The Pen Addict 399/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	399
Title:	Disassembleable
Release Date:	February 26th, 2020
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 399
Audio File:	Audio Episode 399
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 399
Length:	5959 min <br />0.983 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 399. Today's show is brought to you by Squarespace and Pen Chalet. My name is Myke Hurley and I'm joined by Mr. Brad Dowdy. Hello, Mr. Myke Hurley, how are you today? I'm fine, my friend. I have an update for you, a special update. Oh, okay, what is this? There is a parcel waiting at a post office that I've not been able to collect yet, that we believe to be my platinum pen.

Myke Hurley: Oh, okay, that is an update. I was not expecting that, yes. When asked... Thank you, that is a surprise update.

Brad Dowdy: Of the, um, what is it called, like the dealer? What is it called when it's in a... Distributor. Distributor. When asked of the distributor, did they put the nib in? The one that we wanted, right? The correct nib. I think the answer was kind of just like, that'll be 60 pounds, please. So, after kind of not really getting the answer a couple of times, I have decided to trust in the honor of platinum in Japan to have received the pen, know what it is, and put the correct pen, a nib in it. Okay. That is my feeling. I'm with you there. Right? I'm just like, okay, they've probably put the right nib in it. So, I will let you know when it comes in, if it's the right one or not.

Myke Hurley: So, if I was in your shoes, I would handle it the exact same way, right? I'm going to give them every benefit of the doubt this first go-round, even though it's been painful and long and tedious. This shot, they get for free. Exactly. And then we'll see what happens when the box is revealed.

Brad Dowdy: Exactly. And my feeling is just like, if it went to a distributor and then the distributor was like, no problem, we'll send that back to you, and they handled it, I would raise more questions. Right. But the fact that it went to platinum themselves, I am choosing to have faith that they did the right thing.

Myke Hurley: I'm with you. Yeah? I'm with you.

Kickstarter Update

Brad Dowdy: Because nobody knows that pen more than them.

Myke Hurley: Right.

Myke Hurley: So, there we go. I mean, it's clearly a specific nib for that pen. At the platinum office, they should know that. Unless you get a note that says, hey, we're out of those. Please accept this exchange. Give me 60 pounds.

Brad Dowdy: Nobody said that. That could well be the case, and I do not doubt that, but I've never, you know.

Myke Hurley: I feel you're, I got on the customs game this weekend, Myke. Like, I got customs formed for an order I made. You did? Like, this was like a first, yeah. Like, I didn't have to pay anything. I mean, because, I mean, who does that? That's just like a backwards society type of thing. But I got a form. I got a phone call from FedEx that said, hey, you have this fountain pen ink coming, and I need you to sign off on this customs form that it's not poisonous. I'm like, this is dumb, but okay. So, I signed off on the form, and they sent it to me, and there was no additional fees that I have incurred.

Brad Dowdy: Well, then I don't care about your customs story.

Brad Dowdy: You keep it to yourself.

Myke Hurley: Only if it costs me, right?

Brad Dowdy: Well, that's the only pain in customs.

Myke Hurley: Yes, I know. But, like, I've never had to sign off on anything, and I get stuff from Japan all the time. Yes, weird. Very little from Europe, and usually not ink, so, like, the ink was the what threw it off.

Brad Dowdy: Kickstarter update. There is no Kickstarter campaign. This is the update. This one, guys, this one's really, we're really struggling to get this one together. It's a bit more complicated than a lot of our previous campaigns. We're within two weeks of the campaign going live, I think.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I'd say less, but yeah, probably.

Brad Dowdy: We're definitely within two weeks. Tomorrow could be within two weeks. It's not going to be tomorrow.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, true, true, true. It's funny that you said this has been more difficult, and I didn't realize it literally until you said this, but in past campaigns, I've controlled, like, all the manufacturing, essentially.

Brad Dowdy: Which is why it's been easier to do. Yeah. If we needed something, someone needed to be chased, the maximum was me chasing you. Right? That's the difference. Right, right, right.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Okay. Now I don't feel so bad, because I feel pretty bad about, I feel really bad about this.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I think one little thing, we'll give it a heads up here, we'll mention it in the campaign.

Brad Dowdy: We're not going to have final artwork of this pen for a while. Like, when we launch the campaign, there will be kind of demo artwork, and honestly, like, it's not going to be difficult to know what the pen's going to look like based on the design that we've chosen, no matter what kind of state you see it in. But it's going to be a bit of time until we get the final, final artwork for this one. It's just something to bear in mind.

Myke Hurley: Yep. It's a, the design process just takes time. And this one's pretty complicated. And then the approvals process will take time, and then, like, once we sign off on everything, everything's cruising. So there will be a slight leap of faith in backing this project, but I think past history indicates that it will not take too much of a leap, a mental leap for you to consider backing this project once you, you know, see the artwork that we're going to design from.

Design Process Challenges

Brad Dowdy: Just like to mention it.

Myke Hurley: Speaking of design, Myke, did you see the post about modifying the Platinum Curie DOS? So, like, this beginning section of the podcast is us talking about all the things we've talked about for weeks in a row because they never go away like the Curie DOS. And now there's a post who apparently this person was at the same event you were, Myke.

Brad Dowdy: Hmm. Hmm.

Myke Hurley: Hmm. So this is on the Fountain Pen blog. And Rupert has an issue with, you know, the bulges present once you remove the clip and things like that. So you can see that I wanted to share this link for anyone else who just wants to go full clipless on the Curie DOS and remove the protrusion that is left behind once you remove the clip.

Brad Dowdy: Well, this isn't the problem one anyway, in my opinion. I agree. The issue that I have is the protrusion. It's at the back of the pen where the kind of mechanism goes into. But this is removing the little plastic nubbin that's left behind when you remove the clip from the pen, which I can understand for some people removing that would make it completely comfortable. But for me, it is the bump at the back that is more of a problem.

Myke Hurley: Agree. Which is not removable because then your pen would not stay in the writing position. As well. So, yes. I thought I would share this just for people asking. This is basically removing the clip from a vanishing point is what this boils down to. So this is definitely on the top side of the pen, not the back side where we might have a true issue. I don't know if I'm going to be able. We're talking about the Baltimore pen show later because I'm leaving tomorrow for that. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get a Curie DOS in Baltimore or not. I haven't heard. I think they're all delayed. Right.

Brad Dowdy: I saw the Platinum Twitter account. It's a Japanese tweet, but they posted to say that the new release date for the pen is March 20th.

Brad Dowdy: I wonder why. It's coronavirus, man.

Myke Hurley: Oh, yeah. Excuse me. That's completely why. Yeah. That's exactly why. If anything is delayed right now, it's because of coronavirus. That makes sense. The Platinum notebook I got last week that I discussed from the Choosing Keeping thing, I just wanted to clarify that notebook and still continue to profess my love for it. That's the Choosing Keeping house brand notebook that is Platinum stamped.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. Okay.

Myke Hurley: So I love this notebook. Y'all should go look at these grouping of notebooks. They're very unique and full of patterns and crazy designs. I've seen these in their store.

Brad Dowdy: I didn't put two and two together that it was the same notebook that they were working with Platinum on. I think it was very impressive that they color matched the pen so well. That's why I assumed it was Platinums.

Myke Hurley: Right. Right. And the cover is way simpler than anything that they have on offer through their website right now. They're very like 1960s wallpaper pattern style. But I was just really impressed with the build quality. You know, the paper is not going to be like your best fountain pen paper by a long margin. But I would be interested in like some A5 graph paper notebooks. They only do blank and lined right now. But if I could find, if I could get one of those like with graph paper, I'd be pretty happy. I was just really pleased with how that notebook felt and how it was built and how it was constructed. So come to find out, it's however choosing keeping is manufacturing their house brand notebooks is what I was fawning over, not a Platinum notebook. So I just wanted to clear that up a little bit.

Brad Dowdy: We mentioned at the top of the show, this is episode 399. So next week's episode is episode 400 of The Pen Addict. And we've mentioned this, we've made reference to it in the past, that what we want to do for episode 400 is provide a, because this is the perfect number to do it, I guess, to provide a starting off point for people. Because we get this a lot, like what is a great place to start off with The Pen Addict, right? So over the next week, we would love your feedback on a few things. One, what do you think we should include in the episode? Like we want to go over some basics of pen ownership, right? Glossary of terms, basic pens, that kind of stuff to start with. So let us know if there's anything you think we should be including in that. I would also love if anybody has like specific episodes that they think are really great, for whatever reason, just let us know the numbers of them. And then we could maybe include those in the show too. But more than anything, we're looking for kind of like any suggestions that you have. We have our own ideas, of course, too. But any suggestions that you have, things that you think might be important, or things you would want us to cover in kind of like a Pen Addict 101 episode.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, and what I'll do, I said I was going to do this in the past, I just haven't had time. I will post up a Google Doc, just a basic form, and share it out with people. Just if you have any ideas, you can shoot them in there. And even though if it's just raw text, I can scroll through there real quick. And, you know, like if something slipped our minds and someone reminds us of that, it'd be like, oh, yeah, that's perfect. So I'll send that out to the world. How? Maybe by the time you're hearing this podcast, it should exist. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Where will people go to find that, Brett?

Myke Hurley: I'll put it on Twitter, and then I'll do a blog post for it.

Brad Dowdy: Cool. So you can find it at Dowdyism or at thepenaddict.com. Correct. All right. Today's show is brought to you in part by our friends over at Pen Chalet. They have everything you are looking for for your fountain pen, for your pen, for your mechanical pencil hobby. Because no matter what it is you're looking for, I bet Pen Chalet have got it. Because they work with your favorite brands. Brands like Pelican, Monteverde, Pilot, Sailor, Kaweco, and many, many more. They're an authorized dealer of all of these. They have rollerballs and fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, and so much more, as well as inks and refills, pen holders, fountain pen converters, whatever you need. Pen Chalet is always adding new styles of products. Every single month, they're putting new stuff on the site. I really like the posts that Pen Chalet do. So when they have a new pen go up, and they're really detailed, sometimes with videos and photos for stuff, especially on the pre-order stage, they're really great for that. So I like being able to see that stuff too. So Pen Chalet has low prices on high quality pens, and they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. They sell internationally with great shipping rates, and if you order over $50, if your order that you make is over $50, and you're in the United States, you will get free shipping. So go to penchalet.com right now, that's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com, and click the podcast link at the top of the website. Enter the password of Pen Addict for this week's special offers, which we'll talk about in a moment, and to get the code that you need to save 10% on anything at Pen Chalet at any time. Brad, is there anything that grabs your eye this week?

Myke Hurley: All the things. So this is a very focused list that Ron has put together for us, and wide-ranging. The Lamy All-Star, some of the stock colors are very pretty, and at a very good price that you don't normally see. Along with the Pilot 100th Anniversary Limited Edition Mini Box Set of Fountain Pen Ink. This is a really cool set, and I like the colors in it, and it's a pretty good price. Like, I mean, more than a pretty good price. Like, it's, yeah, it's good. It's like, makes me want to order another one, even though I already have one. And then the Visconti Homo Sapiens Skylight Fountain Pen, which is something I've been eyeballing. It's the newer one with the ink window built into the side of the barrel, which I love. And, you know, that's something I'm, like, constantly looking at. So I think that's a really neat pen at a really good price. And these selections are really great this week. So thank you, Ron.

Brad Dowdy: So if you want to go yourself, go to penshelay.com right now, hit the podcast link at the top of the website, and use the password penaddict. Our thanks to Penshelay for their support of this show and RelayFM.

Myke Hurley: So one of the things we're super good at, Michael, is talking about the news. The news of the day, the news of the pen world. Like, I enjoy talking about new products.

Brad Dowdy: We have to, otherwise we'd get bored on this show, you know?

Myke Hurley: Well, and it comes fast and furious, right? There's always something to talk about. And people want our opinions on those new topics. Or maybe they don't want our opinions and just want to yell at us for talking about the product they don't want to hear about. But we sometimes forget to discuss, like, things about what are we using, right? We've done this before. And we try to do it, you know, like once a month or something. And we just get off kilter because there's so many other things to talk about. But I wanted to bring that back this episode and, you know, just kind of keep it pretty simple.

Myke Hurley: So even if we, I was thinking about it, like we've talked about this before when we've done it before. It's like I use way more stuff than you do, right? So we could even do, like, Brad's, you know, like weekly, you know, what is he using type of thing. A little bit every episode. And I would feel bad, like, putting you on the spot every week because I know you don't change as much as I do. Even though you use lots of things, you'll use them for a pretty long period of time where I'll use more in a day than you'll use in a month.

Brad Dowdy: I use new stuff. I use different stuff every day, but it's from a, I think, smaller pool. And I also, you know, there are some things like my notebooks that I'd never change. Like I'm with paper products and I've been this way forever. I find a brand and I stick with it. Like I don't mess around with that because I don't like that kind of variance. Like I find things that I like and I just kind of stay put.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So this week, I'll lead us off and I'm going to make you go this week, but I won't make you go, you know, every week if we can decide to do this every week or every other week or whatever.

Myke Hurley: I've been using the Leonardo Memento Zero a bunch this week. I was late to the party in the beginning, like last year when they became super popular because I was waiting for a specific color and a specific trim and I was finally able to get it. And it was, it lived up to the hype, like from the jump. And we talked about it when I bought it. I think I bought it in Atlanta last year. So I've had it almost a year. And this was the pin, if you'll recall, it's called Blue Hawaii, but it's essentially like, I don't know how many different acrylic sections I caught. None of them lined up, which drove you insane. Do you remember this conversation? There's like six different acrylic sections and not one of them matches. I hate it.

Brad Dowdy: I can't stand it. Like it's, the body is so nice, but like, it's really difficult to line up acrylic. Like I get that, but there are so many different pieces. It's, it's too much. Oh, they didn't even try. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I mean, they purposely didn't try. I absolutely love how this pin looks. It is, it is just like the Calico Cat of pins. Like it's just wild and I love it. Um, I mean, because the colors are great, but what strikes me about this Memento Zero, every time I pick it up, it's just so well built for writing. It is like one of the most comfortable pins that I've picked up. The nibs are great. There's stock steel nibs. You can upgrade into 18 karat gold nibs. Um, and I, I've been using it again because I've never actually reviewed it on the blog. This is just one of those pins I have inked up and I use a lot. And then I've never like committed to finishing the review on it. So that's coming up in, you know, probably the next couple of weeks. Sometime I'll have that review done just because I need to, uh, on the blog. I know, um, Susan's reviewed some Leonardo's on the blog before, but I need to do my own review, give my own take in. I mean, spoiler alert, it'll be glowing, right? It's just, it's the right pin, the right design and the right price point for, you know, what people would expect for like there, this is like your, your first upgraded fountain pen, right? This is after you've decided you like fountain pens, you know, you've, you've bought the safaris and the Twisbees and things like that. And you're looking for something a little bit more special, a little something that fits your style, a little bit of a upgraded, um, performance. Um, this is definitely one to go to. I've inked it up, which I bought this at the same time, the Robert Oster Carolina blue, which is Jonathan Brooks's Robert Oster ink. It's like the perfect bright blue match for the way this pen looks. You know, I do like to do the matchy matchy. So I put a really beautiful blue ink in there. I use it on the Rodea ice pad, which is kind of like I use two desk pads. Like when I was sitting there looking at writing down, like, okay, what am I using? I think I had like four active notepads on my desk open at the same time, like literally either spread open or turn to the page that I was using on using to write on, um, at the same time. So this is one that I use is basically like my scrap notebook, travel around the house notebook, move from place to place notebook. It doesn't necessarily live on my desk. Um, and it's the graph version of the ice pad and the a five Rodea size. I prefer graph in the a four sizes. I do prefer the dot grid. The graph gets a little overwhelming in the bigger sizes. Um, last thing that I've been using a bunch this week is the Futura number two pencil, which is a collaboration with CW pencil enterprises. And I think the manufacturer is called moon. I don't know if it's a moon pencils or what it's called. Um, it's a pencil I've raved about for years and I'll be making a change to my CWPE pen addict, uh, starter kit. You know, pencils, pencils for pen lovers. This one's going to move in, into that category. I'm actually making two changes. We'll talk about it. It's not finalized yet. They haven't updated the set yet, but we're going to make two pencil changes to that set. So we'll talk about it when, when they do, this is one I wanted in the beginning, but I was unsure because it's like a CWPE exclusive, right? But if this kit's coming from them, I was like, well, can I use this? And they're like, oh yeah, sure. No problem. Like, dang, I should have asked in the beginning because I've used this pencil for years and it's now sitting on my desk. And I love it. So those are kind of what I wanted to try to capture is not everything I've used this week. That's a, that's a, that's another segment coming up, but these are, these are the things I've used the most this week by a pretty good margin. And I do that when I'm working on reviews, like for the Leonardo and just, you know, other things I just generally scribble with and write with when I'm sitting at my desk or doing whatever I need to do. So how about you? What are you, what have you been using recently?

Brad Dowdy: Well, I could tell you what I'm using today. Mm-hmm. I'm using my 1911 large Royal Tangerine. The King of Pen, I should say. Sorry. The King of Pen version I've been using today, which is a very special pen. That's a great pen. And I have Fire on Fire in it, your ink.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: Because I think. Perfect match. It's a perfect match. Because what I like about Fire on Fire, for as funny as it is, it's just a name, is the, I really, I just really like the fact that it's multiple oranges in one. Mm-hmm. Right? Like, and that's kind of what I enjoy about that pen specifically, is that it's an orange of an orange sheen. Whatever, right? Like, I can't think of the right word, but you know it. Yeah. You designed it, I guess, so.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Pen Twins Discussion

Myke Hurley: What's, it just hit me when you said what pen you were using. How many occasions have we been pen twins? I guess a few times. We bought the Clear Sailor King of Pen together.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so we bought that one literally together. Literally together. And then you realized the mistake that you made and bought the 1911 King of Pen.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. But we don't pen twin that much. Not that much. Now that I think about it. Not that much.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah. Well, it's because I tend to go down these rabbit holes more than you do. Yeah, for sure. And I guess this isn't counting the stuff that's, like, really easy and much cheaper.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. But let me guess what paper you're using. Are you using the Pano book?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, of course I am, man. It's the only notebook I use when I'm here, right? Like, when I'm talking to you on the show, like, this notebook is perfect. But other than that, like, I do use other things. Like, I use my Nanami Crossfield. I obviously use my Theme System Journal, right? Yeah. Like, there are other notebooks that I use. But this is, like, a notebook fit for a perfect purpose. I actually need to buy some more of them. But, like, it works so great for this one thing that I'm doing.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, so, like, I relocate when I podcast. So, I bring whatever I need with me. I don't, where I'm recording this podcast at my house. Like, it's not at my desk. I don't have my stuff around, you know, my microphone and where I record in a more private area. So, like, I can bring in whatever pad I'm digging that week. So, yeah. But I get it. Otherwise, it'd probably be the Pano book or, like, the Nock A5 Spiral. Like, those are my, those, that's, like, the other notebook that's open on my desk along with, like, my William Hanna notebook.

Myke Hurley: So, like, this leads up to some thoughts I've had recently about using stuff. And this is a long-running, I don't know, dilemma. I don't think that's the right word. Challenge of mine to where I want to capture the things I use because I use a lot of things and I really love them and I have things to say about them. And then to take that a step or two further, I have thoughts in my head that I need to get out. So, my, the dalliances I've had in the past are where I've tried to do, like, a pen log. Like, every time I switched writing instruments, I'd log it in the drafts app and then shoot out a tweet, right? That last, like, about, I think I did about 50 entries and then I just stopped. Like, I was like, oh, this is a good idea. Like, I can, I like, I guess the overarching thing before I even get to that part is I like to share things, right? This is why I'm of the internet, right? I like to share things because the sharing of things can then lead into discussions of more things of and have conversations with people who are interested in those things, right? So, like, it's like a, I don't know, it's like an unwritten kind of process thing, right? So, you share the things you like and then you can have conversations with other people about those things. So, that's like one of the positives of the internet.

Myke Hurley: So, I've tried to do this in different ways. I've written these down in notebooks in the past. I've either taken a field notes or some other notebook. I mean, maybe a Leuchtturm, like A5. And every time I'd switch, okay, I'd log it in the book. And, like, that's pretty tedious, right? That every time I switch something for someone like me who sits in front of a desk where you can't even see the desktop because it's covered in stationary, like, the individual cutover is pretty tedious for me.

Myke Hurley: So, nothing's ever worked perfectly. I don't know that anything will ever work perfectly for my logging of the products I want to use. So, I've tried to go a little bit different route. Mainly because my head's in a really busy place right now. And, like, that's okay. Like, I don't mind it. But I need to kind of unclog it. You know, I need to have a little bit more expression of how I feel or what I'm thinking. And then, on top of that, use the awesome stationary that I have, you know, at my arm's reach. So, I've been reading a guy named Warren Ellis. And I'm sure some people will be familiar with him. He's the creator of Castlevania on Netflix. He's written a lot of comics and novels. I did not know who this person was. Like, are you familiar with him? Yeah, I am, yeah. Okay. So, I did not know who Warren Ellis was. And somehow, I stumbled on, like, one of my RSS search feeds caught a post of his where he was talking about writing in a field notes notebook. Okay. Like, that was my first introduction. I was like, oh, this guy uses field notes. What does he do? And then, he just started basically a train of thought group of blog posts, right, where he would just literally say, I'm doing this right now. I'm doing this later today. My inbox is stupid. I owe somebody a script. Have a nice day. And it would be, you know, like, 100 words. And he didn't publish. And they'd usually have an image. Like, he's big into music. So, like, such and such shipped me a record today. And I'm going to go play it. And it'd be an image. And that was, like, the entire post. And it's just over and over and over again. Now, everything he was saying, like, resonated with me. Like, these are the same things I have in my head during the day that he's writing down. And publishing them. I was like, huh. Like, I'm getting so much out of every little 100-word post that he posts. I was like, I feel the same way as this guy does. So, maybe I should try to write those things down as well. But I didn't want to do it digitally. I didn't want to create some random timeline blog out there. So, I just started writing things down in a notebook. And I was like, that was cool. You know, like, this doesn't really, like, theme system. Like, I'll go ahead and address this now. That's reflective. Right? The way I use the theme system journal. That's end-of-the-day reflection.

Brad Dowdy: It may be a different thing. Like, it may be a little more personal. There might be stuff in there that you don't necessarily want to. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So, this is more of, like, what's on my mind this second that I just want to write down. Like, it could be a song I heard. It could be a quote. It could be something stupid about my shoes. Like, which I wrote this morning. You know? But that helps me. Like, it's a benefit to me. It may not be a benefit to anyone else. Um, so it's, this is a very, like, selfish thing that I'm posting. I've decided, so, okay, so the notebook thing, like, I enjoyed writing the things down. That's where I started writing them down. And then that morphed into, well, I want to catalog these daily more like Moran Ellis does a blog post. You can refer back to the blog post date and see what happened on that day. Like, so, what's the thing that I like the most that's really good for breaking down into single days? Well, a note card. Um, I have Stacks and Stacks. It's one of my favorite products in the world. Just generic note cards. You can use anything for this. So, I was like, well, let me take one card. And when I sit down to work in the morning, it's not like right when I get up. It's like after I've been settled in in the morning. I was like, okay, I'm going to work. But usually before I work, my head's just cloudy. Right? So, I'm going to do this one thing in the morning. So, I know a lot of people use a thing called morning pages. This is, I feel like it's kind of different than that. But it's just kind of where my head's at before I start my day. And it's usually nonsense. But it serves two purposes or probably three purposes or more. It allows me to get things out of my head that are not necessarily work related. Right? They could be fun or they could be anxiety related or something. You know, just something I want to get out. I get to use my stationery. And then as a side effect for that, it's, I'm not going to lie. It's content I've created that I can then share for people to interact with. And then we can have more conversations. Right? That's not the intent going into it. But it's a result of doing this. Like, it helps with that. But I have thoroughly enjoyed, I've only been doing this a week. Next week, you might talk to me and it's like, yeah, I'm done with that. But it feels good right now because I like, if you didn't know this, Myke, I like talking. And when you work for yourself, when you work for yourself, you don't often, in your house, you don't have a lot of people to talk to. Right? So, you talk to the internet. And this is a way to, like, share more thoughts and feelings. And then share more stationery. Oh, I like that pen. Oh, what's that note card? And it allows me to be a little bit more creative. It's like, oh, maybe I can set up a picture differently or whatever. You know, who knows where this is going to go. But then now I'll have a daily log of these little cards. So, now my next step is to figure out how I'm going to store these cards. Because right now they're just in a stack. But yeah, this is, like, one of those things I clearly don't know how to explain in words. Because I've said a lot. I don't know that I've said anything. But that's just kind of how my brain's working these days. And I like doing it. Like, it's fun. It's helping me talk about other things than work sometimes. And that's super enjoyable. Like, you need that, right? You can't just do all the work all the time.

Brad Dowdy: They're very aesthetically pleasing Instagram posts to me. I can tell that you work on that, which I appreciate.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So, like, that's another thing. It's like, you know, I've always said I'm, like, not good at photography. Like, I have a good eye, but I can't necessarily execute. And not that this is going to make me better. But if I can at least do it every day. You know, I may not do it on the weekends. You know, I'm getting ready to travel. I may not do it while I travel. But I can do it more times than not. It's only going to benefit, like, me figuring things out as far as that goes.

Brad Dowdy: I think this is a really nice thing to do. It was funny because I hadn't recognized that you were doing it. You know, we can thank the algorithm for that, I guess. Sure. I am much more of a check-in-on-stories person than the grid person. Like, if I'm going to Instagram, I'll check stories first, grid later. Yeah, because, you know, that's defined. The stories is going to be there. I think you should also post these two stories. You know, you can share an image to your stories.

Myke Hurley: I probably should. It'd be a good continuation thing.

Brad Dowdy: I think you should do that because then you can also save them as a highlight. So people can just go through every single day if they want to. That would be my recommendation to you. But it was funny because Idina just morning told me, Oh, I'm really enjoying these notes of Brad's writing. And I'm like, what? So that was how I found out about it. Yeah. But yeah, I think that this is a very nice thing. You know, I will, having worked with you for as long as I have, 100% attest to the fact that you very frequently, like, have an idea like this and then stop. Right? That is definitely something you do. Yeah, for sure. I would like to see you continue this. Yeah, me too. Because it is a really nice way to show off this stuff. But also, these are just aesthetically pleasing posts that people will just like on your Instagram because they look nice, even if they're not reading what's going on. And I think that if you have a way to generate content that people want to see, then you should do that because that is your role as a content creator. Hashtag.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Hashtag. Hashtag content. Hashtag. Yeah. It makes me feel good. Good. Like, that's the bottom line. Like, I enjoyed it. Can I read this one little post that I saved from Warren Ellis? This was only like three days ago. Yeah. Like, this is a perfect, this is like a prime example of what I'm talking about. And every day is like this. So, this was like from the 23rd. He says, the day after my birthday, I started keeping a written log of what I do every day. Even after only a week, it exposes that even on the days I don't think I've done much, I do a lot. It's just that slews of emails and AV and document processing and calls don't feel like the actual work. I need to remind myself that these days, it is, in fact, a big part of the actual work. As of today, I've also become one of those people who logs their water intake. I'll tell you, this bio-maintenance stuff is some stuff. He doesn't say stuff. I should have been sideloaded into a new body by now. Kemper Norton just sent me his new record. I'm off. That's it. Like, there's so much in that like 100 words. And it's like that every day. And I'm just getting like a real benefit from reading that. So I'm trying to not copy him, but I'm trying to execute some of the same ideas that he has. He's like, hey, I'm talking about work. I'm buried. You know, by the way, I need to drink more water. Listen to this music. Right? It's like this really weird Mad Libs type thing. And for some reason, it works for me.

Brad Dowdy: Then you should carry on doing it. Right?

Myke Hurley: Carry on up the charts, Myke. That's what I'm going to do. Good.

Brad Dowdy: Whew.

Myke Hurley: It's funny. It's like, I wanted to talk about this, but I didn't know what to say. Yeah. But that's kind of my thing. I'll just start talking and we'll see what happens. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Why not?

Transition to Baltimore Pen Show

Myke Hurley: But before we continue on down and do some Ask TP, I do want to talk about the Baltimore Pen Show real quick. Okay. If you allow me. Am I allowed? I've been doing all the talking this episode. Is that okay?

Brad Dowdy: Well, you have more to say.

Brad Dowdy: Interesting. This time.

Myke Hurley: Interesting.

Brad Dowdy: I don't have as much to say this time. We were talking about things related, about you, right? Like, what am I supposed to say?

Myke Hurley: God. We were talking last night. I was like, we were both sending each other, like, panic gifts for, like, what we're going to write for the show tomorrow. And then I just, like, spewed everything out onto the dock. So, it works out that way sometimes. Mm-hmm. Baltimore Pen Show. I'm leaving tomorrow, Myke. This will be my third time. And it's been bigger and better every time that I've been. And I see no end in sight. All you have to do for the Baltimore Pen Show is go to their website and then go to the events schedule 2020. I would like to not read the entirety of this list, but I would like to read some highlights, if you will, to give people an idea of what a Pen Show is like outside of the Pen Show floor. Like, we talk about this a lot, right? We talk about, okay, it's great to go to the Pen Show for the stuff, but there's so much going on, like, outside of the showroom floor that if you're able to take advantage of these things, it'll just make your Pen Show experience completely better. Like, it's not required by any means. Like, you can go and have a great time. And, you know, some people only have a few hours to spare on, you know, Saturday morning, you know, before their family's up and about and they just want to go into the show. But if you have time to spend an extended amount of time, like a Friday, Saturday at a show, these are some of the things you can check out. And this is one of the shows that really expands on those things. So, Friday, there's Italics with Nick Pang. There's Our Pens, Our Stories with Michael Kawaji-Hiland. I don't know if I pronounced that right. And then there's the Erasable Podcast, live podcast, after show hours at 7 p.m. Friday night. So, yeah, I'm going to get to go to that. That's going to be fun.

Myke Hurley: Saturday, there's a Zentangles class. Like, I would love that. I don't know if you're familiar with Zentangles, Myke, but it's a little, like, it's almost like Mandela drawing, but different types of patterns and things.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, cool.

Myke Hurley: There's a class about buying and selling on eBay. There's Fountain Pen 101. There's Swirls and Twirls with our good friend Aziza from Gourmet Pens. There's Origami class. There's Cityscape drawing tips from the Urban Sketchers Baltimore. Like, it's just on and on and on. There's a Meet the Makers paper goods edition that Anna's hosting on Saturday afternoon. At 7 p.m., I'm hosting Pen Show Jeopardy. Myke, we're going to have a game show. So, this is just, like, nonstop. Like, this is so fun for people who come to the Pen Show and are able to spend a night at the show and go to events. So, I just wanted to thank the Baltimore Pen Show and everyone who's putting that on for, like, for putting the effort into building an event other than just a Pen Show, right? This is a Pen event, I feel. So, I'm excited. I'm bringing NOC. I'll be there Thursday afternoon. I'll be there all the way through Sunday. I don't come back until Monday morning. And so, I did get the question on what I'm bringing to the show, like, Pen Wise. And I don't bring too much when I'm working the whole show, you know, to show off in the bar or do, like, after-hours activities. Because I will be working during the day. So, I don't want to have as much time to share. But I am bringing a few things. And if you happen to catch this episode before I leave and are going to be there and want me to bring something specific, just let me know. Because I took requests yesterday. And from that request, I'm bringing the Monte Grappa per request. So, yeah, if you want to check out pens that you're interested in that I might have and you want to see, try before you buy or just get an idea, let me know. But I'm bringing a Nakaya Piccolo because I've inked it up with the Platinum Blue Black Mount Fuji ink, which is, like, one of my favorite things to say. I don't know why that ink has gotten to me like it has. I'm bringing the Leonardo I mentioned. I'm bringing a Shown Design Pocket 6. I'm bringing a spoke design prototype, which I want to get some feedback on. I couldn't say that too loud.

Myke Hurley: But I want to get some feedback on that. And, yeah, I'm excited. It's, like, show two of the year. The first one I'm working. This is the first normal show I'm going to where I'll feel right at home working the entire show as opposed to Philadelphia where I just wandered around the entire show, which is a great experience all by itself. But, yeah, I'm ready. Baltimore is going to be fun. It's become one of the must-attend events for the Pen Shoes Circuit, in my opinion. And I don't think that opinion – I'm alone in that opinion. I think it's a great show.

Brad Dowdy: I want to see a picture of this prototype just for me.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I don't think I've shared it with you.

Brad Dowdy: No, this is the first I've heard. So I'm not going to be at the Baltimore Pen Show, so you're going to have to send me.

Myke Hurley: We'll just see. So if you're at the Baltimore Pen Show, come see me. I have basically a spoke design mini-pin.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, okay. All right. Should we take a break and do some Ask TPA to wrap out today's episode, Brad Dowdy?

Myke Hurley: Let's do it.

Brad Dowdy: Today's episode is brought to you by Squarespace. You can make your next move with Squarespace because they will let you create the website that you have for your next idea, your next project, maybe your business, maybe an event that you've got coming up in your life and you need a web presence for it. Squarespace has all of the tools that you're going to need. They are an all-in-one platform that will let you handle whatever it is you want to put online because they have functionality for everything, including online store functionality with a bunch of integrations for services that you're going to need if you want to sell physical or even digital goods. There is nothing to install with Squarespace. There are no patches to worry about or upgrades that you need to do. They take care of all of that stuff so you don't have to. It's super easy to get started. Their templates are wonderful. They're super customizable if you want to do that, but they all look beautiful right out of the box. And then they handle everything for you from there. So all you have to do is focus on what it is that you want a website for rather than maintaining and running a website itself. They have 24-7 customer support, but it's so if you do need any help when you're setting things up or you have a question and you're not sure how to do something, they have a support team, a wonderful support team who are there to help you out. Go try it out for yourself today. Go to squarespace.com slash penaddict and you can sign up for a free trial with no credit card needed. You can build your entire website and then when you're ready for the world to see it, just sign up for one of their plans. They start at $12 a month, but you can get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain and show your support for this show with the offer code penaddict at checkout. That is squarespace.com slash penaddict and the code penaddict for 10% off your first purchase. Our thanks to Squarespace for their support of this show and all of RelayFM. Squarespace, make your next move, make your next website.

Myke Hurley: One shout out to Squarespace. Okay. They keep building and improving like all the time. It's great. It's unreal how much they continue to improve their platform. So I'm very happy, very happy with Squarespace. All right, hit me with some ass TPA, Myke. You got to read these.

Brad Dowdy: Of course I will. At Al Vranting says, what are your thoughts on pen hacking? Like mixing and matching sailor pen parts or coned and nibs or even three different tactile turn gist parts to make just one pen?

Myke Hurley: I am pro pen hacking. Yeah, do it. I go crazy. Give me all the Franken pens, right? Like I'll just do simple things like mixing and matching sailor pen parts, right? Like when I bought the 4AM, it had just a standard grip section with a rhodium plated nib. When the exterior hardware of the pen was black ion plated. Well, I have a black ion plated metal grip section from a different sailor pen I can slap right on there. And it's like, it's just fun to do. You know, I like hacking. I'm not a big nib and feed hacker like people who will, you know, modify nibs to go into like coneds and things like that. I mean, I'd let someone else do it for me. I don't do that personally. But I am very much pro any individualization you can add to any product.

Pen Hacking and Flex Nibs

Brad Dowdy: Toatsu asks, is making proper flex nibs a lost art? I'm not just reading the Franklin Kristoff review and it really makes me wonder.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, it is. But just like all other lost arts, they're lost arts because they're no longer commercially viable. Right? It no longer makes sense to invest the money to manufacture the quality we used to have in a profitable way. Like, that's, I mean, I'm assuming this, like that's an assumption on my part, but it makes sense. Like, otherwise we'd have flex nibs like we used to have, but I just don't think the market can sustain what it would actually cost to make those nibs today.

Brad Dowdy: We live in a supply and demand world, right? And if the supply was, if the demand was there for flex nibs, there would be a greater supply of them.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So just go look at all your lost art and I think a lot of them are lost because they're no longer profitable.

Brad Dowdy: But as we find with a lot of things in this community and with others, their niches exist and like you will still be able to find these products made by people that really care about them. Yes. But you're not going to find lots of options. And as your thing becomes more niche, it will become more expensive.

Brad Dowdy: So that's just always something to think about. Yep. From Tyler. Tyler sent in a video from JetPens, which is an ASMR video, which is amazing, of Jeobon ink with a frosted glass dip pen. Go watch this video. As Tyler says, it is aesthetic and I agree. It's beautiful and really well done. Like, I hope that they make more of these if they haven't already. Like, it's kind of incredible. But what Tyler goes on to say, what is the experience like with a glass ink pen? And after watching this video, I also had this question. There's a glass making exhibition that happens annually in my area. So I've been considering looking for someone local that might make custom glass pen tips. My question for you guys is what sort of inks will work well with this? Is there anything I need to keep in mind while shopping around?

Myke Hurley: So the inks, I don't know that there is really a specific ink that's better or worse. There probably is based on, like, the consistency of the ink. But I think they're just made really for most liquids.

Ink Compatibility for Dip Pens

Brad Dowdy: I guess anything that's good for, like, dip pens in general. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Which should be, like, all fountain pens, right? Yeah. There was even that dip pen, that glass nib pen that made it for wine, right? Like, you use wine to write with. Do you remember that? It's called the Wink.

Brad Dowdy: I kind of do.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It was a Kickstarter. But the thing is about the custom glass nib tips, it's a very different writing experience, as you could imagine, from a fountain pen. So you just have to go into it knowing that. I think it's a great tool to have in your arsenal, right? And it's fun. It's just not the same to me as a regular steel or gold fountain pen nib, obviously.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I don't think I would get the experience that I wanted because there'd be no give, right? You're just pressing a hard surface onto the paper. And I don't know. And I think the dipping would frustrate me.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm. And as polished as that tip is, there's still a different feedback, right? You're getting a different feedback. And you're getting a different line shape than a nib. So, like, it would be cool for, like, a special letter that you want to write someone or some artwork that you want to do. Like, it's not something I want to write with every day, which I don't think anyone really uses these for. They use them for special occasions. Like, ink testing is a great use for a glass ink pen because it dips in and it cleans off real easy. And then you can move on to the next thing. If you want to use multiple inks, like a glass nib pen is a great idea.

Brad Dowdy: That's going to be way better than a dip pen because you're still going to get in the nib or whatever. But that will just wash straight off. Yep. That's a good reason to own one. This one comes from Michael. This summer, my family and I are heading off on a big trip. I like to keep a travel journal with sketches as well as writing using colored ink pens for which I normally use fountain pens or uniball 157s. However, the big trip is to Peru, so altitude could be a problem, both for the long flight there and being in the mountains. What would be the best pens to use that would give me plenty of colors but not a rut like an Andean volcano?

Myke Hurley: I love this post so much. I think that any of your fiber tip pens, your plastic tip pens, your secure pigment microns, your paper mate flares are all going to work because they don't use an airtight refill generally. Right? So that's where your pressure comes from. They're generally some type of fibrous material that's not going to change as the pressure changes in your locations with the higher pressure causing problems for fountain pens and things like that. That would be my guess, which means you can get all of your colors that you want. So you're just going to have to go to more of a marker style type of pen. Right? Like I said, your microns, your paper mate flares would be a good choice for colors, microns for details, things like that. That's what I would be looking at for something like this.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. But you would probably suggest, like me, maybe not fountain pens.

Myke Hurley: I would definitely suggest not fountain pens. Yeah. Um, you could bring one like that you feel very safe. That's not going to blow up. Like I would probably maybe even use cartridges, pick like a, a sturdy pen that uses cartridges and you've had very good luck with, um, bouncing around like a bag and a backpack and doing different things. Like if you, if there is such a thing, but there, there may not be. So I would skip.

Brad Dowdy: Ella Labors or Lulabors asks, I'm going to my first pen show Chicago in May. Could you please walk me through how ink testing stations work? Do I bring my own paper? Do I bring my own pen? What's the deal?

Myke Hurley: Such a good question. This is totally fountain pen show 101, right? Yep. So ink, ink testing stations, the ones that are available at the shows I go to now come with pre inked pens, right? So it's basically a tray that might have like 30 pen slots in it and each pen slot, each pen in each slot is filled with a different ink. And then at that station of those 30 inks, though, those pens will be numbered and then they will have an index. Okay. Pen number one is, you know, Ackerman number 28 and pen number two is a Roshizuku Shinkai. So what people would do if they want to test out the inks, they would bring their own pad, do that, bring your own paper that you like, and they would sit down and look at the index, grab the color, grab the pen that they're interested in, make their own marks in their own notebook, you know, and obviously referencing the name for future reference when you're thinking about buying an ink. So that's how most of it goes, right? And some shows might have all of these testing stations in one physical location. Some of them might have four testing stations spread out throughout the show. So it like one station doesn't like one location doesn't get overwhelmed with people. So you might have to look for them. But yeah, most people will take their own pad, sit down at the table, look at the list and make notes in their own notebook for future reference of what they like about those inks.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I think that these are, these are really nice to see how an ink will look. I mean, you're not going to get the idea completely of how they perform in your exact hardware, right? But it's, it is, there is no greater way to test how inks look. So it's primarily the look is what you're going for here rather than performance. But there is no greater way to see how, how, how inks will look than an ink testing station like this. Like there's just, isn't a way for you to do it otherwise. And that makes them, I think quite a valuable resource at pen shows. And also I think as a way to spend some time, if you want to, you know, if you've got some time to kill at a pen show, this is a great way to do it. Because you can spend a long time going through the ink testing stations at some of them. Like San Francisco is the one that I think of, but Atlanta even has this now in its, I think San Francisco is the most involved that I've seen. DC had like a whole room of its own, but.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, but that one wasn't really in pens. It was more like, it was definitely more contaminated than individual pens, if you will. So that's why the individual pen trays became more of a. That's the best way. That is the best way. Which San Francisco kind of, San Francisco pen show, San Francisco pen posse kind of started that up. And it's taken off because it's really good.

Brad Dowdy: And we have a question from Barbarian Geek who says, I have the Studio Neat Mark 1 and I really like it. What other pens use the same refill? I want something with a clip that I can throw into my backpack.

Myke Hurley: I know, I know.

Brad Dowdy: Don't.

Myke Hurley: Don't say Retro 51.

Brad Dowdy: It just makes me sad now.

Myke Hurley: Oh, okay. So that's a personal problem. Yeah. So even if I'm going to say this, if you're not a Retro 51 person. I would still look at them like the Black Stealth Retro 51 with the same refill. Like if you're wanting that Mark 1 aesthetic, right? But not necessarily, you know, one of the louder, more obnoxious Retro 51s that I love. You could get, you could try that. Yeah. Otherwise, you can fit that refill in other Parker refill pens, I believe. So you could get like a metal barrel pen from like Tactile Turn or something like that to swap that refill in. There's actually a lot of pens you can use that refill in. But all the ones off the top of my head usually come clipless. You know, like the Ajoto, which I love, which is crazy expensive. They don't come with clips. Because the Retro 51 would be where I'd go. Then I'd look at Tactile Turn. So that's at least a start. And if you want to tweet me with like a more specific style of pen you're looking for, I can help you and see if that refill will fit.

Brad Dowdy: Studio Neat do recommend a clip that works with the Mark 1. But I can't find it off the top of my head. I will find it and I'll put it in the show notes. But they have a clip that they recommend. Like if you want to put a clip onto the pen, there is like a third party clip that will fit.

Myke Hurley: Okay. It's not a Kaweco one, right?

Brad Dowdy: I don't. So I couldn't tell you right now. I do not remember. But I will find it and I will put it into the show notes.

Brad Dowdy: Last question today comes from the Inky Side who asks, I just bought my first sailor after three years in my pen hobby and both of you continually praising them. I'm sure lots of people are doing that. I bought it secondhand from Reddit. After trying to clean it, it looks like there's ink stuck in the grip section. They've included a photo, which I'll put in the show notes. Is it possible to remove the nib unit from a sailor pen?

Myke Hurley: It is. So this has actually come up twice just this week or in the past two weeks about the ink getting in between like the grip and then the metal piece where like the nib section and everything goes in and behind there. You can fully disassemble a sailor pen and clean that out. I mean, it's obviously, it's, you know, not the most simple thing to do, but it's not hard. The sailor nibs are friction fit. They just happen to be in there pretty tight. So you just go slow, be careful, running under warm water. You can wiggle it out. It'll eventually come out and then you can unscrew the section and then the little sleeve in there will come out and you can clean out behind there. So, but sailor pens are actually fully disassemblable. Disassemble? Disassemblable? Yeah. Who knows? Okay. It is now.

Brad Dowdy: All right. If you want to send in a question for a future episode, just send out a tweet with the hashtag AskTPA. That would actually be a really great way if you do have suggestions for our big episode 400 next week. Next week. Boy, that would be good. But send those in. You can tweet them at Brad. He's at Dowdyism, D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. And I'm Myke as well. I am Y-K-E. You can email them. What's the good email address? Hello at PenAddict.com?

Myke Hurley: Correct.

Brad Dowdy: Awesome. So you can email those in there. You can also find Brad online. He's at ThePenAddict.com. Twitch.tv slash PenAddict. PenAddict. Tuesdays, Thursdays, 10 a.m.

Myke Hurley: Except this Thursday.

Brad Dowdy: Except this Thursday.

Brad Dowdy: Because you're going to be away.

Upcoming Baltimore Pen Show

Myke Hurley: I am.

Brad Dowdy: One day.

Myke Hurley: Come say hi at the Baltimore Pen Show.

Brad Dowdy: Try and see if you can do that. You know, some Twitch streaming. Mm-hmm. That would be cool. That is cool. What else have you got? Knock.co. Spokedesign.

Myke Hurley: Spokedesign.com. Mm-hmm. Allthethings.org.

Myke Hurley: Is that yours? No. You don't go there. I don't think. That could be bad. See what is there? All the things. No, you see what is there.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, it's just like a, you know, it's one of those landing pages for like a good domain that people want, you know. Gotcha. Thanks so much to Pen Chalet and Squarespace for their support of this show. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad.

Myke Hurley: Goodbye, Brad. tittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittittit