The Pen Addict 553/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	553
Title:	Number Green
Release Date:	March 1st, 2023
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 553
Audio File:	Audio Episode 553
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 553
Length:	6161 min <br />1.017 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 553. Today's show is brought to you by Ooni Pizza Ovens and ExpressVPN. My name is Myke Hurley and I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad. Hey buddy, how's it going? Good, I'm excited for today's episode.

Brad Dowdy: Oh yeah? Why is that? I mean, I am too, but do you have a specific reason? I'll tell you later on. Oh, nice. It's not just that I'm here and you get to talk to me?

Myke Hurley: That's always good for me. That's just a good time. You know, like Wednesday afternoon is a good time. Just get myself a nice latte from the little coffee shop nearby, sit down, talk to my buddy Brad about pens for an hour. You know what I mean? How bad can that be?

Brad Dowdy: I mean, it does not get any better.

Myke Hurley: I don't think it does.

Brad Dowdy: I don't think it does. It does. Well, I'm excited to follow up on this first topic.

Myke Hurley: Maybe it could get better if instead of a latte, I had a sweet juice milk.

Brad Dowdy: It could be a little bit better. I don't know. Maybe a classic natural smoothie, which we're going to get to. We'll talk to you in just a minute. So we talked about the sweet juice milk last week. Like, I love the silly little, you know, Japanese stationary stories that we get, right? So this was the Pilot Juice 10th anniversary release that we discussed last week. It's called Sweet Juice Milk. And it's these pastel Pilot Juices and this great kind of like, you know, manila colored barrel, cream colored barrel. They're just really good looking pens, even though like the inks may not be good, but we were mostly just, you know, making fun of the name. So I was browsing as one does at over at JetPens and seeing what new stuff came in. And I saw these pictures of all these new Pilot Juices that look like exactly like the sweet juice milk that we just talked about. And they're not. And I'm upset about it. I was hoping to get some sweet juice milk in, you know, here in the U.S. And I wonder now if we're actually going to get them because JetPens has what's called, they look, the pen barrel is identical, right? That cream colored, classic vintage-y looking pen barrel and new juice colors. So the sets are called Classic Good Morning and Classic Good Afternoon. Okay, so there's a three-pin set for Classic Good Morning. And then there's a three-pin set for Classic Good Afternoon. So if you combine those two sets, Myke, if you got the combination set of six pens of the three classic good mornings and the three classic good afternoons, what would you call them?

Brad Dowdy: I mean, it's a simple question. Good day or something? Classic good day? Good evening, good night. We're going to go with Classic Natural Smoothie for that, Myke. So the combination pack of the three good morning pens and the three good afternoon pens is called Classic Natural Smoothie. I just wanted to go on the record.

Myke Hurley: I was trying to, like, work this one out, right? And I was like, oh, so, like, Natural Smoothie, it's got, like, a picture of, like, a bunch of fruit on it and stuff. And it's like, oh, okay. So, like, when you put all the flavors, quote-unquote, the colors together, you'll get a natural smoothie. But the morning and afternoon doesn't logically read to me as morning and afternoon. So the morning is kiwi, banana, and blueberry. The afternoon is orange, strawberry, and mint, I think? Mm-hmm. And so they don't even necessarily read as good morning and good afternoon. Like, why can't a strawberry be in the morning and a banana be in the afternoon? Yeah, it's so weird. It's so weird. I love it.

JetPens writing samples and color naming conventions

Brad Dowdy: And what bugs me even more is that, like, the writing samples on JetPens, they're just calling them, like, the color of the ink. Like, the blue is, like, what is the blue? I've already forgot.

Brad Dowdy: Classic blue? Yeah, it's just, like, classic blue, classic red. I was like, man, this is just a letdown from, like, Sweet Juice Milk. Like, I was just excited, and this is what I get, and, like, I'm just disappointed.

Myke Hurley: Because these are them, right?

Brad Dowdy: At this point, and the colors, I think the colors are different, right? Right. These are more, like, traditional vintage colors. Like, the Zebra Sarasa Clip vintage colors, right? They do kind of a more dusty blue. They dust up the colors a little bit, right? So they're not as bright or vibrant as just, like, a straightforward blue or straightforward red. And these are just, like, I don't need any of these colors straight up letdown. So, like, Pilot was in my good graces for, like, one week, and now we're back to this. So, anyway, I just thought I'd bring that up. That's my Sweet Juice Milk follow-up. Now I'm, like, pinned in. If I can get the Sweet Juice Milk, I'm just going to have to get them. Because just to show this set of pen colors, what's up? Like, this ain't it.

Myke Hurley: So I got some follow-ups sent in to penaddictfeedback.com from Jill. Or Gil? Gil, maybe G-I-L? Gil. Gil says, for Yvonne, who is studying Russian, I study languages as well. And my go-to notebook for writing endless verbs, nouns, rules, and sample sentences is the Studio Neat Totebook. It's dot grid, so you can decide if you need to use two rows of dots or one and basically write any size that you like. They also lie flat, and you can take them anywhere. The paper takes any kind of ink. I throw out, overall, one of my favorite notebooks. I agree for everything, except, like, I don't know how to use it for languages. But I really love the Totebook. It's a fantastic notebook. It's what the original Themes of the Journal was based on, because I love it so much.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, the Totebook is a great product. I was thinking more of an... I was looking for, like, square footage, you know, when I'm thinking about, like, writing practice, right? So I was looking in, like, the A4, like, the big category. But, like, the Totebook is just, like, a genuinely good notebook. The point stands about the dot grid. That was the comment I was making on grids or dot grids, that you can have your letter heights at one, two, or three lines, right? It's good practice to not have blank for these types of notebooks. Even line would be fine. You know, you use one, two, or three lines to space your uppercase, lowercase letters, your different shapes, and things like that. It's a good balance. But, like, the Totebook is just, like, a good quality portable notebook, right? Like, you can't argue with that one bit.

Myke Hurley: Yep.

Novelure Original Plus pen features

Brad Dowdy: Speaking of good and quality, Myke, I have found a fondness for the Novelure Original Plus. So what this is is their latest fountain pen release. They started, I can't believe it's only been since 2019 that Narwhal, now Novelure, started at the DC Pen Show. So it hadn't even been four years. And the first fountain pen they designed was called the Narwhal Original. And it was good piston filling, like, $40, I think it was, maybe $45 fountain pen. Great price, great quality pen. Enjoyed it. And, you know, they've really done a lot over these three and a half, coming up on four years. The amount of discussion that we've had around them, good and bad, right? Like, I cover all this in my review. This is basically me, like, talking about this review that I did of the newest model. And I kind of cover, like, they have been through a lot in, like, three and a half years. And there's a lot of discussion around their products. There's always something going on. With them. Which, just as someone who makes things, and you too, like, I can't wrap my head around, like, the pace and the scope and the volume that they come, that they put out. It's like, it's like mind-boggling in my head. But, like, it's kind of impressive at the same time. So, back to the original Plus. It is, it's a take on their original piston filler, and now it's a vacuum filler. And it's $55, right? That's the main selling point here. Is that it's a good quality. Maybe even great quality. Based on my month or few weeks with the pen. Vacuum filling. Option. That's really cost-effective. Really high quality. Really fun, right? Like, it's a fun pen to use. Like, not all of these pens in, like, certain price points. Like, we don't talk about, and no offense to these brands, but, like, we don't talk about Cross and Schaefer and Waterman in these price ranges. Because they're just kind of boring, classic pens. Like, we've been there, and we've done that, right? This is a little bit fun, right? It's like a two-tone barrel. Like, it's a clear demonstrator barrel in the center. The one I reviewed has white cap with rose gold trim, and there's a black plastic model as well, right? It's a plastic pen, steel nib, but with a vacuum filling system.

Myke Hurley: They also have color models, too, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yes. And that's a, they have, based on the original, which I don't love these names because it's hard to discuss them, clearly. The originals were in these swirl colors. Green, blue, yellow, and purple are, like, a magenta color, right? And translucent, right, with these swirls. So, you can get that in the original plus. Those were the first ones to come out, the swirly ones that mimic the original.

Brad Dowdy: And now, yeah, see where I'm at? Yeah. And then they came out with the new original plus with the vacuum filling system in those same colors and now have made, I don't know, I guess you call these special limited editions. They did 500 of the white barrel ones and 500 of the black barrel ones. Like, it's not super limited. But for $55 and 500 of each color, like, that's something that would go pretty fast because you don't have to think too much. Like, if someone like myself who's experienced with this, like, that's an easy purchase for me. But if you're someone new to fountain pens, like, that's a very expensive pen, right? Like, I don't discount that whatsoever. And it's really good. Like, I've had a good experience with this pen. They have tweaked, at least from what I'm seeing, the nib tipping. That was always my hang-up with Novelure nibs. Their in-house design nibs had a lot of tipping on the point of the pen. And for me, the way I write, the original review I did of the original was a little bit inconsistent, right? It was like a medium nib and just like a brick of tipping on there. And it was just like I didn't enjoy the experience. It wasn't a fountain pen writing experience for me. But some people like that. But as someone who writes with a finer line and needs more control over their lines, it didn't really suit my style. Well, now I have a fine nib in the model of the original Plus that I reviewed. And the tipping seems to be more refined, right? It's shaped a little bit better. It's not as bulky. And the lines are what I expect from a steel fine nib. Like, you just take your regular Yovo fine steel nib line expectation or your Bach fine steel nib expectation. And I'm getting that now from Novelure, which I didn't used to. It used to be like my fine would write like a medium and on upwards, right?

Brad Dowdy: So I think they have a real winner on their hands here. And I'm curious, like they have a few different models of pens. And I'm wondering if this is now going to be kind of like the core model, even over the standard piston filling original, which like has gotten good reviews. And, you know, there's been a lot of store brands and collaborations with that. What they've tended to do is have the Nautilus is kind of like their showpiece model. Like that's the starting at like 125 models. But then they use like ebonite, right? And different materials and diamond cast and whatever and do all these different store brands for these pens that go from like 125 to like 175 with steel nibs and then like 250 with gold nibs. Like that's kind of their signature models. But I'm wondering if this is going to be like their core offering, like a TWSBI Eco or like a TWSBI 580. And that's the question that I got the most from this review. It's like, okay, explain to me why I should like this better than the TWSBI Eco or the TWSBI 580. So I think that's the competition. Okay, so I was asked specifically, okay, if you have the TWSBI Eco and the TWSBI 580 and now you have the Narwhal Original Plus, rank them. And I was like, oof, that's a pretty tough question. So the way that I ranked them and I'm not necessarily including price in here. It just ended up this way. I think the TWSBI Eco is the best of those three. And it's not because it's like 15 or $20 cheaper. I just think it is just a rock solid pen. And I enjoy it very much writing with it. And I enjoy the style. And the 580, excuse me, the Eco and the Original Plus are similar in design to where they have that translucent barrel. But like the caps and the piston knob or the vac knob in the case of the Original Plus are the color of the release, right? Like it's just constant Ecos and constant colors. And I think the Eco, if they're side by side, I'm going to pick the Eco. But I think I'm going to pick the Original Plus over the 580. And I literally have a 580 sitting next to the Original Plus right now that I'm testing an ink in. I don't know. Maybe it's just the newness of it all, right? That I like it. But it's really comfortable to write with. It's slightly lighter, maybe smaller than the 580. Maybe not. I don't know. It's just I've really enjoyed this pen and to the point where I'm almost surprised at how much I enjoy it. I think it's great to have this pen and this price point is the end result of this whole conversation. This price point for this pen in this market I think is great. And I think it's going to be an option for a lot of people. And like a lot of things, I'm interested in what the next one is, right? The Original Plus came out with the color barrels. And I think people were into it. And now, for some reason, this one seemed to turn the corner a little bit on just the awareness of this model. So now I want to see what's next because I'm clearly raving about it. And I've just used it almost every day for weeks. It's great.

Myke Hurley: I bought one. Oh, nice. Yeah, I have it. I've had it for a few days. I thought I would surprise you with that information. You very much did. Because this is the first pen that I've bought in a, I don't even know how long. Like just like a fountain pen, like at this, especially in this kind of price bracket.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, you usually save your purchases for shows and you just hadn't been to any.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And so I thought, you know, you, I think you referenced it in refill before.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I've been talking about it for a few weeks.

Myke Hurley: And so, and you were saying like everyone's raving about it. So I was like, okay, let me see what. I went with one of the translucent swirly ones because I just think visually it's more attractive. Like it's cool. Yeah. I don't like the white one that you have. Like there's something like the grip section seems like it's drawing color through. So it's kind of like gray. And I think that that looks, that makes it look kind of cheap in a way to me. Agree. Right. Where I think the black model wouldn't have that and neither did the color versions because it just all demonstrated. Because what you're seeing in the grip section is you're seeing the feed, right? Yep.

Brad Dowdy: You're seeing the housing, the nib housing. It screws into that white translucent part. And if you just sit it next to the cap, which I took a picture of that specifically, it's very clear.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. You can see it. And that's a shame that, but yeah, this to me is like about as good as a $50 steel nib pen could be. Like it, I bought a broad nib. Okay. That was my question. It feels fantastic. It's very smooth. Like you could trick me and tell me it was a gold nib and I'd probably believe you, right? Like, you know, it feels very, very comfortable to me. The line width is good. It's not too much. I've been very happy with that. I like the overall look. The mechanisms, the piston filling mechanism, the instructions were not good.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, okay. I didn't even look at the instructions.

Myke Hurley: So I, you know, I just wanted to double check, but the instructions just tell you to just untwist the cap and like the end piece and then just twist it back again. Like it doesn't actually tell you you need to pull it. And I knew that you needed to pull it, but it made me second guess myself.

Brad Dowdy: No, I didn't see that. I wonder if it's the wrong instruction set in there.

Myke Hurley: It's very possibly because...

Brad Dowdy: Because the piston, you don't need to, but the vac, you have to pull it out and then like snap it down.

Myke Hurley: I think now, because it just says before getting started, gently twist the end cap counterclockwise, dip the nib into the ink all the way. It's where it's submerged. Keep the nib submerged. Gently twist the end cap clockwise until it's back in its original position.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That's a piston. Yeah. And you have the original plus, right? You have the vacuum with like the post in it and everything, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It's the whole thing. Like it looks just like your one, right? But just different. And I double checked like three times that I got the original plus. All right.

Brad Dowdy: My box is in reach. I'm opening up. Because what's funny, did your box come with the old Narwhal marketing on it?

Myke Hurley: No.

Brad Dowdy: Yours says Novelure on it?

Myke Hurley: Mine says Novelure on it.

Brad Dowdy: My box doesn't look like your box. Mine's white with the new logo on it and stuff. So mine came directly from them. Let's see. Okay. Yep. Mine is the piston filling user guy. Yep. So I have the same thing you do. This is not compatible with the pins that we got. Okay. Yep. I have the same one as you.

Myke Hurley: But you know, I knew how to do it. Like I did have like a shaky moment where I was doing it. That's funny. And it kind of like just all of a sudden, like a bunch of ink just like went. I was like, oh, no. Did I actually do this wrong? Like I started to freak myself out a little bit because it was like it put that doubt in my mind. But, yeah, I knew how to do it. And I had a similar thing to you. I got it to like 40% full and then did it again and got it to like 70% full, which is fine. And I feel like if I just kept going for long enough, I would eventually get a pull on the ink that would be closer to maximum. But it's just like ain't nobody got time for that.

Brad Dowdy: Three is the magic number, but like I never worry about filling a vacuum filler to 90 plus percent full because it's so much ink. No.

Myke Hurley: But like, you know, my initial use of the pen, I was like, oh, it's big. Because, I mean, that is a typical feeling I have about vacuum filling pens. They tend to be a little on the larger side for me because there's just so much that's got to go on. But after I got used to it, it didn't take very long. I found this a very comfortable pen to use. I think it looks very fun. I like the model I got. I went with the green one. Green. Okay. It is the Original Plus Outrofont Screen. And it's like a clear, slightly green acrylic with these acrylic swirls in them. But what I actually like about the swirls is they are very subtle, which is not what you usually see. So it's like a little bit different that way. The clip, I don't like so much. You know, like, you know, as you were talking about comparing this to the Twisby, I think the Twisby's design is a little bit closer to my, like, to what I enjoy. I think that the Twisby's overall design language is more my speed. But this is a pen I would heartily recommend at its price point. Like, I think that this feels very, very good for its price point. And I've really enjoyed using it. It's a lot of fun.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I think why I'm excited is that we actually have an option now as opposed to Twisby. Not everyone likes the Twisby style like you and I do. Not everyone likes the Twisby, like, quality. Like, some people have a lot of issues with them. I have never really had a problem with that. So now there's an option that's, like, completely on a level playing field, right? It's, like, just the exact same idea, the concept of product that's different. And it's just different enough for to give people another option in this category that has been really, really dominated by a few pens and most of them just Twisby's, right? So, yeah. I think that's what I'm most excited about. I will say I agree with you on the clip design. I prefer the Twisby's clip. It just feels sturdier. But, yeah. Like, it's a good option to have. And you did surprise me. What ink did you use? That's what I need to know next.

Myke Hurley: Oh, you see. It's one of the Sailor Ink Studio inks.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, so, yes. That's all you need to say. Like, it doesn't matter. It's a number something. I didn't get to write it down.

Myke Hurley: And I had to rush out of the door yesterday. Like, I had to fill in and leave. It's one of the green ones.

Sailor Ink Studio inks and their variety

Brad Dowdy: Gotcha. Yeah. Number something. Sailor Ink Studio. Number green, you know? Yeah. Yep. That's an entire podcast on its own, which I think we've covered.

Myke Hurley: All right.

Brad Dowdy: Well, good.

Myke Hurley: I have decided, personally, I could just use Sailor Ink Studio inks forever, and I would never need anything else.

Brad Dowdy: That is... I would be on board with that. Like, that's a completely fair statement.

Myke Hurley: That's all. It's basically all I want. I have all of the colors that I like, and the quality is fantastic in all of them. Like, I could just use those forever, and I'd be happy. Yep. I wish it was just easier to remember which one was which.

Brad Dowdy: So, in the bottles, they have little stickers that you can put on your converter. Have you seen those?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I think it's fantastic. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: It's really cool. It's like, you never use it.

Myke Hurley: I can remember the names of other inks, right? Like, I know Fire on Fire. I know what that is. I know what, like, Fire and Ice... Like, I know... You know, like, that's the great thing about the Robert Oster inks. Like, you can remember the names. Mm-hmm. Or even, honestly, even the Oro Shizuku inks, you can remember the names. For me, though, just like a series of three numbers, it's like, it's impossible.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right. And I think there is... God, is there over 100 of them? I can't remember the exact number. Mm-hmm. There's a lot. Like, up into the high, like, double digits, or maybe over 100. I can't remember the total. But, yeah, it's a lot.

Myke Hurley: Could there be over 100? If there was over 100, it would fit in three numbers, would it?

Brad Dowdy: I don't math that well, so I don't know. I just know that...

Myke Hurley: Oh, no, because they use... Sorry, for some reason, I was thinking that they only use one number sequence, but they use random number sequences from anywhere. Yeah. It's not random. They can have up to 1,000. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, they can have up to 1,000, but it's actually not random. There's some old posts on how to decipher the number convention.

Myke Hurley: In the San Francisco Pen Show, once, they had, like, a whole thing where they had a chart, and they had, like, the this is how and why we number them this way. It's like, this one is specific for this limited edition, and it means this, and it's like a whole thing.

Brad Dowdy: All right, so Kate's got our instant fact check. There's exactly 100. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, perfect. Perfect. Well, let's put that link in the show notes, since we just rambled on about it.

Myke Hurley: Yep. Mine is one of, it's either 460 or 462, or it's one of the 700 ones.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. That's so funny.

Myke Hurley: I think it might be 731, but.

Brad Dowdy: It's one of the 100. Mm-hmm. It's one of the 100 ones. We have narrowed that down.

Myke Hurley: It's one of the green ones. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: So now we have, like, 10 choices, probably. Mm-hmm. This is a good podcast.

Myke Hurley: This episode is brought to you by our friends over at Ooni Pizza Ovens, the makers of the very best pizza ovens in the world, which is why they are number one. They make surprisingly small ovens powered by your choice of either wood, charcoal, or gas, so you can make restaurant-quality pizza in your own backyard. To achieve that restaurant quality, you need high, high heat, and that's what Ooni Pizza Ovens are all about. You can get up to temperatures of 900 degrees Fahrenheit, 500 degrees Celsius. That's what's going to let you cook this incredible, excellent, tasty pizza in as little as 60 seconds. They're super easy to use and super portable. They'll fit into any outside space, and they have a bunch of models available. Two that I want to highlight is the Uni Karu, which is where you can actually choose if this one, do you want to use wood, charcoal, or gas, or the Uni Koda 16. I've also been, I'm pretty excited because Uni have been teasing that they've got something new coming, I think, in the next couple of days. Like, I think it's like a cool new model, so I'm going to keep my eye out for that one.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, Kristen's doing some trade shows, so I'm wondering if they've got some stuff coming.

Myke Hurley: They're always doing that kind of stuff. They're a big, serious company over there, you know. They're a big time. They're a huge company now. It's amazing. Ooni Pizza Ovens start from just $299, and they have free shipping to the US, the UK, and the EU. They also make all the accessories you're going to want, from peels to cutters to oven tables to thermometers to the whole nine yards. And they even have an app of their own to help you perfect your dough recipe and give you loads of pizza-making tips. You should really go and check out one of these for yourself. Like, who doesn't want to make great pizza, and who doesn't want to make great pizza in such a fun way? Friend of the show, Mark Hackett. So, Stephen's brother. Mark helps us out with the videos when we, you know, pour one out. Used to do live pen show recordings. Mark just got an Ooni Pizza Oven of his own and absolutely adores it. Mark's a great cook, and he's just been doing some awesome stuff with that thing. That's what you can do with an Ooni Pizza Oven. And you can get 10% off an Ooni Pizza Oven purchase of your own just by using the code ADDICT2023 at checkout at uni.com. O-O-N-I dot com. Everybody wants to make excellent pizza at home, so why don't you do it yourself? Go to uni.com, O-O-N-I dot com, and use the code ADDICT2023 for 10% off. Ooni Pizza Ovens are the best way to bring restaurant quality pizza to your own backyard. Our thanks to Ooni Pizza Ovens for their support of this show and Relay FM.

Brad Dowdy: It's pretty much Ooni Pizza Oven season here. The weather's been, like, exceedingly warm. And I think this year, and there's probably something on the Uni site that would clear this up for me and tell me that it's okay to do. I think I want to make some, like, toasted sandwiches in there. Like, just build the sandwich, throw it in there for 30 seconds and toast it. I think that would be kind of amazing.

Myke Hurley: They have, like, things that you can buy to make steak and stuff in there.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, wow. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. That's awesome. They've got loads of things. All right. Speaking of something you can do lots of things with, have you ever thought about having a signature makeover, Myke? Like, your signature. I know you sign lots of professional documents. Like, have you ever thought about, like, needing to, like, work on your signature? You did a signature makeover?

Myke Hurley: Well, I did one of my own many, many years ago. So, I used to have, like, a full signature. It was, like, M Hurley. And it was done in this fun way, right? And then I got a job in a bank where I had to sign literally hundreds of things a day. So, it just became a squiggly M as my signature. Yeah. That's what it is.

Signature makeovers and customization

Brad Dowdy: So, this article sent to me by a friend of the show, June, says, hate your signature? Try plastic surgery for autographs. And, like, that's just a terrible headline. Like, I hate everything about this. So, what people are doing is hiring a calligrapher for a name signature makeover, right? So, you'll have to go read this article to understand. But I'm just going to read, like, this little bit. It says, Priscilla Molina in Los Angeles says a minimum of 300 custom signatures a month, offering packages that include up to three ways to sign, limited drafts, or a new set of initials. And she charges between $10 and $55. And, like, I'm like, so, does Priscilla write your signature for you? Because you still have to practice doing this, right? Like, are you just getting the signature and, like, writing over and over and over?

Myke Hurley: So, it says sometimes, and you commit to practicing your own preferred version, sometimes using a stencil for muscle memory. So, you could train it. But here's what I think you would use this for. Digital signatures. So, like, I have a bunch of documents that have to sign them, right? You could apply a digital file instead. So, you could have one of these signature writers make a beautiful signature for you, and then you just, like, paste it into documents.

Brad Dowdy: Who's ever going to see that? Like, you want it on the real, you want the real deal, right?

Myke Hurley: Oh, buddy, I'm sending contracts backwards and forwards like you wouldn't believe, right?

Brad Dowdy: Ooh, sorry, big business guy.

Myke Hurley: You know what I'm saying? Well, actually, I don't anymore, but I used to. Lord business. Lord business over here. Yeah, I'm so Lord business, I don't even sign my own documents anymore, you know what I mean?

Myke Hurley: No, I like, this is a thing that lots of people do, right? Like, docusigns and stuff like that, right? Oh, no, I know. And you get signatures on them. You can see the signature.

Brad Dowdy: In Miami, cargo pilot Juan Herrera decided to pursue a new signature makeover after his wife gave him a $750 Montblanc pen, and he realized, my signature looks like my daughter's signature in fourth grade. Get over it, Juan. Go practice. Like, this is lame.

Myke Hurley: I'm sorry. Juan's going to practice, but they need the inspiration first.

Brad Dowdy: This is so interesting to me. I guess this is my new side hustle, Myke. I'm going to do signature makeovers. There you go.

Myke Hurley: I mean, people want block cap signatures, I guess.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I'm in.

Myke Hurley: They come to you.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, exactly. Me and Myke Giant.

Brad Dowdy: You don't know him. You'll have to look that up, but he does great block signature writing. All right. So, anyway, I thought I had to include this because it's kind of, like, breaking my brain a little bit. It's like, I get it. It's like, but, like, do we have to? Like, we don't. We don't. All right. Changing the subject. Top five wooden pencils update, Myke. I know you have been waiting for this.

Myke Hurley: Oh, I've been on tenterhooks for this one.

Top five pencils discussion

Brad Dowdy: But it's not necessarily that I wanted to discuss the top five pencils per se, even though I do. It's that I have completed the refresh of the top five pens page, which includes the top five wooden pencils. That was the last update I was going to make to the page. It's taken, obviously, several months to get through, but it's good. So, I just wanted to run these down real quick. Just in time to start again.

Myke Hurley: I know. I know. I think I've made this joke before, but it is like the idea of painting the Golden Gate Bridge, right? Now you've gotten to the end of it, so it's now time to start again.

Brad Dowdy: So, by the time I started, I don't know, it was like in the fall, and the time I finished, we have things like, hey, guess what? The Narwhal Original Plus is pretty good, right? It might rank somewhere in some list now, right? So, it's like you really have to. But I purposefully don't update these things as like pens come out. Like I got to spend more time with things. But you're exactly right. Some of the most popular lists, like the starter fountain pens and the next fountain pens, that's where a lot of the movement really is. So, those should be updated probably like once a year, just like definitively. And then some other things. Like the pencils, I thought I would have a lot more movement in this. And I actually delayed doing this because I wanted to think about it and research it a little bit more. And there's not. There's not a lot of movement in wooden pencils in that market. There's not a lot of new standard, you know, like HB core pencils coming out on the market. You know, everything coming out now is, you know, a new paint job on pencils and things like that, right? Like which Blackwing has made like really, really popular. But like the core pencils are still the core pencils that are very, very good. And number one is the best core pencil there is. It's the Mitsubishi Office 9850. This is a classic, classic pencil.

Brad Dowdy: I've used it for years. It took me forever to review it. I just kept forgetting to review it. And previously, the number two pencil on this list, the Blackwing 602. I'm not going to argue if you want that for number one. Like it was number one in this list forever. But the 9850 costs about a dollar less per pencil. And the Blackwing's more in the premium pencil range. So if I'm recommending someone says to me, Brad, I want to try out fancy pencils. Where should I start? Well, I have no problem recommending the 9850. But the cool thing about pencils is you could buy like all five of these pencils for less than $10 and just try them all and see what you like. Because there are good differences between them. I find the 9850 to be super consistent, super enjoyable. So the reason why I put it ahead of the 602 is when I do like a blind writing test, just to like feel the graphite, I will do like blind tests. And you can't do this with a lot of pens or fountain pens. You can tell what they are. But with pencils, you can kind of work your way around it. And the 9850, I keep wanting it to not stand up to the premium ones like the 602 or the Tombow Mono 100, which we'll talk about in a minute. And it does. Like every time I do it, I think it's like it's a more expensive pencil than it is. And that's what made me put it at number one on this update ahead of the Blackwing 602. But like I will not argue the 602 as, you know, number one either. I think it's a one in 1A type of situation. So they're both great. They're just at a, the 9850 is at the standard price point and the 602 is at the premium price point, which is literally like a dollar between them, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Myke Hurley: I could imagine somebody maybe choosing the Blackwing just for visuals. Like. Exactly. The Mitsubishi is very classic, but it's not very like exciting, you know. So I could imagine someone being like, oh, I'll get one of the Blackwings because I can get them in a bunch of fun designs.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. And that's what led me to number three on the list was my first fancy pencil was the aesthetic of the Tombow Mono 100. I think it's the most beautiful pencil on the market. I just prefer the writing experience of the 9850 and the 602. I think the Mono is just the classic, beautiful woodcase pencil. It's like, it's like classic, but modern at the same time. Somehow they've worked their magic on their design magic on the aesthetic of it. And then just like, it feels great to write with. Right. It is. It's just a beautiful, beautiful pencil. So, yeah, it's great. And then what's funny is Tombow's office pencil, like the Mitsubishi office is the 2558. And that one is like, again, less than half the price of the Tombow Mono 100, the premium Tombow pencil. The 2558 is the standard office pencil. And it's just fantastic. Right. It's like another dollar pencil. Right. It's again, like the category is $1 pencils or like $2.50 pencils. Right. It's like standard pricing or premium pricing. And we're not talking about a big difference. But if you're buying a dozen pencils, right, these are very disposable items. Like you just use, use them up. You know, that price point will matter if you're like a bulk user. But to like most people, like, you know, it's not going to really matter. The last one is kind of newish in my testing. I was trying to think about, okay, what other pencils? Like I was pretty confident in the top four. The fifth one is the Faber-Castell 9000. And that one, I think when I was doing my testing, trying to redo this list, that one surprised me the most of all the pencils I haven't been using regularly. To where I thought it separated itself enough from some other standards. Like, you know, the Statler, Mars Lumograph or any other Faber-Castell's or a lot of Caran dashes. To where I thought it was unique enough to land in this list. And I'm actually going to start using it more just to kind of solidify that there. There's one, two pencils fell off this list. One is the Caran d'Ache. It's a great pencil. But like it's just at $5. I don't think it's better than any of these other pencils on there. It's enjoyable to use. And it's a unique experience. But like it's fine. The pencil that I think would be on this list if you could get it is the Camel HB. I think it's one of my personal favorite pencils. I think it's one of the great pencils on the market. And it is just not available right now. Like I put it in the notes section that if you could go to a website and purchase this pencil. Like I could point someone to without like jumping through too many hoops to go buy this pencil. It would be number three on the list. Ahead of the Tombow Mono 100. It's that good of a pencil. It's that unique. It kind of has this weird integrated eraser that I didn't think was going to work. But it works exceptionally well. That would be my number three pencil. And then really once you get through these top four, top five, you could put in like the next 15 or 20 pencils. It's just personal preference, right? This is one of those categories that has like a super long tail with not a lot of drop off, right? There's almost no drop off from like five to 20 on the list are very interchangeable. Where there's other categories like a ballpoint pen category or a fountain pen category. There's going to be a drastic drop off once you get a little bit past the top five. You're not going to find that in wooden pencils. You know, I think there's a clear number four here. And then five through 20 are interchangeable in my book. So that's the update. And that's where we're at with the top five pens page. I think we're good on that for at least the rest of this year. We'll see.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, we'll see. We'll see.

Brad Dowdy: And if companies keep bringing out new pens like the Narwhal here, we might have to update some of those. And that's okay. Like I had to get through the full update. That way I can pick and choose like if something like really drastic happens, I can just update a singular list without having to go through the whole thing. So I feel pretty good about it.

Myke Hurley: Hey, Brad. Yes, sir. Raw Geek. It's Raw Geek.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. I know exactly what you're talking about. That is one of those. It's a great meme. It's a great meme where if you're not, you'll have to put the link in the show notes. Oh, yeah. There's several different racing teams that have done the Raw Geek ideas.

Myke Hurley: It started with Ferrari in July 2020. Okay. They published a poster that said it was supposed to say Race Week. But they laid it out in such a way that it looked like it said R-A-W-E-C-E-E-K. Raw Geek. Yep. This is where this comes from. And it is now like just a meme. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: The Haas grocery bag one this week was fantastic.

Myke Hurley: I did not see that. I'll need to find that.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, yeah. So, the Haas did a grocery bag one where like Nico's holding a bag that's on the right that says R-A-C-E on it in the raw. And then Kevin has the other side, W-E-E-K-A on his bag. But it's designed to be like the Raw Seek.

Myke Hurley: Raw Geek. Raw Geek. And so, it is Race Week around here. That's a big deal. Like, we are back on it. It's time to go. Very excited. Because they did a Chipotle meme. That was what they were doing. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: That was a Chipotle bags. It was Chipotle bags. Yep. Yep. So, it was great. So, I wanted to use this opportunity to talk about a couple of things. One, back markers is back, baby.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, baby. I'm going to be back.

Brad Dowdy: So, what's the schedule?

Myke Hurley: I won't spoil the schedule just yet. But we are going to be having our first episode of the season. Kind of our preview episode. As today, we're recording it on Thursday the 2nd. It will be live, available for everybody. We're going to stream it live. And it will be out momentarily afterwards in the podcast feed. And we're going to be doing our pre-season. So, like, what we're expecting from what we've seen and what we're hoping. We're going to be doing our predictions for the season. We're going to be talking about Drive to Survive. Because the fifth season has just finished, Drive to Survive. And we're also going to be ranking deliveries, as we like to do. So, lots of action-packed episodes to get you set for the Formula 1 season for 2020.

Brad Dowdy: I can't wait for that. Hopefully, I'm going to get to tune in live. We'll see. We'll see. But I'm excited. There's nothing better than pre-season for any, like, sports you follow. And, like, the pre-season is where everyone has hope and everyone has a chance. And it's just the funnest time of any season, I think.

Myke Hurley: Well, mostly everyone.

Brad Dowdy: It's not looking very overall. Yeah, mostly everyone. We're not going to talk about some of these teams. We'll let you all do that tomorrow. But what I wanted to do is share with you the new Ferrari Montblanc, Myke. I put this in refill a couple of weeks ago. And I figured today would be a good day to bring it to the podcast in case you didn't see it. So, this is the Montblanc Ferrari Stilema SP3. It costs 25,000 euros. Where am I? It's 28,000 euros. You know who they need to get on this, Brad?

Myke Hurley: They need to get Montegrapper on the case. You know what I mean? I feel like it would have a hidden helmet in there somewhere. And, like, you know.

Brad Dowdy: Maybe some raw seek in there.

Brad Dowdy: So, what do you think about this pen in general? Give me your breakdown of the Stilema. It's fine. See, I'm the opposite. Like, it's either absolutely amazing or horrible. Right? And you're in the middle. And I'm on the extremes. It's either, like, absolutely unbelievably cool or just so bad, like, with this brake light situation going on here that I can't stand it. And I think I'm more in the latter. Like, I'm not even in the fine category.

Myke Hurley: I think it's pretty bad. I think it's fine. I don't like it. That's kind of where I am with it. It's like, I can look at this and be like, I have no doubt that there are some people that love this. But I don't. Right. So.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Like, this is one of those. This isn't even in the Montegrappa category, I think, that it's going to do well. Like, this is way outrageous more than that. But, like, it's going to do well for, like, the people who are buying this. Right? Like, Ferrari. If nothing else, Ferrari will just buy them all and give them to people. But the red acrylic insert, like, that looks great on paper. Right? And it probably looks great on the desk. And they even say that. It's not a pen for the pocket, but a pen for the desk. It's like, I get it. But, like, it's got a clip and everything. Like, I'm just like, what is happening with this? It's like, I don't know. But then I look at it and look at all these pictures like, that's kind of cool, too. So, like, I don't think it's fine. I'm either all the way in or all the way out. And I don't know which. I don't know which. I think I lean more to all the way out. But it's so cool to see. I feel like if you have to ask the question, you'll know all the way in. Yeah, I think you're probably right. You're probably right. So, if you had to build a pen, can you, without spoiling, like, I already probably know what your favorite livery is this year.

Brad Dowdy: If you were Montagrappa and you were making a pen, would you pick Ferrari to make the pen around and have, like, the different colors? Like, what manufacturer would you want to build a pen around based on, like, this year's livery?

Myke Hurley: I don't necessarily think it's, I would, well, you see, I wouldn't necessarily go on what my favorite livery is there. Because I don't know if that, like, if that holds up in the same way to what would be an interesting pen design. Right.

Brad Dowdy: That's, you got to think of it from a pen perspective.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So, if I'm going just from a pen perspective, I think maybe, honestly, I think Alpine would probably be pretty good. The pink and blue. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. Yeah. I think, like, two years in a row, I think I'm just on the Aston color scheme. Yeah. With the dark green and the lime green. I think in a pen would look pretty hot. And, like, there's not a lot of people that do that combination. And whenever they do, it looks pretty good. But the Alpine would be unique and interesting. Right? Like, we're definitely not going to go, like, your basic reds and blacks, like the Ferraris and the Alphas. The full black Mercedes is obviously sick. But, like, that's literally every pen that's blacked out. Right? Yeah. McLaren looks like vomit, which I hate to say. Like, I don't want a pen anywhere near that, anywhere near their design right now. So, yeah. Like, it's, I think it would be, like, it's probably, like, Alpine or Aston Martin for me. So, interesting. Interesting. I'll have to work on some more green and lime green spoke icons because I think that's a cool setup.

Myke Hurley: All right. This episode is brought to you by ExpressVPN. You may have heard me talk about how important it can be to have a VPN to protect your privacy online. So, choosing a VPN that you trust is incredibly important. There are tons of VPN providers out there. The reason I use ExpressVPN and we have them as a sponsor is because they're good. ExpressVPN doesn't log your activity. Lots of VPNs could make money selling your data to advertisers. ExpressVPN can't do this because of the technology that they use called Trusted Server. It makes their servers incapable of storing any data. So, there's no data to sell. It's also incredibly fast. It uses a technology called Lightway, which is a VPN protocol ExpressVPN engineered to make users' speeds faster than ever. Sometimes a VPN can slow your connection down. ExpressVPN doesn't, even if you're streaming video in HD quality with zero buffering. The last thing that really sets ExpressVPN apart is how easy it is to use. You don't need to have any technical skills to get it set up. Just fire up the app and tap one button to connect. That's it. You know, like talking about watching F1. So, if we're traveling around the world, we've had situations in the past where, you know, we're in a hotel and the hotel doesn't have ESPN or whatever. So, we can't watch it unless what we do is fire up ExpressVPN and we use the service that we use at home over the VPN to just tell, like, tells the service, oh, we're in London. We're not actually wherever we are. And we've been able to watch races that way. So, ExpressVPN makes sure that I keep up to date with what's going on all year. CNET, The Verge, Business Insider, and many other tech sites have rated ExpressVPN the number one VPN in the world. So, protect yourself with the VPN that I use and trust myself. Go to expressvpn.com slash penaddict and get an extra three months free on a one-year package. That's expressvpn.com slash penaddict. e-x-p-r-e-s-s-v-p-n.com slash penaddict to learn more. Our thanks to ExpressVPN for the support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: All right. Shout-out of the week. I've been on the OG train of shout-outs, and I'm going to keep that up this week with my buddy Johnny Gamber over at Pencil Revolution, which is now Pencil Revolution Press. So, the old Pencil Revolution blog outdates the penaddict blog by, like, a couple of years. So, like, the penaddict's 15 years. I think Johnny's, like, around 16, 17. But he's not really blogging anymore, and he's turned kind of Pencil Revolution Press into, like, a zine maker, which I've often – I've talked about Johnny's zines here before. And now, like, a bookbinder. So, Pencil Revolution Press is now Johnny's outlet for handmade journals, sketchbooks, custom bindings, and all types of things like that around notebook making, bookbinding, cool designs, all handmade by Johnny and crew. And crew usually means his daughter, I'm pretty sure. So, I just wanted to give him a shout-out because I think he's doing amazing work. He is super prolific on making notebooks and just, like, the content that he constantly cranks out. It's kind of amazing. So, I wanted to give everyone an update on Pencil Revolution, and y'all should go check it out and check out Johnny's amazing work with all these notebooks. So, it's fantastic, and I love seeing it. So, there you go. There you go. Keeping the OG run alive here in the stationary game.

Myke Hurley: All right.

Brad Dowdy: All right. One more quick update, and then I guess we'll see if we get to any STPA today. The top five pens was a long-running project for me, and that is complete. And I have been passively working on the Pen Addict 100, which we'll probably talk about more in depth soon because I've made some headway in this in that my Toyocacraft 100 box is my guideline, right? That is my guiding light. I want no more than 100 pens over $100 that are my, like, personal pens. And that's kind of the restriction I've put on myself to help manage my library of pens. So, that means I've, like, sold off a bunch of pens. I need to sell off some more, but I have everything that's in the box in a spreadsheet now, Myke. So, we are accounted for. I think there's 84 line items on the spreadsheet so far, but I'm well over 100 pens still because there's some more trays of pens that I need to account for that are expensive, which means I have to thin the herd even more because it's about to be pen show season. I'm going to have three pen shows. Let's see. Baltimore's in, like, 10 days, and that'll start a run of, like, three pen shows in six or seven weeks. Okay. So, like, this is something I'm committed to. I'm going to continue to work at it. It has admittedly been a little bit slow, but it's kind of a big project, right? Like, I have to think about, like, selling pens and which pens I'm not using and then, like, putting them up for sale and things like that. But the first batch of pens I've sold, I think there were 17 in that batch. Like, I probably need to figure out another 20 or so to get me in a place to where I can actively, like, buy things for my own personal collection, which I haven't really done this year. I haven't added anything on a personal level. And there's lots of caveats and nuance into things that land into the Penatic 100, right? So, like, I don't count things that were, like, this is all stuff that I've bought and paid for myself or acquired for myself for my personal use, not, like, review pens and things like that. There's several exceptions, but I'm trying in general to manage, like, my overall library of pens, and we'll have an update on that here. I'm going to keep working on it over these next couple months. They're going to be interesting as I start to head out to pen shows and see what's out there on the market. So, it should be fun.

Myke Hurley: I am very keen to go through this with you as you're going through it. Like, I think it would be fun to, on the show, take it, like, 10 at a time. Okay. Yeah. Once you're kind of in there. Because I just think it would be really interesting. And also, like, this kind of fascinating look back at the history of the show and the blog, like, and how that is told through the pens that you're choosing. I'm really excited about this, actually.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, and there's a lot of that in there. So, I think probably, like, I need one more big sale before I'd be ready to, like, say we're pretty close to that, to where we could, like, spend an entire episode going through this process. So, yeah. I think it'll be good. Like, I'm still, like, very excited about this. Even though I know I've been talking about it for a while, it's gone very slowly. But, like, it's a big project. And there's just a lot of moving parts to it. So, I'm trying to get it to where I'm very comfortable with it. And I think, you know, another month or two after another pen sale or so, like, I'll start working on that probably in the next week or two. And starting to pull pens to thin it out a little bit and keep going from there.

Myke Hurley: All right. Let's finish off with a couple of Ask TPA questions today. Remember, you've got a bunch of ways you can send these in by email to hello at penaddict.com. Or you can go to penaddictfeedback.com or use question mark Ask TPA in the RelayFM members' Discord. The first one comes from Austin who says, I really enjoy the paper in my Lihit Lab Twist notebook. And I was wondering if you could recommend an A5 bound notebook with the same or similar paper.

Brad Dowdy: I have not used this exact notebook. My guess is, looking at this paper, gosh, is there anything special about this? Like, I'm just wondering. I think it's just really, like, the rings idea. So, Kukuyo and Morriman I would look at because they do the same type of ring systems. And I'm wondering, honestly, where Lihit Lab sources their paper from. And I'm wondering, could it be Kukuyo?

Brad Dowdy: Possibly. That's at least where I would start because they have the similar type of notebooks. I apologize that I've never actually used this notebook to give you a really great answer. I'm looking at some images of it. And, yeah, like, I'd be looking at Kukuyo and Morriman to test. They have very similar products. And not that everyone uses the same paper source. They definitely don't. But I'm actually pretty curious about these and possibly being maybe like a Kukuyo type of paper. So, I would start there, look at Kukuyo and Morriman, and go from there. And then I will order one of these the next time I order some stationery, and I can test it for myself. So, I will have to do a better job at that and see what I can help out with.

Entry-level pens and mid-range pen recommendations

Myke Hurley: And Temp or I asks, I have a handful of entry-level pens, but I'm looking at getting into the $99 to $200 range sometime this coming year. I'm rather taken with the idea of having all my future pens be interchangeable, number 6 nib compatible. I was wondering how much actual variation there is within the number 6 range as a quasi-standard across the industry. Or will I have to limit myself exclusively to a brand like Yoa number 6 to achieve this? Such a good question.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. It's very complex. But it's a great idea when you're thinking about, hey, these are the pens I have. What can I do to get the most out of, like, literally everything, right? And that includes the nib. Because, like, you, like, being you, Myke, like, you, for example, have several nibs that are modified. You have some stacked design nibs, and you can interchange them between a few different pens, but you're limited to kind of, hey, do I have a Yovo stacked grind? Well, that can only go in the pens with the Yovo fittings. Or do I have a Sailor pen? Well, those can only go in the Sailor fittings, right? So you're never, I was almost going to say never, but probably you're never going to be able to interchange anything. Let's just say that, even though that could be factually incorrect. Because you can actually buy different parts and different fittings from different websites that will allow, you know, I'm going to make this up, and so don't fact check me, to fit a Sailor nib into a Pilot pen, right? Or a Sailor nib into a Yovo pen, right? There's companies that will actually, like, 3D print parts or do that kind of stuff. But I think that's a little bit beyond even what the question's asking. And I think in the end, you're not going to be able to get just, like, this complete purity of interchangeable nibs. You can start with some basics like Yovo to have a wider range. But as soon as you get into, like, Japanese pens, like, you have to throw all that out the window, right? You know, brands like Leonardo and Montagrappa, they use, Yovo makes their nibs, right? Like, Kaweco, they use Yovo nibs, but they're not interchangeable with, like, Leonardo and Montagrappa nibs because they work with Yovo to make their own Kaweco style nib, right? So it's a really complex question. I don't think you're ever going to be able to get, like, 100% there. You may not even be able to get 50% there. But what I think you can do is, like, with anything like this is you want to start small to begin with, right? And if you find a couple things that you enjoy that are compatible, look at what you enjoy the most and try to make the most compatible setup for those few products. Like, if it's a specific nib you like and it's a Yovo nib, well, maybe you can have two or three pens that you can swap that nib in and out of. Or if it's a pen you like, maybe you can have two or three nibs that you can swap into that pen. And that's kind of how I would look at it as opposed to say, hey, I have 10 pens and I want to interchange all of it. I don't know that you're going to get there without, like, a serious, serious fight. And that wouldn't be worth it in my book.

Myke Hurley: I would just say, like, again, I don't know your preferences. Personally, I bet you do not do this as much as you think you will. Like, interchange nibs and stuff. Like, it might be something that, like, you have a favorite. But realistically, it's a pain to do. Like, it's not hard, but it's messy most of the time. Or, like, I don't know about you, Brad, but every time I do it, I know what I'm doing. But I'm always like, at some point, I am going to break something. Right. I do have that feeling every time I'm swapping out a nib or taking out a nib, you know, to thoroughly clean a pen. It's like, it is a matter of time until something breaks. Right. Right. Just because these things are fragile and you are having to put force on them in most pens. Right. Like, most of this stuff is friction fit.

Myke Hurley: Luckily, some are screw, which is great. Right. Like, I have a bunch of pens where you screw in the nib section and that's great, but it's not always like that. And so, you know, I would say I wouldn't limit yourself like this. Yeah. Like, maybe you could have some pens at number sixes, but don't necessarily go all in on that as, like, this is what you're definitely going to do. Unless you are 100% sure that this is the way that you live your life. Like, this feels to me like one of those kinds of decisions that I would have made at some point. Like, I'm only going to do this, but realistically, it's just not something that you end up doing. But that would be my thing to think about.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Like, I have a higher fidgeting tolerance than you. Like, I will swap parts around and move feeds around and nibs around and things like that. But there's a limit to where, like, I have no interest in, you know, pulling my Aurora nib and trying to jam it in a Twisby. Like, some people, like, that's just their thing is to, like, Franken-pin everything. And I'm like, I don't care that much to do that. Right. So, you'll have to find what your balance point is and your tolerance is for, like, swapping all these parts around and having so everything works with each other. And, like, I just think it's too fiddly.

Myke Hurley: Don't you want to use the other pens? Yep.

Brad Dowdy: You'll end up with a bunch of spare parts laying around.

Myke Hurley: But, like, if you buy pens, unless you're just buying nibs. Like, if you're buying specialty nibs, of course, right? Like, that makes sense at that point. But use the other pens, too. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. All right. If you want to find us online, there's a bunch of ways you can do that. You can go to penaddict.com and spokedesign.com for Brad. You can also find Brad. He is penaddict on mastodon.social. I bet you're happy you got that, right? Just penaddict now, isn't it? Very.

Brad Dowdy: So, I registered in that. If you look at my creation date, it was 2017. So, that I've had for a while.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. You can also find Brad streaming multiple times a week over at twitch.tv slash penaddict. You can find me online here at RelayFM. Of course, I host many shows. I am imike on mike.social. And you can also find my products over at cortexbrand.com. Thanks so much for listening to this week's episode. Thank you to Uni and ExpressVPN for their support of this episode. But most of all, thank you for listening. Until next time, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad. So, you can hear a little...