Editing The Pen Addict 272/transcript (section)

== Artist Perspective ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So what, what did you think walking into that atmosphere as really, you know, coming from an artist perspective into this huge, like more of a collector's room?

'''Joey Feldman:''' Well, you know, I, I'm a comic book fiend and a nut. And over the years, I definitely had my fair share of going to comic cons and monster cons and stuff like that. So that made me feel at home. So, you know, so I didn't have a problem going there and I thought it was really, really cool that there was actually, you know, a show where you could go and, and other people that were into this pen hobby were like really into. So I, I, I was, I really dug it. I really dug it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. So, um, how much trouble did you get spending money at that show? Were you, were you able to control yourself or what, did you go a little bit crazy seeing all that stuff in one place?

'''Joey Feldman:''' Uh, at first it was overwhelming cause I didn't know where to start, you know, but then I was like, I'm hanging out with you and I keep getting these ideas. And then, you know, you meet the people who you meet online in person and they're like right there. Like they'll run over to you like Jason or Daniel, you know, you know, like one of them's in my left ear, the other's in the right. Hey man, there's a, Hey, come look at this. Yeah. Custom Pelican M 800. Hey, Mont Blanc 149 over here. And it's like, okay, just show me. And you go and you buy it and you take it home. You don't like it. And then you sell it, you know, but. I don't remember what I, I think I, I think I, you know, that was the year that Lisa Van Ness had those, uh, vintage Schaefer's. I forget what they're called with the stubs. Right. Legacy twos. Legacy two. And I bought like three or four of them off of her.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Cause she had a big deal going on on those. They were like, the price was crazy, crazy cheap. I remember we, we must've sold like 20 of those things. Cause that's when I was working for Lisa.

'''Joey Feldman:''' Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' At that show. Yeah.

'''Joey Feldman:''' Well, I bought a couple pens and then like, it was like on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. She's like, Oh, y'all see this. And I'm like, huh? She puts it in my hand. I start writing with it. I'm like, I've been looking for the whole pen show for something like this. So, you know, I wound up making a deal with her and I got like three of them or something. She had left. And then she had to send me one because she did, she sold a lot of them that weekend.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. We, I, I remember that. And, uh, and once people started passing those around, we started getting more customers for that. So it was, it was, it was weird to see that, uh, as a, uh, you know, just like a recurring theme running through the show. It was kind of funny, but, uh, I'm sure Lisa was very, very happy, happy about that. But so what, um, what do you feel about the community as a whole? Like coming from that show, then it's only been, you know, not even two full years, you know, coming up to like San Francisco, which we'll talk about it in a minute. And how do you feel getting into immersed to this little subculture we have going on?

'''Joey Feldman:''' I mean, I, I love it. I think it's fantastic. Uh, some of, some of the people that I've met have been some of like the most generous, like really well-meaning people. Like, you know, if I, if I put a tweet out or something and I'm like, Hey, I'm interested in trying so-and-so's notebooks. Has anybody tried it? I'm not asking for it. I was just asking for an opinion. I'll get somebody like, I just got one in the mail the other day. Some, Hey, can I have your address? And they send me one. Hey, I got an extra. Why don't I share it with you? Yeah. And what's so, and I try to pass that along too. Like if I have a pen that I've paid for and it's just sitting up on, you know, my shelf that I'm never going to use that. I know that that would bring great joy and satisfaction to somebody else. It's worth it for me, you know, not thinking about like, I'm not a millionaire or anything like that, but it's worth it for me to give away a pen like that because I liked, I like when people feel good and I like to give joy to people. So I get that. And I think that's like an overwhelming response. I think if you don't give away stuff that you're just hoarding and using, you know, I don't tell you this, just give everything away and all that stuff. I think it's kind of like spiritually selfish in the pen realm, if that makes any sense. No, it totally makes sense. Because anytime I've ever given away a pen or a notebook or something, something always magical comes back like tenfold. Like, you know, I had something happen in San Francisco of something I was really bummed about a pen that I got and I just wasn't happy with it. And somebody out of the blue made good on it. And like I've been writing with it every day since I got back from San Fran. So it's like, you know, little things like that. I just I kind of dig that. Yeah.