Editing The Pen Addict 351/transcript (section)

== Show Anniversary Discussion ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Awesome. So speaking of our 350th, we talked about it last week and just how important the show's been in our lives and how much we enjoy doing it every week and how much we enjoy all of our listeners. We asked people to reach out, you know, just out of curiosity who had been there since the beginning, you know, not have listened to every episode, but were actually there like listening when episode one dropped. And were you surprised at the number of people that reached out? Because I kind of was.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I was. We had a bunch of I had a bunch of tweets. I've been getting tweets all week, but it was really fun for me because honestly, like most of the people that were tweeting and saying, oh, I've been listening since the beginning. I would see their like their handles or whatever and be like, oh, yeah, like I remember you. Totally. Right. Totally agree. Like for years and years. Like I know that we've been talking for years and years and years. So but like it's it's you kind of lose track of that sometimes. But like most of the people that were tweeting at us, I was like, oh, yeah, of course. Right. Like we used to talk about, you know, you used to sending great feedback four or five years ago. Like, of course. So it was really nice.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. The names that kept popping up, I thought the exact same thing. I'm like, well, of course you are. Like, I remember we've talked since we've been talking forever online. You forget how fast like Internet time flies. Like you forget that we've been doing this for seven years or whatever it is. And, you know, the people there in the beginning were relaying those stories. And you're like, oh, my gosh. Yeah. Like, it's totally right. So I got a bunch of emails to Myke and I got one that I purposely didn't put in the show notes. OK. And I want to read it. And I asked for permission to read this because, you know, it's a little emotional, you know, as we do. And I felt it was just kind of like the epitome of everything that we believe in and want to do for the show. So I have redacted some information. They asked me to do that. So I thought I would read this. So are you ready, Myke Hurley?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, of course.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Dear Brad and Myke, congratulations with 350 episodes. You have asked for feedback from those who listened to Pen Addict from the start. I am one of those people. I remember vividly walking along redacted. That was that was my redacted part. And listening to your very first episode. I was already familiar with Myke's work through the bro show with Terry Lucy. What a long way from that to connected. And I heard both of you on the episodes of enough. Back then, I had one unused fountain pen, one bottle of ink, and a small handful of gel pens. Now I am a proud owner of a custom Nakaya, 13 platinum 3776s. Sounds about right. Of Visconti London Fog and 36 other pens. And let's not count ink, shall we? Since then, I have moved three times, got married, and subsequently divorced. Was promoted twice. Bought my own flat. And during all that time, I never stopped listening to you and everything else made by Myke and Co. You both feel like good friends that I have never met. By the way, going to the Atlanta Pen Show is in the plans for 2020. This is not the first time reaching out to you. I've had my Ask TPA questions and got the answers. It's a really nice feeling to hear your own name on the favorite podcast. I even emailed Myke once about a podcast idea and still have Myke's very lovely and lengthy response. He didn't even know CGP grade back then. Brad, Myke, I made a mistake of writing this email while in a coffee shop and now I'm getting misty-eyed in public. Thank you both for being there for all of us, pen addicts. Thank you for giving me something else to think about when I suffered from depression and when my mom had surgery and when my dad was diagnosed with cancer. And thank you for being there for me now when my life is going through another change. Pen addict is one of the few constants in my life for the last seven years. Please don't ever stop talking about pens, paper, and all other analog tools. I really, really like both of you and wish you many years of happiness and inspiration. Warmest wishes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's pretty good. That's it. That's it. That's pretty good. That's why we do it. Like, you don't think about, like, we don't go into creating something and go, hey, I hope this is the response we get, right? We're just who we are. We do what we do. And like I always say, we hope people like it, right? But I do feel that, like, we do have something special. Like, this is just what we've built by just being who we are and talking about fun stuff and having a good time and, you know, believing in a strong community and lifting everybody up and providing everyone a silly little bit of entertainment about pens and paper an hour a week. And we're pretty happy that people like it, right? It's pretty cool. So, yeah, that was, that would knock my socks off, Myke. So, it's very cool.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Thank you to that individual for that email. It's very kind. It's very kind, dude.