Editing The Pen Addict 228/transcript (section)

== Fountain Pens ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I agree with that. And I also agree with the process of learning up to the fountain pen. You know, my kids are 10 and 8 and they always want to use my pens and inks and things like that. So we sit there and we talk about, you know, here's what this pen does. Here's what you can use it for. Here's why you need to be careful with it. And as they went through, like, learning about rollerball pens and gel pens and highlighters and things like that, once I saw that they were committed to using them properly, I got them Pilot Cocoonos, which is a very kid-friendly pen. It's lightweight. It's colorful. It has a smiley face on the nib. So, you know, you're holding it in the right direction. Things like that. And they really enjoy writing with those. And, you know, they don't use it all the time. They tend to stick with the normal pens more because it is more of a challenge to write with a fountain pen nib. And that's something we need to sit down and practice with. But that's the pen I like for that. And I certainly agree with kind of the leveling them up to that point to where it's a reward. And then you can sit down and really practice with the fountain pen. So really good question.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, it's a great question. I like that one of the...

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. This next one, I believe this is Judith. I can't quite make it out, but that's what I'm going to go with. So it says, Dear Misters, Dowdy, and Hurley, I've been listening to your podcast for a few months now. I started with episode one and I've gotten up to 120 and I read the blog semi-regularly. As I was getting ready to go to the Colorado Pen Show, I listened to a few new episodes and checked the blog to see if there was anything I didn't know about happening at the show. That's how I learned you're looking for questions via U.S. Mail. I don't have any specific questions, but I would enjoy you having Ryder Carroll on the show again to discuss his bullet journal system. This week's Digital Divide from the Gentleman Stationer says, Things like the bullet journal have taken a life of their own where it becomes more about the journal itself and less about the information in it. At the pen show, I overheard another attendee asking, what was the right sort of fountain pen for a bullet journal? And here in town, there are workshops and planners taught at a craft store. I'm wondering if this is an example of the difference between product and process orientation. In the online knitting world, there are discussions of knitting because the knitter enjoys doing it versus knitting for the sake of making things. Process versus product. Personally, I do use the bullet journal system in some sort of A5 notebook with paper I enjoy using whatever pen is handy when I need to record something. I do not illustrate mine or add Snickers or use any color coding. I also knit. I knit a lot. Sometimes I finish something. Judith. So, number one, we've talked about getting Ryder on for his third trip through the pen addict ringer. And I think this would be interesting for the exact questions that Judith asks here, right? So, you see a lot of the bullet journal stuff and it's more about how fancy you can make it. The flair, the add-ons, the beauty as opposed to the actual process of getting things done, right? So, that's one of the hugest questions I would ask Ryder. And that's also why I don't necessarily do those types of things because it doesn't really fit the way I work. I don't bullet journal. I don't have any system. I basically have a checklist system because I need to write something down and I need to check it off when I'm done. I don't need to spend the additional time to go through any extra embellishments. There's nothing wrong with that. You just have to find, does that fit with your system? Do you have any thoughts on this, Myke?

'''Myke Hurley:''' More, really, just around bullet journal as a thing. I get people mention bullet journal to me as in like they're telling me something, you know? Like, oh, I use this thing. You should check out this thing. Like people that know that I'm interested in pens, every now and then I'll get a tweet about it. And so, it's funny to me because I think of our relationship with Ryder and the way that we helped, kind of with which he has acknowledged, which we're both very proud of, about kind of helping get the word out about the bullet journal. So, it's always funny to see these things come around, you know, to now people saying to me, hey, you should check out this thing.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But more than anything, I'm just really intrigued to talk to him about how it's taken off and become bigger than anything he can manage. You know, like bullet journal is a thing, not necessarily a product now. Like it is, that is a journaling system. It's like daily planning. Like it is a thing. And I'm very keen to talk to Ryder about what that experience is like in trying to continue to make a business out of something that's grown bigger than him.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Because where my disconnect now is the difference between the visual aspects and the functional aspects of what the bullet journal has become become in the larger sense of, you know, what you see on Instagram and things like that. So, yeah, it's kind of fascinating.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because it started off as an idea. He turned it into a product and a business. Now it's gone back to being an idea again. And I would like to kind of see what he thinks about that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. I'm going to hit this next one. All right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm going to take a break first though.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. Go.

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'''Brad Dowdy:''' The only thing I can save you from is how awesome their handles are because when we went on our trip, my wife, of course, uses Harry's razors and handles as well. And she saw my razor sitting on my side of the sink with the orange handle and threatened me for stealing her razor with the orange handle. I was like, let me explain the difference between these handles. You have the original Harry's orange handle with the smooth plastic finish. Mine is the new softer dimpled rubberized finish. So slow your roll. Don't steal my razor. And Harry's orange handles are awesome.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think it's time for you to upgrade Mary Beth.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I should.

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'''Brad Dowdy:''' You're up. All right. So this next letter is from Diana. And it cracked me up. So a lot of these letters have different embellishments on the envelopes and things like that. And people broke out their fancy tools and toys to, you know, write these letters to us and show out a little bit. And hers was especially funny. So on the back of her envelope, it says, and I laughed so hard because I found this out the hard way myself. Apparently, fancy envelopes don't have lickable flaps. Wish I had fancy wax seals. Scotch tape will do. So sometimes when you buy these envelope kits, the envelopes aren't sticky on the inside. Huh. They're just paper. So you have to have something extra to stamp, like your fancy tape or your wax stamp. That's amazing. So I read that on the outside. I cracked up because I've done the exact same thing. I'm like, oh, I don't have anything to seal this up with. Then I pull out the letter, what I think is the letter. And it's like, psych, ooh, a double envelope. Fancy. So there's like a layer, a protective layer inside the fancy envelope. That's another fancy envelope also with no sticky stuff. So this is all before I'm getting to the letter, which that just totally cracked me up. So thank you for that, Diana. All right. Let's see what she's got here. I guess I can't even remember. Thank you so much for the excuse to use my new pad of writing paper. I probably wouldn't have otherwise bothered to ask this question, but I just had to write a real letter. And here it is. For us fidgety white writers, what are the top five mid-range $100-ish posting fountain pens? My lammies are fantastic, but the cap of my TWSBI eco has made many a flying leap over the boardroom table. It's deceptive. It seems to post, but the first twitch of the fingers and off it goes. That is very true. I have large hands, so I need to post for good balance and not to lose the caps. So please help. Many thanks. Big fan, Diana of the twitchy fingers. P.S. Do you hashtag snail mail? Why not? Hashtag ask TPA. Hashtag currently inked Lamy Safari EF with Lamy Turquoise. So number one, you do absolutely hashtag snail mail. I do it all the time. You have to. You have to. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Otherwise, how is it going to be searchable?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. I can't ever search it without it. So posting fountain pens in the $100 range is a tough one.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I am completely useless in this because I do not post.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I do not post either. But even in that price range, the pens I've used, pens I can think of, like the Sailor Regulus Post. It's a nice steel nib sailor pen. It's a little bit thin, but it's got good length. The Pelican M205 you can find for under $100 if you shop hard enough. It's not always that price, but I found them for under $100. If you have large hands, it's a smaller pen, but posted, it works really well.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I find the Kaweco AL Sports to be a very good posted length pen as far as size and weight goes, even though when it's capped, it's really like a pocket pen. It's a shorter pen. It's clipless unless you add on the clip.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I would say, I know that we're going on the short side and just getting shorter and shorter as I'm about to say this. But something like the Kaweco Lilliput, that screws on, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That might be a good idea.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. That's too thin. And if you have large hands and you're writing a lot, I wouldn't recommend that pen. I'd use the AL Sport. Even though it doesn't screw on, it posts very securely and it posts to a full-size pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You're seeing where I'm going with this though, right? If you can screw it on, it's not going to fall off. Right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. So the other ones post deeply and post tightly. Obviously, that's a weird price point. Always has been. Anything between $50 and $100 is a very strange price point. Like the Pilot Pereira posts wonderfully. It's just a smaller, lightweight pen. You have to decide if you like that. It's under $50 and it's a great pen. Writes wonderfully. So that's maybe something to look at.