Editing The Pen Addict 573/transcript (section)

== Discussion of items on their desks ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. So should we talk about what we have on our desks today? Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So every now and then Myke and I like to check in with what we are using and the things that are, you know, have, uh, matriculated to the, the top of the desk within reach. And mine is a little bit different this time, which is why I wanted to do it because I've made a little packing kit for my date, essentially overnight trip to Chicago to go talk to Uniball. And I wanted to tell you what I have laid out to bring, uh, stationery wise on this trip, right? If I was going to a pen show, this would be a much longer, much broader carry situation. Um, you know, just for bringing different fountain pens, different inks, different papers, all kinds of different stuff in a much bigger, uh, packing situation. I'm literally carrying a, uh, uh, a Tom Ben, uh, 24 liter backpack is all I'm bringing for, for this trip. So it's a short one. So my stationery packing is light. Number one, the first pen that I've packed, of course, it's going to be a Uniball, but which one Myke, it's going to be the Signo RT 0.8, 0.38 millimeter in black. And there's a big reason why I'm bringing this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Is it because you're a corporate stooge?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It is. Number one, I'm a show. I'm giving you such a hard time today. I just want you to know I love you. That's all. Oh, hey, if anyone could take it, it's me. So, uh, we'll, we'll get to my full, full stooge, stooge-edness, uh, with the last link that I just put in before we stopped, uh, before we started recording today. So, uh, you'll see my full, full stooge-edness, um, uh, here in a moment. But this pen is the core of my talk to Uniball. So we'll save the rest of that. If you've followed me long enough, you kind of know where that's going with that, uh, with that pen. But I physically am bringing this pen to use as a prop, um, for my talk. Um, when I, when I go there. Secondly, this is, this is the real shill. Myke is I'm bringing a spoke roadie, but I'm bringing the spoke roadie because one, it's a great travel pen, but number two, it's built around the uni jet stream. Um, their, their Parker style refill, it's called the SXR 600 07. And I, yeah, that's, that's more of, that's way more shilling than the first one is like, Hey, look at this spoke pen that I made. I am bringing them some spoke gifts, right? I'm bringing them some roadies and some spoke pens, uh, because we build, we build some of our pens around Uniball refills because they are the best, right? I built the, helped build the spoke pen around the Signo DX refill, which is not the same pen that I mentioned up top. And, uh, we can elaborate that on another day in time, why they're different. And then we built the spoke roadie around this jet stream refill. And I chose these refills for specific reasons and that they're the best at what they do for their size. So those are the only two pens I'm bringing. I'm bringing my plotter narrow, which is somewhere where I just have like all, I can keep any notes I need, right? I'll just have one of the random thoughts and note taking and general capture. It's my capture notebook when I'm traveling, right? It's normally has, and it still does have my, like my task and planners and calendars and things like that. But it also has a, just a general notebook section in there. So that's my general notes inside that plotter. I have stuffed a stack of not co note cards, RIP to the not co note cards. Uh, I'm sorry for bringing this up. Yep. Sorry for bringing this up. I do have as my own personal stash. Don't at me, um, to send you some, I wish I could still make them. They don't make the paper. And I have not tried to find something comparable. I am not, I'm never saying never on that one because I love them so much, but, uh, not right now, but I am using some of my stash to plan my talk. So I am note carding my talk, right? So I'm not using a slideshow or laptop or anything like that to do my talk. I'm using note cards. So I've gone through 20 cards or so, just writing notes, ideas, shuffling, shuffling them around, trying to workflow a 20 ish minute talk and note cards work great for that. Right. Because you can manipulate them in certain right ways. You know, I have like, kind of like not quite my final version yet, but you know, I have them numbered. They also look good to hold.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like if you're going to hold something for notes, like note cards are best, better than a notebook, better than a phone or an iPad. Like note cards are really good.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. And I haven't, I'm out of practice, like glancing and talking and glancing and talking. So I'm actually working a little bit. I'll do a final version tonight and like in the hotel room, um, where I have a little bit more visual cues, right? Um, have some bigger like block style, like real points that I want to drive home. So when you're just glancing, right, because I need to be not looking at my cards, but I need them there for reference. So I'm working on the actual, I'll have like a final version tonight where I'll, um, lay that out a little bit better, just visually speaking. But like, I know the content on them, but you, it's just good to have there for refreshers, reminders, and the flow of the conversation. Because I, I mean, you're totally going to get stuck, like while you're talking, like you're just going to get stuck. So you have this good little visual reference to get you back in, back in the path. Um, it's great. Like I'm, I'm kind of excited about using my note cards, uh, for a talk. So that'll be something different for me. And, uh, I'm hoping it goes well. I think it will. I've practiced, you know, yesterday holding the cards, glancing down, but not like staring at them. So like I sit there and practice, I have voice memos all filled up in my phone of me practicing this talk. So yeah, it's a whole thing.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I video myself. That was something that Gray recommends. So my own, my like main example that I think of was back in like 2015, I gave a keynote, uh, opening keynote for the release notes conference. Yeah. And, uh, I was, that's like the biggest kind of presentation I've ever done. And it was Gray's recommendation that I video myself doing it. Yeah. And then just watch it back. And that would be similar to the, the audio too. Just listening. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So like, I'm okay. Not videoing myself. I see myself enough on camera. Like I'm okay with like my emotions and my delivery. Yeah. Yeah. But, um, I will definitely, there will be another session tonight, uh, in the hotel room as I finalize my note cards. But, um, we're, we're, like I said in the beginning where I'm, I feel 80, 90% there. Like I'm not sweating it too much. I just want to kind of stick the, stick the landing a little bit better. So I want to practice a little bit more. Um, lastly, Myke, I'm bringing, uh, some sneakers. The sneakers I'm wearing, Myke are very uni ball centric, uh, you know, little red, little blue, little black. These are actually called, uh, the Jordan one mid deep Royal blue blacks. And yeah, the, I've had these for four or five years. Now back, uh, in the COVID times, I got into the sneaker hobby. I haven't bought a pair of sneakers in two or three years now. So I'm still going through like the 20 pairs that I bought during COVID. Cause that was my, that was what kept me busy. This was one of them. I paid like, like just basic retail, maybe even less than retail. And this is one of those shoes that has kind of gone up from there, right? There's this whole secondary market for them. Like I paid like completely normal, if not below market rate for these when I bought them. Um, but they're cool because the color name is deep Royal blue black. And then that's not a more perfect name for me. I don't know what is. So, um, I, I took a little, took a little picture of me, uh, my, my fit check for my talk tomorrow. Yes. I'm thinking about what sneakers I'm wearing to talk in front of people tomorrow. Um, you feel good, man. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Makes you look good, feel good, feel good, play good. Right. Right. Dress for the job you want. That's right. That's right. Uh, you know that with your, uh, your golf now, man, you gotta, you gotta look the part to play the part, right? Uh-huh.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I may be going to talk about that in a second. I want to mirror your idea of, uh, bringing sneakers to the show.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So I, my, uh, my little set of Uniball RT1, RT fountain pens, excuse me, not the RT1, uh, clipped them to my show, shoes, tagged Uniball in, so I'm, I'm playing it up big here for Uniball and getting ready to, getting ready to hit the road. So, uh, we're going to show out tomorrow. I'm, I'm feeling good.

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'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. What you got going, Myke? That's my packing kit. That's my stationery kit right now. This is going to serve me well for a couple of days. So what do you have going on?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, as always, Sidekick Notepad on the desk is what I use to take notes. It's one of the reasons the product exists. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Not going to lie to you, Myke. I need to use mine more because it's really cool. I really like it and I just have not been using it. But it's one of those things that I know is good and I know it's perfect. And so I just got to put it in the rotation and get going.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Continue to be happy with the feedback we've got about it. Continue to be happy with the sales that we've got. We're really encouraged by how many of these we sell a day, considering we haven't kind of unlocked our full marketing arsenal that we have available at Cortex Brand. Which is a video from Gray, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I was going to say it's Gray's YouTube channel. That's the nuclear option.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I mean, and it's part of what we do, right? Like Gray's made a couple of videos about the journal. And I think that they continue to result in a very long tail of sales. And I think the Sidekick Notepad will maybe get that treatment one day. But it's doing really well on its own out there in the world. And we're very bullish on it. And, you know, we're building a family of products around it now. And we're going for some different layout stuff from different sides and stuff. So that's all to come. I mean, I'm going to say hopefully this year. But, you know, you know how it goes. Sure, sure, sure. But I absolutely love my Sidekick Notepad. I use them every day and you can get it for yourself. Something that has, I think I mentioned this on the show, but I've been really surprised about just how often I am grabbing the Studio Neat Mark III, their pencil. That surprises me greatly. I think I use it every day and have since it arrived. It's actually now, like, so I have my pen cup where I've got a bunch of Mark I's in there. And I've got the Tactile Turn and, like, just a quick to grab pens, quick to make note pens. That's on my, like, main desk. And then I have all my fountain pens on my recording desk, where I am now. But on the, I'll kind of look at the main desk. But I have my Mark III just sitting next to my Sidekick Notepad there. And it's just, like, quickly grab it and just, like, scribble something down. And I find it to be very pleasant to use. Today, the pen that I'm using to take my show notes with is the Pen Addict Agiotto Colab. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Just a treat to use. I, yeah. Like, y'all don't want me to talk about Agiotto because it will just not be fair. Like, that's how much I love the pen. Like, that's all you need to know. It's a really special pen to me. I don't understand why I like it so much. Like, it's really hard to grasp the concept of such a simple product. Same goes with, like, the Studio Neat, like, the Mark I and III's, right? Like, they're very simple. Very simple. But the thought and care that goes into the design and construction of these things, it sets them apart. That's why, like, I fought over some of these things like that, especially, like, the Agiotto. My collaboration with them is just, it's one of my favorite pens of all time, bar none.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's so comfortable to use. Deceptively heavy, but in a good way. Like, it's got weight to it, which you wouldn't expect just by looking at it. And the tape is super good, and the texture they put on this with the paint is, like, excellent. And obviously, it carries the same great refill that's in many of the pens that we adore, like the Mark I and the Rage 51. And then my extra that I'm bringing today is my golf bag. Nice. It's by a company called Vice. Okay. I found them on Instagram, and I have a bunch of their stuff now because I really love their whole, like, aesthetic. It's very fun. That's really cool. Very loud. And I have the Force Golf Bag in gray and neon lime. Yeah. Accent. This is sweet. Very loud. This is a very loud bag, but that is exactly what I'm looking for. It's, like, I don't think it's that loud. I mean, it is, like, compared to the golf bag. That lime, the lime is, what I would say is every time I see someone's golf bag, the golf bags tend to be on the more chill side. Like, they're just, like, one color or whatever. Maybe they've got a big logo on them. But this has a big logo and a bunch of, like, neon lime accents.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I love it. Like, as, like, I'm not an old, stodgy golf person. I would carry this in a second. Like, this looks great. And plus, it looks like a good design, right? I'm a double strap, carry bag, stand bag type of person. Very flexible.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like, a couple of handles in key places. The double strap, which you can use one or both. Like, and it's got that little mechanism that when you put it down, the little legs pop out so you can stand it. It's really nice. Pockets in the right place. I also have a matching golf glove. Like, same style. Nice. Nice. Nice.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Love it. Myke and I, we're planning a, the idea has been popped into our head to have a golf outing at some point in the future. The Pen Addict Podcast Invitational. So, yeah, that's great. I love that the golf thing has stuck with you. And I was, yeah, I was telling you before the show, I need to get back and start practicing. I haven't picked up a club in probably two years. So, I need to go to the driving range some this summer, maybe play a round or two. Because I might be doing a little something fun in September, which is not far away, Myke. The days are going by fast. Too fast.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Brad, you think? Yeah? You think I'm not aware of how close September is? Oh, my gosh.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So, completely sidetracking.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm at the point where I'm about to start my countdown clock.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Like, right now, you probably feel behind, right? Yeah. Like, it's just the nature of the calendar right now. So, yeah, I feel you. I feel you. Hey, just so you know, and I haven't told you this, I got a lot of stuff working behind the scenes. So, we're going to do some fun Pinnatic stuff this year. Heck, yeah. Come on. It's all working. It's all working already. All right. Let's get into a shout-out of the week, and then we'll do some Ask TPA. Then we're going to get me out of here so I can hit the road, Myke. Shout-out of the week. Pencil fodder. I don't think. I do a poor job of listing out everyone. So, sometimes I might duplicate, but that's just because sites are so awesome, and Instagram feeds are so awesome, and YouTube feeds are so awesome. When I see something awesome, I'm going to share it, even if I've shared them before. So, Pencil Fodder is, as you can imagine, a pencil blog. It's not updated that often, but when they do, they're usually bringing all kinds of cool vintage wooden pencils to the forefront on their posts. And this most recent one is one of my favorite posts. It's been one of my favorite posts to read on any stationery blog this year. It is covering Mitsubishi Anniversary Edition pencils. And let me tell you, you want to take some time to go through this post because it is long. It has a ton of pictures. I love all the pictures, and you get to see all the different varying anniversary releases that Mitsubishi has done. Well, not all of them, but a ton of them. And it's cool to see all the packaging, all the extra stamping, all the extra work they put in on all these features. So, there's some old vintage editions. There's some more modern editions. There's some Disney collaborative editions in here. You'll see a lot of those in here. Myke, some really wild sets. I don't know if you have seen this, Myke, but if you scroll down, there is a picture. When you scroll down of, which is this, the High Uni, and it's a maroon pencil. And if you line up all these pencils correctly in the case, the stamping on the pencils spell Disney Mickey Mouse 90th. Like, each pencil has a letter. And then the barrel stampings have stars placed in different locations to where they end up lining up and making the mouse ears in there. Like, that's intense. Like, that's cool. So, this was a really neat post. And I just wanted to make sure everyone saw it because it's really fun. If you're into stationery at all, you don't have to be into pencils to love seeing a post that puts together all kinds of things that you never get to see, right? Like, these are things we don't get to see ever. And I just wanted to shine a light on that, and I thought it was really cool. So, shout out, Pencil Fodder. This was some cool stuff I saw this week over there.