Editing The Pen Addict 15/transcript (section)

== Pencil Cases ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' I just found on the JetPens site, Kukuyu, Kukuyu. They make a mini pencil case, which is very small for a couple of pens. Is it the Slims? It's called the Actic Mini. Actic Mini. And it looks like it just holds two pens. It looks really small. So I'll include that as well because obviously I haven't got any – I've not got any experience with it. But it looks cool.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, see, I've seen that one. It looks smaller than the original one. I thought about that one. But for a pocket carry, you're not going to be able to throw that in your pocket, I don't think, with the zipper. I don't know. You might be able to. I've seen that one. I love the look of it. It's a beautiful little case. The Jowon looks quite large, though. I'm not sure how well it would do in a pocket.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But I guess it's slim, isn't it? Mm-hmm. It's long.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm. It's long and skinny. Mm-hmm. It's got a decent-sized zipper.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But the Kuwaitka one is very attractive, isn't it?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Those are really cool. The pencil cases, I mean, I end up – I finally had to stop buying them because I wasn't using them. You know, I only take one with me when I leave the house, and I use some others for storage. So, I mean, I've still got three or four other ones. But just in general, I've had great luck with the Nomadic and the Kokuyo brands as far as durability goes. I mean, I've probably got maybe five or six pen cases, and they're either Nomadic or Kokuyo. And I have zero complaints about any. I mean, they all do different things well, but as far as quality-wise, you know, the nylon construction is durable. The zippers, you know, I'm not having any flakiness in the zippers. The Velcro stays strong and things like that. And I haven't bought a new pen case in a while, so I've been putting these through the ringer, you know, pretty well. And durability has been the least concern. The biggest concern is why can't I take 100 pens in a tiny pen case? Yeah. That's my biggest problem. So hopefully that helps out some of the listeners with their pen case questions. And certainly, if you have more, let us know.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You need, like, the Mary Poppins bag.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's what you need.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I know. I could see that. Now I have back problems carrying all my pens around. Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So we've got another topic, haven't we? But before we do that, should we talk about our second sponsor for this week? Yes. So our second sponsor joining us again is PairNote. Throughout this month, we've discussed how awesome PairNote is for taking notes in meetings, lectures, and conferences. PairNote allows you to combine notes of audio, video, and even slide decks. Whatever you type is kept in sync with the timeline of your media, allowing you to come back to the app, select a word, and be taken straight to that point of the media timeline, or watch it back, and you watch your words highlight in real time as you type them, when you type them. PairNote for Mac has been recently upgraded to version 3 and takes advantage of higher features like versions, autosave, and fullscreen. And they've also added the ability to record higher bitrate audio and 720p video. All of your notes sync over Dropbox to PairNote for the iPad, so you always have your notes with you, no matter where you are. And they've recently added integration for a Skype plugin called Ecamm's Call Recorder. It's something that allows you to record Skype calls. PairNote now links with this. So if you can record your Skype calls right into PairNote using the Call Recorder. And the notes that you take will be kept in sync with the Skype call, which is really cool for if you take meetings over Skype. You can get PairNote from the Mac App Store, the iOS App Store, or directly from UsefulFruit.com, which is where you can go to see the awesome demo we spoke about last week. You can get a bunch more information and a 30-day free trial. Thank you very much to UsefulFruit and PairNote for sponsoring the 70 Decibels Network this month. So, what is our final topic for this week, Mr. Dowdy?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We got an email this week that was right up my alley because it sounded like I typed it myself just because the way the reader and the listener described what his needs were. So let me read this email from Joe real quick. It says, I've got a show topic suggestion. Pens for the non-artist. Maybe for one of the shows you guys can talk about good pens for sketching, drawing patterns, or geometric shapes, chicken scratch, or just simple drawings. The list might include marker pens, brush pens, pencils, things like that. I have a very type A, black and white, regimented personality. And I want to try to be more creative. And I figure this might be a good avenue for me. I already have the paper and notebooks. Now I just need something to help unlock my creativity. Using something other than a pen might help make me feel more like an artist or not. And that was from a listener, Joe. And that is something that the way he feels about wanting to try some of these different pens to kind of unlock some other creative aspects of his life or just his writing style or his drawing is something that I think about all the time.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Because I'm not a very artistic person in that I can't just sit down and draw and create. But when I use certain pens, I feel more creative.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, I don't know. You know, in the grand scheme of things, that's probably nonsense. You know, just...

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mind over matter.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. You know, we'll get from the psychological aspect. You know, people are like, oh, no, there's no way. But, you know, there is a feel. Like, just like you're saying, when you feel like when you click down that vanishing point, you know that, man, this feels great. And I'm psyched to start writing. And, you know, whatever ideas are just going to start spewing out. And you feel different writing with that pen than you do with another pen. And in Joe's case, he's looking for, you know, some more of the drawing art type pens. And if you've read The Pen Addict for any length of time, you know, that's one of my favorite types of pens. And I don't use them for drawing. I use them for writing. But I do it because I don't know if I feel more creative using those pens. I like the way they look on the paper more than a lot of pens. So, you know, just a few drawing style pens recommendations for Joe. And I did shoot him an email back already. But, I mean, get a few Secura Pigma Microns. I mean, they come in several colors. They come in several tip sizes. They're reasonably priced. They're not difficult to find. They are very good quality. They last a while. And if you do turn into a budding artist, the ink is archival quality. It's not going to fade over time. It's waterproof. I mean, the Secura Pigma Micron is just one of those pens that everyone should have. Even if you're not an artist or you're not going to use it for drawing or sketching, it's a creative pen. You can write with it. I write notes with it. I used one last night at work, drawing some diagrams out for work. It's a real functional, durable quality pen. And just like Joe says, I feel better or I feel more creative or more productive writing with that type of pen than if I do just grabbing a ballpoint pen. It's different. It just is. It's hard to explain that. And I don't know if that's exactly what Joe's getting at. You know, what's going to what what type of pen is going to give me just that little creative edge, you know, whether it's actual or just dreamed up. But, you know, what is going to make me feel a little bit better? And, you know, those type of pens are really something that I use for that. So outside of the Secura Pigment Micron, if you really want to if you want to step it up a notch and I don't know that we've ever talked about it. If if not, we haven't talked about it much. It's called the Copic Multiliner SP. It's a it's a drawing pen. It's an art pen.