The Pen Addict 349/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	349
Title:	Magic Graphite Stick
Release Date:	March 6th, 2019
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 349
Audio File:	Audio Episode 349
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 349
Length:	6464 min <br />1.067 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Sponsor Announcements

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 349, and today's show is brought to you by ExpressVPN, Away, and Squarespace. My name is Myke Hurley, and I have the pleasure of being joined by Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: It's always a pleasure to join you, Myke Hurley. How are you today?

Myke Hurley: I am very well, my man. I'm a little bit jet-lagged. We'll get into why in a minute. But I'm ready and raring to go. I'm full of old grey tea. Let's do this thing. We should start. We'll start today. We'll give another quick update on the Kickstarter campaign. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to everybody that has backed the campaign so far. Last week, I spoke about two records, and we were wondering if we would beat any of them. And we have beaten one of the records quite handily right now. This is now currently the most funded campaign that we've ever had. It's currently sitting at $31,650. So we've now made more money on this campaign than we did on last year's campaign. And we are right now at 600 backers. And the backers that we have to beat, total backers, are 720. I'm intrigued if we could do that. I don't know. But I'm so, so thankful for all of the people that have backed so far. We should mention, because we've already had people asking, what are you going to do with the extra money? One of the reasons we're so thankful is we have now met the amount of money we actually needed to do this. San Francisco is significantly more expensive as a location than any of the other secondary locations we've visited before, even including New York. Yeah. So we were hoping, really, we were expecting that we might be doing some of this campaign this year out of our own pocket. But we haven't needed to do that because of your incredible support. So we are now at the level in which we have all the money that we need to get everything done the way that we want. So what will we do? Do we have any extra? I don't know yet, because we haven't yet got any.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. We can't really say. We don't have any plans for anything extra. If we come up with something later in the campaign, it's certainly not something that's going to pop during the campaign. If we come up with some grand scheme to do something cool, you will all know. So what this tells me, Myke, about the dollar amount versus backers is that this was an interesting case study in backer reward levels and perceived value of things, because we have more money and 100 fewer backers, and everything was the same price point this year. You just, you know, I guess the perception of things this year changed that a little bit. So that's just me being business Brad and looking at Kickstarter campaign creation.

Myke Hurley: I think what it's shown potentially is that more people are interested in the physical reward this year than last year.

Brad Dowdy: I think we've made it clear that this is a more, value is not the right word, but this is a more expensive product.

Myke Hurley: Here's the big thing. Here's the big difference maker. So this year we have, and we're getting real into the weeds now. Welcome to the behind the scenes discussions. We have 33 backers right now for the videos level. Last year we had 131. So there's basically 100 people difference. We had 684 last year. So the 720 was the year before. That was like 2017 when we did all the stretch goals and everything, which makes sense as we spoke about why it was the most. So like we have 84 less backers right now, but there's like 100 people difference in the lowest tier. So I think that's what's going on is more people want the case this year.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's a good deal.

Myke Hurley: We already have like, so we have 457 people that have gone all in for everything at $50, right? Which is the case, the sticker set and the videos. Last year we had 400. So we've already beaten that. So that's why we have at the moment, we have less backers, but we've made more money is because people seem to be more interested in the physical reward. And that's where the big money comes from. So that's really interesting, isn't it?

Brad Dowdy: It is. It is very interesting. So I'm going to have to wrap my brain around that further, especially as the future goes for the next one and the next one after that and the next one after that. Because we're not going anywhere anytime soon.

Myke Hurley: Heck no, we have big plans. I have big plans over the next couple of years of some of the places that I want to visit with this show. So we'll see about that. So on the last episode, we were talking about the Wancho Dream Pen and you were a little bit miffed at the finish as it came like kind of around the grip section.

Brad Dowdy: I would say not miffed. I would say questioning.

Pen Finish Discussion

Myke Hurley: Questioning. Okay. You were quizzical then. Quizzical. So Thomas Hall at Penucopia on Instagram sent in some pictures to you of some of his Tamanuri finishes on some of his pens. Some of the Kaya's, some Danitrios. And they showed some solid finishes to you. Some solid finishes. And they showed some color variation. And I was wondering, has this made you feel any different?

Brad Dowdy: No, it made me feel like, okay, I was seeing something that maybe, maybe not should be there. So he has the best picture he has. He has a solid orange Kaya. And the finish is solid around the edge of the barrel where you don't see any of the underlying ebonite. So I brought this pen to Baltimore, showed it to Jonathan Brooks. And he said it's pretty clear with the type of sanding that's required for this as they hit that curvature of going around the barrel. So you can imagine you make it, make it a motion, a sanding motion, like that's going straight then off the edge. You're hitting it a little bit extra in that spot. So it's probably just a matter of over sanding this.

Myke Hurley: Because I think it's pretty clear when you look at these pictures that what's going on with your pen is not one of these special finishes. Right. It's not like a different color under there or whatever. It's clearly the underneath. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Right, right, right. So like, it's fine. Like, it doesn't really bother me that much. I was more of like, is this supposed to be here or not? That's what I wanted to figure out more than anything. And honestly, I think the outcome is that really it's not supposed to be there. Yeah. But it doesn't really affect the looks of the pen. It kind of, you know, lines up with everything. But yeah.

Myke Hurley: Right. But as is normal, if you find something, you can't stop focusing on it.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. Yeah. So, but it did get good reviews at the Baltimore Pen Show. People liked it and enjoyed. The color really pops when you see it in person.

Myke Hurley: Make sure you bring that thing to Atlanta. I want to see it. Oh, no doubt. No doubt. So the reason I'm jet lagged is yesterday. I got back from a trip to Chicago. I was just in Chicago for the weekend. I joined Stephen and David on Mac Power Users. They were doing a live show there and I wanted to go out and show my support for the guys. And then they wrote me into the episode because David Sparks, who is a recent pen addict listener, has completely just gone off the deep end in the best possible way.

Brad Dowdy: His messages to us are amazing. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: He's really in on this thing. And he did not escape being around me for a couple of days about making some orders of some stuff. He is debating and trying to work out the line for himself around analog and digital tools when it comes to his journaling. So like what digital, what journal, like what, what analog, like what were you looking for, right? Like, and where's things, where are these things going to go? So we talk about that on episode 472 of Mac Power Users. If you, if you're interested in getting a little bit more about my thoughts on what, what type of stuff, even when it comes to journals and note taking at best for digital and what's best for analog, which is a question that comes up quite a lot on this show. People kind of want to know our thoughts on it. So you can go find it out there. But I will say that I request, I suggested some products to Dave and he has since sent me some messages having received them. And he's like, oh, now I'm rethinking everything again. So like he, he was like, he'd been using some, I will say, Moleskine type notebooks, Moleskine layout size, that kind of thing. And he really likes them. And I recommended that he upgrade his paper to Rodeo. Okay. So he gets a Rodeo web notebook, which he now has fallen in love with.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. As you would, right? It kind of happens that way. Yeah. That's the way it happens, right? Yep.

Myke Hurley: Because that paper is so frigging good. And if you just use pretty standard stuff, because he uses a lot of fountain pens, a lot of these Moleskine type books, they're not really made for fountain pens. They're made for more ballpoints and rollerballs and stuff like that. Right. Where Rodeo paper is so incredible with fountain pens. I was like, you should try one of these now. And he did and he loves it. Good. I, at one point, opened Google Maps because I had a day to myself and I typed in Anderson pens. Yes. As one does. Quickly quit the app because I need to save for pen show money. Because I would have bought something very expensive there that I probably will buy from Anderson pens. If I'm going to buy anything sailor related, I'll probably buy something from them in Atlanta. So I was like, no, stop. Didn't do it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Because you probably would have bought the next item on our list, right? Well, I don't know. If they had it. If they had one of the new mosaics, specifically maybe the red one, that seems to have caught your fancy, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So I got to see it in person at Baltimore. I didn't even know it was there. So at first, someone told me that one of the non, one of the, like the, not the vintage sellers, but one of the non-store affiliated sellers had the King of Pen and Brown Mosaic, which I know is Brian's favorite. And they were asking a lot of money for it. And I mean, I was not interested in buying it, but I still wanted to see it. And I never got a chance to go see it. And then like Saturday, someone told me that our friends at Drum Ghouls had the red mosaic. I was like, oh, I actually do want to see that one. And so I went down and took a look at it and I came back to the table and there was a gentleman there talking about them. I said, well, you know, they got the red one down there. He like literally turned and walked away like mid-sentence and then came back with it like 10 minutes later. Oh my God. It was pretty funny. That was the only one. I think it was only one or two of them were at the show. So he went and grabbed it. And let me take a picture of it. You know, the picture of it is maybe a little contrasty on my Instagram. I made it really, really bright, but it's so good looking. The material is really fancy.

Brad Dowdy: It's really nice. Like I'm not going to buy one. You know, I have no interest in buying one because apparently my mind is on other things as we'll find out later in the show.

Brad Dowdy: But man, is it not good looking?

Myke Hurley: The problem for me is you took a picture of the exact one. I want the red one. I like the color variants in the red one. We'll see. Again, I'm probably going to end up missing it because I'm like stalling on it. But that's just the way these things go sometimes.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And I want to talk about that real quick about the materials of the mosaic. So one of my favorite pens is the green mosaic from the King of Pen. And it's the one color that Saylor said they did not have to remake in the 1911. And I probably would have insta-bought it if they did. But what's interesting is I found last year and Jonathan Brooks has found this year that you can pick up rods of this material, specifically the green and the red made by Mazzuchelli in Italy. And he was carrying around both the green and the red at the show to make pens out of. I have a pen that my friend Brian from Red Dragon, I bought a rod of the green that he made a pen for me out of the green. So you can get some other materials. Like this, I'm going to say exact material because, man, does it look close. So keep your eyes peeled, Michael Hurley, for these materials and pens from other manufacturers as well.

Myke Hurley: Interesting. Okay. Well, we'll see if I come across one of these in my life. But I'm okay with not needing to buy everything.

Brad Dowdy: It's worth hunting down to see what you think. Yeah, I think so. I think so.

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Brad Dowdy: It was a good week for them to sponsor because we both just traveled. When I showed up at the airport on Thursday morning, I sent a picture you may have seen that Jonathan Brooks and I shared a flight. We sat down at the gate. I had to get out my laptop because my accountant was having a hard time getting into the bank. The password was not working for her. About the last place you want to log into a public Wi-Fi is at the airport, especially when you're logging into banking information. And Jonathan goes, don't you have that VPN thing installed? And I was like, I sure do. And that's exactly what I'm using. Make me feel comfortable to log into the bank and change a password for someone to access my bank account. So, yeah, that was hilarious. That's really good.

Myke Hurley: That's very, very good.

Baltimore Pen Show Recap

Myke Hurley: So, Baltimore, how was it?

Brad Dowdy: It was great. I mean, it was everything I wanted it to be. It's like I was ready for a pin show. I hadn't been to one this year. And I've been watching all the reports come in from Philadelphia and Los Angeles so far. And I was like, oh, man, I'm ready. I've usually gone to one by now. Baltimore is usually like number two on the list. And so it was a little bit later for me to get out this year. And it was just great. Like, it was so packed. So many friendly faces. So many people I hadn't seen either for six months or a year or more, depending on, you know, what shows we hit or miss at. And it just absolutely was great. Like, we had weather issues. You know, Friday wasn't bad. We woke up to about two or three inches of snow. But it was wet and it wasn't below freezing. So the roads were fine. It didn't really affect anyone Friday. Sunday, I do think it affected the show attendance overall because it kind of snowed on and off all day. It was really, really cold and windy. But not a big deal. It wasn't, like, necessarily dangerous for people to be out. But people probably said, ah, I probably don't need to get out on this today. So Sunday was a little bit slow. But overall, I mean, it was kind of like it went as you would draw it up, right? Like, no complaints. Like, just smooth. They made it easy. You know, the promoter, Bert Ozer and Corinne, who was basically in charge. We dealt with Corinne Barr more than Bert himself on anything that came up. And there was, you know, nothing that wasn't accounted for, really. No issues during the show. They made it smooth for the vendors. They made it smooth for the attendees. Like I said in our show notes, the promoters made it an event, not necessarily a pin show, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I mean, and that's, I think, all of the good ones are trending that way now, right?

Brad Dowdy: Right. So it's like, you know, they had things to do outside of the show floor pretty much from open on Friday morning to close on Sunday afternoon. Yeah. And like even after hours on Friday and Saturday nights. So, you know, that's what people want to see. So, you know, a lot of people, I got in Thursday afternoon, had lunch with the wonderful Jessica Coles, who's in the chat room this afternoon. So we just sat and hung out, you know, Thursday's pretty quiet. It's mostly vendors coming in. But then you start to see people coming in for the weekend that are making a three-day weekend out of the event that have traveled from different places, mostly on the East Coast, some West Coasters. And that, you know, want to do some other things, want to have a reason to come and spend more than an afternoon at the pin show, you know, maybe spend a single night there and get to do some of the other things, get to take some classes, you know, get to take their time around the show floor instead of feeling rushed. Get to maybe shop in the downtime of Friday morning as opposed to 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon, you know, and it just makes their experience more fun in the way Baltimore had set it up. It really was that way. So it was nice. It was easy. Sales were good. People were great. I mean, you know.

Myke Hurley: Is there a lot of people there?

Brad Dowdy: It felt like it. Like, Friday was kind of steady all day. And Saturday was kind of steady all day. We were never overwhelmed. Like, there was never, like, three or four people deep at most tables, which was good. Like, you don't want that for more than maybe, like, a couple minutes by accident, right? So it was, like, Saturday was consistent all day. Like, there was hardly ever any downtime, but we were – there was never two people I was helping and two more, you know, I was waiting to get to, right? So it just felt good and easy.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, pretty much throughout the whole show, I felt like the crowd was good. I don't know what the numbers were from, like, the gate, but I know they said, like, the pre-signups had exceeded – far exceeded anything that they've ever had in the past. So – and it felt like it just throughout the weekend.

Myke Hurley: So how did – I know you were doing some other stuff. You were doing, like, a makers panel and stuff. How did that go?

Brad Dowdy: It went really well. It's, like, I didn't know to be nervous about it, so I really wasn't. It was just, like, one of those things. Like, I'm going to do this thing.

Myke Hurley: You moderated, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so I moderated. So there were four makers on the panel. Myke Allen, Woodshed Pen Company, Chet Herbert, Herbert Pen Company, Jonathan Brooks, Carolina Pen Company, and Richard Greenfield. Well, who makes pens? And so my job was to kind of host these guys and kind of drive the conversation. So I'd ask them questions, kind of, you know, move around the panel, asking them a few different things, and, you know, get some crowd input and questions and things like that. And Myke Madison did record it, and it's up on YouTube in case you missed it and want to go check it out. But it was, like, I thought about, like, how I was going to weave the conversation. Like, I had a pretty good layout in my head. I had a pretty good idea of, like, the specific questions that specific makers would get. You know, they weren't all getting the same question. So I tried to kind of land in each one of those wheelhouses while also allowing them to all play off of each other. So I just worked through it a lot in my head beforehand, not knowing how it was going to go. And it pretty much went exactly how I had hoped. You know, it was fun and funny and informative. And everyone left with a smile. And we got a lot of good feedback on it. So that's something I'd like to see at more shows, not necessarily makers, but, you know, just have, as opposed to, like, a vintage repair class is good. How about just we have some vintage, you know, repair people just talking about in the general of what they do. You know, how, you know, like to have Jesse talking about repairing Estabrooks and Paul Arano about, you know, finding vintage pens and things like that. So there's a wide open, you know, availability now for any type of panel, you know, a paper panel, an ink panel. Like, people want to know more stuff. That's the one thing we learned from this is people want to know more stuff about the people in their selling things. Like, my favorite question, I think, like, the whole time, which one I had even written down, is how many of you do this as a full-time job? And all four of them raised their hands. And I think that surprised a lot of people in the room. Like, this is these people's full-time job. And they're committed to doing this. And, you know, I just thought it's cool to be able to bring the personalities out of these people on the panel and talk about, you know, weird and interesting things that they do. And I just thought it was cool.

Myke Hurley: And you were like, oh, I actually, I know you had the spoke pen with you, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I had the spoke pen. And that went really well, except for the part where I forgot to bring an aluminum grip one. So, I brought all titanium grips, and people were wanting to compare those. So, that was a whoopsie on my part. But it went really, really well. You know, the feedback was great. People really enjoyed the magnet cap. And, you know, it was just fun to have people give you some kind of live feedback about that there. So, that was really, really cool. So, that thing's almost in the books.

Myke Hurley: You have three days left.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Three days left. We cracked 80,000, like, in the past couple days. You know, we'll probably do several more thousand in these last few days. That's just how it goes, right? Like, we'll be pushing 90, I bet, by the end. But I wanted to point out for those who haven't seen it or are not even interested in this Kickstarter, but just in Kickstarter, Pinset as a whole. The post that Brian made, the update that Brian made last night for our backers just about refills and why we made the decisions we made. My gosh. My gosh. It's spectacular.

Myke Hurley: It's unbelievable, the amount of information. So, yeah, it's very useful, actually.

Brad Dowdy: So, this helps answer the question of, well, why can't I do this refill or why won't you do this? And Brian tried to lay that out in as many, in as detailed way as possible. Like, Brian, like, knocked it out of the park so, so far with this. The best picture is there's one towards the end when he's getting into the weeds. There's a picture of about nine refills of standard Uniball and Pentel refills on the left. And then the singular UMR1 refill, which is the DX refill. And it's not just the length of that refill that matters because you can extend refills in machine pens and you can shorten refills in machine pens. But the front end of the DX refill is why we're doing this. That's why it can't fit in all these other pens. And that's why people don't build specifically because you can't fit all these other refills. Well, we're building something specific. And this update shows you why we're doing this because it's a very specific refill. And this drove all the choices we made about this pen. So I thought that was a very, very good post. Actually, it was an exceptional post.

Brad Dowdy: I wasn't involved even in writing it. He just said, hey, the draft's done. Go check it. And I went in there and my reply to him was damnation. And it was like, wow, you killed this. Like, knocked it out of the park. So I was really, really happy with that. And I would just like to share that post just in general, like when we're talking about refills and how things are manufactured and made and things like that. So, yeah, it was fun to have that and get that live feedback from the show.

Myke Hurley: All right. So you showed off stuff that people are going to buy, which they should buy going to a Kickstarter campaign. They've got a couple of days left. So this will be in the show notes. But what did you buy?

Pen Purchases and Trends

Brad Dowdy: So, how do I preface this? So the last couple of pen shows I've been to, I haven't bought very many pens. So this is the great.

Myke Hurley: I can see our show notes. This is the greatest lead in to what you're talking about right now. This is the best thing. Like, oh, I didn't spend any money. So the money I saved, I just put it all together.

Brad Dowdy: Well, I think it's an effect of a larger symptom. I don't know if I said that right. So in Washington at the DC pen show, I bought a Nakaya from a gentleman who, if you go to pen shows, you will know Rick very well as one of the few people that carries Nakayas. Since then, Rick and I have stayed in touch via email. You know, if he gets something new in, he shoots me an email. And so that brought me to the Dallas pen show. And I'm sure I bought something at the Dallas pen show, but I don't remember what. And then it's been until since then, since I've been to another pen show. And guess who was there? But my buddy, Rick. And so I'm setting up Friday morning at the knock table, which has a beautiful new tablecloth. I'm very excited about the tablecloth. It's very impressive.

Myke Hurley: I'm just excited about a cloth that doesn't require, like, basically us nailing it into the table to keep it up.

Brad Dowdy: So it's quite impressive.

Brad Dowdy: And it's like nine o'clock Friday morning. And here comes Rick walking up to the table. He's like, hey, I just put out all my stuff. Got a bunch of new stuff. You should check it out. I'm like, okay, let me finish setting up. And then I'll come over and take a look, like, before we open. So I started, I kept setting up for, like, another 15 minutes. I'm like, screw it. And, you know, if something's over there that I want, it's going to be gone. But, you know, this is my rationalization, right? You know, that's what you got to do when you're going to spend that kind of money. So, well, you know, things are going to start vanishing from the table before I get a chance to take a look. So let me get first crack at it. And I found one that I liked. And I hemmed and hawed about a bunch of them. And, you know, it's an expensive purchase. And it's nine o'clock Friday morning. And I don't want to kind of drop this money pretty much the moment. You know, I walked into it at the pen show. So I asked him to just hold this for me. He's like, I'll buy this 100%. Like, you're not going to lose a sale on this if you hold it back behind the counter for me. Like, he knows me well enough. He's like, fine. Yeah, I'll just hold it. So what it was, I ended up buying a Nakaya Portable Rider in the Kuro Tamanuri finish. Which Kuro Tamanuri is probably one of the most common finishes. But it's one I don't have. And it's actually the finish that turned me on to Nakaya in the first place. It's the black pen with the red undertones. And this is a beautiful example of it. Like, my threads on this pen are really red. It's kind of crazy. So what made me buy it, right? Yeah, I was forced into buying this pen, Myke. Was that it was a rhodium clip and a rhodium nib. Which almost everything he has is gold. Gold nibs, gold clips. The last one I bought from him was gold nib. Because that one I was fine with. Because it's brown. Like, brown and gold go good together. So, I saw this one. It was the only one. It stood out like a sore thumb on his table. So I asked him to just set it aside for me. And that's what I bought. That was my one purchase. I'm in love with it. And it's, you know, kind of nice to just have the one big purchase. Like, I'm okay with that. As opposed to, like, I usually normally buy four or five pens. You know? Just because, I don't know, I am that way. And, yeah. Getting this Nakaya was... I'm using it today. I found... I actually wanted to put... Well, my first inclination was... Well, this is, like, the most traditional Nakaya I own. And I want to put blue-black in it. Because that seems like a very traditional setup. But I'm going to do everything I can to not put blue-black in it. Because that's what you would expect me to do. So, I went and hunted down a red ink. And I actually found one that I'm in love with. It's called Robert Oster Red Candy. It's more of, like, a dark cherry kind of red. As opposed to, like, a bright strawberry kind of red. I don't know. It's hard to explain that. And it matches this pen perfectly. And I'm really, really happy with this purchase. And I'm happy there was not a long list of other purchases after that. Like, I didn't shop. Like, once I saw that pen, I never shopped, like, the entire weekend. Like, I... There was no way. That was enough money. And I was just done. So, like, I didn't buy anything after that. Other than, like, this ink to put it in. And I got... I picked up a few things to review and stuff like that. But, you know, that was it. I knew what I wanted from the beginning. And I didn't buy other things later. So, that made it pretty easy.

Myke Hurley: But, I mean, I know what pen show life is like. No matter what you buy, there's always something more you want to buy that you haven't bought. So, what did you want to buy? Yeah. What did you want to buy?

Brad Dowdy: So, probably for more than a year now, I've wanted Jonathan Brooks' primary manipulation pens. You know, like, the super swirly, all the colored pens. I don't have... Yeah. I don't have one.

Myke Hurley: Well, I have a Newton pen made out of that material from Jonathan. Yes.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, that's, like, one of my favorite materials ever. And I don't have a pen in that yet. And the thing is, just like buying this Nakaya, if you don't buy it right out the gate Friday morning, it's gone. Right? Like, he had maybe six at the most. Maybe only four that I saw. But, like, maybe six. Something like that. So, and, like, I knew they were going to be gone. Like, I knew Sunday afternoon I wasn't going to get one. I didn't even bother. And, of course, they were gone. They're just a fantastic looking material. So, maybe I'll get that in Atlanta or something like that. So, I need to pick up one of those. I also got to check out the Leonardo Memento Zero. Yep. Which I'm going to eventually buy. We spoke about that. I got to... I would have bought one of those if it was the right setup. Like, the bright blue materials with the rhodium trim, they were bought before I got a chance to look on Sunday at them. But, looking at them, I confirmed that, yeah, I really want to buy one of these pens. So, the materials are great. The size, feel, shape of the pen is great. They just look really cool. I just want to wait for a bright blue one with a rhodium trim.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: So, I will get one of those eventually. So, that was kind of... Those were the things that... Other things that I wanted. But, I wasn't just going to, like, keep spending money. Like, it was going out of style. So, because one Nakaya will do that too. One Nakaya. And then, I went into Operation Shutdown after that. So, I was good with that. Like, I'm really happy with that result. Because I got, like, one of the best pens I'll ever have for me. Right? Yeah. Like, it's perfect me pens. So, like, it doesn't get much better than, like, kind of adding to that, you know, as part of your pen collection. So, super happy with that.

Myke Hurley: So, your pen show year has begun. You feeling excited for the rest of the year? The rest of the plans for the year?

Brad Dowdy: If Baltimore is any indication, then yeah. So, like, the people at this show who really make the show. We've talked, we say that constantly. It's, like, about the people. It's about the people. The people really showed up at this one. And, like, it was crystal clear about that when Saturday Night rolled around. And Carrie from Fountain Pen Day and Kenro has his Pen Shows After Dark event. Which is really just, like, an organized hangout is what I call it. You know, it's just, like, a scheduled thing. And Carrie gives away door prizes. But it's really just for people to come gather around a bunch of tables. Put all their pens and paper and ink out on display. And everyone just kind of, you know, talk about it and learn about things. And, you know, just kind of, you know, maybe learn something or see something they've never had. Or try something they've never had the opportunity to. And it was packed. There was, like, 60-something people, like, in this small room. And it overflowed out into the hallway. It was really good. Like, it was, you know, everyone had their drinks. Everyone had their food. Everyone had their pens and papers out. It was super cool. And this was, like, after 9 o'clock on Saturday night. And, you know, we finally had to get out of there about 9.30. And we all just moseyed on over to the bar. And the bar was packed. So seeing that type of crowd on a Saturday night at a pen show was fascinating. It was just made me smile. It was really, I was really, really happy about that. So good job by Carrie putting that on. And everyone that came and hung out, I think, had a really good time.

Myke Hurley: Well, not only a few weeks away. We're a month. One month away now.

Brad Dowdy: One month away. Yep. Our friend Joe from the Gentleman Stationer, he was there working next to me at the Venice Pens table. So he has his review up as of this morning. So if you want to get more of an idea about this show and kind of what other shows might be like this year, like Atlanta's kind of in this category, we'll put the link to Joe's Baltimore Pen Show recap in the show notes for you to check out.

Myke Hurley: Yep. All right. This episode is also brought to you by our friends over a way who make smart premium suitcases so your luggage doesn't cost more than your plane ticket. If you're anything like us, battery. Battery is a big thing that you need when you're traveling. And when you buy an away suitcase, you can charge all your devices while you travel. Both of their carry-ons feature USB ports of a battery large enough to charge your phone five times from a single charge. And you can pop it right out of the suitcase so you can take it around with you when you get to your destination. Go to awaytravel.com slash penaddict right now and you can browse away suitcases featuring premium German polycarbonate, which is unrivaled in strength and impact resistance whilst remaining lightweight. They have over 10 colors and five sizes to choose from. They have the carry-on, the bigger carry-on, the medium, the large, and the kids carry-on. And they cut out the middleman so you can get first class luggage at coach prices. Away suitcases have a patent pending compression system, which is great if you're an overpacker, along with four 360 degree spinner wheels as well. Their carry-ons are compliant with all major US airlines while still maximizing the amount you can pack. And they have TSA combination locks built right in. And all away cases feature a removable washable laundry bag too, so you can separate your clean clothes from your warm ones. When I was in Chicago, Brad, I was walking down the street and I saw a store window and I was like, I know those suitcases. There was an Away store in Chicago. And I've been wanting to buy a bigger suitcase because I have Away's carry-ons and I love my Away carry-ons. I actually have one. They have their regular range, right? They're the German polycarbonate range, which are incredible. They're super lightweight. But they also have aluminium ones as well, which are a bit heavier. And of course, they come like, you know, aluminium will dent and that's the point, right? So like you buy these cases and they get a bit dinged up over time. And I have a carry-on one and I love it. So I've been thinking about getting one in a larger case. And they have this finish called, I think it's called like steel, like black steel. It's like a dark colour. And I went and I took a look at it and I'm definitely going to get that pretty soon. It is beautiful. I absolutely love it. Yeah. But I will tell you, you get what you pay for because as well as the material, they also put in like a bunch of additional features. Like they upgrade some of the handles and stuff like that. It's a premium, like it's part of their premium offering, but really, really amazing. I'm a big, big fan of it. So as I am of all of my Away stuff and they believe in the quality of their products as well. So this is one of the things that I love about Away. They are for a lifetime guarantee. If anything breaks, they'll fix or replace it for life on that case. And they have a 100 day trial with a no questions asked return policy for free shipping on any order within the lower 48 states of the US. If you go to awaytravel.com slash penaddict right now and use the code penaddict to check out, you will get $20 off any of their suitcases. That is awaytravel.com slash penaddict and the code penaddict for $20 off. Our thanks to Away for their support of this show and Relay FM.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so the large Away polycarbonate suitcase is part of my NotCo and penaddict packing for the shows. I have a large duffel for the soft sided cases and then like NotCo paper goods in the Away suitcase. So my Away suitcase, Myke, was 59 pounds on the way there and it was 31 pounds on the way back. It was like about half full on the way back. It's such a huge suitcase. And, you know, in combination, the two bags, I had exactly 100 pounds on the way out and 61 pounds on the way back. So I sold 39 pounds worth of goods. Probably more than that because I had a bunch of ink that I took back that I like reviewing and things like that that weighed it down, too. So, yeah, sold over 40 pounds worth of products this weekend in Baltimore. So that was fun. All right.

CWNT Notebook Discussion

Myke Hurley: All right. So last week we spoke about the possibility of a CWNT notebook. So the creators of the pen type B and pen type A. And they have, in fact, since that episode, like put that up. They have it on Kickstarter right now. So it's met its funding goal. I want to know what you think about this notebook. It's actually a sketchbook, really.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I think it's better probably to call it a sketchbook because after last week we talked about the Hanji paper. So we asked our friend Daryl in our Slack group who owns Misubi Notebooks and is very experienced with all types of paper, especially on the Asian market. So he explained it as a very fibrous type paper. So probably too fibrous for fountain pens or, you know, like water-based inks unless they have some kind of finishing. But, you know, the paper probably doesn't. So it's going to be a great art paper. You know, it's probably going to work great for pencils and some other things like that. So I'm 0% concerned about the fountain pen compatibility of this paper. I just love what CWNT make. And it looks like a really neat size, neat style. I like the binding. I like that they're using like a very small studio to make it. Yeah, it just it's a very CWNT product if you're familiar with them. If you're not, they're mostly like into really interesting engineering projects. That's kind of how the pen type A came about. And they do, you know, they've done some different key rings in the past and they did this, this infinite clock type of project. They do. They're into all kinds of things. They're just like really, really creative. So I have one of these coming after I backed it. And Taylor emailed me and said, hey, I want to send you one too for you to take a look at. So I should have that, you know, later this week. I think it's already shipped out. So I'll be able to give some feedback about it. So I'm just looking forward to it because I'm a CWNT fanboy. Like there's no two ways about it. We'll just be very clear about that. And yeah, I can't wait.

Myke Hurley: So kind of some of the details.

Myke Hurley: It's a smaller book, right? Like it's, have they given it a standard size or is it kind of, but it's small, right? Like it's, I don't know. It looks around A5-ish.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I think they referenced like A5. A6. A6. It's A6. So is it A6?

Myke Hurley: 4.1 by 5.8 inches. Yeah. There you go. It's 142 pages and they're selling it for $20. The paper is plain. The spine is exposed and it lays flat. They're kind of like the big deets of the notebook. And oh, it's all bound by hand in Korea by a husband and wife bindery team, which is nice.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So this is like that description. Like I don't need to like see or know or I don't need to know too much as long as it's not like $150 or something. It's like, I'm in. You're like, they hit all my, hit all my buzzwords and of all the things that, you know, I want in a Kickstarter project that I'm, that I'm going to back. So speaking of which, and before we move on, maybe we'll talk about it next week. The 2-2 pin we talked about last week, you know, the little bitty, uh, double D one refill pin. Uh, I got it. So it showed up yesterday. I got the sample. Um, he was very nice. And we'll go, like I said, we'll go through it next week. I want some time to play with it.

Myke Hurley: He tweeted about the show, right?

Brad Dowdy: Did you see that? Yeah. Brad Downey. Yes. He also Brad Downey'd me. It was amazing.

Myke Hurley: I was so excited. Uh, so the creator, Mario, uh, Shimodara, uh, Shimodara, he tweeted about how being, about the fact that we spoke about it on the show, which was so nice because he seemed really excited about it. Uh, but he called Brad, Brad Downey, which is my favorite thing. Um, I love it when that happens.

Brad Dowdy: That's, that's a 2017 DC pen show joke that will live in infamy. It's, it's a brilliant, um, joke slash not joke. He was, that's just how it came out. So yeah, it's perfect. So he sent me like a one of a kind material one. I'm like, great. He's really buttered me up. So I got to say, I'm pretty happy with it so far, but give me time next week. We will get through a little, little quick review of that on next week's show.

Myke Hurley: How about that? I'm looking forward to that actually, cause I want to, I want to know what you think about that pen. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's really cool. That's super cool.

Brad Dowdy: And he included Jetstream D1 refills in it. So that was genius.

Myke Hurley: It's buttering you up.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: So it works. That's all you got to do to get to Downey.

Myke Hurley: Let's do some Ask TPA. We got, we got a good selection of Ask TPA questions this week. The first one comes from Jeff Liu. What pen do you use to sign the back of credit cards? Everything I've tried so far rubs off after a while.

Brad Dowdy: If I never use a Sharpie ultra fine marker for anything else, I will use it to sign the back of the credit cards. I will buy one specifically if I do not have one to sign the backs of credit cards. That is the one and only singular pen I use to sign the back of credit cards. Do you have a pen like that, Myke? No, man. Yeah. It's not important here. It's a permanent marker. No one's checking it. Right. Right. Y'all are way more advanced than us.

Myke Hurley: Mine is completely rubbed off. But then again, like I just spent a weekend in America with this card and nobody questioned it. So no one's actually checking it.

Brad Dowdy: Do you have any idea what you actually used?

Myke Hurley: Oh, it probably would have been some kind of biro. Because biro does a decent enough job.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. But it'll rub off eventually. Yeah. Yeah. Just like you're saying.

Myke Hurley: You'd think that like sign pen, you know, the sign pens, like you would use those.

Brad Dowdy: They're just liquidy. I know. None of those are permanent.

Myke Hurley: But it's fun though because they're called sign pens. So in my mind, it's like anything you sign with them, sign forever. But that's not how it works.

Brad Dowdy: We need a Diamine document ink sign pen. That's what we need. Hmm. Okay. That would be good. Get some permanents in there. Although it's still be liquidy.

Myke Hurley: Somebody needs to get on that.

Mechanical Pencil Topic

Myke Hurley: Luke AAR wants to know, what kept the spoke mechanical pencil out of your top five pens list?

Brad Dowdy: Time. Like I very rarely, you know, on occasion, I'll just drop them in immediately. But it was, I got it about a month or two after the top five list came out. So I'm not just going to up and jam it in there. I can assure you it will be in there next time. It probably won't be number one because of the cost.

Myke Hurley: This is in the mechanical pencil category, I assume.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But in, you know, the Rotring 600, it's number one and it's a $33 pen pencil. So, but, um, actually that list could probably use a little further updating this year. Cause I've used some more mechanical pencils. Like I'm probably going to have to put the Pentel Sharp Carry in there ahead of like the Sebra Delgard. So the Sharp Carry is a pencil that I love that doesn't get enough respect. And I talk about it every, any opportunity I can. Um, the spoke pencil, um, I don't know if it, does it go in there? Does it goes in the machine category? You know, it's a little bit of an outlier because it uses the Pentel Sharp barrel, but it's such an advanced barrel, you know, maybe it goes in there. Um, so yeah, I, I've been, uh, dabbling more in the mechanical pencils as I've been going through my, my frustrating mechanical pencil lead test. I want, I want a magic, uh, graphite stick in one of these pencils, Myke, and I haven't found it yet. So, uh, yeah, it's, um, it's a good list. I love mechanical pencils. That's a long time fascination of mine, especially in drafting style pencils, which as you'll probably

Myke Hurley: see in this list, it's dominated by, you know, talking about that, actually, I saw on Instagram, uh, that the CW pencil box subscription is back available again. Yeah. Uh, because I remember the last time we spoke about it, they were like super, super sold out. Um, yeah, it's available again. So if that's something that you're interested in, I'll put a link in the show notes, just, just in case people missed it, because I know we had a lot of pen out listeners that really

Brad Dowdy: wanted to get in on that and couldn't, but it looks like it's available again. Yeah. I got in on day one. And my latest box arrived yesterday or two days ago, and I have not opened it yet because Myke, I'm getting on the Twitch machine this week and we're going to open it up. So look for a Twitch stream tomorrow.

Myke Hurley: Twitch.tv slash penaddict, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Yep. We'll probably start a late morning lunchtime stream or early afternoon. So I'll send out details tomorrow.

Myke Hurley: You know you can literally just unbox things and people would just tune in forever, right? No doubt. That's the real money right there.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. No, no doubt. Like, I save the stuff that I get and just try to talk about it. Like, I'm going to bring some of the inks that I have for samples from the pen show and look at all that stuff. So there's just endless things to talk about on Twitch.

Myke Hurley: Kitchen Penguin asks, pen shows, they're not like fan conventions or professional conventions or even craft shows. So I'm not sure if it would be bad etiquette or people would find it weird if I brought homemade treats to share. Can you help?

Brad Dowdy: I instantly responded to this question when it came in on Twitter because I wanted to make sure there was time for Kitchen Penguin to know that it is more than acceptable to bring in homemade treats to share. In fact, it's a running joke with me and Lisa Van S. Because when we first started doing pen shows together, people would bring me specifically food and treats and candies and cookies and not her. So she would get so mad at me. And I'd get like three things in an hour. I was like, Lisa, do you want any? Do you want any of this? And she'd just give me like this, you know, eat dirt look. So it's funny. Oh, we appreciate this so much. And I'm glad I replied to Kitchen Penguin because she gave me the big time hookup at the show, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Oh, yeah?

Brad Dowdy: So I, oh yeah. I got scones. I got cookies. I got all kinds of stuff. She is actually, I sent you the monkey brains picture. Oh, yeah. Yeah. T-shirt. She's who hooked us up with some amazing food. And if you see a bunch, if you see a bunch of cookies and food on the tables and the pen shows after dark stuff, that was her too. So she really hooked everybody up. So there's a lot of great bakers and on the pen show circuit. So we're, we're very spoiled by all the lovely gifts that everyone brings us, especially food is always, always a pleasing sight.

Sponsor Segment

Myke Hurley: All right. We have a bunch more asked TPA today, but we want to thank our final sponsor for this episode. And that is Squarespace. You can make your next move with Squarespace. They will let you easily create a website for your next idea or project or event. They have a unique domain name available to you to just pick up on Squarespace, the ability to take award-winning templates and turn them into your own and so much more. They are the all-in-one platform that will let you take your idea and put it online. There's nothing to install or patch or upgrade with Squarespace. They take care of all of that stuff. So you don't have to, no matter what type of website you want to make, they have the functionality right there. If you want to sell stuff, you can do it. If you want to write stuff, super easy to do. If you just want to be able to show off some of your beautiful artwork, Squarespace is a wonderful home for you to have online. As I mentioned before, you can register domain names to Squarespace. You can just do it all right there. So you can have everything in one place if you want it. And their templates, they're all so beautiful. They will allow you to show off your ideas, but they also come with page structure. So you can enable a template like for a specific event and they create the page structure for you and which can help you remember what you might need to put on a website for such a thing. So that's been super useful to me in the past. Squarespace plans start at just $12 a month, but you can start a trial today with no credit card required by going to squarespace.com slash penaddict. And when you decide to sign up, use the offer code penaddict to get 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain and show your support for this show. Once again, that is squarespace.com slash penaddict and the code penaddict to get 10% of your first purchase. Our thanks to Squarespace for their support of this show and RelayFM. Squarespace, make your next move, make your next website.

Brad Dowdy: quick Squarespace shout out. It's been a very timely sponsor, sponsors for this episode, Myke, because I've used special features of all these, all these sponsors during this past week. And with Squarespace on the NotCo website, I can put up a banner that says, Hey, I'm at the Baltimore pen show this weekend. All of your shipping will happen when I return on March the 5th. So it's nice to just be able to toss that banner up on your shop. Like if you're going to be away for vacation, you know, when we're like, I'm the only one, you know, sending shipping out packages. And when Jeff was the only one sending out packages, if he wasn't available, you know, we put the banner up. So it just gives people a little heads up that we're going to be a few days later than normal shipping. So I thought that was pretty neat.

Myke Hurley: That is cool. See, it can do everything. We do it. At Pentacles asks, have you ever had an experience with buying a pen and it not being great for you, but being the perfect fit for someone else you know?

Brad Dowdy: I mean, I love the Pentel Energel, but it's not for me, but it's perfect for my wife. That's the only one that comes to mind. Like, I don't know that I've ever bought an expensive pen that says, boy, this is really not for me, but, you know, Myke would like it or, you know, someone else would like it that I can think of. There's nothing like stands out because as you, the more money you spend, the more diligent you are that you're buying something that really fits for you because you don't want that money to go to waste. But like, for some reason, the Pentel Energel really stands out for me. I never, ever use that pen. At the same time, it's an exceptional pen and it's my wife's favorite pen. So, you know, I don't know that that's really the answer you were going for, but that's actually kind of a thing that happens. You know, it's like I said, it's going to be hard to, you know, find that as you go up the price scale because I think a lot of people are just going to be really, really safe with that.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I don't really have any examples of this because I'm at the point now where I might find stuff that is for me and works for somebody else. You know, like there's pens that like I will buy for Adina or I will give to her or whatever, but they're also stuff that I liked. It's very rare that I buy something and I'm like, oh, I don't like this, but I know somebody that will. I can't think of something like that for a while. So, the Inky Side asks, what advice do you have for someone who has been thinking about starting a blog and or a podcast about stationery?

Brad Dowdy: So, a couple of things, actually several things. But first, I'd just like to give a shout out to these last two Twitter handles, the pen-related puns, pentacles, and the Inky Side. Yeah, really great job. Yeah, really great job by y'all with the name. So, advice. So, I think my main advice is it's okay to have opinions and it's okay for your personality to come out. It's not just okay. Yeah. It's what should be happening. It's what should be happening. Less specs, more stories is what I enjoy. And, you know, I've kind of changed my writing style over the years to be more story-based. And it's not 100% of the time, but it's more often than not, let me tell you, you know, the usage of this pen as opposed to, you know, the weight and length and diameter of this pen, right? So, I feel like that's an enjoyable read. I also feel like you should have some type of schedule, not necessarily published, but if you're once a week or once a month, people want to have an expectation that you didn't up and vanish just when it's actually just really your schedule.

Myke Hurley: And also that bit and or building in some level of accountability to yourself to make sure that if you're going to start something, you stick with it. Right.

Brad Dowdy: Right. And then also don't apologize every blog post for not posting last week.

Myke Hurley: Oh, God. Don't do that. Please don't do that. Please don't do that. And also just go. Just write. A blog post about stopping either. Yeah. Yeah. Just don't do it. Just do or don't. It's okay.

Brad Dowdy: We know this because we've all made these mistakes. Well, we all have lives, right? Yeah. Life happens. It's okay. Yeah. Just write your blog post. It's cool.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. People are there for the content, not for the apology that you didn't write last week. Just get it. But at the same time, if that keeps happening to you, then you need to reassess some stuff, right? Yes. If you keep missing your schedule, then reassess the schedule. But you should have something you stick to so you stay consistent because consistency gives you... So there is an often used piece of advice, right? Which is, oh, I want to be successful. How do I be successful? And people say, keep showing up. And it's one of the worst pieces of advice on the face of it because it's just like, well, I just keep doing this. How does that make me successful? Well, one of the things is you practice more. And when you practice more, because you keep showing up every week or every two weeks or whatever, you will get better. And then by getting better, you're more likely that when somebody discovers your work, that they'll stick around. That's what I think that that piece of advice is actually getting to. It's not that just random thing of like, oh, if you just keep working on something that you'll find success, is you'll get better at it. So then you're more likely to be successful because you're more likely to have somebody find you. So yes, keep showing up. And also find the thing that makes you different. Whatever it is. But there has to be something that makes you different to everybody else. So you'll spin on things. You'll take on things. The way that you write it, the type of personality you bring to it. Maybe you have a particular point of view or a particular thing that you care about that other people don't. Focus on that stuff.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. And if you have more specific questions, DM me or email me. Glad to help. Always glad to help.

Myke Hurley: At Pastoral Urbanet asks, how much more than the cost of a pen can you spend on nib work? I'm considering an architect grind on a pen I already own. But after reading your article on Architect vs. Stub, I wondered, is it strange to spend $60 grinding a nib for a $40 pen? Follow up. What is your favorite aesthetic match for a pen of an architect grind? I think the design of the Caran d'Ache 849 would fit very nicely. This is a dang good question, Myke. I would actually agree with the Caran d'Ache. It feels like a very architect-y pen. I think anything that is or looks like it was made in Switzerland, for some reason, fits with an architect grind for me. I don't know why, but...

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I've had several architects show me their roturing fountain pens with architect grinds on them. That's like the perfect match. I don't know. I would think a Lamy 2000, Myke, could pull that off a little bit better than 849. That's obviously something that's intriguing me.

Brad Dowdy: Something I want to think about. That seems like the proper fit for that type of nib. But for the original question, I want to say it depends. But I think it's actually probably a mistake to spend that type of money on a lower-end pen. Except if you're absolutely dead set in love with the pen. I could see one of the pens that doesn't get much play because it's at a weird price point is the Pilot Pereira. I could see something like the Pilot Pereira, which is around a $40 pen. It's so enjoyable to write with to spend the money to get a nib because I enjoy it that much. I could see doing that. I think the issue is when you start thinking about, well, what comes next and am I going to want that nib in another pen? If you're spending it on a Jovo nib pen, well, you can switch that nib into a different pen. So that's maybe an option. But yeah, it's really hard to answer. If you're totally in love with the pen, like the TWSBI Eco, and you want to put an Architek grind on it, I say go for it. If you're really going to use the pen, then the price doesn't matter. But I'll just wonder if a year from now you'll still be satisfied and you don't want it on something else. I don't know. It's a super hard question for me to answer.

Myke Hurley: I agree with you basically in all of it. You have to, for whatever reason, really feel like this is the pen that you want to do it on. If you're going to start spending more money than the pen is worth.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And it's a good way to test it, like Sarah mentions. Like you still, you don't have a huge risk, like if you have a very proprietary nib or something that's not easily swappable. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Maybe try doing it on a pen where you could swap the nib into something more expensive down the line. Could be a way, a reason to do it maybe. Yeah. Because, you know, then the nib may not have been worth a lot going into it, but it's now worth more kind of in cost and in ability afterwards. I don't know.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Like I could totally see myself doing it in a TWSBI Eco or a Pilot Prayer. For some reason, those are the two that come into mind. But I could also use those nibs in other TWSBs or other pilots if I were so inclined.

Myke Hurley: And then that makes it a little bit more intriguing at that point. So that could be a good reason.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah. I don't know. It's a really good question. So I do like having nibs that I can move around that have been customized.

Atlanta Show Discussion

Myke Hurley: And our final question comes from Daniel. Daniel wants to know, I've been thinking about how to make first timers feel welcome at the Atlanta show. What do you think about having an AMA or a first time friendly badge that vendors could hang at their tables to let first timers know that they are welcome to hang out and ask questions of any sort?

Brad Dowdy: That's such a great idea. He asked this like right when I logged in the chat room today. And I think this has come up a few times before. Like should we have a little placard at the table for people who are open to accepting like any questions at all, not just like your specific product questions. And of course, I always am. And I always tell people to come find me. And in Baltimore, they did. Like I got emails saying, hey, I'm coming to my first show. Do you know where you're at? So I can come like find you and you can tell me what to do. I'm like, yeah, I'm here. And, you know, I had several people that was their first show that I helped kind of guide them a little bit. So, yeah, having that, I think probably like a badge as opposed to like a table thing. You run a little bit of risk of alienating people, like doing it like super publicly. But that's kind of why you want to do it in the first place. So it's a little bit of a weird spot. But I think it's more beneficial than detrimental. And I would be all about it. And I know like a lot of like the Baltimore and D.C. area people, they wear some big hello, my name is badges. And, you know, like, you know, if you see them, they're like, you know, super open and friendly and, you know, open asking and answering any questions that you may have. So, yeah, I mean, I think this is a great idea. I, yeah, I would think maybe like a little button or a little table stand to say, hey, ask me anything is a great idea. So just have to figure out how to execute that.

Myke Hurley: All right. If you want to find the show notes for this week's episode, you can go to relay.fm slash penaddict slash 349. You can find Brad. He's a twitch.tv slash penaddict, penaddict.com. He's penaddict on Instagram, dowdyism on Twitter. I am Ike, I-M-Y-K-E on Instagram. You should follow me there. This show is a part of Relay FM. We have many shows here at Relay FM. You go to relay.fm slash shows and you can find out more about those. Thanks to Squarespace, Away and ExpressVPN for their support of this week's episode. And we'll be back next week for episode 350. Until then, say goodbye, Brad Dowdy. Goodbye, Brad Dowdy. Bye, Brad到by. Bye, Brad到by.