That's fine. I'm going to let it go. Yeah! I'm going to let it go. Aaron, my favorite stationery item right now is my Platinum Galaxy Starlight with a broad nib that was a gift for my 10th wedding anniversary. What ink should I pair it with? Oh, we've got a quick question here.
Speaker 02: Palo de Roshizuku Yamabuda. All right, next up, Kim in.
Brad: The high-tech C
Speaker 02: Coleto pen in 2004 because I switch ink colors in my notebook when I change topics to make it easier to keep different items separate. I can have five different ink colors to rotate through in one pen, which makes this a much easier and more portable thing to do. Plus, I love that I can choose colors and I'm not limited to just red, blue, black, and green like a lot of multi-pens. I have three different Coleto bodies with different colors in each, so I can use the color scheme I like best on any given day. Yes!
Myke: Luke from Brisbane, Australia. My Visconti Homo Sapiens. It was the first expensive pen I bought a number of years ago. I never had any troubles with the nib and it has always been an amazing writer.
Speaker 02: Homo Sapiens tracker. The non-fountain pen episode. My big pen, because it's not fussy like a fountain pen. You know what? Fair.
Myke: Justin H. My current favorite stationary items are the new Cortex Mark 1s of a theme system journal. Yes! Yes! Come on, someone! It is my most valuable pen! I don't own a ton. There's something special about the quality of the build and the feeling of joy I get when writing with that combo of pen and journal. I truly enjoy the writing process so much of these, where I typically handle so much writing digitally. I love being able to slow down and enjoy those writing moments. Y'all don't have to kiss up to Myke. He doesn't appreciate it. Y'all kiss up to me. I appreciate that. Here's the thing, Justin. You're going in the Rule Breakers Club, but you're also going in Myke's Faves Club. There's just one in there right now. We'll see how that progresses.
Speaker 02: All right, Emmett says, the Lamy Safari fountain pen. Sometimes I just like to look at it because it's so pretty. I remember emailing Brad when I was about 12 and saying that I was like an idiot, and it's crazy to think it's at 500 episodes already. Maybe I'll have gotten the Canalea Kona Cherry by the 1000th episode if you ever get there. Thank you for the great podcast. Thank you.
Myke: That's wild. Like someone was listening when they were 12.
Speaker 02: Yep, yep, yep. Incredible.
Myke: Ellis, platinum fountain pen. The colors are routine, but the writing experience is fantastic. Starts every time.
Speaker 02: I mean, literally all of them, right? John Boland says, Brad Myke, happy 500. I love my Pilot Custom 912 with an FA nib. It's as classically stylish as Cary Grant's suits, or Audrey Hepburn's little black dress. Piano black. We're going in, Myke. We're leaning in.
Brad: Come on, Joe.
Speaker 02: Piano black.
Brad: Taking us on a ride here.
Speaker 02: Rhodium trim and flat ends always look good. It's the perfect size, big enough to comfortably hold, but small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. The number 10 FA nib is Sublime. It's a high performance instrument. Like other high performance instruments, sports cars, gaming computers, et cetera, it is finicky and requires upgraded components and consumables. John, you can write for me anytime. It requires upgraded components and consumables just to get the best out of it. In this case, that's the feed and ink. With a flexible nib factory ebonite feed and piloter Roshizuku ink, likely Yamabudo. That's my edit. The FA flies. It's such a joy to write with. It's got nice bounce and a little bit of pleasant tooth, particularly on the upstroke mic. The nib responds to subtle inputs to add line variation at will. It's easy to write with as reversed or as expressive as it's easy to write as reserved or as expressive as I want. And if I really get cooking, I can produce extreme line variation for quite passable copper plate, although I need a lot more practice. I use it for all my letters and thank you cards. Thank you for the opportunity to gush about my favorite pen and best wishes for the next 500 episodes.
Myke: Amazing. Love it. Alexandra, Namiki Yukari Milky Way, not because it's by far my most expensive pen because it's not even my best writer, but because of what it represents in my life. I got it as a celebration for a new job that got me a significant raise and allowed me to leave a pretty toxic job. It also reminded me of my dreams of being an astronaut as a child, given the theme, and made me feel that the stars are your limit as far as your dreams. Happy 500, guys. I honestly hope that that was going to and now I'm an astronaut. You know, like the job I got is now I'm an astronaut. Maybe they are. I don't know.
Speaker 02: Maybe, maybe, but that's a beautiful pen. It's the one I own and it's the best. The best. Helen from Toronto, my pen cup currently holds about 40 pens of all sizes, shapes, colors, and quality. From it, I select a pen that fits my mood or task. A pen received as a gift from a loved one that I'm thinking about, a bold writer with a thick line for an important signature, or one that is comfortable for longer writing chore. The pen cup is special because it reflects me in all my states from playful to focused.
Brad: Hmm.
Speaker 02: It's the pen cup. Yeah, I know. It's the favorite stationary item. Yeah. The pen cup is singular.
Myke: But there's no product there. However, the pen cup specifically is a thing. It represents an idea. Yes. All right. If you think about it, the pen cup is a concept. A customized all black Lamy Safari fountain pen with a red clip is, this is Scarlet's entry, inked with Diamine Red Dragon. I guess if your name's Scarlet, you would want an ink like Diamine Red Dragon, right? I feel like that fits pretty nicely. This pen is special to me because I put it together while healing from extremely poor mental health as a reclamation of my past being forced to write with one at school and a statement of who I am now writing everything in blood red. Hell yeah. Yes. Hell yes. That's some Game of Thrones type stuff right there. I know. I've never seen Game of Thrones so I have no idea if it actually is.
Speaker 02: True, true, true, true. Sirwin, my favorite fountain pen is my Karis Pen Company Pony Express, ink. It's a gorgeous hunk of patinated bronze slowly turning a deep brown with still golden spots where I hold it. I love it because its heft reminds me of the weight of my words. They will live on for generations just as this pen will continue in our family for generations bearing the marks of each writer. That's cool.
Myke: Lynn, Sailor Pro Gear Slim Lucky Charm. It normalized pens in its price range for me both a good and bad thing.
Speaker 02: Yeah. And 5607, my Leuch Term 18-month calendar planner. Weak display on the left side of the page and line page for notes on the right. I use it with my TWSBI Eco with Deatramentus document black ink every day.
Myke: 10. Mmm, really? Wow. 10. Aggressive. 10 out of 69. Nice. Aggressive. Aggressive judgment there. Number 70 is Seattle Sparky. My seven seas writer because Tomoe River. Like writing on angels' wings. Message straight to the ears of God. Haven't sampled the replacement yet. Stock to Tomoe River for quite some time. This is, I wished I could accurately get across this message. I'm going to give it another go, Brad. Mm-hmm. I almost spit up
Speaker 02: my coffee the first time.
Myke: My seven seas writer because Tomoe River, like writing on angels' wings, messages straight to the ears of God. Haven't sampled my replacement yet. Stocked with Tomoe River for quite some time. Time! I think that does a valid job of getting across the way this message of the right now.
Speaker 02: Dwayne Lively says, my Levenger Sunset fountain pen. It looks like R2-D2 and has a great nib. It's also the first pen I bought via the internet. That's cool.
Myke: In my mind, Levenger Sunset, I can't imagine how a pen called that would look like R2-D2.
Speaker 02: I know. I gotta look at that one. I do not have a picture in my head.
Myke: My Lamy 2000, since it was a birthday present from my brother 15 years ago. It was only if I'm filled with Noodler's Walnut, which he also gave me. I have many other fountain pens, some much more expensive, but that's one that's always in use and one I will never part with.
Speaker 02: I wish I had that level of commitment. Catherine says, my red medium nib Pilot Metropolitan. This was the pen that got me hooked, and while I have pens that cost 10 times as much, this one always makes me smile. That's why we love the Metro.
Myke: Irene K. I love my Cafe Coast Ball in dark green of golden finial. It's the first fountain pen I bought as an adult. A direct consequence of listening to this show. I have never found a pen better suited for me.
Speaker 02: I'm so happy we did this, Myke. I'm having fun reading all these.
Myke: Well, we're up to 76 of 270 something, so you've got a lot of time
Speaker 02: to change your mind. I haven't looked at the clock yet, so I might rescind all that. Rich Kelly says, I enjoy using my wax seal camel stamp. I use a glue gun to melt the wax, much easier than using a tea candle and spoon, and I write a letter using one of my favorite pens. Just like I believe there is no such thing as a grail pen, I also feel no such thing as a favorite pen. I have 59 fountain pens in my collection. My Le Bon 325 in flame red with a fine nib. I like the fine line it produces and enjoy the wet feed, a rare combination. I use Clairefontaine paper. It doesn't feather or bleed through. After allowing the ink to fully dry, I carefully fold and place the letter in the envelope, apply the piece de resistance, my camel wax seal.
Myke: 11.
Speaker 02: Come on, man.
Myke: What do you mean, come on? There's like 12 things in this list.
Speaker 02: But it's all about the camel stamp.
Myke: I just called it
Speaker 02: a list even. So? It's, it's, it's, mm.
Myke: Eliseo Santamaria, Santamaria. Could be either. Pens! I can tell a lot by people's preferences and writing style. My pen represents me. Okay, Eliseo, you go into the rarefied air. Ooh, the club of two, which is people who suggested no products. But at least they made me shout pens. So that's good news.
Speaker 02: Leslie says, my favorite item, why are we limited to just one, Myke? That's what Leslie wants to know. Doesn't matter, Leslie,
Myke: I'm assuming Leslie kept to the rules.
Speaker 02: We appreciate you being a rule follower, Leslie, at least Myke does. You created the rule. Assumedly. Anyway. I was trying to keep it short, Myke, it did not work. It's fine. It did not work. My favorite item is Parker International dual fold in black with a medium nib. This is the last fountain pen my father bought me the summer before I started uni. My parents had been in Florida buying furniture and my dad saw it at one of their airport shops. As the person who introduced me to fountain pens at a young age, it was even more special as he rarely purchased spontaneous gifts. Since he has passed away, it has made me treasure this pen even more. And while I do write with it, it never leaves the house. Happy anniversary, gentlemen. Sounds like you made
Myke: the right choice, Leslie. I think that's perfect. Tim. This isn't a good start from Tim. Uh oh. I'm going to slightly alter this question and comment on my most memorable stationery item. Okay, maybe you pulled it around. Fair. Fair. A Stadler lead holder pencil I bought around 45 years ago. I no longer have it, but I suspect it was similar to the Stadler Mars Technico 780. Why is it my most memorable item? Because it was the first real stationery purchase I ever made. Moreover, I found it at this magical place I never even knew existed in my hometown. Something called an independently owned stationery store. And now long departed Williams Stationery in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. And that's where my love affair began. Just like true baseball fans have their first ballpark experience locked in their memories, I sense the stationery disciples out there remember their first foray into the magical kingdom. Beautiful. Absolutely.
Speaker 02: Like I always said, I can draw the layout of the bookstore that I used to go to when I was a kid that I hadn't been there in 40 years. Marty B, Twisby Eco. I have fancier pens with gold nibs and beautiful designs, but every time I use my basic blue Eco, I feel the same thing. Smooth writing, consistent flow, no matter what ink I use, comfortable to use, to always enjoy to write with. It's my EDC.
Myke: Awesome.
Speaker 02: Yep.
Myke: My one is Brian the Wharf. My favorite piece of stationery would have to be my transparent green Twisby Eco with a fine nib, which is always inked with Shin Ryoku. Ryoku? Mm-hmm. This is the first pen I bought for myself at my very first pen show, which I attended with my brother. The show was the 2019 Triangle Pen Show, where I also met Brad for the first time, so this pen has a lot of great memories to it.
Speaker 02: Nice. So this is Ryan or Ryan P. Just, you know, for clarification. My favorite stationery item at the moment, because these things are always changing, is the 2021 Diamine Inkvent Calendar, because going through the calendar has taken me very far out of my ink comfort zone. It was very into cool tone, fairly basic. I was very into cool tone, basic, fairly basic inks for a long time. Blue, blacks, purples, greens, grays, some browns, and some pinks. And this set has helped me discover how awesome orange, brown, red, and yellow inks can be, and also has expanded my palette to get into more sheening and or shimmer inks. Love the discovery.
Brad: Hmm.
Myke: All right, I'm going to let this one go. Yeah. Yeah, you are. I mean, it's technically 25, anyway. Evan Rosenberg, I have a lot of pens, even more now than when I started listening to the Pen Addict podcast shortly after episode 300. When I close, you've got a lot to catch up on then, Evan. When I close my eyes and picture a pen, though, I still see the Rotring Core capped rollerball in the Technor colorway that I used to carry in my pocket in high school 20 years ago. I still have that pen tucked away in a case with my other Rotrings, taking a well-deserved rest after years of pocket carry and being responsible for instilling a lifelong appreciation for pen design that isn't afraid to be a little different.
Speaker 02: I like it. I like it a lot. James MB, my favorite stationery is Claire Fontaine Spiral Bound A4 Sayers French ruled notebooks from my favorite online stationery store wonderpens.ca. Shout out wonderpens. It's a lovely beefy sized notebook reminiscent of notebooks I used in high school. The paper is wonderful to write on with fountain pens and the French rule leads itself well to casual writing practice. Always a fun distraction to note taking. Didn't know it came in A4. That's pretty
Myke: amazing. Jennifer, my favorite and most precious item is my black Nakaya Nakai writer purchased at the San Francisco pen show in 2019. It has rose gold hardware and a fine soft nib that writes perfectly and I'm left-handed. I purchased this beautiful pen at the SF pen show in 2019. When I pick up the pen, it brings such joy and happy memories. First pen show, meeting Brad and Myke, rooms full of stationary goodness and lots of happy pen people.
Speaker 02: Miss pen shows,
Myke: miss pen shows. One day, Brad, one day.
Speaker 02: One day. Nick says, it may be the spork of writing instruments, but I have had a black paper mate flare in my pocket since my first job in a grocery store at age 15, which was 26 years ago. They aren't for looking at, but they can do just about everything acceptably. That is factually correct. Love the flare.
Myke: I don't know if I'm familiar with it, actually.
Speaker 02: You would recognize it if I showed you a picture. Okay. Basic, standard, classic.
Myke: Brandon, I love my Visconti Special Ops in medium. This pen was my first medium nib after staying with fine and extra fine since I traveled down the rabbit hole. This was my gateway pen to broad and stub nibs, and I now have a couple of other pens. Basically, what Brandon is saying here is that they took the right path of moving away from the horrible fine and extra fine to something a bit better.
Speaker 02: Brenton Raleigh says, Parker Penman Sapphire. I must have drained half a dozen bottles of that stuff back in the day. Still unequaled. And that is factually correct as well.
Myke: Mark, Edison Menlo Custom in Brooks Galaxy Prime. A beautiful pen that feels like an extension of my hand and writes like a dream. I chose the material, the pen model, and the nib, a custom ground medium stub. extremely well made to, it's my me pen.
Speaker 02: Mm-hmm. Perfect. Noel Arroy, my favorite stationary item is my Canalea Kona Snow Fountain Pen that my now wife bought for me as a wedding present. It's the most beautiful pen I own and brings me joy every time I use it. Not really much more to say than that, but it is definitively my favorite stationary item.
Myke: My current favorite is the stationary from Pigeon. PigeonPosted.com in the UK. Their designs are a fun combination of letter and envelope and the artwork is really neat.
Speaker 02: That's a lot of British listeners. I wonder why. It's not a specific product. What's up with that?
Myke: On the list. I recommend a website. Thanks, Chelsea. Thank you, Chelsea, but you're going, you know, you've made that category
Speaker 02: to three. Sam Kurt says, my tactile turn zirconium pen with a Schmidt fiber tip refill. I love the feel and action of this pen. It's super heavyweight and takes some getting used to, but I love it.
Myke: Inky Raven. Ink samples. There are so many fascinating combinations of ink colors and properties. Samples have let me try hundreds with let me try hundreds of them without the commitment that four bottles require. How many lists is this on, Myke? Well, that's four. This just goes on the people who suggested no products list. And it's now up to four.
Speaker 02: Zinnia. Maybe an odd pick, but I love the Rhodium Meeting Book. The paper is great and handles my favorite fountain pens effortlessly. However, the layout is what gets me. As someone with ADHD, the notebook is structured perfect for my brain, sectioning out places for notes, action items, and supplementary info. It's the only thing I've found that keeps me focused at work. P.S. Love the podcast. I'm a short-time listener who started last year to find cool stationery Christmas gifts and couldn't put the show down. Yeah, thanks for being one of the best parts of my week. That's an interesting
Myke: way to find the show.
Speaker 02: Not an odd pick at all. Highly individualized stationery that solves problems is one of my favorite things. So glad you found something that works well for you.
Myke: Claire Rude says, I think my favorite item is the Hobonichi Techo. Lots of Techo fans on the list. Special to me because I get to open it every day and enjoy it. I love the paper and all the accessories that go with it.
Speaker 02: Jim in Tucson. My set of Alvin Draftmatic Mechanical Pencils got me through architecture school and will always have a place on my desk and in my bag. I have all four lead sizes, 0.357 and 9, and each one has its function. But the blue DM07 is my go-to for taking notes and quickly sketching ideas.
Myke: Okay, I'm going to let this pass.
Speaker 02: Singular. It's absolutely singular. Yes. Pencils. It's a set. It's a singular set. Yeah, I'm going to let it pass, but it's not singular.
Myke: It's not singular. Tim, my Pilot Falcon was my first gold nib pen and I bought it myself when I graduated from my PhD. I need to ink my Falcon up. I love that pen. Do you ever feel like when we do this kind of stuff that we should have PhDs?
Myke: Feels like everybody else has PhDs. I don't have one.
Speaker 02: That's how the survey came about. The Slack survey came about.
Myke: PhD.
Speaker 02: That was the question. It's like, why is this a thing? Why is this a thing?
Myke: I would like to just put a call out. Any school in the world that wants to give me an honorary doctorate, I will accept it.
Speaker 02: I just want you to know that. We need a pen PhD. I need a stationary PhD.
Myke: I will take it.
Speaker 02: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Rita Montero, aka Ink Tales, I didn't spend much time thinking about this, which in a way makes this choice more honest. It has to be the Sailor 1911 Royal Tangerine. Yes. It was big and impulsive purchase for me and absolutely worth it. I love the way the medium fine nib writes. The size of the pen is ideal for me. In that orange color, it is gorgeous. You know what I mean. Both of you have at least one of these. I like that they clarify you have at least one of these. I have the regular
Myke: and the king of pen.
Speaker 02: Yeah, and I have the small and the king of pen. It isn't my most expensive pen, but I'm always wanting to ink it up and use it. I think that's the main feature of a favorite stationary item. Thank you both for many enjoyable hours of pen related conversations.
Myke: The king of pen is what I was going to pick up today to take my show notes with, but I opted for just the original orange pro gear instead. Okay. That felt fitting for today. Nice, nice, nice. L says the Elia Note 6mm lined Tomoe River paper 496 page notebook. It has all the qualities that I love. It is special because the 6mm ruling is now defunct. It was a lovely burgundy magenta that both glowed from the white pages and receded after writing was on the page. Along with the fountain pens I used to write, it made me excited every morning to journal. Alas, I have just one left. That's really cool.
Speaker 02: Zach, permanent inks. I have kept a journal for decades even before I discovered fountain pens. Once I got into fountain pens I began using them exclusively, but I grew up in a time where there are only two types of fountain pen inks, permanent and washable. If the bottle didn't say washable, it was permanent, period. Unfortunately, once I got into fountain pens I also discovered new inks, a much greater selection of colors than before, but most of them were washable. This I found out by water testing the ink I had been using for my journal after about five years. So now I have five years of memories that can be erased by a heavy fog. So now I am obsessed with permanent inks. With the current selection of colors and permanent inks, I really can't understand why they are so disparaged. I love permanent inks. I don't disparage them at all. Personally, I would like my musings, however uninteresting to others, to at least last for my lifetime. So permanent inks are not just a favorite, they are a requirement for me.
Myke: Okay, that comes up to number five for Zach. On the list. Anything. Stephan, I do like, I like this though, because you know what I understand what Zach's saying. Yeah. That like all of the love for inks, all the cool colors and cool brands, it's not permanent stuff. Like that's not one of the qualities.
Speaker 02: Oh, I disagree with nothing that they said.
Myke: Yeah. Stephanie Sos is number 100. My five-year Hobonichi, to be honest, when I started it back in 2019, mine is to 2019 to 2023, I was afraid I wouldn't have anything to write about. In the beginning, I mostly used it to keep track of marathon and ultra marathon training and my show off, am I right? I can't just do a regular marathon. That's incredible. What is an ultra marathon? Like 23 marathons? What is that?
Speaker 02: No, it's like a singular, like a hundred and something mile race. Oh, God. A hundred plus, like 120-ish, something like that.
Myke: Oh, my God.
Myke: And my finishing times on events. I also listed the weather and any family things that happen on each day. My day-to-day life is pretty routine, so I sometimes added drawings, doodles, little things, and then it happened. Hello, 2020. The world is introduced to COVID and everything about the way we lived our day-to-day lives changed. Now this little five year is a documentation of what life looks like before the pandemic and all the changes that we had to adapt to. Looking back on the years that I've already filled out, it's really interesting. It's crazy how different life is now in 2022 than it was in 2019. I'm really grateful I started at the year that I did. What a thing to be able to give to family in the future.
Speaker 02: Yep, yep. I'm really like looking into these more and more, the more I see about them. Mary Heintz, Uni Signo DX Pens. I like the sound they make as I write. Mary and I are now best friends. Can I just say, it's very simple.
Myke: See what Mary wrote there? This is what I wanted everyone to send in. Just that.
Speaker 02: You're also now Myke's best friend for different reasons.
Brad: When Brad pitched this to me, this is what I thought we were going to be getting.
Brad: No, I wanted some stories. What we actually got is more like this
Myke: from Parker. We love you, Parker. Carus Customs Render K V2. It's a great quality machine pen that is simple in looks and beautiful in design. Coming from a machinist background, this pen is beautifully machined and contains very well thought out features such as a channel cut inside the cap to house an O-ring to keep the cap in place, especially when pocket carried. This is also one of the few pens I have seen fully machined out of metal, including my favorite material from when I was still a machinist. 360 alloy brass. For more dense materials such as brass, this pen feels mighty and hefty in the hand. And every time I write with it, I can appreciate the machining that went into this pen. This style pen is the only type of pen that can stand up to the abuse I put it through on any given day without fail. I can carry it in my front pocket every day and never have it pop out or the cap loosen. I can carry it in my wool vest and working outside to jot down notes. Never have it go missing. I can pop it into the inside or outside pocket of a suit coat and it looks classy while also remaining utilitarian. It fits with a Pilot G2 refill by default and can accept others like a Schmidt P8126 or 7. This makes it perfect for me as my desired refill is the Pilot Precise RT, which gives me the pleasure of writing the same feel as my normal Precise V5, V7 in a refillable barrel that I love so much. I have a few other pens from Karis Customs, but this style covers every facet I need in my day-to-day life without compromise.
Speaker 02: Thank you, Parker. See? Parker's our people. Like, this is, this is, that's our people, Myke. Right there. Perfectly explained. Hey, look. The level of nerdery is elite. I love it. I love this. It's so good.
Myke: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 02: We're up to number 104.
Brad: 103. The next answer is- 278. All right?
Speaker 02: The next answer is exactly what you want. I know. This is exactly what you want. The Pandemic with Bruce. My favorite stationary item is my shown design Ultem with the number six Yovo steel nib. I like the matte texture of the Ultem, and it's really comfortable for long writing sessions because it's so light. And my favorite ink of all time is Mont Blanc Petrol Blue because of the dark greenish blue color.
Myke: No, I think that, see, Bruce isn't exactly what I want, right? Two, two, two, two.
Speaker 02: Yeah, yeah, two.
Myke: I just want to make it clear that I love our listeners, and I'm very happy that they have contributed in this episode. My main concern is just the marathon that we have. Yeah, yeah. We're in an ultra marathon.
Speaker 02: 2,000 character field limits. Sorry.
Myke: Why did you do that? Diego. I'm a generous soul, Myke. I'm a generous soul. Let's see how you feel by the end, too. Lamy Spirit Mechanical Pencil. This was the first premium stationary item I purchased. I purchased it while in university at a high-end retail store in Toronto. I remember walking out of that store thinking, what have I done, and why did I spend so much on a pencil? As soon as I started using it, that was like the awakening of my addiction. That pencil was the start of my journey that transitioned to ballpoint pens and fountain pens and continues to this day over 20 years later.
Speaker 02: Jorge Madrigal, the Lockby Field Journal. Second time. As a high school teacher, it's indispensable. It holds two journals, one for my everyday happenings and the history classes I teach, the other calendars, to-do lists, meetings, etc. I also have rulers, journal plastic templates, and of course, my trusty Lamy 2000 with me at all times. Love your podcast, fellas. The Discord is starting to side with me. Uh-oh.
Myke: Because you said 2,000 characters.
Speaker 02: That's 300 to 500 words. I like stories.
Myke: They're starting to side with me now. Now they're understanding, right? Now they're understanding. Kate also said the promise of reading them all was an interesting one. And I said, who do you think suggested that?
Speaker 02: I mean, we had to do something special. I feel like we did, Myke. We're still in it.
Myke: I mean, people will decide if it's special, you know?
Speaker 02: True. Well, as long as I feel that it's special. Yes, that is ultimately all that matters. So this is all about me.
Myke: I learned that 299 episodes ago. I don't know. But Nick Hyam said the twist bullet pencil in walnut from metal shop John Fontaine in 2016. A well-engineered bullet pencil that helps me use up my black wing and tombow stubs. Sadly, the company no longer exists.
Speaker 02: Great product. From the Rostra, my favorite stationary item is my 350 milliliter bottle of Pilot Blue Black ink, which is not only a great everyday ink, but it's played an essential role as I have learned to tune and adjust nibs.
Myke: Michael G says my pick is the Aurora Duo Cont. You don't hear much about it, but I love it for three reasons. One, I like to keep a low profile, so the classic look and hooded nib is a great fit for me. Two, the nib itself is my favorite in my whole collection. The line width, feedback, and flow is perfection for my tastes. Three, my beloved got it for me for Christmas a few years ago. What more is there to say? Congratulations on 500. Your talking about pens on the internet means more to people than you know. Looking forward to the next 500.
Speaker 02: Oh, nice, nice, nice. All right, Mary, even supposing, says, when I submitted my dissertation, my sister gave me a pilot vanishing point, my first gold nib and fanciest pen yet. I used it at the end of my defense to sign the final paperwork granting me my PhD. There you go, Myke. Myke Masayama turned the medium, tuned the medium nib into an exquisite cursive italic at my first pen show. I love writing with this pen and it is always inked. This pen means more to me than any other I will ever own. And oh my gosh, Myke is about to have a coronary on this next one.
Brad: Oh, I've read this one
Speaker 02: during my preparation.
Brad: This one was on the edge of will it stay in or not? This one, like this is the edge, right? Things over this edge. I mean, just how it started
Speaker 02: is all you need to know.
Myke: Mailman Dan. It's not that. I don't have a problem with mail people. No, no, no. I have no issue with mail The next part.
Speaker 02: The next part.
Myke: I ask for forgiveness as I have two pens to offer. I think both are interesting and I have seldom if ever heard either mentioned in stationary related media. For background, I have been a mailman for many years until fairly recently. Pens as tools are required daily and repeatedly. They were abused by use and weather and would frequently be unintentionally left in possession of others. No fancy or expensive pens for me. First, I present the unassuming Jin Hao 991. This was my very, this was very much my starting point with fountain pens. It is a cheap pen in both senses of the word. On the plus side, A, cheap. I could lose, I could afford to lose or break them and later give them away and you can still get them for a couple of bucks. B, almost all of them write, most write well at least to the uninitiated. C, more write consistently, most write consistently, they seal well and write from day to day. And my favorite part, D, you can store an extra short cartridge in the body. On the downside, A, cheap. Which is, back to the A earlier, it will break. Usually either the cap will crack or the nib section will crack right where the body threads onto it. Second is a pen that I wish had been around 30 years ago. As a mailman, one of the worst things about pens is the need to open up two or three coats during Midwestern winters to reach a pen that wasn't too cold to write with, like it wouldn't work. I discovered the Uni Power Tank ballpoint at just about the time the post office finally quit using pen and paper to capture signatures such as my luck. The Power Tank is a write anywhere on anything pen similar to the popular Fisher Space pen, but this one is quite affordable. If I lose a pen or a customer claims one as their own, it's no big loss. I can now leave a pen in an accessible outer pocket during the winter and write on wet paper during the spring, even though I don't really have much call to do either anymore.
Speaker 02: I mean, how great is that?
Myke: Thank you, mailman. I just like the name Power Tank. That's a good pen. I wouldn't mind if you called me Palatine. Okay.
Speaker 02: And from Bruce Horn, we have Twisby.
Speaker 02: For many years, it has been the eco, but my wife just got me a 580 for Christmas and I think it might eclipse the eco a bit. I love the way it feels in my hand. I love the way it looks, especially when it has a somewhat translucent, colorful ink in it. I love seeing the ink sloshing back and forth in that big barrel as I'm writing. I only like piston fillers and I only like demonstrators and Twisby works for both of those. Nibs are also great. This new one has a broad nib, something I haven't tried before. My preference so far is a stub nib, currently debating between the 1.1 and 1.5, both of which I like. I like the fact that getting a 1.5 millimeter stub nib is an option for the 580, even if I have to order it from overseas to the US.
Myke: 14. Chris Ferraz says... What, that one? That was one. No, it has been the eco, but my wife just got me a 580. There's two pens in there. There's two pens in there. Two pens.
Myke: Chris Ferraz says, Pilot shaker 0.5 millimeter mechanical pencil. Just shake it for the lead to advance. I didn't know this. This sounds cool. Yeah. And you'll write continuously without distractions. Beautiful, durable, sturdy, super practical, great design with black body and yellow finial, iconic. A true classic, the best mechanical pencil ever made.
Speaker 02: I'm making a list called protest, and I am protesting Bruce's entry into the multiple pen list.
Myke: I'm being asked questions if I've actually counted everyone correctly, so they might have gone through anyway, because I might have missed one out.
Speaker 02: Protest. Jordan Peterson, at my job as a school teacher, I love my Lamy Safari, as it's durable, easy replaceable, fun to use, and comes in fun colors. Yeah.
Myke: Not that one, by the way. Nah.
Myke: Jordan spelt differently. Stevie Cheese Steak, great name. Hope it's a real name. Any of the fountain pen friendly notebooks I have made myself. I use A4 short grain paper, sometimes even cutting the paper out of top bound A4 notepads, folding into signatures for my A5 journals.
Myke: I'm going to let that one go. I was waiting. I'm letting it go.
Speaker 02: There is about to be a quick second on the protest list.
Brad: There's two potential categories it could go in, but
Speaker 02: I'm letting it go from both of them. All right. Gwen says, Sailor Progear Slim Spring Rain. My first expensive fountain pen, my favorite pen, and it was a birthday gift from my parents last year. Lots of the Spring Rain series,
Myke: a very popular series. Tom, a limited edition Pento Energel with Shiba Inu's all over it. It's very cute, and the 0.7 millimeter Energel is my favorite overall gel refill. Nice, nice.
Speaker 02: All right. Check this out. Lee says, my Metal Shop CT Timber Twist Bullet Pencil, which we just spoke about a minute ago. That product is totally unique, and people always ask questions about it, which gives me the opportunity to give an impassioned explanation. It also lets me get every cent out of my pencil purchases, so it's stylish and thrifty. What more could I ask for?
Myke: Kramer, not that one. My Leonardo Memento Zero Stromboli is both distractingly gorgeous and performs wonderfully. Paired with an Apica notebook makes a perfect match. Leonardo Jerry. That was pretty good.
Speaker 02: Fuzzy Man. It's a black Sailor Pro Gear with a zoom nib. It's not the flashiest looking, but it's the culmination of 10 years of pen collecting, trying to find the one that felt just right. I smile every time I put pen to paper. My pen acquisition habits slowed down considerably after I got it. Is that a good thing? Yes.
Myke: Lisa. My favorite stationary item is fountain pen inks with a lot of shading. Uh-oh. It's so hard to pick just one, but I really love the complex earthy tones of the Sailor Manyo Shirakashi ink. Oh, pour from the depths there. In the bottle or a pen, the ink looks like a dark blue-green. On most paper, this blue tone disappears as the ink dries, leaving behind warm shades of brown and green, sometimes for reddish sheen. However, on one paper, Cosmo Air Light, the blue tint remains with the ink staying a spruce green color. When used as watercolor, the shades have become tree bark, dusty green succulents, and deep forested hills. I am intrigued by the great variety produced by a single ink, and watercolor painting reminds me of my grandma, who would paint beautiful watercolor cards for us.
Speaker 02: I mean, do you want to sell me an ink? This is how you sell me an ink. I mean, it sounds pretty incredible, right? I'm finishing Shirakashi. I'm just finishing Shirakashi. Shirakashi.
Myke: Say Le Manyo Shirakashi.
Speaker 02: Emil, I was thinking I should go with something clever or something funny. In the end, I went with something sappy. Waterman Hemisphere. A first pen of note I got from Diana, the only woman I loved.
Myke: Oh, beautiful. Mm-hmm. Alina, I've been a stationary enthusiast for as long as I can remember, and I've used and loved a lot of notebooks and pens throughout the years, but lately I've been enjoying the simplicity of a blank pocket Moleskine and a black 1.0 Jetstream. I take notes on my reading. I write down thoughts and ideas. I do simple sketches and draw my maps. I have my notebook and my ballpoint pen, and that is enough, and that is number 15. Yeah.
Speaker 02: Okay. Legit perfect setup, though. Dave W. says, my favorite is my gold nib Pilot Custom 742. My mother gave me for Christmas this year because it's from my mom. I like to keep it in my rickshaw bags koozie and write with it in my Loitch Terms Some Lines a Day journal. I'm on year three, and it's awesome to see stuff from just a few beers back, and welcome to the list, Dave.
Myke: Philip S. says, the Franklin Christophe 45 is the perfect size for a pocket with a slip cover. It takes a number five year old for vintage options and comes in so many colors. I've traveled six hours to the Philly Pen Show for the primary purpose of finding the right 45.
Speaker 02: Yes. Love it. Anais says, my favorite stationary item is the Sailor Pro Gear Slim Shikiori Dragon Palace. It's my first gold nib, and after 10 years in the fountain pens hobby, I've been dreaming about Sailor pens for a long time. Finally decided to buy this pen as a gift to myself at the end of a very hard year of med school. Therefore, it has strong sentimental value to me. This pen is on my desk at all times. Just looking at it and writing notes with it lift my spirit during studying sessions. I could do a whole dissertation on this statement on why we buy and use the things we do and why we get enjoyment from. So I appreciate that. This is a constant theme in what we're reading here. So I appreciate that.
Myke: This is just between me and you. I have no idea what's happened to the format end of this document. I don't know why the colors have changed all of a sudden, but they have.
Speaker 02: Yep. I almost went to the wrong spot, but now I think we're back on track. Are you good with this? Yeah. It's just reversed. That's all. Yeah.
Myke: I did a thing in Google Sheets where you can add like alternate lines, get different colors, like so it makes it easier to read. Myke did a really good job, by the way. I worked for like an hour on just formatting this document. I manually added a row between every row. Yes. I had to right click add a row for every single thing.
Speaker 02: I was looking at this going, oh boy, how much was this was manual and how much was this? Most of it was manual. Most of it was manual. I could tell.
Myke: The colors have changed. I don't know why. We're just going to have to deal with that. Maybe I can change it. We'll find out in a moment. Where am I? Am I up to Andrew now?
Speaker 02: 126. No, you're on Ray. Oh, yes. 126. See how it messed me up? The colors change, but the tracking is correct.
Myke: Ray Toffoletto says, my Opus 88 fountain pen paired with Akkerman Park Pop Purple. Oh, that's fun to say. Because 88 is the year of my birth and I bought it on my birthday at Akkerman's shop in the Hague. Nice. The place where I got my first fountain pen a long time ago and I was studying in Holland. Number 16.
Speaker 02: Andrew says, my favorite stationary item is a nib, one created by Ralph Reyes, named the epilogue and inspired by the work of Mr. Nagahara at Sailor. It's one of Ralph's earliest creations. It's a three-layered nib that writes an extra fine line when held normally, a wet quintuple broad when held in reverse. This nib has found its home in a coned giraffe, a pen that is capable of keeping up with how much ink this nib guzzles. This nib and other examples of Ralph's creations have inspired people around the world to create and innovate, to experiment with what a nib can do. To use it is exciting, just as exciting as seeing what those who follow in his footsteps dream up. I think I know who this Andrew is.
Myke: Okay, so I'm up to number 128 here, right? Yeah. Correct. John Chow Seymour. Pilot Friction 0.38 millimeter erasable pens. Brad said on the podcast once something like, you wouldn't want to write one of these unless you specifically needed an erasable pen. But that's the thing. I always need to erase. What do the rest of you even do when you make a mistake? Scribble it out? My notes deserve better than to be filled with splotches. These pens have been a godsend, finally allowing me to take the notes the way I always wished I could, clean and color coded. I really appreciate the energy in that. It's good.
Speaker 02: I don't even need erasers on my pencils. That's how much I erase. Kit says, clear, Twisby Eco, what are you doing to me? I fixed the formatting, all right?
Brad: Leave me alone. I've been working on this. All of the colors changed again in front of front of the eyes.
Speaker 02: While I'm reading, the whole thing shifted.
Speaker 02: I still hadn't gotten that cough out of my throat. Kit says, clear Twisby Eco with a super 5 0.5 stub nib because it's the first nice pen I bought. I live in Australia. It's a $50 pen here. Plus, I learned I could swap the nib for another one. So the 05 stub is great. Just enough flair, but not too broad for my needlepoint gel loving self. Also, it's the one I'm about to pick up, pick back up and use because obviously it's a favorite pen I'm using.
Myke: This comes from Hugh. Nice try getting me to say something like a Simpsons joke there. Nice try. I'm smarter than that. A medium Pelican M800 with Pelican India ink, which gives a thick, thick, wet black line. Pity that that ink doesn't seem to be available anymore. Anyone got any better inks for this pen? Hugh goes in. Rule Breakers Club.
Speaker 02: David at Too Many Pelicans might know about that ink. Hi guys. Happy 500, 10 years. My favorite item of stationery is the Noodler's ink Bay State Blue. Being an Aussie, I live in a place populated with dangerous animals, so I really appreciate a dangerous ink. I didn't know where that was going and it went perfectly.
Myke: Mark Hopkins. I love fountain pen since I was a kid, but I didn't truly go down the rabbit hole until I discovered Tomoe River Paper. It was then that I understood each pen's personality and felt my desire to explore ink. There isn't a perfect paper or pen. There is just time and experience and a love of the hobby. But some things make it real and for me, that was Tomoe River Paper.
Speaker 02: Patrick says, the PACU, the pen addict cinematic universe. That's what keeps them going, Myke. The blog, the podcast, Twitch streams, Nock, RIP, Spoke, and the community around it. For me, one of the key things to enjoying a hobby is sharing with other people. And in some way, the PACU is great for that. I appreciate the sentiment. You are now on the list.
Myke: Oh, Brad put you on that list. Yeah. You're nice to him. Nothing. I know.
Speaker 02: I mean, he's like, I consider Patrick like a good friend. Like, I know Patrick. I've met him. You've met him many times at the Atlanta Pen Show. He is also on the not mentioning a product list.
Myke: Showbit says, the Parsons Essential Fountain Pen by Peter Ford, Mr. Pen UK. It was an invaluable tool for me while I wrote my doctoral thesis. Another one. Perfect weight and fit for my hands with dozens of nib grinds at 50 pounds approximately. I wish I was keeping a list of doctors.
Speaker 02: Marte says, After trying other solutions, my Hobonichi A5 cousin has become my favorite. It meets all of my needs, a place to track my schedule, my to-dos, and enough space to write down my thoughts and notes. I need a one journal system. I failed using a multiple notebook system of one for schedule and one for to-do lists and one for journaling. And of course, that paper.
Myke: Adam Turoff says, Needlepoint nibs like the Pilot Custom Heritage 912 PO or any of the great needlepoint nibs that modern nib grinders are making. All in the nib by Damien Alomar, Custom Nib Studio, Gina Solerino, Franklin Christoph, Myke Rumasuyama, Yukio Nagahara, and so forth.
Speaker 02: All the shout outs there, Adam. Thank you. Matthew, Myke's next favorite entrant, Schaefer Sovereign, Imperial Fountain Pen, and Sterling Silver.
Myke: That sounds kind of cool. Bettina. My journals. I started keeping a mostly daily journal in 2006 at the age of 17. I enjoy looking back through old books and remembering the time. For recent journals, I usually remember what was written in which book. This is very useful when looking for receipts or figuring out our last visit to the movies. However, my favorite book is the Some Lines a Day Leuchtturm. Is that a product? Is that what it's called?
Speaker 02: It's called Some Lines a Day. Yes. That is the literal name.
Myke: That's hard to, when you're reading it like that. Yes. I've started for my son one day prior to his birth when my water broke. The first year my husband and I enjoyed making up narratives about our days in the voice of our son. My favorite line was, it's in German. The translation is, so I don't turn into an orange or something, which my husband wrote when we had to take our son outside to avoid newborn jaundice. Now, in the second year of his life in the book, I can read back to the same day one year prior when making an entry and relive past memories. That's super cool. I'm not even sure what category to put Bettina in, honestly.
Speaker 02: Um, a category of awesomeness, Myke. That's the only category Bettina belongs in. I think we're going to let them go then. Chris Peters, my favorite fountain pen is my TWSBI ALR 580 Prussian Blue. Again, with an EF nib, even though I have a Pilot Custom 74, black with gold trim medium nib, I still use my 580 as my daily driver. I just love the ink capacity and how the steel nib is just so darn smooth, it just glides over paper. It's the smoothest writing experience I have and absolutely love it. My runner-up, uh-oh, it's my newly bought Mark I. I'm hoping I can snag a Cortex one. Dang it, Chris. Butt kisser. When they come back in stock, but they are another amazing recommendation I wouldn't have found without you guys. Keep up the awesome work and thank you.
Myke: Chris entered two categories. Chuckle Stuff says, although I have many fountain pens that I love using, the one that means the most to me is my Black Pilot Metropolitan. It was a birthday gift from my daughters that I received just after I started getting into the hobby. I have bought and sold a lot of pens over the past few years, but I will never sell this pen. My daughters didn't understand my love of fountain pens, but they researched the top five lists on the pen addict and bought me a pen that they thought suited me. I don't use it very often, but I love it. It's more than just a pen. Congratulations to the two of you for making it to 500 episodes. Hoping for another 500. Very cool. Very cool.
Speaker 02: Sergio Z, my favorite stationary item as of episode 500 is my binder work metal edge notebook. Why? Why? Yeah. Why? As a critical care physician, the last 24 months have been the most challenging of my life. Since January 2020, I've answered the following three prompts on a daily basis. I will focus on, I will let go of, and I am grateful for. This practice has proven to be most healing and has allowed me to enjoy my fountain pens and inks. The binder work notebook ties it all together. Thanks PA for being a positive vibe for this tired soul every Wednesday. Well, thank you, Sergio Z, for being amazing.
Myke: Josh M says, my favorite stationary item is my Parker 51 teal and metal Luzreloy aromatic with a right italic fine nib. I understood about two of those words.
Speaker 02: It's aerometric. Aerometric? Being a filling system. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Filling system.
Myke: Teal and metal. This is one pen? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay. It is my second fountain pen and the second one I restored. Ah, it's vintage. Yeah. Now I know why I don't understand what any of those words mean.
Speaker 02: We've done this 500 times.
Myke: Look, come on. You know vintage pens I don't mess with. I took two broken 51s from eBay and made one working pen from them. I have no idea how the nib became a bright italic, but I love it that way. It has a mismatched body and has some character. It's a matchy matchy of my favorite ink, Waterloo Mysterious Blue. It inspired me to dive deep into the stationary rabbit hole and I use it every day.
Speaker 02: All right. 19. Geal. Geal.
Speaker 02: Geal says, my Lamy Studio Blue with extra fine nib because it got me into the hobby. It was a leaving present from my colleagues on my last day at my previous job. I also liked writing with my old fountain pen, which is why they gave me one. But this Lamy Studio made me realize what difference a good fountain pen can make. So I took an interest in the fountain pens and the interest turned into a hobby. Congratulations, Brad and Myke with 10 years and 500 episodes. I wish you many more episodes in the years to come. If you wish to win your own Lamy Studio, you can go to penchalet.com, click the radio podcast link on the button, type in the word pen addict, and there's a giveaway for five sets of pens and inks, including your very own Lamy Studio.
Myke: That's incredible. That's some vertical integration there. That wasn't even that. It's just Brad going rogue. Jack Bulkley. It is close, but I would choose my Ryan Crusack legend made from teak that I sent him. The teak was from the deck of the USS North Carolina battleship. Whoa. Son. All right. I'm happy we got a crew sack in here, actually.
Speaker 02: Nice, nice, nice. And big, big thoughts out to Ryan, who's going through some tough back stuff right now. So I hope he gets all squared away here soon and hope to see him on the road before too long. Annabelle Lee Enriquez. My favorite is the Blackwing Volume 155, the one with the Bauhaus design. He used my favorite Blackwing soft lead in the design, but the first time, black eraser clip is perfect. I bought the volume set of red, blue, and yellow gold pencil caps on Marisad, knowing that one day I will use up all the pencils in the box. Well, Annabelle, if you need some more, shoot me an email and I will send you mine.
Myke: This comes from Kelly. My favorite stationary is my blue Pilot Vanishing Point Decimo in brushed blue. Part of what makes it special is the medium nib that Mark Backer stubbed for me. The small amount of line variation makes my handwriting a bit more elegant, even when I scribble scratch. A second part is the knock sound that I can't lose. Oh, it's the second part is the knock sound and I can't lose the cap because there isn't a cap. The third part is the grip is close to the writing surface and just the right size for my small hands. Lastly, the pesky clip placement. Actually, idiot proofs the pen for me as I never have to worry about which side or edge I try to write with. Thanks for all you do. And I'm glad Dana Stevens mentioned you a very long time ago.
Speaker 02: Super, super awesome. Super smart. Joel, my favorite stationary item is the Pilot Custom A23 with the transparent barrel, which is always inked with one of Brad's favorites, Pilot Orochizuku Shinkai. It's a fantastic rider and a level of pen that I never imagined I would own, but I was able to obtain for a reasonable price from a member of the Pen Attic Slack. Using it reminds me of the generosity and kindness of the entire Pen Attic community. A huge thanks to Brad and Myke for bringing us all together.
Myke: I'm going to let this one go. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I agree. That's a correct decision. This is one of the most challenging questions someone could ask. Let's see if you rose to the challenge, Isaac. Here we go. Here we go.
Speaker 02: How many lists will you be on?
Myke: I would say that my favorite stationary item is the blank page. I know that at its face, my response seems very abstract in general, but hear me out. No, Isaac, someone already did this. We have one for paper.
Speaker 02: We have a vote for paper.
Myke: When confronted with a challenging task that you can't solve in your head, you go to the blank page to visualize or record your thoughts. The blank page is used to draft ideas and communicate to others. It can be used to leverage the work of others and can be used to compose a symphony. But why not ink? Why not the pen or pencil? Because the page is used as literally the canvas upon which the most important ideas are presented. It is the backdrop that is mundane in its appearance. It's not the focus, but rather the foundation for thought. Isaac is a big thinker, Brad.
Speaker 02: Isaac right now in my head is standing behind a podium at a high school gymnasium. Here's my TED talk about paper. The red velvet carpet. It's beautiful. I love it. This is great. Keep going.
Myke: It represents opportunity in strife. Imagine the writer struggling to get the first word down or the artist drawing the first line. In my own career, I have faced my nemesis, the blank page. It has forced me to release my thoughts and to make a statement. Every day is wasted when I leave the page blank. Over the past eight years, I never saw myself becoming a writer filling the thousands of blank pages as I have done over the years. I've provided an opportunity to help and inspire others. So I say look to the paper, whiteboard, tablet, or napkin with any marking instrument handy. The blank page is my favorite.
Speaker 02: He might be going on your list, but this is great.
Myke: Oh, without a shadow of a doubt, Brad.
Speaker 02: Every day is wasted when I leave the page blank. I like it.
Myke: Okay.
Blank Page Philosophy[edit]
Speaker 02: I mean, he's on your list, but I like it. Good job, Isaac. All right. B, aka Boots and Barry. My Pilot Vanishing Point fountain pens. I only own two, Stripes and Rod and Stripes model. Stripes was my first golden fountain pen that I got on my birthday while Rod and Stripe carried all the memories when I progressed in my career. And at the same time, I wrote in the memories in my journal before my loved ones passed away.
Myke: Number 20 on the rule breaker list was B. I didn't even think about it, but dang it. Yeah, you're right. And now we are on to response 150 of 278. Michael Dillion says... We're tracking. We're tracking. We're tracking something. As of now, my Estabrook Seaglass, because I can't help to keep looking, but keep looking at it. And I just ordered a custom 74 in teal that could change the order. Notco A5craft dot dash notebooks are my favorite notebooks that I love writing. And luckily, I have a small stash left and Ulster Blue Water Ice is my favorite ink. Michael, you... You're one of the most egregious rule breakers so far.
Speaker 02: And if you're interested in Estabrook Seaglass, go to our friends at PenChalet.com and click... Nice. But no, Estabrook Seaglass specific pen is on the list. Peter says, Twisby Eco in white. I used it, or rather four of them, all white, all fine nibs as my reset pen. I went through a patch about 12 months ago where it felt like any fountain pen I used, regardless of brand, struggled in some way. Either it would skip or wouldn't write normally unreliable paper or inks would look washed out and I'd struggle to read my notes. I was growing frustrated with the hobby as it was becoming a chore to get working tools, let alone exciting ones. So I repurposed my pen budget to invest in four Twisby Ecos in white, white to avoid any self-imposed pressure around ink barrel color matching. Nice. Nice. And inked them up with four favorite inks. There's an asterisk here. Uh-oh. Because of the Twisby Eco's general reliability and simplicity, I had a couple of weeks of stress-free writing where things just worked. It removed the disappointment I was feeling about this hobby and I got back into habits I find helpful. Journaling, thinking on paper, etc. I brought in other pens again over time and I'm back to experimenting and enjoying the variety. But it's nice to know the Twisby Ecos are there if I ever need them again. Twisby Eco had been in my collection previously, but it plays a special role now. Here you go, Myke. Asterisk. Those four inks, if you're curious. Myke was very curious. Oh, I am. PWZ, Blue Black, Pilot Orochizuku, Yuyaki, Diamine Green Black, and Diamine Earl Grey.
Myke: Good range. Number 22. On the list. Again, the live track. We have a lot of live people listening live. They're suggesting that I may have missed someone, but that's just the way it goes. That will account for the one that we disagreed on earlier on, I guess. Okay. So I say we're at 22. I have a protest. That's what I am. My list is the official list. Official list. If you counted 23 out there, well, unfortunately, I'm the list holder.
Speaker 02: So we'll have a re-audit.
Myke: No, I don't know. Michael G. Ellis, the Hipponoto Journal. Just a great book. 500 pages of Tomoe River made well. Various cover colors offered. Bookmark cloths. Writing pad. It's amazing for me.
Speaker 02: All right. Skip says, I have had the privilege of owning some lovely, inexpensive pens from Lamy, Conant, Pilot, and others. They were all great, but at the end of the day, I decided to downsize, simplify, and go with just two pens that represented, at least to me, the essence of a fountain pen. The barrel and the section. The feed, the nib, and let's not forget the ink. The two pens are, for everyday use, the Moonman C1 and, for traveling, the Opus 88 demonstrator. The thing I like about both these pens is they live up to that essence. All of the components are clearly visible. Everything is simple and not overly engineered. Except for the shutoff valve and the Opus to provide some comfort and safety on 24-hour flights and bumpy bus rides and raging heat, simplicity prevails. My daily pen, the Moonman C1, is as simple as it gets, but it looks great, works flawlessly, and represents the basic elements of a fountain pen. It is beyond simple to clean and care for and is also priced in a way that it's affordable. I understand, by the way, there's been some controversy, Myke, about the design of the C1. Controversy?
Speaker 02: Is it plagiarized? While I respect IP rights, in this case, perhaps there is not clarity as to where or within the whom, or where or with whom the design originated. Finally, now that my FOMO has ended and I have landed on two pens, I spent more.
Myke: Is this the Kaweco issue?
Speaker 02: Uh, yes and no. It's all kind of lumped into one overhanging Moonman issue.
Myke: Okay.
Speaker 02: Finally, now that my FOMO has ended, I have landed on two pens, I spent a lot more time truly enjoying podcasts like yours and all the wonderful stationary-related blogs without the pressure of wondering what my next purchase might be. I now enjoy every pen you discuss vicariously and happily.
Myke: Susanna. I scribbled my way through a Yamamoto Cosmic Air notebook in January of a Prussian blue 2B580 ALR inked with rubber-oaster soda pop blue. And yes, it was heavenly. Now, Susanna. Okay. Susanna. Like, look. Come on. This is a great reply. It is, Susanna. But look, Brad. Look. There's three things there. And what I'm not clear about from Susanna's answer is if these are Susanna's favorite things ever or if it's just favorite things of January.
Speaker 02: I mean, I feel like they're the favorite things ever. I mean, Prussian Twisby Blue is like a repeat offender in this list for all the good reasons. Great pen. Like, it's got to be the greatest.
Myke: All of this stuff sounds awesome, but there's three things there, you know? So I don't know what you want from me.
Speaker 02: All right. I'm going to read this next one. It says, Karen, I'm a nice one, I promise. I feel so sad for people with the name Karen, you know? We love you, Karen. We love you, Karen. Congratulations on your 500th show and thanks for all the work you do. I was given a silver-metaled bodied paper-made pen the Christmas before I started my last two years of high school. It was the first pen I purchased refills for, so I was able to make it exactly what I wanted. I used it for every class, every assignment, every essay, and every test. I would joke with my mom that it was the pen that knew everything because it literally had done all of my learning with me. I used it for high school graduation tests and then took it with me when I became an exchange student in Japan. That's cool. I continued to use it to write letters home and took it with me when I climbed Mount Fuji.
Myke: Whoa!
Speaker 02: There's a shop at the top and I got my trusty pen out to write on a postcard I'd purchased and somehow left it there. At first, I was devastated because I couldn't exactly pop back up and get it, but then I realized that if I was going to lose an amazing pen, that was a fitting place to lose it. Yeah. That pen started me on my love of stationery and I still remember it with much fondness some 32 years later. That's cool.
Myke: Yeah, if you just left it in the hotel room, you wouldn't remember it this way. Yeah. You know? Honestly, that might have been the best result for that pen is for it to be left in this great way. Carl Goranowski. Pilot multi-pen body, the Hitec C Kalito. I love to have many colors on hand at one time. I am always excited to use them. Cheap enough that I can lose them. Useful enough that I will leave other pens at home and use just this one.
Speaker 02: That's cool. All right. Yeah. Chris Orff. My favorite stationery item is my custom-made Rango fountain pen. It is short and fat and made with three different colors of sensuous ebonite. It has a delightful steel Yovo 0.5 millimeter cursive italic nib custom ground by nib magician Mark Bacchus.
Myke: I love that Mark shout out.
Speaker 02: Mm-hmm. It's my daily driver and I love it more each day for every additional scratch, stain, and increment of wear polish.
Myke: This comes from Zach. Oh, man. Now, Zach, come on. Straight on the list. Let's see where we're going to go. I'm going to bend the rule and tell my favorite functional pen and... My favorite sentimental pen. My favorite functional pen is the Sailor Pro Gear Azure, the medium nib. It feels so good in my hand and writes perfectly to my taste. My favorite sentimental pen is a recent pen that my spouse gave me. It's a wooden ballpoint with my name on it that was given on our ninth wedding anniversary. When I rotate my fountain pen out, the wooden pen is always with me. Very nice, Zach, but you're going on the list. So that's up to, by my count, 25. Here's the thing, Brad, that I just saw... No sentimentality at all. When I read this, I imagine there are a number of listeners who know what's coming for them now, which I enjoy.
Speaker 02: I had this thought. I was like, oh, there are people that are like, oh, no. There's a bunch of oh-nos out there right now. Still like a little over 100 oh-nos coming. This is fun. This is why we did this. All right, Mark Montgomery, a Pentel P207 with Pentel P205 guts and the clip slid almost halfway down the barrel. Let me explain.
Myke: Wow, Mark.
Speaker 02: Wow. My dad passed away six months ago. We could not have been more different. He was a hunter and I'm vegetarian. He was a structural engineer and I can't do math, which is why I'm an environmental lawyer. He wore a bright green Carhartt pocket tee and relaxed fit L.L. Bean jeans every day and I wear all black and skinny jeans. We voted differently. But one thing we shared was our love of stationery and my love for pens and pencils and paper came from using his engineering tools as a child. He carried the blue bodied P207, yes, in his shallow pocketed t-shirt every day, which is why he had to slide the clip down the barrel so the tip wouldn't poke through the bottom. I used to carry my black barreled P205 every day in the pocket of my black flannel, oh, in the pocket of my black flannel, ample room, clip in normal place. When he died, my two brothers and I each took one of his pencils from his drawing board. My handwriting is exactly like my dad's block architect style, but mine is much smaller, even smaller than yours, Brad. Luckily, the internal mechanism of the Pentel sharps are interchangeable, facts, to accommodate my smaller writing style. So now I carry a blue barrel P205 for every day for my love of stationery and my dad. Thanks for 500. Here's to 9,500 more. Wow, we're going to 10,000.
Myke: I like the story a lot from Mark. Good stuff, Mark. That's cool. That's really nice. All right. So Jeff M says, My red pilot vanishing point of broad architect nib grind from Custom Nib Studio. My fiance got it for me for my 30th birthday and I loved it. The metal kathunk, the weight, the sense of purpose when deploying it like a tool that can do some literary damage. I let her borrow it and she carried it, clipped to her jeans, pocket tip up. Then she sat down, partially knocked it while sitting down and smooshed the nib. She was more devastated than me after sending it to Gina for a repair and re-grind. I used that vanishing point, appreciating my fiance and how her enthusiasm in trying to get into fountain pens pushed me further in with nib grinds. It's in my top three permanent keepers. Great story.
Speaker 02: That's awesome. Awesome. Dina says, Monteverde one touch tool pen. As an engineer, this pen has been an absolute gem. That's a good all arounder. Fiddle twist.
Myke: Is it cheating to say that my current favorite stationary item is, quote, maker pens? I have fallen into the rabbit hole of independent makers on Instagram and I don't want to get out. It's a long way from a 1970s Schaefer No Nonsense, my first fountain pen, but I'm fascinated by what they're doing and I want to say one of each, please. It is not wrong to say that. It is wrong for this, so you are going into the people who suggested no products list there, Fiddle Twist, but I strongly encourage that you get one of those maker pens because they're great. I love maker pens.
Speaker 02: Yes. Luke says, I never owned it, but there was a red quill pen for sale at the museum when I was a kid. It wasn't very good quality or anything, but I saw it and wanted it so badly. Eventually, years later, I saw a nice pen in the store and I bought it because of that memory. That's why I'm a pen fan now.
Myke: I don't know about this one.
Myke: I'm going to let it go, I think.
Speaker 02: All right. All right. You're the arbiter. I do have one protest lodged, but you are the arbiter of the list, so I will let your decision stand in this case.
Myke: Larry Kirby. Nakaya Long Cigar in Kuro Tamanuri with a soft, fine nib. Feels great in the hand. Looks amazing. And the nib sings and fits my handwriting perfectly.
Speaker 02: I never say nibs sing as much as I do with Nakaya's. They just sing.
Speaker 02: Stefano El Hombre. My blue and white Pilot Cocuna. It's my first fountain pen and I still use it all the time. It's pretty. It's easy to clean. And even after I switch from cartridges to bottled ink, it's served me very well. I wish Pilot would make more colors of it though. And I also think it'd be nice if I could buy standalone nibs with a smiley face. Yeah, right. But I only want those things because I love it so much. I wish they would do that.
Myke: You would use that on more of their nibs. Yep. A little smiley face. So cute. Paul Atreides says, Atreides, my favorite stationary item is my finger in the sand. Get out of town, Paul. I'm starting again. This is a paper. This is a paper list. I always have it with me. You don't always have sand with you though, do you? And in the rough world of Canly, it's really nice to be able to erase a message instantly of my foot. Is Canly a place? Maybe. Okay. I'm not familiar. You have to be careful not to be eaten by a sandworm while you write though, so it's best to be concise. Is this some kind of like, is this a reference? Is this Dune?
Speaker 02: Oh, maybe.
Myke: You see, Paul got through this one because I would have taken this out. Paul, you're going in the...
Speaker 02: Well, just wait. I get another easy one and then you get to lean into the next one. Yeah, no, I left this one in purposely though. Okay. So let me read from Mickey Gottlieb.
Myke: Can I just say, Brad, just before you start, if you're a Dune fan and you're like opening Twitter right now and be like, look, we don't all like what you like, all right? I'm not interested. Leave me alone.
Speaker 02: Is this Dune? Mickey Gottlieb, the Mont Blanc Starwalker fountain pen writes wonderfully and most importantly, a birthday present for my wife of 53 years. Wow. That's awesome. Congratulations. All right. All right, Myke.
Myke: This one comes in from Quill Idyllic.
Speaker 02: This is titled favorite stationery. This is my good friend, my good friend, Nicholas. He also emailed me this.
Myke: My favorite bits of stationery change each day and there are many. Pencils, paper, ink, pen cases, fountain pens from far off places, bottles, stands, and colors pleasant, aluminum and resin. Now you say, one must I choose, then fountain pens will be my muse. I love the flow and flex and feel that makes each word I write so real. With celluloid surroundings then, I have much more than just a pen. The look, the depth, touch the smell, because the sense I know so well. 500 times, 500 reasons, pen addiction through the seasons. All stationery is sublime, in medium, in bold, and fine. What is that? It's very good. You take number 11 on the people who suggested no products list, but you did create a poem, so I appreciate that.
Speaker 02: All right. Let's see. Okay. 169. Yeah, I know. My spreadsheet is jumping. Okay. It's hard because of the, I know, it's so much bigger than the rest of them. And it's written, that was written in like a poetry format. Yeah. So it's a very long post. My favorite item, sorry, this is from Josh. My favorite item is my Schaefer Snorkel Statesman. That is really difficult to say. In pastel blue, with a fine PDAG, I don't know what that means, Myke, Triumph nib. So it doesn't feel so bad.
Speaker 02: Palladium agronomist Triumph nib is what I'm going to go with. I don't usually like vintage pens, but if my house burned down, I'd save this pen first. It's special to me because of the engineering behind it and the journey I took to acquire it. It's elegant, timeless, comfortable, and reliable. And it makes my handwriting look amazing. It took me over a year to hunt down the exact model I wanted, but I found it down to the ratio of the metals and the nib. And new old stock to boot. It's a pen that, for my use case, has no flaws. Really nice.
Myke: AG is silver, so it is good.
Speaker 02: Okay, what's PD?
Myke: Palladium. I don't know, I made that up. You said it. Adam P says, first, congrats on 10 years and 500 episodes. I'm an avid pencil user, both classic wood and mechanical. When it comes to wood pencils, there is nothing better than a black wing pearl for me. This was the first high-end pencil I bought, and to this day, always have at least one within reach. The smoothness of the pencil and paper makes writing fun, and I love the smells that sharpen them. Uh-oh, if I'm not using a black wing, I will always have a Musgrave Tennessee Red in my hand. I have never come across a better smelling pencil, and I find them to be a joy to use. With both of these pencils, whenever I give them to someone to use, I very rarely get them back. Last, because I did say I use mechanical pencils as well, the Rotaring 600 in 5mm. I always have a few on my desk of different LEDs ready to go. A Rotaring 600 with 4B LED is a perfect combo. Drafting pencils have a special place in my heart. My father was a draftsman, and they were the only pencils I was allowed to use growing up. If you guys ever want to talk mechanical pencils or LED holders, let me know. Congratulations, I'm looking forward to what's next. Nice. What's next? Is it you go on the rule break?
Speaker 02: Next is the owl and the octopus. It would have to be a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook. I hate to name drop a company. That's literally what this show is about. That's all we do. But I find myself always carrying one of their pocket notebook sketchbooks. And my commonplace book and planner is their new 120G notebook, which goes with me and my backpack. I don't mind using any marking making tool to draw and write with. But for me, I need a book with decent paper to handle almost all the tools and me setting a beer or coffee on top of it. These books seem to withstand my abuse. That's why I recommend them so much. They handle all the things and are good for beer or coffee coasters.
Myke: Sam says, Hiroshizuku Konpeki. It's so pretty, but I can still use it for serious business and no one bats an eye. One of my favorite inks for that reason.
Speaker 02: Penchalet.com. Enter the pen addict. There is a Konpeki entry in there as well. Oh, in the giveaway? It's with one of the pens. I forget which pen. Maybe the Lamy Studio I put it with? I can't remember. Tom Keekly says, my favorite is a now vintage Auto Point Twin Point mechanical pencil. It was on my dad's desk his whole life and I keep it on mine. Those are cool classic pencils. Love it.
Myke: My next comes from John M. I bought an oversized Gray Pearl Schaefer Balance from the person who got me into vintage fountain pens. I had just bought my first Lamy Safari when I found out that there was a vintage restorer in my small college town. We met up at a bar and he showed me a bunch of vintage pens. I walked away with an ever sharp skyline that day, but I was fascinated by the much more expensive balance. After I published my first academic article, I bought the balance from him. It has an aftermarket clip that I guess makes it more of a user, but that's what's so special about it. It's a pen for writing, a tool. My friend was a writer as well. When I bought the pen, he told me to write something good of it. He has since passed away and the pen is a reminder of a good friend who was eager to share his knowledge with someone new to the hobby.
Speaker 02: All right. Ellis says, I was very excited to learn that Philofax has a notebook which lies flat and allows additional pages with an elastic divider. Very nice, Ellis. Very efficient.
Myke: A different Colin. Well, I didn't say this. This is what this person says. The Pilot Plumix or Metro Stub so I can write fancy. It has nice line variation while still fairly fine, which is a rare combination. Also, learning to make historical inks like Iron Gaul is a fun project.
Speaker 02: Mega underrated nibs. Pilot Plumix or Metro Stub.
Myke: 15, 20. 27.
Speaker 02: Dreidel. Red Montegrappa. Monte. Grappa. Fine nib with Robert Oster Tranquility Ink. Great pen. Better pen name. And you're on the list, apparently.
Myke: I don't know. I've let some of the ink ones go. The combos? I'm going to let that one go. All right. Good. You've been letting those go. Good for you. Some of the inks I let go. It kind of depends how the person introduces it.
Speaker 02: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know? It's the pen and it happens to have this ink.
Myke: Yeah.
Speaker 02: Okay. This is not me, by the way. This is from Brad. I could answer this.
Myke: Pento Energel 0.5 and 0.7 because it's the perfect pen for lefties who don't want ink all over their hand when trying to write. I'm also going to let this one go. Yeah. Totally. And we are now on the final stretch. We have 100 more to go. All right. We've done 178. So it's time for a break. We can do this. It's time for a break. Well, we're going to do it. I don't know how long it's going to take.
Speaker 02: I'm just pumping myself up. Pumping myself up.
Myke: All right. This episode is brought to you by Harry's. 2022 is the year to break up with old routines. If your old razor isn't giving you the shave you deserve, break things off and switch to Harry's. Brad, why should people switch to Harry's razors?
Speaker 02: Because they have the best blades ever. Yeah. I need to order some new blades. Not because I go through them quickly, mind you. It's because I use that. They last so long. I actually forget that I need to order because I never think I have to order blades because they just last that long and give such a great shave. And they are just absolutely perfect. The best thing that I've ever done for myself in a long time.
Myke: Look at that. New customers can redeem a Harry's trial set for just $3 when you go to harrys.com slash pen addict. Harry's delivers a close, comfortable shave at a fair price. Still as low as just $2 per blade, Brad. So when you do need to refill, it's not going to be expensive for you. Harry's blades are designed to stay sharper longer. In a recent study, people who shaved four times a week said their eighth shave was as smooth as their first. Harry's is giving their best offer to listeners to this show. New Harry's customers can redeem a starter set. You get a five blade razor, a weighted handle, foaming shave gel with aloe, and a travel cover to protect your blades when you're on the go. That is a $13 value for just $3. There's truly never been a better time to try Harry's. So go to harrys.com slash pen addict to try Harry's today. Our thanks to Harry's for the support of this show and RelayFM.
Speaker 02: Next one, Myke, you know this guy. Jonathan Brooks says, my favorite station would have to be my stacks of used rhodia pads from previous pen shows. Every customer or even potential customer will use one of my pens to test while at my table during a show. Most of the time, it's a signature or ABCs, but there are also personal notes left to me by my pen friends, almost like a yearbook at the end of the school year because we may not see each other till next year's show. It's heartwarming to flip through these pages and see thoughtful words that were left for me, whether it's something about me or my work. I treasure each and every one of them. That's one of my favorites. Note to self, write dirty things on Jonathan's book the next time I see him. Gonna do that next time.
Myke: That's one of my favorites. I love that. I really love that. And Jonathan's a great friend of the show. By the way, if you were to ask me what my favorite is, I was thinking about this earlier.
Speaker 02: Don't answer. We're going to do a segment on our own next episode.
Brad: Ah, look at you.
Speaker 02: Missed the content over here. Well, we have been asked. Well, if you're making us do this, what is yours? How are you going to answer it? And we're going to see how many lists you're going to be on, Michael Hurley.
Speaker 02: That's right. I called you out.
Myke: Well, I know how to do this.
Speaker 02: Mm-hmm.
Myke: 180.
Myke: Comes from Tom. My not code to Lula from the 2018 Kickstarter. It might not be as exciting as a fancy fountain pen, but no matter what pens or pencils I'm using at the time, it's their home and comes with me on my travels along with a little stock of business cards and a 15-centimeter ruler. It's the perfect companion in my work bag.
Speaker 02: Great colorway, that one. Mm-hmm. Derek Bolton says, traveler's notebook. It's flexibility and setup and use. That is a legit great answer because it is a very small answer, but a very broad application. Love it.
Myke: Sherry says, tough question, but when I pull out my Nanami writer's notebook and it falls open to a new page, it ticks all the boxes. Mm-hmm. The creamy Tomoe River paper invites me to scan my fountain pens and consider my ink options, knowing each combination is going to look and feel great when I start writing. The feel of the pen, the character of each nib, and the sheen, shading, and color of inks. A session with my writer's notebook incorporates a lot of the good stuff in stationery, and the anticipation is as good as the experience. Ah, really good. Really good.
Speaker 02: Toasty Treat says, my Sailor Cross Concord. It was an anniversary gift from my husband and has been customized with Rodan and Arushi from Bukamundo. So not only does it write beautifully, but it's also gorgeous and has a ton of sentimental value. And I personally drool every time Toasty Treat brings it out on stream. And I have to see this pen. It is glorious.
Myke: Jesse, my favorite pen is the orange Pilot Custom Heritage 91 that my mother perched for me at the Ginza location of the Itoyo Stationery Store in Tokyo during a visit to Japan for my brother's wedding. Great pen and water store. Mm, jealous. One day, right? One day.
Speaker 02: One day. Martin Christensen says, Diamine Ancient Copper. It's one of my first bottles of inks that's not blue or black. And I bought it just to get free shipping. There's a lot of wonderful ink out there, but this one speaks to me because it almost seems to glow on the page like smoldering embers. Unrelated, am I the only one who can't read the name Pen Addict without immediately making the jump to Pen Addict Cumberbatch? Pen Addict. Pen Addict. Pen Addict Cumberbatch.
Myke: Pen Addict Cumberbatch. Deborah, my Narwhal Fountain Pen. My brother gifted it to me and I absolutely love it. Nice, nice.
Speaker 02: Philip, at Pens in Gaming. Here's a shocking answer if you know Philip. Coned Bulk Filler. This is my perfect pen for me and I could barely do better than if I was designing a pen myself. I love the design aesthetic with its flat ends, large shape, and modern look. I have a Delrin one and a demonstrator and love both. Another thing I love is these two pen bodies. With these two pen bodies, I can switch in all kinds of nibs. I've used Sailor King of Pen nibs, Mont Blanc 149 nibs, and many more. This allows these two pens to never feel old to me.
Myke: Yeah, okay, you ruined it at the end. I didn't notice that there was a second pen going in there. You could have gone away with that, Philip.
Speaker 02: It's the singular coned bulk filler shape in two separate materials.
Myke: Uh-huh. Wow, you said two pens. I don't know what, you know, you basically snitched on yourself. Richard says, Mont Blanc Meisterstruck Platinum Coated Fountain Pen 149 Medium nib. It was a 10-year anniversary gift from my wife. Whenever I use it, I feel like the pen wants me to be doing something profound, like signing the Declaration of Independence, or at least making my journaling that little bit more meaningful. It makes me want to set higher goals. Nice.
Speaker 02: Brandon Newell, Namisu Nova Titanium with an Anderson Pens Yovo EF nib in the Bach housing. Both can take a beating if I damage the nib. Easily replaceable. Diamine Blood Orange, good for editing. Making notes, dark enough to sign documents. P.S. When are the pen addict Yovo EF nibs coming? So that's pretty funny. I should look into that.
Myke: Goes on the list.
Brad: No. Yes. No. Yeah, I decided this one goes on the list. Protests. That's my second protest.
Myke: Because it's not with.
Myke: It's just like an extra, right? The way it's written. I don't know. I think it's with. Look, I don't make the rules. Devin says, I'm enjoying my Cortex Subtle notebook and my Retro 51 Leap pen along with a tactile turned zirconium glider. Now look, obviously, Devin goes in my favorites list. Yeah, go ahead. But also goes in the Rule Breaker list. Okay.
Speaker 02: That's fair.
Myke: Go up to 30 now. Joe says, hi, guys.
Speaker 02: Happy 500th. I really enjoy your podcast. The pen that got me into collecting was the Parker Dual Fold Centennial Big Red. It's 100 years old and still kicking. In addition to writing beautifully, it has an incredible history, much of which can be easily found on the web. For example, the original Dual Fold was advertised as non-breakable as evidenced by it surviving a 3,000 foot fall from an airplane. The Dual Fold was endorsed by none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. According to the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, Doyle wrote several of the latter Holmes stories with it. What more could you want from a pen, Myke? Congratulations, Joe.
Myke: This comes from Tony Gerhart. I have a custom-made fountain pen from Chesapeake Pen Co. I have been a Maker's Mark Bourbon ambassador since 2009. I have bottles of bourbon with my name on them, and they've made several pilgrimages to Kentucky with only the intent to spend the day at the distillery. One day, scrolling through Instagram, I saw a wood pen with the distinct red wax color of my beloved bourbon brand. I read the caption and found out that not only is the color an exact match on purpose, but the wood is reclaimed from the barrels used during the aging process. Oh man, how cool to find that, right? Like, just randomly? I immediately messaged Chesapeake Pen Co. and expressed my deepest desire to add one to my collection. It took a while, but after all the materials were gathered, the pen shape and nib size were determined my pen was created. I would have been ecstatic of a color-matched pen, but I was blown away by the quality, attention to detail, and personal care that was taken. My ambassador number was engraved on the pen, super cool. And I also received an additional piece of engraved bow with my name and ambassador number on it for my desk. And finally, in the exquisite packaging was a heartfelt and personal letter. All of this elevated this from just another pen purchase to an experience that defines my love for this pen, this community, and my collection. Love that story. Love that story.
Speaker 02: All right, OSU Aaron, you surprised me with this one. The Estabrook Estee Oversized Rocky Top Fountain Pen holds the title of my favorite pen. This was the first diamond cast resin pen I owned, and as an Oklahoma State University grad, the orange and white with a little gray shimmery colorway is perfect for me. I had the amazing writing experience of the journaler nib and the wonderfully comfortable size, and this pen becomes more dear to me than pens I own that are three times the price, which he means specifically Aurora, which I thought he was certainly list because he's an Aurora super fan. That's very cool.
Myke: Look at pens, Estes. Mm-hmm. Eugenuity says, Waterman Charleston Fountain Pen gave me a reason to keep writing my PhD thesis. I feel so stupid on today's episode.
Brad: What have you done in your life? Oh, spoke for three hours reading a list?
Speaker 02: I'm a doctor of penology. Greg says, I'm stuck. I can't pick a favorite. Let's hope you do, Greg. However, I can mention my favorite pen today. It's a Burgundy Mont Blanc 22 with a factory OBB nib. I got into this hobby in 1999, and a few years later as an administrator from Pen State who became my, as an administrator from Pen State who became my pen sensei. The main lesson was, it's the nib. Everything else is secondary. This pen's nib is a writer's dream.
Myke: Patrick C says, it has to be my Sailor Pro Gear Slim Fountain Pen Negroni Limited Edition with an extra fine nib. I heard you both talking about it on the show. I'm denied about getting it, but didn't, as I was a skint PhD student at the time. Yeah, let's go. Let's go. Myke, I said my own name. My wonderful now fiance bought it for me as an engagement gift that I take with me everywhere in my William Hannah pocket notebook. A cheeky second item. Oh, Patrick.
Brad: I was going to let you go, Patrick, but you put it in there.
Myke: That cheekiness will cost you. Her favorite cocktail is a Negroni, so it really hits a special spot for me. Thank you. Kansu. Jensu? Is that? Jensu. Okay, cool.
Speaker 02: Jan Blatchford. Paste. Paste or yawn. My platinum 3770 Bourgogne with a medium nib. It was the fourth pen I got after reading about it on the pen addict. I have periods of using other pens, but always go back to this one as it's the old reliable for me. I used Diamine Burgundy Royal in it to match the color of the pen, which also has become one of my favorite colors to write with.
Myke: You see now, you threw that part in there. You wouldn't have said that. You would have got away with it. No. You've let some of these go. No. I know I do, but not always. Isn't this one? Let this one go. Because you see, look, it's like, I don't just, oh, and I use this ink in it. I use this ink in it, which is my favorite ink. You see, you couldn't just have one, you know? Jacob says, the Lamy Vista. It's my gateway. It was my gateway into this wonderful fountain pen hobby. Do a whole episode on the Vista.
Speaker 02: Hilda says, a vintage pencil. Sorry, I know it's a pen podcast because it has history and I'm saving it from the landfill.
Myke: Perfect. Phil A says, a Pilot 74 with soft, fine nib that I received recently. No regrets in buying my first Japanese gold nib fountain pen after about seven years on and off of penabling. Wow, you're awesome, sir.
Speaker 02: Great. Good choice. Good choice. Andrew S. Guess what, Myke? The Twisby Diamond 580 ALR Prussian Blue with a 1.1 millimeter stub nib.
Myke: As many Prussian blues as PhD students.
Speaker 02: This pen is close to my favorite color. I love the large ink capacity. It shows off my Pilot Orochizuku Siuro ink. The writing experience is both exquisite and fun. Often I find myself making loops and doodles in my notebooks just for the comfort and joy. Okay.
Myke: Bridget, if I had to pick just one item, that was the rule, so it would be the Pilot Precise V5 RT. The cap version was one of the first pens I truly fell in love with, but the retractable version is just about perfect for me. I love the needle point, the click, the design, and especially the liquid ink. It's a great pen. It is. I've been trying to find a fountain pen equivalent of that shade of blue for ages. It's just one of those pens I always want to have around. Thank you for doing this. Congratulations to Brad and Myke on 500 episodes. Thank you, Bridget.
Speaker 02: Yep. I have a fresh pack of those laying around the house right now. Chris says, I've been using fountain pens since I was in high school. I was inspired by my father, who maintained a goals and dreams journal and was a fan of S.T. DuPont and Montblanc back in the 60s. His handwriting was stunning, and the habits of writing has been a constant presence in my life. For me, I found myself enamored with the now defunct Omos and recently Aurora. While I love all the pens in my small collection, if I had to pick a favorite, as Myke would say, that is the rule, it would have to be the Omos Grand Paragon in Arco Bronze. This pen fits my hand like a fine bespoke suit, cool to the touch, weighted but not too fatigued, in a Masayama tune fine point that sings and glides over the page. A pen that never fails to bring a smile to my face and found thoughts of my father, many years gone now. Yes, in the business world, eyebrows do get raised when colleagues see my writing with a fountain pen, yet many appreciate the fancy handwriting that flows on the page. Sometimes it stops people in their tracks. Recently, I was at the bank cashing a check, written in that copperplate-like style, and the 20-something-year-old teller to the check and froze, mesmerized by it. Well, all of it. Wow, nice handwriting. Wow, indeed.
Myke: Eric McGee says, My favorite stationary item is my Galen leather zippered A5 folio. My wife got it for me last year for our third anniversary to replace my NotCo seed. How do you feel about that, Brad?
Speaker 02: Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, listen. No, the next part, they wore it out, Myke.
Myke: I'm glad someone wore it out. It was starting to get a little worn. I take a notebook with me everywhere, and I use it as a combination of bullet journal, commonplace book, and planner, so this was the perfect gift. Unfortunately, the pandemic has had me mostly working from home, so it hasn't developed much of a patina yet. I prefer to fill it with Clairefontaine Basic, my essential A5 notebook in dot grid. Man, some of these notebook names. And my two most used pens at a time, currently a Platinum 3776 with Platinum Blue Black Ink, and a Twisby Draco with Robert Oster Astorqueezer Rot. Wow, man, Robert.
Speaker 02: Great ink, rough name. Awesome. What is that? It's great. Astorqueezer Rot.
Myke: For the record, I got her a custom-made leather pouch with a handwritten letter printed onto the interior. Oh, that's classy. I'm not sure how we will top each other this year. I discovered this podcast about the time we started dating, and I sometimes share episodes with her. This will be one of them, so I'm hoping you'll read this out, and I just wanted to say thank you, Hannah, for supporting my stationary obsession, and congratulations to Myke and Brad on 500 episodes. Here's to 500 more. Hannah, I've got to let you know that your husband, Eric, is a rule breaker and goes on the list.
Speaker 02: What's the difference from filling a pen with an ink than filling a pen case with all the products?
Myke: Brad, we've got in here Gale and Leather, then we've got Clairefontaine A5, and then Platinum 3776 with Blue Black Ink, Twisby. There's like 12 products in this. They're the ink in the fountain pen. Not into it.
Speaker 02: Miles Knapp says, Miles, you're Myke's friend. Miles says, Waterman Edson fountain pen, beautiful translucence, and a wonderful unique nib. Uh-oh. There's an also, Myke. Ah, you see? Also, I ruined it. I didn't read all the way down. Also, NotCo 3x5 cards.
Brad: Number 34.
Myke: Luke says, My favorite stationary item would probably be my Purple with Flames Spoke Roadie, which was my first expensive stationary purchase, and since then, I've become obsessed. Listening to the shows made me spend the most money more than any other podcast.
Speaker 02: Yeah, I don't even have one of those. Those are cool. Justin C., my 1952 Schaefer Sentinel Snorkel. What is it? Was Schaefer in the snorkel and the alliterations here. This was the first year they made these, and you can tell by the color of the snorkel because it's the only year the snorkel was made of gold and gold-colored. I'm pretty much all modern fountain pens these days and have been for years, but this pen got me into fountain pens in a way I just never could have without it. I'm from Iowa, so I love that there's Fort Madison, Iowa, USA imprint on the barrel. I love the unique 14K nib that wraps around the entire end of the pen tip. I love that it writes impossibly smooth and fine and works without a hitch, even with a record number of separate parts inside to make the snorkel filling system extend and retract and fill the internal bladder. It's almost always inked with Pilot Blue Black or something similarly troublefully free and standard issue.
Myke: I'll let it go. I don't know why. It's just a feeling I get from them, you know? Sometimes it feels like people are just giving information. Sometimes it feels like people are trying to sneak a second product in there, you know? And I feel like Justin is just in fun. KD Mari says, my Twisby Eco EF in plain old white. I learned about the pen through the podcast, researched it on fantastic community YouTube channels, and ultimately found a retailer in Canada to buy it from. Shout out to Wonder Pens. Shout out to Wonder Pens. This has been my most used pen in a growing collection and has been inked with Sailor Gentle Blue since the day it arrived in 2017. Every other pen I own gets compared to this one. Congratulations, Brad or Myke, on 10 years, 500 episodes, and for helping the community spend millions
Brad: on stationery. That's not something I want to think about.
Speaker 02: Big Twisby Eco love today. Nancy J, I'm addicted to the Nemecine paper. It's fountain pen and budget friendly. I can even use Noodler's base day blue and it doesn't bleed through. It's one of the all-time greats.
Myke: Nofar says, Moleskine notebooks. They were the catalyst for the whole stationary blog community with Moleskineery. They don't have the best paper, although they do have the best designs. But after trying many other notebooks with better paper, I discovered there's something about them that makes me want to write in them more. And it isn't the best notebook and isn't the best notebook the one that you want to use. Yes. And I like that. And I think that there's a place here in the annals of this episode.
Speaker 02: Yeah. And Nofar is a renowned Moleskine superfan and I hope you're doing well, Nofar, and I think about you all the time. All right, next up, Hambala. I went back and forth for a long time trying to find a favorite. I don't really have favorites, but I'll mention one of the things that I keep coming back to that I use every day and if I leave it out of my bag for a day to try something else, I'll always pick it back up in the evening to use it again tomorrow. It's a Sinclair from Nock. Hey, cool. Hey, it could have been any case probably. I've just gotten used to, whoa, hey, settle, whoa. Whoa. Sell that, sell that.
Myke: There's a one-two punch there, you know. wow.
Speaker 02: Sheesh,
Myke: I love my Sinclair. Well, honestly, whatever,
Speaker 02: I don't care. It could have been any case probably. I've just gotten used to pulling five or six fountain pens in there along with a couple of markers, a ruler I never use and some sheets of stickers. It's like bringing a little piece of my home desk to the office. I have a few. Okay, you came correct there. I have a few because I liked it so much I wanted to have a bit of variation, but the one I really use is the black wax canvas with the red interior that a kind slacker helped me pick up and mail across the Atlantic. Very cool.
Myke: Where am I? 212. 212. Oh, I put my cursor in the wrong place. 212 comes from Myke. Any Parker fountain pen. There's something I can't.
Speaker 02: Any Parker, Parker Flyter. Flyter, sorry.
Myke: Any Parker Flyter fountain pen. There's something I can't put my inky finger on about the subtlety of the design.
Speaker 02: I think those, if I'm, the chat will correct me if I'm wrong, I think those have an integrated nib on the front end, if I'm not mistaken. I could be wrong though. So they're very cool looking. All right, Chris L. Pilot Custom Cade? I don't know, I don't know what that is or if it got, if it got, if it got, uh, spell checked. It was my first gold nib pen into the hobby. A friend reintroduced me to fountain pens, which I've used back in my,
Myke: The Cade maple fountain pen. It's wood. Oh, okay, cool. I've never seen that. It's a wood version of the custom.
Speaker 02: Nice. Okay, cool. Friend reintroduced me to fountain pens, which I've used back in my elementary days. I believe my very first one would have been a knockoff Parker. The Pilot Custom Cade was a little bit, a little bittersweet memory as I was on my way to migrate out of the country and I only had three or four months worth of shared excitement with my good friend into the world of fountain pens. We often caught up and talk about all things pen and life during that duration, which would stick to me as solid memories. The pen now serves as a fond memory every time I uncap the pen and the smoothness just adds on to the experience being made out of maple wood. With each change in season, the appearance change takes on a deeper color. It makes me happy knowing that next time we meet up, the pen will always look more beautiful than the day we last saw it together. Congratulations to the team on 500 wonderful episodes. Keep the good vibes going and we'll be rooting for the fountain pen addict team. All right, I'm writing Pilot Custom Cade down. I need to see this.
Myke: Now, Alan says, my Hobonichi. I currently use a cousin Avec primarily for journaling and tracking my day. I tried a number of different Hobonichi formats, but I have been using some kind of Hobonichi for the past several years. I had never journaled before discovering these, but now I do every day, which allows me to reflect on my experiences and to use multiple fountain pens and inks, which brings me joy.
Speaker 02: All right, Pessy's going to cost me some money here. Montblanc Heritage 1912 fountain pen. I am not a Montblanc fan. I've owned a 149, but didn't like it. The 1912, though, is truly special. And no, I'm not even talking about the amazing mechanics of the safety piston combination, although that alone sets it apart from nearly everything else on the market. No, the best feature of this pen is its nib. It's small and unassuming, but it somehow creates a writing experience like no other pen on the market. A little bit springy, but not really flex. Some feedback, but smooth. Most nibs are described in this way, but this one is special. It has to be experienced to believe. Susan mentioned something similar in her Peninnect review. On top of that, the B nib is an amazing cursive italic directly from the factory. I have two 1912 nibs now, one in the 1912 itself, another in the Bohem, and they are both amazing. Out of my more than 200 fountain pens, all thanks to you guys, whoa, sorry about that, Hessey, using the two 1912 nibs always makes me smile in a way no other pen can. Congratulations to 500 episodes.
Myke: I'm going to let it slide. I don't know why. I like the cap design. The thing here was really pretty on this pen. Yeah,
Speaker 02: it's like the, like Hessey mentioned the Bohem, which is the small safety pen that I have. The 1912 is the big one that I have always kind of wanted for myself. It's a really, really nice pen.
Myke: All right, Matthew, my favorite stationary item is the Notco Sinclair. Yeah, get rekt, I could use just about any case, but I don't care, whatever. No, I didn't say that. I bought my Forest Green Sinclair at the beginning of March 2020, and I've used it every single day since then. These days, I mostly work from home, but I carry the Sinclair back and forth to my work desk each day. It follows me in the evenings and sits bedside at night. My Sinclair currently holds, uh-oh, one ballpoint, spoke roadie, and four fountain pens, three lamis, and a spoke icon with various nib sizes and ink colors, three pocket notebooks, an emotions of feelings journal, a significant events journal, and a catch-all list for sketches and ideas, and several index cards, two with lists of shows and movies I want to watch, organized by the platforms they're on, a few with to-do lists, and one for tracking my current monthly expenses. All this fits in a small, compact, portable, sturdy, well-organized, and designed case that has been with me daily since I got it. There's nothing else quite like the Sinclair. I hope there's a way for this product to continue in the future.
Speaker 02: Matthew's the PhD of my heart, Myke.
Myke: 35. 35. All right,
Speaker 02: Chewbacca. It's a stationary item, and it makes stationary items. My lathe. It has allowed me to really jump deep in the next phase of the hobby, and without it, I would be way less involved in the community. Yes. I kind of love that.
Myke: Jerry K. Two pens immediately come to mind. Come on, Jerry. Come on, Jerry. First, the simple pen, the clear Opus 88 Omar of an amazing nib. It started as a broad. It was turned into an architect RT by J.C. Emmett. Shout out to the nib tailor. It now writes as a broad architect when used traditionally, but turned the nib upside down, and it's a very fine tip. The reversible tip is the RT in that architect RT name. This has become a daily writer for me. I can use it for anything. The second part is a favorite because of the story. Every summer through pandemic, I led our senior class, I teach high school history and rhetoric, on a tour of Greece and Italy. In 2019, while in Rome, I found a small pen shop, Novelli, where Marco introduced me to Leonardo pens. I was looking at others, but he insisted that I try Leonardo. He asked why buy a gold nib when the steel nibs on these are so good. I tried it and ended up with a Memento Zero that is a part of my daily carry. This eventually led to acquiring an MZJ in the Brooks Vesuvio. It was Memento Zero Grande, right? MZJ? But that's another pen and another story. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 02: I did it. Still on the list, though.
Myke: Oh, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 02: All right, Travis says, my favorite pen is a Blue Custom 74. I bought it for myself when I passed the bar and it was the first expensive gift I had ever bought for myself. Nice.
Myke: john kivas galen leather zippered a5 notebook folio in purple this is hard there are a lot of actual pens that i thought about picking my shown design pocket six my first fountain pen over 30 my canalia mao mckay or my sailor wicked witch of the west but then i settled on this galen lever folio since this is where i keep my theme system journal but some not some not code dot dash cards and the six pens i use to write every night the pens change over time but i get to smile every night as i take them all out to fill my journal for the day and make note cards about things i want to remember for tomorrow you saved yourself a little bit but you still
Speaker 02: you still become a list you're on two lists i'm gonna i'm gonna have to report this judge to the board or something like what very inconsistent in very inconsistent in their judgments i don't know the stationary rules board or something i don't know i sit on that board so good luck lowell says my favorite stationary item is my grandfather's olive green parker 45 he passed away quite young so i didn't get the chance to meet him having and using a pen that he carried with him helps me feel more connected to him i love thinking about what he must have used this pen for writing letters or notes to my grandma jotting down to-do lists signing important or trivial documents who knows family members who knew him and know me say that we're similar in many ways and it's meaningful to be able to share this pen with him super cool jason says my canalea
Myke: kilauea uh my first pen of up 200 but more importantly the pen that introduced me to hugh and carol who've become family and working with them at the show has introduced me to tons of passionate pen lovers ah i know that jason love and i love you and carol we both do bill maudlin
Speaker 02: says i'm probably not the only one to say this pretty close lamy 2000 i think it might be we've had some mentions but maybe not as the primary some on the list mentions i think i have two one extra fine nib and one medium nib this is a pen that works gives me joy just to hold it's both classic and timeless in the best ways while i don't use either of them every day they are always
Myke: inked up and at the ready andrea my lunch term five years journal i start another one i started in january 2020 and there i wrote about the birth of my son and the joys and challenges of fatherhood the struggle through covid the loss of dear ones and the process of looking for a job that finally fulfills me pens come and go what i wrote with them stays with me in this journal yeah yeah yeah
Speaker 02: blue jay says my black parker vector the pen that brought me into the fold my first fountain pen was a lamy safari and extra fine because i liked fine gel pens which in retrospect retrospect wasn't a pen or nib for me it was nice but i didn't think it was amazing enough to justify spending so much more than i usually would on stationery my fountain pen journey would have ended there except two weeks later i found a parker vector calligraphy set in a second hand store and bought it on a whim i immediately fell in love with the line variation and even the fine calligraphy nib the way that even the simple blue ink had character it made me realize what fountain pens could offer that my usually usual pens couldn't and down the rabbit hole i went i now have many pens which are way more expensive and have better writing experiences than that first parker vector but it would always have a special place in my heart
Myke: oh come on go let go jeff j my favorite stationary item is my osprey pens milano it was a generous gift from the creator and i have cherished it since receiving it simple but means more to me than any
Speaker 02: high dollar pen i own nice very cool gordon first time shout out for the twisby go favorite new pen it's affordable fun comfortable to hold easy to fill and the broad nib is amazing actually correct
Myke: good job jordan gordon theo is number 228 which means 50 to go all right first of all thanks for 10 years of stationary conversation i don't have anyone in my day-to-day life that shares this passion so i rely on your weekly discussions to fuel me you also introduced me to the medium of podcasts so thank you for being the gateway to endless hours of entertainment and information as for my favorite stationary items uh-oh uh-oh that's plural uh-oh when i was growing up my dad had a montblanc 146 that i was understandably not allowed to touch when he retired the pen was put up with the rest of his work items and largely forgotten years later when my dad saw that i had gotten into fountain pens he surprised me uh one visit and present and presented that montblanc to me as we talked i could see he was fascinated by the variety of inks i use he had only used montblanc black i asked if he wanted to hang on to the 146 but he insisted i keep it that year for father's day i bought him a twisby rb and a bottle of waterman serenity blue my dad emigrated to the u.s from taiwan in 1970 so i knew he would love a pen made in taiwan with a finial bearing the white sun in the blue sky from the flag i wasn't sure if he'd actually use it but it was something i wanted him to have dad passed the following new year's day when we were going through his office i found a twisby inked on his desk and his journal filled the serenity blue so these two pens one my dad gave me and one i gave him are my favorite stationary items i'm gonna let that one go yeah you think
Speaker 02: really cool story theo i that was really neat i like to see it here in that that's pretty cool all right nick says 1948 parker 51 it is so much better than the 2021 parker 51 that is nick's emphasis not mine also strathmore 300 drawing paper checks all of my boxes for paper it's all these also's get you mike it's also gonna get you oh yeah i didn't even pick that one up yep
Myke: number 38 yep 38 joey says i found this hobby while in engineering school after i forgot to bring extra pencils to an exam all of the work we did from circuit calculations to calculus to engineering drawings was done by hand needing to do any of that with a single dull pencil added a lot to the test stress again a mechanical pencil was the easy solution but i couldn't bring myself to buy a six pack from the dollar store after doing some research i landed with the uni ball kuru toga ah yeah yes perfect the gimmick of retaining the pencil lead is no gimmick my writing never varies it works perfectly with engineering paper the gunmetal body fits in any engineer's workplace and despite its businessy look it never looks out of place with the colorful pens in my pocket protector five years and a dozen fountain and ballpoint rollerball pens later the kuru toga is still one of my favorites and is the stationary item that i think that i talk about the most i give the kuru toga 4.5 out of five spells my sweaty exam hands would appreciate if the knulling was a
Speaker 02: little more aggressive yeah i hear you i hear you very cool john says the parker vacuumatic golden web love it that's the pen you bought for me mike yep beautiful look from a different time smooth writing fine point with a bit of flex also has a very clever high capacity filling mechanism perfect confluence of art and engineering i think that's what you can get a lot of ink in there and you can actually
Myke: spray it all over a desk very easy to do uh this comes from from medievalist it's a schaefer school pen from the late 1960s or early 70s inexpensive red transparent plastic body still near proprietary cartridge my father who died in 2005 used this pen to grade papers and i remember it well
Speaker 02: using this pens reminds me of my father hmm very cool john cook my favorite item reminds me of the hours when i would sit quietly next to my dad as he precisely created drawing for his job as a draft draftsman my token for that connection is my vintage rotring 600 perfectly constructed
Myke: constructed mechanical precise miss you dad yes says leonardo aficion italiana bespoke pens they are perfectly sized for largest they're perfectly sized for larger hands have a fully disassemblable piston for easy cleaning and are available in beautiful colors paired with a tomoe river dot grid a5
Speaker 02: notebook it's pure stationary heaven og and tristy says my favorite stationary item is the studio neat mark one we're gonna have to send this episode to uh tom and dan every time i pick it up and hear that click i smile it's the perfect weight i'm thankful the podcast connected me to this gem of a pen
Myke: brandon s
Brad: oh i see what's so brandon s is brandon s sorry i misread the questionnaire that was the person whose previous name i said was yes i don't know why they wrote yes uh what is your name yes so yes the person who loved leonardo aficion
Speaker 02: italiana that was brandon s and they copied the answer again but gave us their name in a second line that's funny all right yes yes all right um i'll read this one uh yeah young lynn yeah yeah the hobonichi techo planner i have tried so many planners before staying with the hobonichi techo the daily layout helps me stay organized and and the daily quotes are interesting to read this is also a very
Myke: good data point episode mike apparently clearly grayson says my favorite pen would have to be the matte black vanishing point of a fine nib i'm an engineer i mostly use my pens to jot down quick notes or sketches while working at my desk i love not having to deal with a cap every time i want to write down a quick bullet point and the nib is fine enough for detailed sketches and math yet smooth enough to be enjoyable to use thanks for the weekly entertainment looking forward to the next 500
Speaker 02: nice all right aldo says i have acquired many pens since i got into this hobby a few years ago some of them with amazing gold nibs however my twisby precision is the pen i treasure the most because it has a story to go with it i purchased this pen from wonder pens shout out wonder pens when mr dowdy wow i'm old mike and anna came to toronto this is a very special memory for me i'm always reminded of that day whenever i pick up this pen sadly i did not get a chance to talk to anna too shy to approach her plus she was looking at ink swatches did not need to disturb her she's pretty scary like i would avoid avoid anna at all costs just kidding if memory serves me right i believe mary uh from the pen cup uh was also there and really love her blog and i wish i got the chance to talk to her keep up the
Myke: great work guys and 500 more episodes this comes from rodolfo it says i am a paper addict while i do have more pens and ink and than i need in my lifetime paper is the one item i cannot resist the feel when the nib touches the paper good paper nib touches good paper color thanks and how it changes the whole writing experience is what does it for me favorite everyday paper midori md lined favorite paper for letters claire fontaine triomphe link lined are you in the rule breakers club yes you are favorite list
Speaker 02: rule breakers club thank you rodolfo adam says i'm happy that the yovo number six is becoming somewhat of a standard nib housing across a range of pens it means that one can trivially mix mix and match nibs between pens currently i'm loving the sig ef nib from franklin christoph sometimes it lives in a leonardo sometimes in a dark dark dark green spoke icon if i see another pen i like the look of there's a good chance i don't need to worry about the nib size because i can always swap things around later rich sticks it's definitely the people
Myke: you meet along the way whether online or in person whether in online chat or in person at a pen show it's the people that make me the most excited about my pens and other stationary items a big thanks to both of you as well as all the others in our little corner of the world for making such a pedestrian item as a pen so enjoyable so rich sticks his favorite stationary item is human beings
Speaker 02: so rich rich sticks knowing him as i do i guarantee about a hundred uh hundred uh readings ago he was in the uh-oh category i could see him doing it right now knowing him well i would see him going uh-oh alistair upton says sailor pro gear demonstrator my first sailor pin and the one i purchased at genza atoya uh in 2018 i had never heard of this brand of pin before listening to the pen addict and to buy this in japan was special to me this store is a must see for all pen addicts multiple shout
Myke: outs for the genza toy store all right so i'm on to 244 with greg uh i happened upon an ebay listing for several pens at a reasonable price among which was a monteverda intima fountain pen and glacier blue i love it because it feels like the pen found me oh nice emma says i love my red lami safari it's
Speaker 02: beautiful and writes really well i definitely made some great friends in the hobby it's great to talk to them about stationery i don't know what else to write but i love the podcast that was you wrote
Myke: exactly what you were supposed to perfect well done can coy says my green faceted pilot vanishing point from 1999 my first adult fountain pen with a slightly bouncy medium 18 carat gold nib is still in rotation and a perfect writer with a pilot blue black cartridge
Speaker 02: nice rudyard kip yard says i use my caveco support to fill out my customs paperwork on a recent flight love the everyday luxe in a pint-sized package
Myke: lisa says my favorite stationery item is the hobonichi weeks with three by five cards not coal lined index cards preferred yes i realized that i am cheating by including two things okay good love the stationery led me to the hobonichi weeks and now i can't do without it it helps me manage my life and lower my stress level while recording and so offloading events and tasks but i can also play with pens log inks use my washi tapes and random stickers and it is the most compact and portable item that could possibly do this and they're gorgeous to boot i usually get the movement edition three by five cards are a necessary accompaniment to keep track of overly ambitious daily to do's they are ephemeral unlike the weeks which is crucial and the nostalgic look of not coastline cards makes them perfect yeah
Speaker 02: perfect melissa says i collect fountain pens and the most special one i own is my platinum 3776 stardust i have quite a nice collection of less expensive to mid-range pens i live off a relatively modest income i work for a non-profit profit organization which is rewarding in many ways but will never make me a wealthy person i truly believe that there are great pens to be had at almost every price range but i still find myself sometimes wishing i could have some of the special pens the custom made limited editions etc first world world problems right however my platinum stardust for me fills that niche several years ago i put aside some money for a more expensive pen and was trying to decide which one to buy when goulet released this little pen from platinum it wasn't even a proper limited edition if i remember correctly i just think it was a small batch of material they had which they offered to goulet since i already had money set aside i jumped at the chance and scored my beautiful 3776 black resin with gold shimmer there were only about 30 ever made i almost never hear them mentioned anymore so i sort of feel like it's some forgotten rare artifact of course being a 3776 it's also an amazing writer and it's fine nib makes it perfect for writing in my five-year hobonichi even though it may be modest to some i love that pen and the fact that i can have something unique
Myke: that's very cool kim h says my favorite stationary item is the fountain pen i'm reminded that my grandmother bought me first my first one when i was a kid and then i got my lover's stationary from her and my dad there wasn't a stationary shop in town that we didn't frequent when i resurrected my love of fountain pens in the 2010s it brought me to the pen addict and this community where i have felt welcomed and understood although the through line is about fountain pens it is really the friends i have made that remind me just how fortunate i am thank you brad and mike for this wonderful podcast
Speaker 02: and all you do for the community yeah that's exactly what i thought you were going to say diane and scott i get to read a poem this time 500 episodes fun and light-hearted lami safari was where it all started brass town and sinclair to lulu and seed knock made the products all pin eggs need sailor and pilot marlin and twisby pelican leonardo and visconti shown design retro and fountain roach rings these are a few of our favorite things shimmer and sheening and now chroma shading rainbows of color so bright and unfading there's more to life than old black parker quink how could we have just one favorite ink field notes and leuchterm and black and red notebooks tomoe river and rhodia goat books
Speaker 02: colordex cards bound together with rings these are a few of our favorite things when it's monday or a gray day and i'm feeling sad i ink up a pen and i draw a few swirls and then i don't feel so bad
Myke: then i don't feel so it's beautiful this is good that was good good job good job it was really good jared says as someone who recently even the last four years started using fountain pens again my favorite stationary items evolved over time currently it is an arrow arrow metric parker 51 purchased from the 2021 san francisco pen show the parker 51 feels very nice in the hand and has been great to take notes from all the papers i have read i have to read in my master's program oh boy another one that said i've used rhodia notebooks over the past three years and they've been a great recording medium i'm gonna put you on the list
Myke: hit the itchy trigger finger there 41 by the way because now there's a bit of space from it because i think people would i did put kim h on the uh people who suggested no products list but just didn't say it at the time because this is then a really nice message but now we're a couple i feel like i can go back now we have some distance
Speaker 02: added yeah we can have some distance from it and you're added yeah oh they were added immediately
Speaker 02: i knew what you were up to jose mateo ayala amarillo stationary because the owner is so passionate about stationary and thanks he thanks to you he shared his podcast to the spanish-speaking
Myke: community is informed about stationary and fountain pens all right says uh my favorite pen is a very cheap pen bbs 355 with just an incredibly smooth nib and huge ink capacity i bought it right at the start of my fountain pen journey and sometimes it feels like i could or should have just stopped there all the sailors pelicans and pilots i've purchased since cost more haven't yet and haven't yet delivered as well overall probably could have saved myself for money but where's the fun all right richard says i
Speaker 02: could narrow it down to just one item but the category of stationary i always come back to would be small sleek fairly nondescript until you look just look closely if you know what you're looking for probably vintage fountain pen probably italian or german there's always at least one in my rotation ink with something blue black they don't call attention to themselves they are perfect for my hand and they just work yeah they are perfect for mike's list 14 on that
Myke: achilles says my favorite stationary item is my stack of turtle sticky notes i've been struggling with depression for over a year now in that year i lost all interest in stationary a couple of weeks back i went for a walk late in the evening and out of boredom decided to browse through the last two open stores in my town there i saw the most adorable sticky notes i've ever seen i've never been a huge fan of sticky notes i never knew what to do with them but these ones were too cute to not take home they are turtle shaped and turtle colored and have an adorable face that looks at you with a huge smile i don't know what it is with this turtle but when i look at it i just get the feeling that it wants me to get better it wants me to hold on so now i stick them to my computer with my next therapy appointment written on them it's also ignited my love for stationary again since then i bought a couple of small things and tried to hack out the stationary i have so thanks little turtle i will also say thank you
Speaker 02: little turtle yes i would say thank you little turtle turtle and thank you achilles that is really really awesome thank you so much g dresser says cw pencils baseball scoring pencil the lead makes beautiful dark line and smooth the right width the round barrel makes it comfortable to hold the eraser works really well and is the best eraser on the end of a pencil that i have ever used it helps me fondly remember cw pencil shop and everyone who worked there really cool wayne bond says the
Myke: most meaningful stationary i own are the pieces i could never replace they are gifts from inspiring people in my life they believe in me even when i do not using the pieces reminds me of them and my true
Speaker 02: fortune nice and your new life that's number 15 daniel says diamine earl gray ink and ink i wanted to design for a long time in 2017 our fountain pens helped me make that the possibility as a dedicated subreddit ink and daniel sent me a daniel sent me a really beautiful email um recently related to
Myke: this so thank you daniel hope you're doing well alifo says the apica cd premium notebook that's silky
Speaker 02: paper that is truth truth right there underrated product lisa from canada says i'm a big fan of the pilot vanishing point decimo my favorite is probably my champagne extra fine decimo that i bought with money given to me by my mom after her older friend left her a small inheritance when she died i love the pen and think of my mom's friend margaret when i use it gareth thomas says the parker vacuumatic that
Myke: i bought on a whim on ebay writes wonderfully i hope i'm in as good condition as it when i'm 76
Speaker 02: mike chrispeck my favorite stationary item is a pair of white feather 603 fountain pens my mother gave to me after learning about my new hobby some few years back the pens themselves are a cheap chinese pen that look quite reminiscent of a certain popular hooded nib parker pen what makes them so special is the fact that these pens were the ones she used when she was a kid going to school in a small village in poland my parents immigrated to america some 30 plus years ago and these pens were one of the few things my mom brought over in the one suitcase she had despite having acquired pens that are objectively better in every single way such as my sailor king of pen i still find myself gravitating gravitating towards these special pens when i use them i'm reminded of the courage my parents had to leave their home and come to america for opportunity to better life which never fails to make me smile and appreciate everything they've done really cool i'm gonna let that one
Myke: slide too mm-hmm valerie said visconti homo sapiens bronze age my grail pen that i bought for myself as a reward for my study and the pen that i used to sign my degree with the material has a great feeling
Brad: and i really enjoy the weight and balance of this pen amazing pen amazing people john t my favorite is
Speaker 02: from a special occasion a personal tour of the pelican factory in germany i bought my pelican m800 at the factory store mere steps from where it was hatched i like that it's a stunning and dignified gray and black stress them all it's always inked with edelstein smoky quartz which complements its colors that's
Myke: awesome nancy t says my favorite stationary item is my collection of italic nibbed fountain pens ranging from my original pilot plumix to a vintage esterbrook lj of a 2312 nib to most recently a custom ground on a modest twisbee iris at the ohio pen show they add so much flair to my writing nice loving it's a good
Speaker 02: italic doug beal doug doug my jonathan brooks alien autopsy a double-ended pen with grinds by mark bacchus one end has an architect paired with luminous ink and the other cursive italic paired with matador red ink this pen mark going to a pen show to see my friends what are you going to do now mike how many
Brad: pens and inks is that um no i think it's fine you're dang right it is i think it's fine they still trying to trick me then i was i was having trouble my pen wasn't writing so i was trying to get my pen to start writing so i didn't miss the last one my pro gear was failing me motorsports fan
Myke: says the pelican m815 was that 815 i don't know metal striped yeah i love pelican nibs and the 800 series is the perfect size for me i have an anthracite ma05 which is a quality writing instrument but the m815 takes it to a whole new level it's so classy i also love the extra heft created by the palladium plated brass strips which just adds to the sense of quality that's a really cool pen
Speaker 02: putting on the list though no and where yeah there's two in no there are but one clearly supersedes
Myke: the second all right all right all right i'm gonna give that one back to you thank you thank you
Speaker 02: all right sefi says my md notebook a5 that i use as a diary the paper is amazing for fountain pens and the leather cover is really soft and seems to age very well agree across all accounts there sefi
Myke: all right so my next one is ken yeah yeah i remember getting a parka jotter from my parents years ago as a kid although thoughtful i was never impressed with it it's feel how poorly it wrote never used it and it was lost to time i now use one of the new all metal jotters in victoria violet with a 0.5 auto flash dry refill a wonderful combination and the gift they would have bought had it been available at the time every time i use it i remember them and it brings me such happeners every day that's
Speaker 02: cool nice oscar says my favorite stationary item is a sailor fountain pen it was a gift from my mom whose friend got it for her when she was in japan there was a stationary shop right by hotel my mom asked her to try and find something for me the pen has a steel nib is 1911 shaped is a demonstrator with silver glitter running through it and has silver hardware it also came in a set with a bottle of sailor yamadori ink which is a favorite of mine what makes this pen extra special for me is that i just can't find anything about it online is it a profit junior a compass a japan store exclusive probably all of the above oscar the way sailor does it i don't know i think i found a listing for it on a taiwanese store once but i haven't been able to find it again maybe someday i'll find something about it
Myke: but every time i write with it i enjoy the element of mystery daniel w jang says parker jotter fabric zipper pouch my first pen i believe was a cheap parker jotter from wh smith that's a story in the uk which came which they bought colt pens which came with this little fabric zipper pouch where you can safely store your pen inside when you're not using and while my fellow parker wielding classmates never used there citing it annoying i favorably kept mine with me novelty aside it had functional aspects to it where it prevented my stationery from getting soaked in ink whenever the pen leaked which while didn't happen often it was really annoying when the rest of your stationery was covered in parker standard blue ink well for me it was only localized to the pouch only but as exam season came i was forced to switch away from my fountain pen and to all black generic ballpoint pens and thus as time went on my use of trusty parker jotter went down and down it also doesn't help that i for at the time thought for i for at the time thought i was helping the ink flow bent the tip nib so much that at one point it was a right angle with the rest of the nib making it completely useless however that pouch still served its purpose even with its matching parker even without its matching parker jotter it came with me to all of my gcse and a level exams carrying the black uniball gel stick which technically wasn't even allowed in an exam and even to my first year of university last time i remember seeing the pouches at my parents place when i went back for easter break in my second year of uni it was placed in my dad's cup of all sorts of random pens and pencils uh that he has collected over the years since then i've reunited with fountain pens started with pilot mr2 and most recently kaweco al special fp my hope is that when i get back to my parents place it will still be in that cup of random stationery uh since looking on ebay 14 pounds seems to be a lot to spend on the pouch however sentimental it might be hopefully the story was interesting i had originally intended to give a short 650 essay on this pouch until i realized the limit was 2000 characters therefore proving that at least part of the limitation was a necessity
Speaker 02: that's awesome and i i need to i need to see this parker jogger fabric zipper pouch sounds cool all right laura at scribbles and fluff my favorite stationery item right now is my benu broad nib that is currently in a beno briolette luminous dream a glow in the dark hit you across the face dare you to look away fountain pen i always knew it was possible to reverse right but i've never had such a nib where you could feasibly reverse right with the right ink flow in line with my experience made me realize i could have a two-for-one experience with a single fountain pen writing broad and fine lines just by turning the pen i need more thank you brad mike for all that you do i can't thank you enough much love
Myke: laura nice from curtis my blue pilot varsity i have plenty of other nicer pens but i was gifted a secondhand set of pilot varsity pens by a dear friend when i was just getting into the hobby you know what approaching three years later i've eyedropped that particular varsity they're great writers you just need decent paper to handle the flow you know what that's pretty cool i like that
Speaker 02: brian collier says i'm very lucky to have a job in philanthropy that gives me a chance to work on big community issues from 2014 to 2017 i let a group working on the issues of economic mobility and how to help children born into poverty poverty have a fair shot at achieving the american dream it's a heavy topic with a lot of challenging topics but one way i kept my thoughts together was through detailed notes and mind maps created in the moramond nemesine a4 imagination notebook i probably filled five or six of the books over the course of our work and considered them minor works of art and hopefully the art will lead to better lives for children in their community congrats on 500 and thanks for inspiring
Myke: us on a weekly basis that's very cool sean emerson congratulates us on our 10th anniversary and says i always wanted a pelican m800 or m805 for years having owned the m205 and m600 models my family gave me an m805 stone garden for my 50th birthday and it has been inked and in use ever since i know it's hard to understand if you don't own one but the balance weight effortless piston mechanism and beautiful two-tone nib make it one of the best pens you could ever use i know we're trying to wrap this
Speaker 02: up but i'm not sure we've had many pelicans besides the 800 series mentioned no four there was a 1000s
Myke: wasn't there like the bait like the did not mean the pelicanos yeah the pelicano and things like that but
Speaker 02: like out of the core size group it's 800 or nothing that's pretty amazing pretty amazing brandon is pretty amazing because after a few after listening for a few months mike he got a lammi safari extra fine nib and love it and paired it with a cortex brand subtle notebook love it going on two lists that
Myke: oh with my one now isn't it it's you last one oh my god final one lyle chan says my favorite stationary item is whatever i happen to be using at the moment yes i'm so happy we're finishing it on one like this i make a point of only keeping pens ink journals and paper that are a joy to use and gifting everything else to a home that appreciates it more than me there's two reasons why that's great one that's a nice message two goes on a list i can't believe it
Speaker 02: no editing was done in this list to end in this manner all right so do you want the results of the list spread yeah let's let what's the title of the list and the the count okay mike's faves fine okay so those are those are the cortex you know mentions things of that nature yeah okay mike's faves
Myke: five people who suggested no products is 16 wow that was more than i thought and i just read all these and hold on five ten fifteen twenty twenty twenty five thirty thirty five forty forty three people are rule breakers rule break breakers now we actually had 277 responses because one was a double right so that means 15 percent of the people that filled in the survey uh filled it in incorrectly they picked more than one item hey mike move fast and break things right that's true but you know what brand even the rule breakers i want to thank actually i think the rule breakers especially because they they added uh an extra game for me to play on top of this list and we did it uh three hours uh it's kind of what i expected yep yep it was worth it i love reading these i loved hearing from our listeners um that made this episode extra special we could have just spoke about ourselves for an hour and a half but this is a much better way to do it so thank you for this idea brad but of course thank you to everybody who sent in a question and we know this is just a small percentage of you and yeah more than sending in a question uh tuning into this show every week is more important uh supporting the show and and giving us a reason to keep publishing these episodes and we've been doing it for 10 years now let's say every week nearly every week there was a period where there wasn't every week but every week we've been going it's been 10 years 10 years these 500 episodes so um thank you all so much for your continued support brad thank you for showing up every week and doing all the work that you do means an awful lot to me you mean more to me in the show which is to say a heck of a lot yeah and i greatly value our partnership um and yeah wish it continues
Speaker 02: many more years i appreciate you buddy i am really happy that we have made it 500 episodes 10 years all the things and honestly show no end in in sight of stopping and uh i love all the feedback we get and i love all y'all that uh helped us out with this special 500 episode so uh thank you all i i couldn't thank you enough and uh especially you mike for uh getting me to do this sit in this chair in the for episode one and uh who knew it would be off and running this long i will say if i can
Myke: change the mood for a minute how unbelievably sad it makes me that we were not able to be in person to do this together true true and i i greatly look forward to when that becomes a reality again uh so yeah same here hopefully this year thank you for listening to episode 500 of the pen addict podcast if you would like to send in questions to us please don't use that form anymore you can send it to it i turned it off rstpa or you can email them to hello at penaddict.com if you want to find brad online you go to penaddict.com you can go to spoke design.com brad is at dowdyism on twitter penaddict on instagram and streams multiple times a week at twitch.tv slash penaddict i bet you're not going to stream today are you probably not probably not probably not i'm recording another show in 15 minutes i don't think i'm gonna make it i think i'm just gonna fall asleep under the desk i think this actually might be the longest episode of a show that i've ever made oh really maybe yeah it might be interesting uh i'm i'm mike i am yke if you want to pick up one of those products that makes you a mike fave go to cortex merch.com thank you to pen shelly and harry's for the support of this week's episode uh we'll be back next week and we're on the other side of it episode 501 uh thank you until then say goodbye brad goodbye brad