Editing The Pen Addict 89/transcript (section)

== Notebooks ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' Basically, I recommend this. I think this is a really cool, different and interesting product. And the paper is good. It's good quality. They're nicely made notebooks. They've got a nice little character to them. There's a bunch of different sizes. I'm definitely going to use it more. I think it would be a really interesting sort of just ink testing notebook. Because it will produce such peculiar results.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I like that there's a pocket size one too. So that's pretty neat. So I look forward to testing it out.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm going to get them in the post to you today. Yeah, no hurry. So thank you, Alexander.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, thanks, Alexander.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So that's sitting in my groove from Mr. Dudak.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Awesome. So how was your penmanship in there? Because we got a nice email from a listener talking about penmanship. So how's your penmanship working these days? Same. Same? Yeah, I know, right? Same as it always was. Yeah, like it changes a lot. So we got an email from Josh. And the subject is Myke's left-handed problem. So this is a really interesting email. They caught me off guard. I didn't know what to think about this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't. I'm just going to. I can't actually know. You say read it first. Yeah. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm not going to read the whole thing, but I'm going to read the nuts and bolts here. And I'm especially going to read the beginning. It says, to the man who takes his power from the mighty mythology of the heavens, Brad Orr, the pen god. How did I do? Very good, actually. It says, I've been listening to your podcast with great enthusiasm during the past few months. I can't believe how ignorant I was to the wide world of writing utensils outside of the big ballpoints, which I used to so thoughtlessly buy and lose in bulk. I was particularly interested in your evolution into fountain pens. Like Myke, I'm a lefty. I struggle to write with my now beloved pilot Prera and my divergent left-handed oddness. But I've recently overcome this problem. I write with my right hand.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So let's stop right there. What were your thoughts when you read that? When I got there, I was like, I can't wait to read the rest of this email because this is insane.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I have a fundamental problem with it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like, I just... It's just unnatural. Whoa. You know... Like a nature fundamental problem with it? Well, it's very 1840s. Like you're going against the laws of nature kind of thing?

'''Myke Hurley:''' It just feels like a... Right. You know, it's just like kids being forced to write with their right hand. You know, it's just... It feels very... Sure. Sure. I don't like it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So let me read this next little bit and then we'll talk about it some more. It says... Yeah. It says, The solution of mine is not for the faint of heart, but nor is it as difficult as you may assume. Writing with my right hand is merely taking consistent and dedicated practice. I write just one page each day. In the beginning, I was not able to complete the full page in my allotted practice time, but I've been able to increase my writing speed significantly in the past four months. I'm down to about 20 minutes per page now and my handwriting, while still somewhat slow, is much better than I can scrawl with my left hand. So it's interesting on a lot of accounts, right? So your issue, and I'm totally with you on that as a... Yeah, because I... You know, it used to be kind of a stigma, right? To write with your left hand so people would force people to change. But, I mean, he's obviously doing this on his own and it seems to be working for him. So, I don't know, is this something you'd even consider or it's just not... There's no reason to ever even go there.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm proud of being left-handed.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like, I don't want to change it. I don't feel like I need to be fixed. And I don't feel like maybe that this, you know, this is what is being... That Josh is saying this of me. Or of himself, even. No, no. But I don't feel like the way to fix my penmanship is to force myself to be right-handed.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, I think the most important thing he said here, honestly, and when I get questions about penmanship, this is what I say regardless of what hand you are.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It takes consistent and dedicated practice to change your penmanship.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, it's very possible he could have done this with his left hand. I don't know if he tried. Maybe he did. But... And I wrote some notes actually last night just to kind of thinking about a new blog post just about penmanship. Because people ask me how I get my penmanship. And it's strictly a practice thing and an evolution of a lot of repetitive action. I mean, there's no simple way to make it better. And my handwriting, and I've said this several times, my handwriting right now is infinitely worse than it was 10 or 15 years ago. Because I don't practice anymore. It's all about speed now. And that leads to a little bit of, you know, poor handwriting. So, I'm working on some notes to write up a post just about handwriting in general and how to learn to write better. Not that I have all the answers, but just kind of how I evolved into the handwriting that I have now. How, when it was good, why I think it's bad now, and how you can change things. But it's legitimately, it just comes down to, Josh said it best, consistent and dedicated practice. I mean, 20 minutes, 20 minutes a page.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, if you can spend that every day for the past, like he said, the past four months. He's been doing that. I promise you, no matter what hand you use, your handwriting is going to be better. It's just the way it goes, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. But, do you know what? I'm not interested in changing my penmanship.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I like the way I write. I do too. And trust me, it is not bad. We just like to give you a hard time. It just kind of became a thing, and I'm never going to let it go.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, good. Good for you, Myke. Own it, baby.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Thanks, Papa.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm not going to go tie your left hand behind your back and make you walk around town all day just using your right hand.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's very Shakespearean.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right.