Editing The Pen Addict 163/transcript (section)

== Wonder Pens ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' But yeah, it was great. She went to this little pen shop, this great looking pen shop. It's called Wonder Pens.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, Wonder Pens. It's in Toronto. And that's my kind of pen shop. It was like stuff everywhere. I mean, boxes in the windows but just like shelves filled with ink and pens and paper. She was flipping through all the paper. It was really good. I thought I just really liked hearing Tanya speak. She was like super calm and relaxed. And, you know, it wasn't like a handwriting video, right? They showed her, you know, and she talked about writing, you know, handwriting and how, you know, it's a lost art. And we've lost a whole generation of people who, you know, can't even read cursive, much less write it. But it wasn't just like straight up focused on her with ink on the page. I thought the ink on the page parts were totally complimentary to the rest of the story they were telling. And I thought they did a really good job. And Ryan Coldry was the director and who filmed it. And I thought it was really spectacular. I really, really enjoyed it. I mean, it's seven minutes. It's seven minutes well spent.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It was a beautiful video. And I'll be watching this again. I've definitely got this saved so I can pick it up and get some inspiration sometimes. In the video, she's a huge fan of Noodler's Black. Yeah. So that's the ink she was using for her dip pens. It's waterproof ink. This is how she was stating. And that's the thing she uses the most. And she has a tray full of pens on her desk.

'''Myke Hurley:''' She had one of the fancy J.O. Barnes as well.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. She did. Did you notice that? I did. It's the Stormy Gray. She actually made a... She's getting a lot of feedback. I followed her on Twitter and Instagram after I saw this. And on Instagram today, we'll post a link into the show notes. She posted an image of all the pens and ink she's using. So we'll put that in there. She just did that a few hours ago. And you can see all the pens. You know, she's got like a Lamy Safari, a Schaefer. You know, her various dip pens and things like that. So very cool. So well worth your time to check out and save and watch anytime you need some inspiration or just want to watch some good filmmaking done. I thought it was a really, really nice job.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I do have an opinion. A potentially controversial opinion.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's why we're here.

'''Myke Hurley:''' When she was... And you just mentioned it then about the... About her feeling that it's a problem, maybe. That people these days, like kids these days, don't know how to write in cursive, that kind of thing. Mm-hmm. I don't think that's a problem.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm... That's an entire episode. That one little statement. Because... Go ahead and elaborate, yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. So the reason I don't think it's a problem is because if you don't care, right? Like we do. Mm-hmm. So like we like that stuff. She likes that stuff. And there are people that will pay her good money to do it because it is this retro-y kind of feeling. Mm-hmm. But the reason that... The reason that kids or people don't care about it these days because they don't need it...

'''Myke Hurley:''' It is not required to write anymore. Like it just isn't. Like you just need to face facts on it like computers, right? We all use them. We know what they are, right? They're our computers. And as long as you can write, it doesn't matter how it looks. And it's probably more efficient and better for the time that you're going to write to write in block capitals. Because everyone can understand them. Mm-hmm. Like cursive is beautiful, or as we would call it here, joined up handwriting. Did you know that we call it like that?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm. I think we've talked about that before. I always forget the phrase that's used. But yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Joined up handwriting. It's not a requirement. Look, don't get me wrong, guys. You know, you are preaching to the choir in saying that this is a beautiful thing that we should never lose. And I agree with that. It should never be lost. But it doesn't need to be learned by every single kid in the world. I think.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Let me help you out here. And I agree with the overall sentiment. What I disagree with is that kids should not learn handwriting, period. And what you're saying is they shouldn't have to learn cursive. I'm okay with them not learning cursive. That's fine. But as long as they have good, proper handwriting, can use a pen on a piece of paper, and it be legible. I'm good with that. But that should never go away in schools. And we're seeing that. We're seeing that happen. Not just cursive as a whole, but writing with analog tools as a whole is disappearing. And that's what I don't want to lose.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I 100% feel that way, that you should still learn to write properly. Like, you just should. And that should be a thing that you learn. I also think that when you're taught, you should be taught cursive. Sure. I believe that you should be, and that shouldn't go away in teaching kids to write that way. I just don't think it's something we need to be concerned about that people don't do it past that point.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think it's unhealthy, to be quite honest. I think you have to do it. I just think it's part of being a well-rounded human being, you know, and being able to have critical thinking. I think it's really all linked in. And you can't just say it's one thing, well, handwriting is going to change everything. But I think it's the mentality of that type of writing and that type of thinking that I'm afraid is going to get lost in the future. And, you know, that's my primary concern. Not, you know, I don't want kids in the third grade to only be using a computer to do their work. I think there's value in teaching handwriting, at least through high school. Not necessarily, you don't have to teach it to the older kids, but it has to be part, write your papers. You know, turn in your first draft of your papers by hand, not on the computer. It's challenging. It's thought provoking. And I just think it makes for a better person. So that's my rant. I think we're generally on the same page. But, I mean, I see what you're saying and I'm just a little bit afraid that we're going to lose it completely from school-age children going forward. So we'll see. Hope not.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. Cheer us up.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' With one of our good buddies.

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