Editing The Pen Addict 103/transcript (section)

== Stationery Reduction ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Stuart also asked, and this is one of the topics that came up repeatedly that I think I want to make into its own segment. He says another topic would be, what are both your daily carries, and have you been able to reduce your daily carry down? So I want to table that discussion, because what I would like to do with you, Myke, if you're game one day, is have like a bag dump episode. Sure.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Sure.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And not just talk about pens, but just talk about the other things that we just carry. I think people would be interested in that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's clear out a month.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I know, right? So the reduction topic comes up a lot, and we'll talk about that a little more down the line here. But I think that's an entire segment that I want to plan for and get you and I, I think, doing a bag dump episode would be pretty good. And we can cover, you know, the challenges we have, because I have challenges with that all the time.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So yeah, we'll table that one, Stuart, and we'll circle back around. I've already made a note on it that I wanted to do that. So Joe Lebo, Roar and King Cleaner, Salix or Scabiosa? Which to first ink up my new 580 with? Scabiosa, for sure. I love that purple. It's one of my favorite inks. It's definitely on my top five inks list. I think I have it at like number two or three. It's that good. I love Salix, but I have lots of blue black inks. And Salix is close to like being a top five ink, but not quite there for me. Scabiosa is like a top two or three overall ink for me. And I highly recommend that to anybody. And don't be worried. People sometimes worry about the iron gall properties. These Roar and Kingner inks are so well behaved and clean out so easy. I've used them in so many different pens and never had one hint of an issue. So Joe also asked, what's the best way to clean the inside top portion of a vanishing point near the trap door part? That's a hard little place to get into. I've just soaked mine in water for a little bit and then folded up a paper towel like into like a very fine little area and just kind of jammed it in there. I've never taken it all the way apart or gotten way down in there. I don't get too much ink trapped in there, but I don't know the absolute best way, but that's how I do it. And just kind of going through the front end of the nose and just kind of get it cleaned out in there.

'''Myke Hurley:''' What about, this probably wouldn't work actually. I was thinking maybe if you used water and then one of those, you know, you get like, I can't think of what to call it, like air in a can.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, yeah. Well, you know what might work is the nasal aspirators that actually use the clean nibs. Yeah. That actually might work. That'll force air through there.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Basically, you want to get air at high speed, I think, would be a good way because wear paper towels would be good and I agree with them. I worry about getting a piece jammed in there.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. Yep. So, yeah, I think aspirator is a good call because it can come from the nib end and it can come from the barrel end. So you can get it both ways, Myke. You can get it on both ends.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, Brad.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's a pen podcast, man. We got to talk about things.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mr. Chase McCoy. He had a boatload of questions and they were all good, so I'll put them all in here. What are your thoughts on the Midori Traveler's Notebook? Now, do you own a system like this at all, Myke? No. I do not either, but I love the idea of it. I always love seeing people's pictures of them and think it's a really good format. I like that you can have the, you know, you have the one cover and usually two to three separate notebook inserts. I mean, I guess it could range from one to however many you can fit in there, but most common is three.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I've just never had a use for that type of system, but I think the idea is awesome and I would recommend it to anyone that wanted a system like that. They get a lot of great, great reviews. I've never heard anyone say, oh, I just hate my Midori Traveler's Notebook. They're really good. It's just not a functional item for me, the way I work, but I think it's an awesome item in just the design and functionality of it.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, is the idea being that you can put two notebooks in and you can have pockets?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It doesn't really, it doesn't have a lot of pockets. Like, it's just wrapped with a rubber band type of enclosure on the outside and it's just a flat piece of leather, so there's no pockets on the leather side. If there's pockets on the, I think people have, you know, there's all kinds of hacks and there's all kinds of inserts you can buy for it. So, there's probably some pockets that are able to add in there. And, well, I'll ask Toffer. I think he's getting ready to travel and I think he's a Midori guy. I think he, like, carries his passport in there. So, people, like, really can kind of pimp these out for their needs.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Guess where I had my passport when I went away last weekend?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' What? Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' In my Rotovar and Taschenberg letter.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I knew that was going to be the answer. I like it. That's good.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Things become more and more useful for me all the time.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's great. That is very cool. There you go. So, Chase also asked the popular question, what are good pens to give as graduation gifts? This is a really tough question because I just don't, I get this one in my email inbox at least once a week for this type of gift just from, you know, someone who really doesn't have any experience with it. And I tend to just go kind of like what you were saying with the classically styled pens, but I recommend, like, the Lamy 2000 rollerball and ballpoint a lot for someone who's not wanting a fountain pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I think it's dangerous for us to always say fountain pens, fountain pens in these scenarios. It's probably most of the time a bad idea to go fountain pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. I almost never say fountain pen unless someone specifically says they want a fountain pen. Otherwise, I usually say rollerball and I usually say something like the Lamy because I know it's pretty much a timeless design and it's actually a pretty good value when you're starting to shop for these type of things where people are comparing them to, like, Mont Blanc rollerballs that might be $200 or $300. The Lamy rollerball, I think, is around $100, maybe a little less, something like that. And it's just a style. It looks cool. It feels cool. And it's never going to go out of style. So that's one I actually tend to recommend a lot for people who don't have a lot of experience and are wanting something interesting to give as a gift.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Then Chase asked a third question. This is going to be a good question. What are your top five most exciting pens? Not the best ones necessarily, but the ones you feel everyone should have. So that's a hard question because I don't think those two things jive.

'''Myke Hurley:''' My top five exciting pens are not the ones that I feel everyone should have. Yeah, exactly. I agree with that 100%.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. My top five most exciting pens would probably start with my Edison Menlo, which is a pump filler, which was made specifically for me. You know, that's exciting for me. My Franklin Kristoff Pocket pen, that's the eyedropper. That's a very exciting pen for me because it's cool looking. It's interesting. People always ask questions about it. It's got a killer nib, but should everyone have that pen? Probably not. You know, there's – it's not quite that thing. If I could name a pen that everyone should have – can you name a pen that every – okay, Myke, everyone in the world gets a pen. What are we giving them?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Retro 51. Retro 51.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm obviously partly kidding.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I don't know. I thought it was pretty serious. I thought it was a valid answer. That's a tough question.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think, though, that you probably would be better off giving people like a – like, I don't know, one of the Moleskine pens or a Sharpie pen. Like, not the – Not the permanent. Yeah, not the permanent marker. Yeah. It's because they're better all-round pens. I think everybody could appreciate one of those, or maybe something like a Pilot G2 or something like that. Like a solid pen that everyone's going to be able to appreciate.