Editing The Pen Addict 656/transcript (section)

== Introduction to Fountain Pens ==

* When did when did fountain pens happen? Was that a very, very later in life thing? Or did you kind of start to dabble like earlier on? No, that was definitely later in life. That was, I think, just before the pandemic. Honestly. Okay. My friend Jeffrey, I had posted something on Facebook about loving paper, loving notebooks, because who doesn't like a fresh, new, pretty notebook, right? So I had posted like a meme about it. And then my friend Jeffrey reached out asking if I had ever tried a fountain pen. And I was like, no, I don't even think I knew what that was. Honestly, I don't have any recollection of any memories thinking of I need or I would like to try a fountain pen. So he took me to Atlas Stationers like a week or two later. And then I immediately, my first pen was a Platinum Procyon. And it's just like, you know, it looks nice. It feels nice. A hefty pen. I'm sure you've tried it before. It's great. A hefty pen. Surprisingly, it's the Citron yellow. So it's a yellow pen. Although now looking back. We might talk about yellow in this episode.
* I have such a specific taste for the color yellow. If it's not mustard yellow, I don't want it. And so I've discovered that through these like, what, six years ever since. But yeah, that's when fountain pens started. And during the pandemic, you're just, you know, sitting at home like, well, let me dig more into these fountain pens. And so I got involved with Inco Remo writing a letter a month. And at first I was a little bit scared of just using up my fountain pens because I would think that by using it, you're wasting away the tip or the nib. And so I was being very precious with my little fountain pens. I was barely using any ink. Just dipped a little pen a little bit and just used a little bit of ink, you know. But yeah, it was during the pandemic. And then now we're here. I was going to ask you a percentage question. I was going to ask you the yellow percentage question. Oh my gosh. I don't, you know, as much as I love yellow, they're not all yellow. And a percentage, that's a good question. Like I, I like, I'm, you're the yellow guy. I'm the orange guy. I don't have a lot of orange pens. Like, yeah. Yeah. There's not a bad opportunity. Right. And then, you know, you, you probably have a specific orange color that you like. So, you know, everything, anything can be orange, but if it's not the right shade of orange that you like, you're not going to get it. So I have a lot of people usually send me like yellow pens and I'm like, in my head, I'm like, it's not the right yellow. So I'm not going to get it, you know, but there's a few that I'm like, okay, I need to get that. Yeah. So you gave me an interesting idea as you probably watched me sitting here scribble away about the funny things we do when we first discover fountain pens. And kind of like when we didn't grow up, like I didn't grow up with fountain pens. You didn't grow up with fountain pens. I didn't know how to use a fountain pen. Didn't know what all this was. And you mentioned this like, oh, I'm afraid I'm going to wear out the tip. Like my thing was like the ink, when the ink would get on the nib, like on the top of the nib and you could see it. I always thought there was a problem. So I'd wipe it off. And as any fountain pen person knows, like that's like the Sisyphean, like pushing the rock up the hill. Like you're never getting that nib clean, but that wouldn't stop me. I like, I would like get out and like a paper towel and have to detail like around the nib. Oh my God. Oh yeah. It was madness. Like it was, it was frustrating. And then it was, and now I'm like, well, my hands are blue. No big deal. Like it's funny how that changes. Yeah. No, but as a newbie, I get it. I get where you were coming from. Yeah. You, you have a, you know, a semi, I mean, I don't know what pen you started with. That was a safari. That was just, yeah. And if you're starting in the fountain pens, like that's a hefty price. You know, you go from like a ballpoint. No joke. First day to a safari. And you're like, this is kind of expensive. Yeah. So yeah, I get it. Like you take care of the nib and making sure it's clean. I totally, totally get it. Oh man. So yeah. Um, yeah, it's good stuff. So what are you using most of your stuff these days for, you know, uh, writing journaling? Like I kind of know the answer to this because I follow you very much online, but, uh, what do you, what are you using most of your fountain pens for these days?
* Definitely for journaling. Um, I do, I have a plotter of course. Um, and so I do get to use my fountain pens in my plotter every once in a while, uh, for my project management stuff that I do for work. But if I'm using my fountain pens, it's definitely on a dedicated notebook for journaling. Um, just because, you know, sometimes I don't want to use an expensive notebook per se for, for work. And so I just have a random little notepad and I have to use a ballpoint because the paper is just like, if you're seeing feathering all over it, it's just, you know, it throws me off and I just don't want to deal with it. So it's a regular notebook and a ballpoint pen and I'm good to go. Yeah. So I, I didn't, I didn't prep you for this, but I think it's very easy, simple, straightforward question about journaling. So I know you're, you're very prolific journaler. Do you have a, uh, routine or schedule? Like, do you, like, do you, does it bother you if you miss a day type of thing? Like how, how journally are we journaling?
* That's a good question. How generally, you know, I, I do wish I was a little bit more dedicated to it. Because when I first started, uh, with the fountain pen world, that's actually what got me into it was journaling and seeing all these, uh, accounts with beautiful spreads with ephemera and collages. And it's just, it was just the most beautiful thing. So that's kind of how I got away from writing letters on Tomoy River paper to actually journaling in a Franklin Kristoff, uh, notebook or insert. Um, and it was with my fountain pens and I was journaling maybe twice a week, uh, because it would take time to, at first I would just sit, I would tell myself, well, I want to journal tonight. So then I would sit there and prep my page. And then that would take me like 15 to 20 minutes of like just gluing stuff done to deciding what I wanted to do. And by that, by the time I was done, I was like, well, I don't want to journal anymore. So I'll get back tomorrow, you know? So that's why I, it'll, it would only be twice a week or so. Um, but now, um, I have a specific notebook where I'm trying to do more writing. So I have this daily tear, tear away calendar, uh, where, and I use it for my ephemera in my journal. And I write, I try to write every night sometimes because I'm trying to organize myself a little bit better. I have put away my stuff in a little, uh, rickshaw bonsai bag. And so, because I don't see my notebooks on the table, I forget about it. And it's not until I realized like two days later that I haven't journaled, um, that I get back to it. So, yeah, that's good though. Like I, I like, it's, it's a habit, right? But it's not like overly strict. Like I don't ever want anyone to like feel guilty about like missing a day journal. Like it's okay. Like I would really wear on myself. Like when I, I had to stop buying like dated planners and things like that, um, just because it would, it would overwhelm me like the blank page that says a number. And now that's in the past and there's nothing on it and it would just kind of be bothersome. Um, so, but I also like how your style where you include ephemera and things like that. It's a very, very soothing like type of setup to just, you know, let your brain just kind of go, put the things down that you want. Don't be too particular about it. And oh, by the way, it just happens to look gorgeous. You know, whatever. Thanks. Thanks a lot, Eric. I mean, you know what, to, to your point earlier that you just made about, uh, dated, uh, planners, I had bought a five year journal, right. And I barely got through the first year. And then the second year, I just, I stopped after two months. I was like, I just can't, like, if I can't get to it, like seeing all those blank pages, I don't know what happened. I don't, I've slept since then. I just let it go. And now it's just a little prop for my pictures. Yeah. So some, somehow that did work for me and I'll have to sit and think about that. So I'm like, you know, into year three now, um, where that's like a never, like a page a day planner never worked for me or even like, uh, even like a weekly layout type of thing never worked for me. That works for me. It's pretty small. Uh, sometimes I just barely write anything. I'll just write, well, today was a day, you know, something like that. And it's, it's okay. But then like there's days that I skipped too. So I survived. Yeah. I survived. I totally put that in there. It's like, I made it through today. Yes. Yeah. And then a year from now, I'll go, wow. Brad had a rough day last year. Brad had a rough day on March the third last year. Wow. What was going on? You do get to, you do get some, uh, annual reminders.
* All right. Well, I want to get back into the color yellow here and talk about Amario Stationery. Um, but before we do that, let's take our last ad break for this episode and talk about our good friends over at Factor. So this episode of the Pen Act is brought to you by Factor. You might be feeling that it's time to optimize your nutrition. If that's you, Factor has chef made gourmet meals that make eating well, easy. They're dietitian approved and ready to heat and eat in two minutes. So you can fuel right and feel great. No matter what life throws at you. Factor arrives fresh and fully prepared. Perfect for any active, busy lifestyle. And Factor Keto meals can help you meet your weight loss goals. They've conducted a randomized controlled clinical trial with Factor Keto, though it's worth noting that results will vary depending on diet and exercise. With 40 options across eight dietary preferences on the menu each week, it's easy to pick meals tailored to your goals. Choose from preferences like calorie smart, protein plus, or keto. So Factor can help you feel best all day long with wholesome smoothies, breakfast, grab and go snacks, and more add-ons. Reach your goals this year with ingredients you can trust and convenience that can't be beat. And that's what gets it for me is the convenience. Someone who works from home, the ability to have a really good quality, high quality meal quickly made at lunchtime when there's no family around or there's no one I need to cook for, my wife and I aren't cooking dinner in the middle of the day. It's been really, really ideal for my lunch. And then my son comes in and steals them for dinner if my wife's working late. So I go through Factor's quite a bit here at the household. But they're great because they're good and easy. It's really, really hard to beat. So eat smart with Factor. Get started at factormeals.com slash Factor Podcast and use code Factor Podcast to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. That's code Factor Podcast at factormeals.com Factor Podcast to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box. Our thanks to Factor for their support of this show and all of Rie. Okay.