Editing The Pen Addict 183/transcript (section)

== Star Wars Notebooks ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. And it's like this intricate old style. And one of them has one of the new characters from Force Awakens, Phasma, who appears to be, I haven't done a lot of digging here purposefully, but like the leader of the Stormtroopers. Yeah, I'm guessing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I don't know the storyline yet, but yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Purposefully, I don't know it. Same as you, I assume. And then the other is the droids. So C-3PO, R2-D2 and BB-8. So there's two different notebooks. And they're just, they're really intricate. Like they've got these beautiful borders around them. And it just says notebook. And it's got a Star Wars 4 stamp on the side. And it has the characters in the middle. And just like, they just look really fantastic. I love these things. I really love these things.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, so I don't have a shot of the back cover, but I thought the back color was the coolest thing. Like on the Phasma one, it's got a row of Stormtroopers on the back. And on the droid one, it's got the Millennium Falcon on the back. And it's just so cool. I was just like, I kept looking at it going, this is so cool. This is so cool. And so once she told me it was at this Loft store, she sent me a link saying that they have, you know, Japan is eat up with Star Wars as everyone in the world is. And, you know, I went looking through everything that Loft had. And I stumbled on, I was seeing what pins they had. And they have like the classic BitClick, you know, the one you get with your field notes. Yeah. That basic black one. And they have like three versions of that one with like Kylo Ren, Phasma, and BB-8. I would love to see this orange BB-8 BitClick one day. It's just so cool. Oh, yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I want that orange guy.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I mean, these are like super simple, like dollar pins, but it's like, I got to have that. But it would be pretty cool. So thank you so much, Mel, for doing this. It was, this is like a mind blower to get, this is, you know, when you open this envelope, I did the exact same as you. I was like, oh, look, these cool notebooks. I'm probably sure some, you know, sweet Japanese notebooks that I haven't seen before. Oh my God, Star Wars.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I assumed it was just like Tomo River paper or something, you know, like I just assumed it was just some blank ones of those. So yeah, that was a real awesome surprise.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, it was. So yeah, and she was yelling at me, you know, not in a mean way, but in the way that I would yell at other people, use the notebooks, right? She was telling me, you know, make sure you use them. I was like, I will. I've already got this one open and I'm going to start using it. So I can't wait. They're super, super cool. So thank you so much, Mel.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, totally. Thank you, Mel.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. Before we get onto our main topic, I got one little article I want to share that I missed earlier last week that a couple of people emailed me and linked to me. And it's from the site Art of Manualiness, which often does writing and notebook and pen stuff. You know, a few times a year, you'll see some cool stuff come through there. And they did an article recently about collecting and buying vintage fountain pens. And I get that question a lot on Twitter. And an email is, you know, how do I get into vintage fountain pens? How do I buy a vintage fountain pen? And this article, I just wanted to link it. I'm not going to talk about it too much, but you should definitely read it if you're interested, because it goes into some history of some of the major brands that are popular in vintage circles. For some reason, they left out Estherbrook, which was kind of surprised me with all the millions of pens that they've made. But, you know, they have like Schaefer's, Parker's, Waterman's, Conklins, things like that. They talk about, you know, different things about the brands and the brand history. And then they give some kind of high level tips about purchasing, especially when you can't. I always tell people, you know, that can't get to a pen show. You know, that would be your number one thing is to get to a pen show if you're interested in vintage pens. Somehow get to a pen show, because you want to be able to use vintage pens. That's the most important thing. You want to be able to try them before you buy them. You want to know if they've been restored. You know, how does the nib field? Is there any like microfractors or cracks? You can see all kinds of things in person that you're never going to see on like an eBay listing. But, you know, if you want to go the eBay route, and that's totally legitimate, just make sure you buy it from someone who's got like a long history of selling vintage pens, and that you can ask questions to about the restoration process of the pen. And, you know, you start to feel comfortable with that communication you're getting from those vintage pen dealers on eBay and things like that. So it's just kind of a be careful thing when you get online. But this is a really good, you know, kind of beginner's article to getting into the different things that you're looking for in a vintage fountain pen. And they did a really good job putting this article together. They have lots of tips on the nib and the filling mechanisms and, you know, the caps and cracking and all kinds of different things. So I thought it was a good article to link because I get this question a lot. And I thought they did a really good job in summarizing, you know, a lot of the things that I talk about with different people, you know, in email or on Twitter and things like that. So definitely check that out.

'''Myke Hurley:''' For sure. Yeah. Really, really cool. Yep. All right. Shall we take our final break for this week's episode and then start talking about the Apple Pencil?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I'm excited.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This week's episode is also brought to you by Making Light. Making Light is all about helping you focus on being able to do your best work. When you sign up for a subscription to Making Light every month, you're going to receive a lovely little box that will contain two handmade botanical soy wax candles. Yes, everyone, this is a fantastic little thing. They are infused. These candles, they come to you. They're infused with essential oils and they come in recyclable tins. And what you'll get, that box that I mentioned, that box of two handmade botanical soy wax candles, those candles, when you light them, you could light them for two hours. Listen to that. That is Brad right there lighting a Making Light candle. You're going to get two hours of focus every day, each day for 20 days of these things, right? So you get 10 days from each of them. You'll light this candle and you need to get some work done. And you can let the fantastic fragrance, these beautiful aromas fill the room and the sight of the flickering flame help you concentrate. So you'll be able to see this stuff and you'll be like, right, okay, it's time to concentrate, light the candle, head down, get the work done. This is a really interesting thing that has made, a real interesting difference in my life. Like I remember when I was working on the Inquisitive show that I was doing and I was doing script writing, which was really tough for me to do. And Making Light actually helped me get through some of that process. Like I'd be like, right, I need to spend a couple of hours on writing this script. I'd light a candle and I would spend a couple of hours just getting it done. These types of daily rituals become really important to a lot of us. Like making coffee in the morning is one for me. And lighting these candles is another one that can fit so easily. So I want to add something new to your life like this and sign up for Making Light. With the holidays coming up as well, a Making Light subscription would be a fantastic gift for a friend or family member too. Each month they'll receive a little box in the mail that is designed to help them focus on the things that they care about. Making Light costs $24 per month with free shipping anywhere in the USA. They have Canadian shipping for an extra $5 a month and UK shipping for an extra $10 a month. These candles are way better than what you're going to find in your local mall. They're all poured by hand by a family business based in Indiana who have over 40 years of history in candle making. And Making Light is offering listeners of this show $5 off their first order with the promo code PENADDICT. You can find out more for yourself at makinglight.us. They also have a really great video on their site that shows you just how people use Making Light candles in their daily life. I know that we got our Making Light subscription box in today actually. And I was having a pretty stressed afternoon and then Adina came home and she always likes to smell them and see what the fragrances are. And she lit one and it filled the room with this beautiful aroma and it kind of calmed me down which is exactly what they're intended to do. So thank you so much to Making Light for sponsoring this week's show at RelayFM.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, the fragrances that they do are legitimately awesome. Like I just lit frankincense and myrrh. That was the November flavor.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, it's kind of the Christmassy theme right now.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, and then December is chestnuts and cider and he sent me a sample of that. I haven't lit that one yet. But it's awesome. It's one of the best smelling candles that I've ever used. And I love, we always have candles burning in the house. So this is like one of the biggest no-brainer things for me to get this Christmas. You know, for my wife or for my in-laws or for anyone like that. It's just, they're awesome. I just love the fragrances. They're really, really strong but not overpowering. And they're just nice and clean and beautiful. So yes, thank you so much Making Light for doing this, for sponsoring our show. Love the products.