Editing The Pen Addict 113/transcript (section)

== Writing Style ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I have to use visuals when I'm talking. So I had a very vertical writing style. With fountain pens, you can't really do that, right? You, by the, by design, you have to have more, a more shallow angle of approach, if you will. So the pen's laid back a little bit more in your hand and it's a little bit lighter pressure and a little bit more flowing. So what I've found that's happening with me now, after about two years of heavy fountain pen use, when I go back to gel, ballpoint, roller ball pens, my angle of approach has completely changed. My writing is not as good. And then I have to force myself back into this more upright stance, upright posture to get this pen to write well. Do you notice if you have two different writing angles of fountain pen and non-fountain pens?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't think that I do. I've never noticed it. It would surprise me if I did, to be honest. Like maybe it's so subtle that I wouldn't notice it anyway. I'm sure there is some difference, but I think it's pretty subtle if it does exist for me. Or maybe, maybe it's vastly different and I've just never noticed. And now all I will ever be able to do is notice it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think, I think you would notice because it's pretty apparent that if I go from a fountain pen to a Pilot Hi-Tech C, I can't hold them and write with them the same way at all.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I'm wondering if other people experience that too. So for me, it has totally changed and I have, my penmanship is now worse with gel ink pens than it used to be. Because my writing angle has completely changed because I use them a much smaller percentage of the time than with fountain pens. So, anywho. All right, I got a few Twitter questions for you, Myke. Cool. So this one's from Design by MK. Do you use summertime ink colors? Do you change your fountain pen ink color based on the season, Michael?

'''Myke Hurley:''' No, I've not changed my main colors in a long time.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Same here. I use bright colors to begin with. Yeah. And so when it comes around to the fall, I tend to not change them. So I'm using, I use spring, summertime ink colors all the time. If I would change, it would be in fall and winter. And I don't. I stick with the main colors I like. I still use the bright blues like Sailor Sky High, Conpecky. I use the oranges that I like, like Apricot, Sailor Apricot, and then a bunch of blue blacks. I kind of have this, I don't know, one big pool of inks that I pull from. And they don't really change with me for the seasons. But I know a bunch of people do. A lot of people, you know, definitely get into the deeper colors in the fall and the brighter colors in the summer and the pastel colors in the spring, things like that. That's never been a thing for me. I just want to use the colors that I like the most all the time. So.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm the same.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. This is from Jim DeBeer. Where do you buy your pens from, Myke? Which eBay sellers, local retailers, online, et cetera? We also had a follow-up question to that. Someone was asking about British pen shops, pen shops in London today. Yeah. And I have no answer. That's a tough deal, right? Yeah. It's a tough deal.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Never found a good one. I'm sure that they exist, but my searching has not yet turned up a good answer.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I mean, I think I probably used the standard places. I mean, you know, as well as like JetPens and Pen Chalet and where else? Where is it?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this is one. There's no magic here. We pretty much talk about all the places that we shop from all the time.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But then I do use UK people like Cult Pens and I use the writingdesk.co.uk. They're really great. And I use Bureau Direct as well. I'll put those three in the show notes because, I mean, I think the other ones everybody knows about. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And between, like for me on my side of the pond, you know, JetPens, Anderson Pens, Goulet Pens, Pen Chalet. I've bought from every single one of those this year. And I don't, I stopped using, I don't use eBay very much to buy pens. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mine's like, can't get it anywhere else.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And local retailers are tough. When anyone ever comes to Atlanta, there's like maybe two places I can send them, which is Art Light and Total Office Products. But I haven't been into those shops in, I can't tell you how long. So I don't even know the status of them now. I mean, I know they're still available. I mean, they're still, you know, in business, but I haven't been to them in years. Online seems to be where it's at. But so I'll put them all in.

'''Myke Hurley:''' They'll all go in the show notes just in case people are unfamiliar with any of them.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. If you have specific, more specific questions about that, Jim, you know, hit me up and I can definitely guide you. You know, there's probably a few more things I could add in there. So if you're looking for something specific, let me know. And I can also tell you which eBay sellers I've used in the past that have worked out fine.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So if you live in the UK, or at least in Europe, look at some deals on paper. There's a store, I think we may have mentioned this, called De Peppery.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We didn't, but I know where you're going with this. So go.

'''Myke Hurley:''' They're closing down.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So currently they're clearing out stock. I only thought to go there today. A bunch of people have mentioned it to me, but I hadn't got around to it. And they were selling drink local for £4.50 a pack, which is nothing. Wow. And I've missed them.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's my own fault. I think I saw somebody mention, I believe, that someone's retiring.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I think the couple that runs the company are retiring. Something to that effect.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I think if that is the case, fantastic.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Absolutely. That's the way to go out, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. And now they're passing the saving on to you. So go there. They do some really great brands and they've got some pretty good deals. If anything is still available. I mean, they've got anywhere between 30. Well, it's actually at least 30% off everything. Yep. Like, it's insane. Like, you can get, you can get like Rodian notebooks for the price of a mini. Like, it's, you know, it's nothing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's crazy. So one of your country mates, Stuart Hasley, he wants to know how I keep track of all of my inks and pens. How do you record and archive them? Do you do anything to that effect, Myke? No. Yes. Let me tell you how I record and archive all my pens and inks, Stuart. I don't. I pretty much, I, I'm no, um, just Davey B who I always am impressed by his database full of pens and inks and rotating them on a certain schedule. That's seriously impressive. I will never do that because that's not in my mental capacity to handle. The only thing I do is I sort my inks by brand. So all my pilot inks sit together, all my sailor inks sit together. I do that. And then my fountain pen storage is done by region, if that makes sense. So I do have my Japanese pens together, my German pens together, my American pens together, things like that, as much as possible. I'm not totally anal about that, but just, I know if I'm looking for a pilot pen, I know generally where to go look for it. Um, and then all my gel rollerball ballpoint pens are usually just sorted out by ink type, just like that gel rollerball ballpoint. It's really, I don't have any kind of system whatsoever to do, but if you want a system, go read, um, just Davey B's site, which I can't even think of the name of it right now. He's changed it so many times in the past year, but, um, you know where to find him. All right. I like this one.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm finding out. Yeah. Yeah. It is probably just Davey B.me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It, he, he's gone back and forth. He will laugh when he hears this because he changed it and was all adamant about the change. And then I think within a month had changed it again.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I think it's just Davey B.me. Okay. I'm going to go with that. I mean, we could be sending another Davey B who also likes pens. Yes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So no, he always, he updates every time he changes the pen, but there is a specific method to the madness of why a new pen is in the rotation and why it is loaded out with the ink that it's loaded out with. It is very specific. So it's very cool. So Ash to pen on Twitter said, did you ever hear anything more from the people behind that scribbler pen? Hashtag inquiring minds. Um, no, I never heard anything behind anymore from people behind that scribbler pen, but I did get a couple of interesting theories in my mailbox, Myke, and I'm not prepared. Um, I don't have it up in front of me, but there's something. Called, I got an email and these are all just, um, theories. This is nothing factual, what I'm about to say. People had some ideas on what's going on with this scribbler pen. One of the ideas is that this is a something called, have you heard of the lean startup, Myke?

'''Myke Hurley:''' No.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So it's a book, I believe, or it's at least a course or it's some Silicon Valley thingy about the lean startup to where you do this product testing before you have a product. So they believe the, one of the emails I got believes that this is a test to see, do we have something before we invest in making this something? Okay.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So that was one theory. The second theory is that this is a take on, and boy, I don't have the link to this in front of me. It, there was a gentleman that came up with this idea several years ago. So, um, excuse me, Myke. Um, let me see if I, I'll find the link while we continue on with the show notes and we'll circle back around to it. But there was a project, like a school project where a guy made a pen or a prototype of a pen and maybe even patented this type of pen to go out and read colors in the real world and then come back and put them down on paper. You know, that would color match it, right? Just like the scribble pen. Um, I'll try to find the link that I can send to you. Um, so that was the two theories that it's either one, this lean startup test to where they're testing to see if they have a viable product and want to move forward, or it's a take on this existing, I think it might even be patented, um, product that someone came up with several years ago and they want to take it to market. But did I ever hear anything back from anyone at scribble pen? No, they stopped answering my emails and I stopped sending them. So I'm good with that.