Editing The Pen Addict 60/transcript (section)

== Lamy Pens ==


'''Dan Benjamin:''' Love this thing. I had actually gotten, I thought that I would get one of these Lamy. Mm-hmm. Okay, one of these Lamy fountain pens, because I asked my account manager if she wanted one of the fountain pens. She said, no, no, no, I would like the drawing pens instead. And I said, that's fine. And so I got two of them. I was going to keep one. I gave one to my producer. And then she saw mine, and she wrote with it, and she's like, oh, I do like that. And I said, all right, you can have that. Because I had the Pelican at that point. I'm like, screw that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I remember when, because you sent me a link to the Pelican. Yeah. And it surprised me, because I was like, I mean, I know that they're good because Brad sings their praises. Yeah. And has done to me and has done on the show before. But I would never have sort of suggested it as like a good starting point. Because that's a real sort of fine instrument.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' Oh, it's amazing. Yeah. I don't even know how to really write with it yet. But I'm working up to it. I want to deserve that pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And just for the record, so the listeners knows, this is the Pelican M205. It's the black body steel nib. You went extra fine, right? You like the extra fine nib? It is extra fine. It is extra fine. Correct. And it's got, they have the, I like the Pelican. They have that cool little ink window that's. So cool. At the bottom. It's an awesome pen. Actually, I don't have this model. I think this is going to be the next pen that I buy. This exact one. So it's been on the shopping list for a long time. I have a different model that I love. And I just got into the Pelicans not too long ago myself. So I can definitely know where you're coming from. It's a different writing experience. It's beautiful.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' And so my question for you is, how long will it take before I'm, you know, I'm worthy of this pen, do you think? How much, right. And how does it, and better question, how does this pen compare to some of your other favorite pens? Because I know that you've, you've used this one and you've written with this one. And how does it, you know, how does it compare? I'm very curious. Is this, is it, is it unique? Is it different? Is this just an example of, of a good pen or what?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I wouldn't say it's, it's unique, but it's a very prime example of a great pen. It's like the reason why you bought it, like you were, you know, talking about how you grew up with like a piston filler pen. Right. So where, you know, you, you unscrew the, you, you screw like the, the back end of the pen and that sucks up the ink out of the bottle. And it's just a real easy pen to use. But Pelican, the quality of the Pelican pens is, it's really superior to like the other pens in their price range. So.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' You know what? It's very, it's, here's the one thing I'll say, and I'm not to interrupt you, and this is not a criticism of the pen. But it feels, it felt, when I first picked up, felt very lightweight.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' And almost a little, like it doesn't feel too light. I'm talking about filled too. It doesn't feel too light. It's the kind of, and at first I thought, ah, not like it's made cheaply because it's not. But like, hmm, but here's the thing. If you're going to write for a while, you don't want to hold a heavy pen. No. The lighter pen, it's just on the light side of heavy enough, if that makes any sense.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, I think when I reviewed, I reviewed this, this model, it might've had a little different, different build, but the same weight and same everything else. That's what shocked me the most is how it felt in my hand. It wasn't too light. It's not a big pen. It's not a huge pen by any means. But when you grip it and start writing, everything about it just felt right. Everything, the way it's built, the way it's balanced, you know, with the ink in, the weight is perfect. So yeah, no, it's a, it's a super, super high quality pen. And I really, I mean, it's really not that expensive in the, in the grand scheme of, of fountain pens. It's a good, it's really Pelican's kind of entry level model. Cause the next step up from this one is a gold nib, but it's the same barrel size, same barrel design as, as what you have. It's just, you're paying, you know, a hundred dollars more for a gold nib. And we had this conversation a couple of weeks ago, Myke, it's like sometimes, you know, getting the steel nib is, is the right thing to do. And you don't need to go up to the gold nib because you're going to get everything you need just out of a pen like this. And that's, that's why I like it so much. And I'm going to, the one I, the one I reviewed was on loan to me. Um, and I just hadn't gotten around to purchasing one yet. And that it's literally going to be the next pen I buy just because I like it so much. It's a great pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So you, when you, that's it, that's all I've got. Those are the only fancy pens that I have. So when you got to, uh, when you got the, the Pelican and you got your G or ball, right. Um, do you take that in the office and people wondering, you know, what are you doing? You know, why do you have this bottle of ink in the office? What is it? What is this guy? Has Dan lost his mind?

'''Dan Benjamin:''' Because I'm, I'm surrounded by artists, you know, and the people that work here, they're all very creative people. And to them, it was like, oh, it's about time you get a, you know, a nice pen. Uh, but you know, what's interesting is I, and I'm not kidding about that, but it, but it is interesting because I have the pen with me frequently. And, uh, when I like, I'm the, it's, it's not that I'm a germaphobe exactly. Um, as much as it's, I just, if there's some kind of pen that's been floating around on the counter of the car dealership for months at a time and it's grungy and it's that cheap blue Bic pen that lost its cap. And there's a piece of, you know, masking tape, holding it onto a string tape to the, you know, back of the counter. I don't really want to write with that. You know, it's not something I really want to write with. So I will instead, um, you know, pull out my own pen and I have frequently get people who are like, oh, you know, like they will say, oh, that's a nice pen. Like I, and they don't know what it is. I guess they see that it's a fountain pen. A $5 fountain pen is probably going to impress people who are used to dealing with that awful Bic blue Bic pen taped up to the thing. But you know, like you, you, people will comment. People will comment around here. I think people just appreciate it. But out in the real world, people notice that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' The fact that you have a pen surprises. Right.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' Yeah. Just the fact that I have a pen puts me in a whole different class than most of the people, you know, at, at, at the car dealership.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' The fact that I carry my own pen. It's a way to distinguish yourself. It is a way to distinguish yourself like a pocket square. Different show.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like you said, it doesn't even have to be, you know, your, your Pelican. It could just be any.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' Any pen. Just simply your own blue Bic pen without a cap. Would, would impress some people. Yep. Something to keep in mind for your listeners. Doesn't have to be a fancy $140 Pelican.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nope. Dan is definitely one of us. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' We can, I can hear like, this is what, this is the thing that gets you, Mr. Benjamin.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' That's something. I do enjoy this kind of thing. I enjoy it. Because you get to a certain point, Myke.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' I don't, I don't know if you're there yet. Where you start to think about the things that you surround yourself with. The things you, you're going to spend money on. And, you know, there's an expression. And the expression is a poor man. I suppose today it should be a poor person. It would be politically correct. I know you guys pay less attention to equality over there in that, in that country.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, my God.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' But you would say a, a poor person can afford only the very best. And the, the, the way I was told this story, and I'm sure this is a famous quote that was butchered and then told to me by a friend of mine. And, and the way he described it is, let's say you go out and you buy, you buy a shovel. And you go to Home Depot, which is a store that we have here in the United States. And the Home Depot is like, you know, you buy anything for your home from a refrigerator to a shovel to, you know, the potting soil on the plants, whatever. It's all that stuff. You go and you buy a shovel and you say, well, I only need it for this one thing. So, you know, I'm trying to dig this, this stump out of the, tree stump out of the backyard. So you go and you buy a shovel and you, well, I just need a cheap one. I'll get the one for $12. So you go and you buy it. And as you're using it, it falls apart. It breaks. This happens.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' And then you say, man, now I got to go buy another one. So now you're going to get in the car, you know, spend more gas or petrol, as you say, and go and buy another. And now you've spent now. And then you say, well, I'm going to get the decent quality. Well, I'm going to get the good one this time, which is $22. Right. Well, now you spent $12 and then you spent another $22. But if you just bought the best one the first time, then you would have only spent, you would have saved the $12. And I feel like that's what it's like with things like this. Like buy something that's quality and it's going to last a lot longer. And that's still true. Don't focus so much on like the brand, right? Because the brand doesn't really matter. Buy something that's going to last. Buy something that's the thing that you really want. And then take care of it and have it for longer. We live in a very, you know, I don't know what it's like over there, but we live in a very much a disposable culture here. People are used to buying that blue Bic pen or maybe it's paper made and writing with that thing. And when it runs out of ink, they just chuck it away. You can't refill it. You can't put anything into it. You don't have to be delicate with it. You drop it on the ground. You might not stop to pick it up. Disposable culture.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' Because you get a nice pen, you want to take care of it. I spent $136 on that pen. Guess who I'm going to give that to? I'm going to give that to my kid when he graduates.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' You know, maybe he'll get his own pen, but he might like to write with mine. You know what I'm saying? There's a different purpose. There's a different meaning there. And all along the way, while he grows up and gets older, I have a really, really nice pen to write with. That is going to be better than all this. But then you wind up with crappy paper. I don't know how you guys deal with that. Because when you need to write on the crappy paper with your nice fountain pen or something, that's not going to look good. So you kind of want to upgrade everyone's documents.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You see, that's where you end up getting into a situation like me and Brad, where I would then have specific pens that are better quality, that will perform okay on those, on poorer paper. So you might want to look at a really nice rollerball or something, which would be of a higher quality than the ones that you would find in Office Max or something. Yeah. But it's not going to feather and bleed through like a fountain pen would.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, the paper is a huge issue. Just because if you're using just the copier paper out of the office, your pen is going to react one way to it, especially your fountain pen. And then if you're using the Morriman, which is the nice, smooth paper that doesn't bleed, doesn't feather, doesn't do anything. So for me, and I think a lot of people that listen to this show, I work in an office, just your standard, your cube farm type of situation. And I bring my own paper. And if I have to use something off the printer that I need to mark up or something, I use my own paper at my desk with my fountain pens. And then I'll just reach for a different pen. I have to write on this crappy paper and just pick a better pen to use it with it at the time. But it's mostly because I carry my own paper with me, essentially, you know, keep it at the office and just use my notes and my documentation and all that stuff. So I can use the nice pens that I want. So it's an issue. And people are always searching for the best paper or something better than they have. Or they're looking for, hey, I'm stuck in this office situation and I have just reams of copier paper. What pen is going to work the best for that? So we have those conversations, too. So, yeah, paper is a huge deal that people don't give a lot of consideration to sometimes.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' Because paper has changed as pens and printers and things like that changed. Now, you know, the expected thing is a ballpoint pen, a cheap ballpoint pen. That's what people expect you to write on regular paper with these days.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Back in the... That's all corporations are buying these days, too. That's it. That's what their office supply cabinet is stuck with, that junk.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' Yeah. Yeah. So if you bring out a nice pen and you want to write on that crappy paper, it's not set up for that. That's just something people should know when they go and they get their pen. And if you go and buy one of these nice pens, maybe you guys should do an intro show again. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, for beginners. I would love to listen to that. Because this is like a warning you need to say. If you go out there and you spend, let's say you want one of these nice, fancy fountain pens or even one of the more reasonably priced Lamy. Am I saying that? That sounds wrong. I want to say Lamy because I'm from the Northeast. Lamy. You buy one of these Lamy pens. And you're going to find, like when you sit down, you grab that yellow college ruled notebook off the shelf and you write down something. It's going to be like, it's going to be blurry. It's going to smudge. It's going to look like crap. You know what I mean? It's going to look terrible. And you're going to be like, oh, this new pen's a piece of crap. Well, it's not. What you're writing on is a piece of crap. Exactly. Because they make special paper. You need to get both. If you're doing an order and placing an order, you need to place an order and you need to buy one of these. I don't even know how you say it anymore. One of those special notebooks that's the Japanese ones. Yeah. Mormon. You need to get that because then you can at least know, oh, this is what writing with a nice pen on nice paper is supposed to be like. And then when you go to your regular crappy paper and it's not nice, you'll be like, well, I know why that's not nice. Because it's crappy paper.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I think we need to do a revisit the basics kind of show, Myke. Because we're still doing a lot of basic stuff. I mean, we're 60 episodes in. And just last week, I was doing fountain pen ink basics. So we do this stuff all the time. So I think that's a very good idea, Dan. We will do that because just like you said, you don't want someone to get disheartened when they buy this nice pen and they go use it on this cheap paper. And it doesn't perform up to their expectations. And then they're done. They're like, oh, this isn't what I expected. And forget this. And back to my hotel, my Marriott courtyard ballpoint. And that works better on this. And yeah. So I think that's a good idea.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So Brad.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes, sir.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Do you have, having listened to Dan and where he is right now with his pen habits, do you have any sort of recommendations for him? Like can you, from hearing like, you know what sort of paper he's using, do you think that there could be some paper that could be better for him? Or, you know, is there like maybe a rollerball or a ballpoint that you might suggest to him or another fountain pen or something?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think the fountain pen is pretty covered. I mean, that's really about as good as you get. That's going to last you, like you said, that's going to last you a long time. There's really, unless you, there's some need that you have for a fountain pen. That's going to last you a long time. And that's going to work well. As far as other recommendations, I mean, I know Myke is a huge fan of this. And you probably expect that I might even say this. But we're both fans of actually a brand called Retro 51 just for a rollerball pen. Like, let me ask you this, Dan. And so last week, well, two weeks ago, you were at WWDC in San Francisco. True. This weekend, you were in L.A. I don't know what you were doing except eating because that's all that was in your Instagram feed was food. So I think you just went there.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' We did eat a lot of food there. We did eat a lot of food.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So y'all just went for an eating trip to L.A. So do you carry a pen or paper when you go on these kind of trips?

'''Dan Benjamin:''' Yes, always.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Do you carry your fountain pen?

'''Dan Benjamin:''' I have been. The first one that I got.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay, the Kaweco. Yeah, the cartridge pen. Yeah. Yeah, that works a little bit better for travel. So like for travel.

'''Dan Benjamin:''' Yeah, because when the cap comes off and it goes on and the way the place where it screws on is further down. So it's much, much, much more pocketable. And it's heavier. So you're it which you would think, oh, that's bad. I don't want some heavy in my pocket. False. Right. You know if it's in your pocket or not. You don't have to be like, oh, where did that thing just float away? But if I'm wearing a sport coat or something like that, then I feel a little better having the Pelican in there.