Editing The Pen Addict 197/transcript (section)

== Pen Reviews ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. For, for specific things. So what, what other takeaways did you have from last year, Myke, that you're looking at doing similarly or different to this year? Anything? Uh, more caffeine is going to be.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' More lunch. That's definitely in the cards. Yeah. Making sure we eat lunch correctly at good times, um, and have good lunches. We didn't do that last time so much. Um, I'm a little bit more prepared for some of the things I was unprepared for. Uh, just the idea of like how crazy everything was going to be, even though everything is going to be dialed up again this time. Uh, but I'm just, more than anything, I'm just excited to see everyone. Um, I was blown away last year at the, uh, getting to meet people in person and seeing the community. It was such a nice thing. And, you know, the, the kind of the aspect of everyone just sharing, that was kind of the big key thing for me. It was just the sharing of everything. Uh, everybody was so nice with their time. People were, you know, handing out their stuff for people to try. Uh, it was just fantastic. And I cannot wait to see all of that again. I, I think at a bigger scale, um, I think there's everything that we saw last year, uh, is going to translate into more and more people, uh, being there from the pen addict community this time around. So that's what I'm really excited about is seeing how that's going to translate. And then in the years to come as well, uh, I think the more and more that we do this and the more and more that we make this a thing and we talk about it on this show, uh, I, you know, I know people, friends of mine that are coming to the show this time that didn't come last time, uh, because of their, their new love of the pen addict world. So I'm, I'm sorry. I'm just, I can't wait. Like it cannot come soon enough for me now.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. And I'll just, you know, add onto what both of y'all said. This is, this is, um, the best like social event I have all year. I could almost care less about the pen show. The pen show is the vehicle to get us all in the same place, but just hanging out with everyone, talking with everyone, having fun, um, you know, sharing pens and paper and talking about silly things and going out to dinner or meeting up at the waffle house and seeing people that, you know, you only get to see maybe once a year if you're lucky. Um, and I don't know what to expect. Like, as far as people wise, it seems like it's going to be busier, right? I mean, it has to be, but, um, we were so, you know, had our socks knocked off last year. Um, you, you want to say it's hard to top, but this, I keep warning Jimmy. I was like, I feel like it's going to be more people this year than last year. It's got to be right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I can't see how it's not.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Yeah. So that's why I'm trying to make sure we have enough room, um, in the building to handle everyone who's coming, but it's just going to be, it's just a really, really cool hangout. Um, and like I said, the pen show is in itself is awesome. And Jimmy does a great job with all the vendors and getting everyone there. And you'll get to see a bunch of people that you've heard us talk about online. If you've never been out to a pen show before. Um, but really just meeting the people and, um, and hanging out with the community and, um, just really chatting and relaxing and talking with, with other people is, it was far and away the highlight last year. Um, you know, way more so than, than purchasing any pen or ink would be, um, just hanging out with people and sharing those experiences with others. I mean, those are, those are memories you take with you that it's not a fleeting thing. I mean, I still think about last year's show, you know, on a weekly, if not daily basis, it was just that, that much fun last year. And, uh, I fully anticipate this year is going to be even better.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, let's get out of jealousy corner. Um, we have, we have some, uh, some great stuff coming up on the other side of this break. This episode is brought to you by Squarespace, the simplest way for anyone to create a beautiful landing page website or online store. You can start building your own website today at squarespace.com and use the code ink, I N K at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase. We've easy to use tools and templates. Squarespace helps you capture every detail of what drives you because if it's worth the effort, it's worth sharing with the world. I love that line. So many people these days have ideas, projects, things that they want to do. They want to sell stuff. They want to start a blog. They want to show off their photography and their artwork. These things are important to all of us. You want tools. You want a site that is going to help you express that with the minimum amount of work from your site. You know, you're having to learn things you don't know how to do and having it all supported. And that's what's so great about Squarespace. Anybody can build a great looking website. It doesn't matter what your skill level is. You don't need to know code. You're given the tools to create something that is easy to maintain, easy for you to look after. They have state-of-the-art technology to power your site and to help you build it. Squarespace take care of the security, the stability, the hosting. They're trusted by millions of people around the world because of this. All of their site templates look fantastic. They have 24-7 support in case you need it. They're there for you. It's brilliant. I've used it for so many projects. We still use it at RelayFM. I know Brad uses Squarespace for all of his stuff. If you sign up for Squarespace now, you'll get a free domain name if you sign up for a year, which is fantastic. So it gives you everything in one little package so you can choose exactly what you want your site to be called. Their plans start at just $8 a month and you get all of that. You can sign up for a free trial today with no credit card required. So you can start playing around and see that Squarespace is right for you. Go to squarespace.com for that. When you decide to sign up, make sure that you use the offer code INK. You'll get 10% off your first purchase and show your support for the Panadic podcast. Thank you to Squarespace for the continued support of this show and RelayFM.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, Ana. We have a bunch of questions here for you. Ask TPA and ask Ana. We should have hashtagged ask Ana when I did it in the Slack channel yesterday or the day before. But I want to get your opinion on a lot of these. And the first one's from Ulyssa on Twitter. She asked, do you have any suggestions for lightweight fountain pens outside of Lamy Safaris and Pilot Prairie's? So what do you think, Ana?

'''Ana Reinert:''' I looked through some of my reviews because I did do some weights on some of the pens I've reviewed in the past. And I only found a couple that came in a little bit lighter. The Lamy logo is one gram heavier than a plastic Pereira.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And then what was the other one that I found? Oh, the Parker IM Premium.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay, I didn't think about that one.

'''Ana Reinert:''' I think I emailed you about it this morning. Yeah. But it's the one that's sort of the modern vacuumatic. I got you.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep, yep, yep.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And it's actually the same weight as the Pereira. It's a little bit smaller size pen. It's aluminum as well. So it's not super heavy. I'm not as big a fan. If I were to recommend one to someone who was looking for a lighter, smaller fountain pen, I'd probably recommend the Lamy logo first. Unless you really liked the look of the Parker. Just because the flow on the Parker, I find, is not as consistent. Lamy's consistently perform really well. That Parker, I'm still not... I find that it kind of dries out very easily. I like it. I try to use it. But it's consistency. Like, I can leave a Lamy, sit for three months, pick it up, and it writes that Parker, if I leave it sit for a month, I end up having to clean it out and clean it out and clean it out and then try to get it to work. So it's just not as consistently usable. But, yeah, everything else I found was kind of some variation of, like, a less expensive plastic pen, which is, I think, would probably have as many sort of technical issues. You know, like the candy. Who makes the plastic candy?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, Sailor.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Sailor candy.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Sailor clear candy, yeah.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Which works okay. I mean, it's not... But, I mean, you know, at that point, you might as well get a varsity. Yeah, totally agree. Or the platinum Preppy, which is a lightweight, works great. It's just not very pretty.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I guess the Plaisir, kind of the step up from the Preppy, has a super lightweight aluminum barrel. The Pereira is still kind of the, like, the king of the lightweights. I guess the Kaweco Sports, the classic sports, are obviously super light, but that's a pocketable pen. It's even a little bit shorter. If I get full length, it's at least the size of the Pereira, though. So those are kind of the... I didn't think about the Plaisir. That's a pretty light pen that writes well. I did enjoy that one a lot. Because when you're talking about the lightness of the Pereira, that's getting way down there. I mean, it's, to me, like, Lamy Safari and Pilot Preira, as far as lightness goes, don't even seem close to me at all. The Pereira is so light. It's closer to the Kaweco classic. But I think that's some good suggestions for sure. I couldn't really think of anything outside of that. When you start getting into, like, the TWSBI Eco or the Pilot Metropolitan, those are much heavier pens, you know, when you're relating them to a Pereira or Safari. So, you know, if light weights your thing, those are probably ones to skip.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah. And, I mean, I have pretty small hands. And I do notice when pens are sort of really wide or very heavy. But if they're nicely balanced, I don't really have an issue with them. I mean, even, like, the Karas Customs ink, which is a fairly wide barrel, fairly heavy pen, I actually find fairly comfortable to use. I always look at it and I think, I can't possibly hold that in my hand. It looks like I'd have to, like, use two hands to use it because it's so much bigger than most of the pens that I use. And it's actually quite comfortable because it's so nicely balanced. So, in some instances, I mean, unless it's, there's actually, like, you know, you have arthritis or some sort of hand issues that specifically limit kind of how much weight you can carry. In some cases, it's just if you've, if the previous pens you've used were just poorly balanced or if you're trying to post a heavy cap on a pen that's not very well balanced, your experience is with a heavier pen that may have kind of tainted your experiences.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, I did want to point out that Carrie in the chat room did mention that Nakayas are very lightweight and I can confirm that. I just thought we'd throw that out there.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's not really an option in this.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Slightly different price point.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, at that point, why don't you just have something custom made out of carbon fiber? Like, yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Very true. Very true. So, Todd Peppercorn wants to know, where is my Lamy 2000? And I'm guessing he means the blue Lamy 2000. I don't know. This was kind of a weird tweet and the way it ran off. But I think he's meaning, like, we were teasing that Lamy 2000 limited edition. This is a big anniversary for them. And I haven't seen any more on that. You know, I don't know where else to take this question other than that, except I will be super anxious to see what happens with this, when and if it does launch this year. I guess nothing, no news is really coming out. I haven't really been trolling the internets for all the Lamy 2000 news, but I'm dying to see that. So, that's definitely at the top of my watch list, Todd. So, as soon as I know something, you will know something. Now, this next question from Chuck, who is the shop rat at Nock, who that's my, that's what I call Chuck. He's a good friend, a good local friend in Atlanta that stops by the shop about once a week. This was an awesome question for Ana. And you put together some things here. And Chuck wanted to know about flex nibs for lefties. I guess, number one, Ana, can you talk about the challenges that flexing for lefties is? And then secondarily, I guess, talk about what works well for you.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Okay. First off, if I'm going to see you in Atlanta, we can do a little demo together. And I can actually show you what I do.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You will see Chuck. Chuck lives maybe 10 minutes from the hotel and booked a room for the whole weekend. So, that's how much you're going to see Chuck.

'''Ana Reinert:''' So, we're going to be some drinking and some lettering going on.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes, he cut to the chase. So, good move by Chuck.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Awesome. First off, somebody had asked, had mentioned also in the Slack that I am, and I do overwrite normally. Like, my hand is above my writing. And I think, Myke, you and I have both talked about it. We both do it. But in order to do flex pen lettering as a lefty, you're going to have to go below the baseline. You're going to have to come from below. Otherwise, you're going to end up with ink splatters everywhere, and you're going to break nibs and splatter ink on people, and it's not going to be pretty. And so, it's basically calligraphy and flex nib writing is, you kind of have to think of it more like drawing than writing. It's a different thing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's a different practice.

'''Ana Reinert:''' It's a different practice. And by doing that, it also, it will help kind of think about it when you think about it that way, kind of get you in a different brain mode as you're doing it because you'll be coming from a different angle. So, your strokes are a little bit different. But one of the advantages I found is that a lot of people who are right-handed, if they want to learn how to do, like, Spencerian script, get those, like, weird bent nib holders. Like, the dip pens, they have those, like, weird little things. What's the name? Lefties.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm completely blanking.