Editing The Pen Addict 193/transcript (section)

== A-game Shirts ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' If you're involved. I'll bet you're wrong. All right. So, speaking of shirts, Myke Van Ness pulled out his A-game shirts for Saturday and Sunday. Did you see these? Yeah, I saw it. So the employees at the shop made him two of these shirts, which I guess he's worn before. I'd never seen them before. It's like ink splattered on the front and then bottle designs on the back. He had one for Saturday. Then he had a different one for Sunday. Even though they look kind of the same, they were definitely different. So it was pretty cool. I like those. I got to meet the world famous master penman, Michael Sull, who I've seen at shows. You've seen his work from some of our friends and fans getting their names done by Mr. Sull. And he came over to talk to Lisa because he uses one of the KWZ inks to do this handwriting, one of the Iron Gall inks. It performs very well for him. It's obviously permanent. So we thought, you know, so he was getting some more ink from her and she introduced me to him. And, you know, I gave him one of our NotCo pen cases and he really enjoyed that. And he said, well, let me come do your name, you know, as we'll make a trade out. You give me this case, I'll do your name. And I said, yeah, that's awesome. And Lisa's like, you got to get the pen addict done. I'm like, yeah, let's do the pen addict. And so I wrote that down. He's like, no, you can give me your write down your regular name, too. And so he did both of them for me, which was really so nice. He was so busy the whole show just writing people's names and could not be like a nicer guy. He was like legitimately, legitimately nice.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' One of the other recurring themes of the show was people were bringing me things. Gifts, you know, things they made, you know, things they wanted to give me. I had two. Out of all the things I got, I had two kind of tear-inducing moments. The first one was when our good friend Joey Feldman made me a print of Ian Curtis with the Joy Division on there, knowing that I was such a huge Joy Division fan. And I didn't know what to say. It was like this mind-blowing kind of thing that someone would actually think to do this and put the time and effort into doing this. And, you know, I thank Joey so much. You know, I pretty much jumped his bones, hugging him so hard for this because it was so cool. It was so cool. And then, you know, on Sunday, I received a pen from a lady named Evelyn. She gave me Kaweco Fire Blue because she knew I traded mine in Atlanta last year for that orange, butcher orange field notes. And so I think I cried the most on that one because it was so nice and thoughtful. And I had met her, like, the day before, and she was coming back the next day to see Myke Masayama. And she brought me that pen, and I was just like, it's unbelievable, the people in this community. I know we talk about it all the time. But those were my two bring tears to my eyes moments. You know, not that there weren't more, but those two, like, really, really stand out. And, you know, it's, like, hard to comprehend that these things actually happen. You know, this is back to that whole community thing, right? So it was pretty great. And then Saturday night wrapped up with a party at the hotel, which actually worked out pretty good. We couldn't get an official room because you can't talk to the promoter, and he's not interested in anything. So we just kind of took over some space at the bar. And my friends at Kenro Industries had a Montegrappa party where they were introducing a new Moscow Mule copper pen. And they gave away some of these copper mugs, and they hooked us up with a bunch of Moscow Mules to drink. And, you know, we did some giveaways. You know, Brian and Ryan over at Kenro did an awesome job. And Vanessa gave away some ink, and I gave away some NotCo cases. And we had kind of a good crew there, you know, surprisingly so since we didn't have an official party space like we do in Atlanta, right? So that went super, super well. And so, yeah, it was a really good Saturday. It was, like, kind of the perfect day because it had the right amount of everything. Like, we weren't overwhelmed. We were able to see some things. We were able to sell some stuff, you know, with Venice. We were able to, you know, finish it up with a party. It was just kind of like the most standard all-around day with all kinds of good stuff happening. And then Sunday it got berserk.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I want to hear more about Sunday. But let's take a break first. Okay. This week's episode is also brought to you by Squarespace. You want to enter the offer code INK at checkout to get 10% off and start building your own website today. Squarespace. Build it beautiful. When it comes to giving yourself a place online, you've got to check out Squarespace. You can build a site that looks professionally designed regardless of your skill level with no coding experience required. They have state-of-the-art technology and intuitive and easy-to-use tools to power your site and make it look and feel exactly how you want. Squarespace are trusted by millions of people around the world, some of the most respected brands in the world. And this is partly because they ensure security and stability, but they also do fantastic features. They have responsive design. They have a commerce platform so you can build a store. They have cover pages to help you build great-looking single-page websites. They have rock-solid fast hosting. They're dev platforms. You can tinker with the code if you want to. The list goes on and on and on. Squarespace have 24-7 support with live chat and email, so they're there to help you if you ever need it. If you are thinking of starting a site or you're unhappy with your current website, you should go and check out Squarespace. You can get a free trial with no credit card required by going to squarespace.com. Their plans start at just $8 a month, and you'll get a free domain name if you sign up for a year. When you do decide to sign up for a Squarespace plan, make sure that you use the offer code INC at checkout. Not only are you going to support the Pen Addict podcast because they'll know you heard about them from this show, you'll also get yourself 10% off your first purchase. Thank you so much to Squarespace for their support of this show and Real AFM. Squarespace, you should.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I'm going to put someone on the spot right here because they just popped up in the chat room, and they're getting ready to build a site on Squarespace, and they used our code because they told me at the Pen Show on Sunday, and that's David SD in the chat room. He was one of the nicest guys I met all weekend. He gave me a pen from his job training police officers. He gave me a San Diego Police Department little police car button, a pen, like a lapel pen button, and he's getting us some more to give you in Atlanta as well. And he is working on a blog, and I'm holding to it, and he told me he would let me know when it's ready to roll. And I know he's using Squarespace for that. So it was great to meet you, David. Thank you, David. So Sunday, we were warned for days about Sunday, and it pretty much came true. The initial rush was pretty crazy, and I made sure to get it on video on Periscope. We'll have links to all that in the show notes. Yeah, I saw that one. It was pretty packed. There was a lot of people just filing through because the line was so long. I think it probably took them close to two hours to clear the line through the entrance just because people having to pay, register, get in through the show registration table. The show notes. The show notes. Sorry.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Takes people hours to get through our show notes. They all along. So, yeah, so there are a lot of pictures from inside and outside. I was excited to meet Franz, who everyone knows from Instagram mostly and Twitter and Slack and Fountain Pen Geeks. He is so cool. He is like the nicest guy. If you want to see a bunch of shots from the pen show, check out Franz's Instagram feed and also check out Alltech Green's Instagram feed. They both captured more than I could have ever imagined. Alltech Green is Ricky Chow, who also helped us out a lot with the show, giving us information. But they're like the nicest guys. All they want to do is help. And everyone was so helpful. That was the other thing. Anything we needed at the table, like Matt from Pen Habit and a bunch of the SF Pen Posse guys like Richard and Ricky and Franz. And all these people were just so helpful. Anything we wanted to do, you know, grabbing us lunch or helping us fill ink samples or swatching things that we forgot to swatch, ink swatch. And it was just...

'''Myke Hurley:''' Having done only that one pen show and looking forward very much to doing my next one. Somebody who brings you lunch is the best person on the planet.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, so we hosed that on Friday. Both Lisa and I were in bad shape on Friday because neither of us ate lunch. And that's like my number one rule, you know, when we talk about pen shows is make sure you eat. And Lisa and I failed on that on Friday just because of the travel and everything. Then we did... We were able to get lunch on Saturday and Sunday, which is hugely, hugely important. Even for not those working there, just for those attending. You got to take a break. You got to eat. You got to drink. So I drank a lot of water. We were right across from like the water bottles, water cooler. So I got a lot of water. But yeah, that's huge. So yeah, anyone who does that. But it was just a busy day in general. There were times where it was like three or four deep at the table. People kind of having to wait to get up front to look at the ink and look at the ink samples. Things like that. Look at the different things that we're looking to purchase. Ask us questions. Things like that. So it was pretty steady. Didn't have much time to get around on Sunday. But that's cool. That's the way it's supposed to be. Sunday is the public day. And it was just really, really packed. So my Sunday night, we ate dinner. And after dinner, I almost couldn't walk back to the hotel. It was like I was so exhausted. And people were going to the bar. I was like, I just went straight to my room and crashed. I couldn't even go to sleep. So it was a long, long... By Sunday night, I was exhausted. But all during the day, it was good.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So when is Nock going to make an appearance at the LA Pen Show?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Don't know. That's a good question. It depends on if we would be willing to ship all our stuff out there. Because we're certainly not going to make the drive. I have a hard time. It would actually be okay for us to have this table on assignment thing.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because pen cases are easier to carry around than bottles of ink.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. We can move that stuff around. I don't know that I want to deal with that, though. Because people get ticked with each other. Well, I've had this table for five years. Well, no one has assigned tables till Sunday.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You didn't wake up early enough, buddy.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. There were people down there at like four and five o'clock in the morning to get tables. Yeah, that ain't happening, man. And I don't know that on a personal level, I would be super frustrated. I don't need that mental overhead to deal with that, right? So will Nock ever make an appearance out in LA? Maybe. It's a cool place. The people out there are awesome. I met so many great people. I think the product would do well enough. The Vanessas were nice enough to let me put a few cases out. And people who knew about them were excited to see them. People who didn't know about them thought they were pretty cool. So I definitely got good feedback on the not goods out there. It would do well out there, I believe.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's just a logistic thing. You know, it just couldn't be further away. And, you know, when you have a promoter that's not pro vendor in the way that this one is, I would have a difficult time giving him my money, knowing that it's just going to be a hassle from a promoter perspective. But we'll see. I'll never say never. Just because of the people. I mean, the people make it worthwhile. So if I can get over that and dealing with him and the frustrations that come along with that, maybe. Would you go back under the same circumstances? I would absolutely go back under the same circumstances. The Vanessas are wonderful to work for. They, I mean, Lisa hangs the moon as far as I'm concerned. And she thinks it's funny when I fawn on her like that because she thinks she doesn't deserve it. But she does. She's like a legitimately great person. This is the first time I've worked with Myke. First time I've met him. First time I've even talked to him. And he was just a nice guy. They did a really, really good job. They're super supportive of me. And them bringing me out there is nothing short of fantastic. And I could not appreciate them more for what they do for me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, definitely. Thank you, Vanessas. But you bought some stuff.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I did. I bought very little stuff. I like, so my plan. So outside of working the pin show, my plan was no plan, right? My, I'm there to do a job. So I go, I work for Vaness. Anything else is gravy at that point. That's my focus when I, when they bring me out to shows, I work for them. I do whatever they need. I'm there for them. And I love it. It couldn't be any better. So from a pen addict perspective, that means I don't get to see the whole show. You know, I can make a, I never made, I probably saw, there's no way I saw 50% of the show. I probably saw maybe a quarter of it. Just because I don't have time to get around that much. But what happens is all my friends go around. They know what I like. They say, did you see this? Did you see that? That way I can make beelines to put the places I look at. Right. So the first one, starting on the first, starting on Friday, did you know that Stylo Art and Aboya were here? And I was like, I'd only heard of them at the LA pen show for previous, previous years. So Stylo Art makes beautiful wood-barreled pens. And Aboya makes ebonite pens. They're both Japanese companies. And they're both, you know, you can order online. But the ordering process isn't the most simple thing. Aboya is starting to make some inroads over here. They have a few pens at nibs.com. They have a few pens at Anderson Pens, but nowhere near like their entire lineup.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And so by Saturday, on Friday, they were down the hall from us. On Saturday, both of those tables, they kind of worked in conjunction together, even though they were separate companies. Both of those tables were literally adjacent to us. So it was Myke Masayama and Mr. Nagahara at the very end of the aisle. The Van Ness, two tables, and then Stylo Art and Aboya right next to us. So when I'm standing out in front of the Van Ness table working, and if I'm not working, I'm sitting in front of Aboya and Stylo Art and talking to them the whole time and looking at these pens, and they're just fascinating. And after two days of that, yeah, I went in. I went in, and that's what I bought. You know, I could have, if I shopped, there were several other pens. I now have other pens on my radar, which we'll maybe talk about at the end of the show if we have time. But as far as like pure shopping for me or for the pen addict, I did almost none and only, and I'm glad that Stylo and Aboya were right next to us because I really wanted to get something from them. So it worked out that I was able to, you know, I was at the Aboya table. We were joking. I was just there so much, you know, like five or six times. And, you know, it was just really cool. So I purchased two pens. The first one I bought on Saturday was the Aboya. The shape of the pen is called the, I'm going to go, Houga. It's H-O-U-G-A. It's basically a cigar shape with rounded ends, clipless. The ebonite color is called Kumpu Green, I believe, as best as I could track down. And it's basically just a solid polished ebonite with a gold Bach nib and the ebonite section and just a very faint Aboya made in Tokyo stamped on the barrel, which you can barely see. It's just, it's one of those pens. Ebonite just feels so good in the hand to me. I love the shape and the smoothness and the feel of it. It looks, okay, so Tanya's giving me Houga. How did I do? We'll see if that's good. So, yeah, that's a hard word. I love the chat room.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And it's just a very cool pen. That was the first pen I bought. And it was a hard decision. I couldn't, it took me so many visits to their table because I couldn't decide on the color. Between the orange, red, and green, it was a really, really tough decision. They had a blue that was great, but they only had that in like a clipped and banded one. And it was a gold clip and a gold band around it and a larger size pen. I almost bought that one because the blue was so pretty, but I didn't. So, that was the first pen. The second pen I bought was a Stylo Art Asama, which is the shape. And the wood is called Buried Ash. And now this is a very, very lightweight pen, as you would imagine, from wood. But what they do is they have the ability to fit pilot and sailor nibs into these pens. So, they have, this pen has the wood barrel. It's a rushi, like clear rushi lacquered. I think reading on the site, it's like, you know, 10 layers of this clear rushi lacquered, which really makes the grain of the wood pop and shine. This is a pen you have to see in person to appreciate the colors of it. And the section and gold nib, I have a 21 carat extra fine sailor nib, just a stock nib that they enjoyed selling to me. They enjoyed seeing my handwriting. It was so fine that they wanted to take pictures of my handwriting because they couldn't believe that an American would write that small. And they say that's usually only reserved for like kanji letterers and things like that. So, it was quite funny. They got a big kick out of that. The pen is amazing. All of, so the stylo, the Boya, I narrowed it down to like a few pens. You know, they had a huge table of ebonite and all different shapes, sizes, and designs. There was only one or two styles I liked. The stylo arts table, there wasn't a pen I didn't like out of probably a hundred different barrels. So, that was actually harder to decide. But I decided to get one with a lot of grain and a lot of color that you could see. Like the black, like the solid black ones look really cool. But I didn't think I would enjoy it in the long run as much as one that was like really, really nice. Had a nice, you know, wood grain pattern and things like that. So, they're really, really cool. And the only other things I got were I bought a beautiful pen case, pen wrap from stylo art, which was made out of the lady working there. I think it's a husband and wife. And she was telling me the story of this pen wrap that I had in my hand and I picked it out. And it was her grandmother's geisha belt silks that this pen wrap was made from. I was like, yep, I'm totally buying that. So, I bought that. I bought a couple of pen cases from Myke Masayama's wife. And then I had Myke Masayama work on a Pelican nib that I had just bought. I had just bought a pen from Mr. Dudek, the Blue Marine Pelican. I got that nib ground down to an extra fine. And then he also fixed the Bach nib that I got with my first nib on the Aboya pen. And so, that's kind of an interesting story. So, Aboya uses Bach nibs and they're gold, 14 karat gold nibs. And I brought it over to Myke to just get ground into a cursive italic. And so, he looked at the nib through his, you know, through his eyepiece, through his magnifying lens. And he saw that, like, the tine slit was crooked, which I didn't see. Obviously, when I purchased the pen, it's actually kind of hard to see with the blind eye, with the naked eye. And Myke was able to see that. So, I was fortunately able to just walk back over. I had a hard time explaining this to the gentleman at the Aboya table. I forget his name. And so, but I finally, you know, showed him. We got out his magnifying lens, looked at it, and we could see, like, the tine was kind of off. So, Myke Masuyama said he couldn't really work on that nib. So, we just swapped it out over at the Aboya table. Which leads to the thing when you're kind of a tip. When you're, and I've done this before with Myke, and it's not always, he's not always able to do it. If you're buying pens, even new pens, you know, have someone take a look at them. You know, it's kind of like a mechanic looking at a car, you know, just to see if there's any issues with it. And I couldn't have seen this with my naked eye. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, you know, if I came home with it. It would just have been more of a hassle to swap that out or either adjust it as it needed to be. But, like, when I bought, like, a vintage pilot at the Atlanta pen show, I would say, may I take this over to Myke and have him look at the nib and make sure everything's fine? And they almost, they always say yes. Bring it over to Myke, you know, or someone, you know, make sure he's not busy. Myke, I'm purchasing this pen. Will you just verify that this looks good? So, you know, fortunately, he was able to do that Saturday. Sunday, you couldn't get within a mile of Myke Masuyama. But, you know, that was just kind of a little side story of something that happened there, which has never happened to me before. So that was kind of a unique moment. But that was all I bought. I mean, the two pens and three pen cases. And then I got a bunch of other things from a lot of people. Got some pens, obviously, given to me. Got some ink given to me. Got some paper given to me. So all that stuff was very, very cool. But as far as purchasing wise, I didn't go nuts. But my, from what I didn't have on a shopping list before, I now have a couple of other things on a shopping list. Oh, yeah? Yeah, a Dana Trio. I'll have to go find the name. But one of the things I was able to see at the LA Pen Show was a Nakaya and also a Dana Trio with a lacquered clip. So they take that same Urushi lacquering from the barrels that they're using. And the clip gets lacquered as well. Colored, dyed, painted. It looks so nice. I'm going to have to get a lacquered clip pen. The Nakaya was way too expensive. It was like $2,500. And when I went to go show someone it, someone had bought it in the Amtorum. That's how nice looking that pen was. And then the Dani Trio was kind of a brown Urushi pen with a sky blue lacquered clip that just looked gorgeous. And was not exactly in the price range, but way cheaper than the Nakaya. But I need to figure out the name of the barrel and check it out. The other pen I'm kind of fascinated with, which I had never seen it before. And Matt Armstrong ended up picking up one of them. It's the Jupiter pen from Andy Lambrough. So it's really good looking. You would actually like this pen, Myke. And I don't know how much it is. And Matt took a picture of it on his Instagram, which I'll get for you in the show notes. But it's got this. It's kind of got a space scene with a big red Jupiter. But it's very subtle. Like it's not like you think about that and you think it could be tacky. But it's really, really not even remotely tacky at all. It's beautiful. And we'll get that in the show notes so everyone can see a link to that pen. But that's not a pen I would have ever considered unless I saw it in person. And it's pretty awesome. So those are the pens that are now on my shopping list. And I have no idea how much even those would cost. But it's very cool.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Awesome. Awesome. Pen show fever.