Editing The Pen Addict 611/transcript (section)

== Broader topic continuation before Ask TPA ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, before we get into Ask TPA, I want to do one last continuation of the broader topic here that I didn't put this directly in the show notes, but it relates to this enigma pen. This one came with a broad nib. So, it's Yova number six nibs, broad nib. And just yesterday, and this goes in the broader context of the Lamy All-Star and trying different things, we were talking about like what topics, you know, do I need to work on for the blog or writing or, you know, what do people want to see me do differently or, you know, topics to specifically talk about. And several people mentioned to me that they want me to use broader nib pens. And then lo and behold, this pen shows up with a broad nib. And they want to understand why I am leaning towards a particular nib size, mostly extra fine, right? I use stub nibs and things of that nature. But why don't I use more medium nibs or more broad nibs? So, with this pen, you know, it's Yova number six. I have dozens of Yova number six laying around. If I wanted to, I could put in an extra fine nib or do different things with that. But no, like I'm keeping this broad nib in here. And again, I'm committing to a lot of work here. I'm spending a lot of time with this broad nib. I'm actually, between this All-Star and this new Enigma pen, I need to go clean some other pens because they're just not going to get used that much right now. Because of things I want to try. It's always good to experiment with different things. Things that are out of your norm, right? Guess what? Brad goes to his desk. He's going to pick up the Lamy Safari with an extra fine nib. That's just what's going to happen. But that's not really a broad enough scope of options for me to, you know, have in my arsenal or into my thoughts, right? Like, hey, what does this All-Star barrel feel like? Or, hey, what does this broad nib feel like? Right? As opposed to, like, what I standard, my standard use. So, it's really good to, for someone like myself, to break my consistent habits of the basics. Like, the basic brads, not the basic stationery usage. But my basics, my personal basics. You know, extra fine nibs. You know, 0.38 gel pens. You know, things like that. So, yeah. It's really good. I'm really good at it. I got a broad nib on this pen. And I'm going to use it stock, right? It's a really good platform for nib grinds, as Dan mentions. Um, but I want to try more broad nibs. And I do like broad nibs for broad applications, right? You know, if I'm writing in my field notes or some small journal, like, a broad nib just doesn't work. And that's been my tendency for years. But I do have opportunities to use wider, wetter nibs and different types of inks with those nibs. And that's what I want to do. So, I actually picked a, uh, a wearing old ink. Excuse me, not a wearing old ink. I'm still on the mind. I picked a, I picked a Vinta ink. I'll actually have to find the name. It was one of these complicated names that I can't. But it's like a blue, it's a bright blue ink with a pink sheen on it. So, to kind of match the, the Enigma pen. So, give it a little character. But, uh, yeah. It's, it's, uh, it's cool. And I look forward to, again, experimenting with this. And all of this came from this comment. Like, this comment kind of solidified. It's like, yeah, like, I, I want to keep learning about this stuff. And why people use the things that they do. And, uh, I'm, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I have an Ask TPA question that I think, uh, goes into this pretty nicely. It comes from an anonymous listener who says, Considerations when choosing paper notebooks, uh, paper or notebooks, are typically the intended use, the format, the binding, the texture, the cost, the thickness of the paper, the color, etc. However, is it just my imagination? Or is it true that the ruling of a page changes the feel and writing experience of the paper too? My notebook with Tomoe River paper in a dotted style feels softer and more pleasant with a bit more texture than my plain or lined notebooks when writing notes. I had a thought about this and you can, uh, because it was actually something I meant to mention earlier on, um, about, like, just using pens, inks, paper together. There's a lot of science that goes into this. Like, as, as well as there being tastes and preferences, there are just, like, reactions between materials and chemicals. And from my experience, if the amount of printing that is put onto a page will change the properties of the paper because you are, you are changing its chemical makeup by putting ink on it in the printing process and also the machines that you run a page through depending on how you're making the notebook. It will change the way it feels. I don't know if that's what's happening here, but I know that's something that I have observed in making products too. That the more you manipulate something, the more you change the feel of it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's 100% true. And, not to totally distract from Anon's question, but all we have to do is look back at the Tomoe, original Tomoe drama. They changed from one machine to a different machine in the same shop using the same formula and it came out different, right? Like, there's a lot that goes into paper manufacturing. So, whether there's any technical information like we could consider during a review, it's pretty tough, right? To say, hey, does this Tomoe with this graph, which is currently a notebook that I'm using right now, original Tomoe 52 GSM, and it's got a grid printed on it, right? It's a four millimeter grid. Does it feel different than, say, a flat blank sheet of the Tomoe River? And, I don't know that there's any way to measure this or figure this out. Like, could I somehow sort this out? Like, probably never.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't think so.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But, I also don't want to say, is it just your imagination that it's different? You know, what are you writing in? You know, a thicker notebook or a loose sheet on a table, right? Like, everyone will tell you, like, that feels different, right? When you have different buffers underneath the current page that you're writing on, like, that's a change, right? But, in, you know, how the notebook is bound, is there more micro space between pages in one notebook versus another notebook because of the binding style? Is that something? I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud here. What could be different in these things? So, I don't know that we'll ever be able to know this for a fact, but these, say, two similar papers, one dotted, one ruled, they do have to go through a different process to get those lines on the page, right? So, I don't know if there's something there. I would guess not, but I certainly, I don't want to rule anything out.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But, again, there's so much that goes on with just one little thing in paper. Like, there's so much. We could talk for hours and hours and, like, I could write infinite articles on just paper. And then we take that across all of stationery, you know, just talking about nibs and inks and combinations of and things like that. Man, it's awesome. I love this stuff. So, I think this is a really good question. It's something to think about. I don't know that I could ever answer it, though. So.