The Pen Addict 304/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	304
Title:	I'm Out of Superlatives
Release Date:	April 18th, 2018
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 304
Audio File:	Audio Episode 304
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 304
Length:	6666 min <br />1.1 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 304. Today's show is brought to you by Blue Apron and Simple Contacts. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by Mr. Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: Hi, Myke Hurley. Long time no chat. How are you doing?

Myke Hurley: It's sad. It feels a little bit sad, really.

Brad Dowdy: We spend so much time.

Myke Hurley: I just saw you yesterday, right? Was it yesterday? Well, it was my yesterday. It felt like yesterday for me, right?

Atlanta Pen Show

Brad Dowdy: So let's set the stage real quick just on the departure. So after the Atlanta Pen Show, I brought Myke to the airport, let's say 4 p.m. Eastern time in the U.S. for Myke's late flight. It was like a 10 o'clock flight, right? Yeah. By the time I drove home, I got home about 5 o'clock, had dinner with the family, went to bed really early because I was tired, like 8.30, I think I was in bed. Woke up in the morning, all rested and ready to go at 6 a.m. I don't know that you had actually landed at home by that point and I've already had like a full night's sleep. It was close to them. So that'd be like noon, be like noon-ish, your time. You still hadn't landed yet and I've already had like a full night's sleep. So I felt a little bad for you there.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I mean, that's how it happens. I will say I slept basically the entire way on the plane, but that's not real sleep. No, no. You know, like you can do it, but it's not real. And then obviously I'm dealing with jet lag, so that's that. But I'm fine. But it's just one of those things where I now kind of just feel all over the place. Like I don't really know what day it is. I don't really know kind of where I am. So I've got that whole thing going on. But it's all worth it for the Atlanta Penn Show. So if you're listening to this episode and you have not yet heard episode 303, the live episode from the Atlanta Penn Show, you want to change that. I understand that like because we released these episodes super close together, like some people might miss it, right? I kind of feel like that that's a possibility. So if you haven't yet heard it, you can just go back and listen to it in your podcast app of choice or something like that. So you can catch up because it was an incredible show. I think one of my favorites for like a bunch of different reasons. It was an emotional show. It was a fun show. And we had, I think, our largest audience we've ever had for a live show. The room was bursting this time, which was great. And it was incredibly hot in there, I think, because of that. But it was great fun. And I'm really pleased everybody came out. We had a great time. And we realized during the show that next year is our fifth year at the Atlanta Penn Show. And we're kind of ruminating on that a little bit, right? Like we want to do something big and special, even more so, because it's going to be our fifth year, which I can't believe we're approaching so soon. So once again, thank you for everybody that helped us with that. Of course, this is not it. We still have a bunch of exciting things to come later in the year. But thank you for helping us get to Atlanta.

Brad Dowdy: It was the biggest and best yet for me, for us, for Knock, for Penn Addict. It was awesome. The show was packed. The Penn Show, the Penn Addict Podcast Live was packed. The bar was packed most nights. And, you know, I'm out of superlatives. It's like I don't want to oversell it, but it was perfect. It just went really, really well from all the aspects that I hoped it went well. And, yeah, it was just so much awesomeness, you know, the entire weekend. And I appreciate everyone that came out and said hey to us and supported us and took pictures with us. And it was just, it's really fun. It's definitely the highlight of my year. It comes and goes too fast. You know, I feel like it ran up on me like super quick. And then we, like, busted through it and now it's over. And I'm a little bit sad, but I'm a little bit okay with that because I was super tired. So I have caught up on my sleep, unlike you. But it was amazing. I, you know, I don't know what to say. I hope everyone gets the opportunity to come to a show as fun as Atlanta once in our life, whether it's this show or not. You know, there's lots of other great pen shows, but Atlanta's special for us for a lot of reasons and for me personally. So it lived up to everything I hoped it would live up to. So it was great.

Myke Hurley: But on the show this year, one of the big things was that neither of us had bought anything. But we changed that, I think, on Sunday. I know I did. We kind of went out and bought some stuff.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. So I did. I did as well. So Sunday is always quiet at the Atlanta Penn Show, although it seemed a little bit busier this year than usual, I thought. So that was good. Like, no complaints there. But, you know, Sunday's the day that we all get to walk around like you, me and Tiff all got to, like, walk around together at the show for a little bit, you know, which is cool.

Sailor Pro Gear Rialo

Myke Hurley: And we both picked up a couple of things. I thought we'd run through those. Yep. I got a Pro Gear, Sailor Pro Gear Rialo. This is a pen that I've heard the name of a bunch, but for whatever reason, it hadn't locked into my head what this pen actually was. Right. And it's basically a Pro Gear that's slightly longer because it is a piston filler, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Six medium nibs, right? So, like, I've got a zoom on my 1911 Tangerine, and now I have a fine nib on this. And I picked it up from the Drum Ghouls. And do you want to explain a little bit about Drum Ghoul pens? Because, again, they were completely new to me at this show.

Brad Dowdy: They were new to a lot of people at this show. This is their first Atlanta Penn Show. They are a Houston-based pen store, you know, a brick-and-mortar pen store, and they've never really had much of a show presence outside of Dallas. That's their home show, if you will, a few hours away. So every year they'd go and represent big there. But otherwise, they weren't making the rounds, and, you know, they haven't been really doing much on social media or online shopping. They're just a traditional brick-and-mortar. But they have decided to get out there. The next generation of Drum Ghouls, Michael Drum Ghoul, is going to be, you know, getting into the family business, it seems, from his parents. His father, Larry, his mom, Christine. And they've made, like, all the pen shows this year, and I've gotten to know them very well. I'm actually doing an in-store in Houston. So for any of you in the Houston area, I'm going to be down there, let's see, I think it's May the 17th, 18th, and 19th, doing a couple days in the shop there, hanging out with the Drum Ghouls. So come by and say hi if you're in Houston, and we're going to have a big time. But they're really cool, like, hanging out with them.

Myke Hurley: Actually, I didn't know it was a few days. That's kind of amazing.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so I'm planning on being in the store Thursday afternoon and all day Saturday. Friday's up in the air right now, which gives me time to explore Houston.

Myke Hurley: Look at you. But yeah, this is the first time we saw them, and they did me a good deal on the Rialo, so I picked it up. I'm excited about this pen. I'm using it today. I'm getting used to the fine nib, right? Sure. You know, as far as fine nibs go, of course, it's awesome, right, because it's a Sailor pen. And I like it a lot. It's not my usual thing, but I do genuinely like it a lot. I also was given, which was very kind, a blue nebula from Woodshed Pens. You remember we spoke about Woodshed Pens and Myke Allen a while back, because he had a Kickstarter campaign. And at the time, I really thought I loved the look of the blue nebula. Well, he jumped me, basically, at one point during the pen show. And he was like, take a seat. And he sat me down in front of Mark Backus, and Mark was working on a nib. And he's like, that's your pen. And so I was very kind, very, very kind of Myke. And I like this pen a lot. The design of it is really beautiful. It is an acrylic pen, so it gives me that high every time I take the cap off, you know? And you get that, like, that smile that I haven't had for a while. So I love it. It's a beautiful, beautiful pen. I don't, you can tell me if I'm wrong, is he selling these right now? Yes. Because it was the Kickstarter campaign. Okay. So you can get, is that from his website?

Brad Dowdy: Actually, Instagram. I think he's dealing through Instagram right now. Okay. And pen shows. Okay. So I'll put that in. So I don't know that there is a dedicated site. But I think he's taking, like, DMs through Instagram. If I'm not mistaken. I didn't look this up ahead of time. But I believe that's what he's doing. Okay. And, you know, I got one from the Kickstarter. I'm super happy with it. It's a beautiful color. Really, really well made. You know, he lathes all these pens in a lot of the materials he buys. A lot of the materials he's starting to make his own materials. So this is some cool stuff. He's definitely one to watch out for. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Super nice guy. And had a really, really awesome selection at the show. Like, there was a lot of really nice pens.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I do a good job at this show of getting you in the right place at the right time for the right setup.

Myke Hurley: You set me up all the time. Like, Brad. That's what I do. He's just like he gets people to, like, jump me and, like, surprise me. I feel like every time I turn a corner, somebody might be there ready with Brad snickering in the corner.

Brad Dowdy: You'll get through the whole show one time without being jumped. You're like, dang it, Brad let me down this show.

Myke Hurley: Well, because now I'm expecting surprises. That's the problem that you've created for yourself.

Brad Dowdy: Don't get your hopes up.

Myke Hurley: But I love this pen. I think this material is really, really awesome. It fits the name Blue Nebula, right? And it's really well made. Like, I have absolutely no complaints on the construction. It was fun to me because I found out that Myke turned his first pen in Jonathan Brooks' workshop. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: They're both from South Carolina. So, you know, they definitely have that maker thing going on and help each other out. So, that's what I was going to see, right?

Myke Hurley: As far as lineage goes, I mean, it's pretty good, right? You know? It's really good. It's not a bad person to have help you out. So, yeah, that's really cool. I'm excited to see what's happening down in South Carolina now. It's like a little pocket of pen makers popping up. Right? Yeah, this is a really, really cool pen and I'm pleased to own it very much so. Yep. I also found the Bung Box Ubisu ink, the gold that I was looking for. Everybody seems surprised when I tell them I bought this ink, right? It's like a lot of people I think are like, why would you want that? Right? Because it's gold. But I want it because I want a constant source of this ink for my fifth anniversary Bung Box Progear. Yeah, because that's the ink that was sent to me when I bought the pen because that was what it came with, I think, was a small bottle of that. So, I now have a larger bottle of my own so I won't run out. But I think just people are just like, why would you want gold ink? Because gold ink is not the most practical of inks. Sure. Because sometimes you can't see it. But, yeah, I love it. I actually really love this ink. I think it's super cool and it fits this pen so well. And as I've been saying in the past, I'm getting more into that now. I'm getting more inks to fit specific pens and trying to pick that out a bit more. And that's because, again, it's a trend over the last six months or so. I'm diversifying a little bit what I own and kind of spreading it out a bit more because it's more exciting to me that way. Especially with my journaling now, I like to have different pens. I was saying this to somebody at the pen show. I'm finding myself getting pens out from my collection that I haven't used in a long time because I'm forcing myself to use different pens every single day as opposed to just whatever is my favorite right now. So, that's also making me rethink some of the inks that I'm using. And I'm just trying to scale that up slowly. You know, I'm adding like one or two new inks maybe every six months or something because genuinely, like, I'm not going to use through them all, right? Like, I'm just not going to do that. But if I have something that's special, then I want to kind of introduce something specific for it. So, the Bung Box Abusive Ink is that. Like, it's only, I expect it will only ever get used in that Bung Box Sailor. Like, I can't imagine me wanting to use this gold ink in anything else. But this is perfect for me. Like, I want to make sure I have some of that for a long time to come. So, that's why I got that. And then the last thing was something that we've been talking about forever. And finally, I have it because you've been holding on to it for me. It was my Good May Better Penwell. And I'm using it today. And this thing is frigging awesome because something that I do when I'm taking show notes is I have a pen in front of me. And I don't like to unscrew the pen and screw it back on again because you can hear it in the microphone if I'm, like, unscrewing the cap and screwing it back. So, I kind of just place my pen down on my pad in front of me. And sometimes they roll around because I can't post them. But now, I have my Rialo, which I'm using today to take the show notes, in the pen well. And I've just had the cap in there. And I just rest the pen back in there right now. And then when I need to take another note because, I don't know, Brad sneezes or something, I can just get it and write it down and I'm good to go. So, I really, really like this. I can see myself maybe getting another one of these at some point. Maybe one of the kind of limited edition ones. So, I'm kind of keeping my eye on what's going on over there. But, yeah, these are really, really cool. I love them. I actually really, really love this. I think Dan did a great job. Dan Keller of Good May Better with this. It is a super weird but kind of amazing product, which sometimes they're the best thing, right? It's like you see it and you're like, wow, that's very strange. And then you use it and you're like, oh, that's really good. You know, and they're the best kind of thing sometimes. And I think that this is part of that for sure.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And, yeah, like you said, thanks to Dan. I think he sent me those in the fall. So, I've been holding on to that directly for a while. So, sorry it took so long, Dan. But, you know, I delivered a large box of goodies to Myke this year. I had packing problems.

Myke Hurley: But I was able to get it all in. But my return flight, my suitcase was kind of bursting a little bit because I only brought a carry-on case with me. And I had a lot of stuff coming home. But, yeah, I was pleased.

Brad Dowdy: So, I bought one pin and it's one I had had my eyes on for a while, even before the Arkansas pin show, which is where I got to see them in person. From Papier Plume, they carried the Fagionato line of pins. And the model I bought was one of the bright acrylics. The model I bought was called the PKS. It's the larger of the two sizes. They look kind of the same, but there's kind of two lengths and barrel diameters. The PKS is the larger of the two. So, it's got this really pretty translucent orange and yellow acrylic. I almost don't call it acrylic because it feels so different from a lot of other acrylics. It's almost like a celluloid slash acrylic. It has a different feel to it. I'm still trying to figure out, but I like how that feels in my hand. It's different.

Myke Hurley: I love the clip on this pen.

Brad Dowdy: I think it looks really nice. Right. It's very subtle, but it's just got a real clean design and the little curvature on there makes it pop. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I would be like fidgeting with that clip constantly, right? Like running my thumb across the kind of the bend of it. It's really nice. I like it.

Brad Dowdy: I thought I was going to get left out again because he had all the gold hardware clips out, but he had some of the silver ones or rhodium plated ones in the back. So, I said, okay, I'm going to get it this time because I missed out in Arkansas. He ran out of all the silver hardware. So, I got that. And what's interesting about the pen that I bought is, so the pen I bought is $200 and it comes with a steel nib. And he said, oh, I've got, you know, we can upgrade it to gold and I have titanium nibs. And then he said, oh, I have this rhodium plated titanium nib. And I was like, what? I was like, let me see that. So, it looks like what you would think of just a standard steel nib or a standard rhodium nib, like no markings on it at all, but it's actually a titanium nib that's just coated. So, I've never seen one of these in person and it writes like a titanium nib. It's got the flex. So, I got an extra fine, but it has a real, you know, bouncy, flexy nib. And it's really awesome to write with. It's super smooth and you can write very fine. And if you push it a little bit, you get a wider line. So, I'll take some pictures of it because you would never know this was a titanium nib by looking at it just in the pen. But when you push down on it and you see the, like the tine spread, you're like, oh, that is very different. But that alone was an $85 premium, but I didn't have anything like that. So, I made my $200 pen a $285 pen by springing for the fancy nib. But I'm pretty happy with it. I'm definitely glad I did that upgrade. It was very cool.

Myke Hurley: No squeaking? No. No squeaking. No.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That's the worst part of titanium nibs. No, no. These don't squeak.

Myke Hurley: Good.

Brad Dowdy: No. I had three pens that Mark Backus had of mine for like a month or so getting some work done. And he said, oh, I want to make you this other nib that I want you to take home with you. So, he made me a micro architect after seeing my handwriting with the architect nib post that I did recently. So, I don't have a picture of it yet. I just inked it up and put it in a Franklin Kristoff barrel this morning. So, I'll get some pictures of it of me writing with it later. But I am super in love with it. This is my kind of nib. Kind of sharp edge and very small and fine. And you can get some really neat lines. But it's teeny tiny. And you can actually see some pictures Mark posted on Instagram of this actual nib that I have. That's my nib in his post there that he gave to me. This is going to do well for him. I told him that, okay, once I started trying it out and testing it on paper, I said, okay, this is going to cause you a problem. Because I'm going to love it. And you might have a line for these nibs. And I know they're really hard to make because they're very tiny. This is on a fine Yovo nib that he did this architect grind. And he even trimmed down the top of the nib. It's really small. But it's pretty awesome. And the last pen I came away with was something I had to hide from you until after the podcast Saturday night because it would kind of ruin our surprise, which we'll hold that in case people haven't heard this weekend's episode. But I got a special Retro 51 tornado from the archives from the Retro 51 warehouse. A tornado in orange, but they call it brushed orange. But that doesn't accurately talk about... That's not an accurate description for what this pen is. It's going to be impossible to photograph. I can already tell. But it's this weird... How would you even describe it, Myke? What's the word for what this pen is? It's like...

Color Shifts

Myke Hurley: Almost like pearlescent or something, right? Like... Yeah. The kind of... The color changes a little bit with the light. It's interesting.

Brad Dowdy: It's like a wavy pearlescent with the light. Like their regular tornadoes are bright and kind of sparkly. This one kind of has movement and depth in it. And it was something that they never released. It was just like a one-off prototype. And Anna got a pink one. So Lisa Van Es hooked us up with some neat gifts. Um... And... Yeah. We had to... We had to hide those from you until, you know, Saturday. Because you didn't get one of those. And we didn't want you to ask why you weren't getting one of those. Yeah. I would have been a bit upset. Like, where's my...

Myke Hurley: Where's my fancy red chair 51?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Turns out... Well, I got you something. So, yeah. That was it. It wasn't a big purchasing weekend for me. But that was good because I've bought a bunch this week... This year so far. So, it was really good. I'm glad I got my Faginato finally. And this, uh... Micro Architect nib is... Is already inked up and really, really fun.

Myke Hurley: Well, there was one more pen that we both bought. But we're not ready to talk about that yet. It's coming up a little bit later on in the show today. But we did both buy a pen... That's... That's the other reason. ...intending to buy. Like... Yeah. That's the other reason we didn't spend as much. I did want to say as well, like, one thing that was fun. And people were really excited to try out My Studio Neat Mark 1. Which I brought to the show. And it was fun to give it to people and have them click it. And they go, ooh. Like, everyone's face was kind of like, ah, okay. I see what you were saying now. So, it was fun to see people excited about that pen in person. Just so you know, they got, like, 16 days to go. The campaign is just going incredibly well. And they are allowing now kind of an update from when we last spoke about it. To mix them. You can mix and match the colors. So, if you want to get, like, the black with the copper knock, for example. You can do that now. And that's something that they're going to allow for at the end of the campaign via a survey, I think. So, you'll be able to do that. Or you could just do what I did and buy both of them. And then you can mix it up to your heart's content. Yeah. I'm very excited to get my final production models of these pens. Because I use it every couple of days, at least. Right? Like, I use this pen a lot now. Because it's quick and it's easy to grab. And you just give it a click. And it feels great. So, it was nice to see people excited to see that pen as well. So, you can still get it. It's still back out on Kickstarter. They've got a couple of weeks left on their campaign.

Myke Hurley: All right. Should we take a break, Brad?

Pen Show

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. A couple more related to pen show things to talk about. But let's take a break real quick.

Myke Hurley: All right. Today's show is brought to you by Simple Contacts. It is an awesome thing when an app that you use on your phone can take away a tiresome task. Making something fuss-free. And that is what Simple Contacts does. By being the easy way to renew your contact lens prescription. You can order your contacts from absolutely anywhere in just minutes. All you need to do is complete their online self-guided vision test. It takes less than five minutes. And you can do it from wherever you are. Right now, there's no need for doctor's offices or waiting rooms. And Brad, I believe that you have gone through and taken the test through the Simple Contacts app. And I wanted to kind of get your experience on that before I told people more about Simple Contacts. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I don't wear contacts. But Myke was like, hey, we have this spot coming up in this app. I want you to check out. Go take the vision test for me. And I was like, really? A vision test on my phone? And it's really cool. It's like the eye exam you get at the doctor's office where you take off your glasses. You cover one eye. You read what's on the screen. You're holding your phone in your hand. You read what's on the screen. Cover one eye. Cover the left eye. Cover the right eye.

Brad Dowdy: Have both eyes open. You wouldn't do it with both eyes closed. That wouldn't work. And you go through and you read and see what you can read and click on the things that you can read. And then I thought, okay, that's cool. Then it's like, okay, now set the phone down on a table or a chair somewhere where it's upright and walk 10 feet away. I'm like, wait, what? What is happening here? And so it's like a real eye chart on the wall. And it can tell with whatever depth perception in the phone is how far away you are. Because the little screen will go, okay, further, further. And you kind of get a circle when you're the exact distance away that you need to be for the thing. And then you try to read different lines on the thing. And there's some audio cues, right? You say these things out loud and it knows what your answer is. So it's reading the audio cues that you're giving it for your responses. So I thought that was pretty cool. It was a fun test to take.

Myke Hurley: That is really awesome. And once you've taken a test, you can confirm your prescription with them. And you're able to order your favorite contacts, whatever brands you use, whatever you love, right from their website or app. They have options for astigmatism, multifocal lenses, colored lenses, and many more. You can get exactly what you need right from the palm of your hand. The vision test costs just $20, which for comparison, an appointment without insurance can cost over $200. And Simple Contacts will help you save money and time. It's worth letting you know, and I have to tell you, this is not a replacement for your periodic fall eye health exam. Simple Contacts should check that your current prescription still helps you see 2020 and now help you renew your lenses based on that prescription. They are not writing completely new prescriptions or examining your eye health. You still have to get that checked out. As a listener of this show, you can get $30 off your contact lenses. Just go to simplecontacts.com slash penaddict, or you can use penaddict at checkout. That is simplecontacts.com slash penaddict and the code penaddict for $30 off. Our thanks to Simple Contacts for their support of this show and RelayFM. So, listener Jack stopped me at the pen show. Jack's always at the pen show. He's a great guy. And he said to me, I have found the old catalogs and archive for the Retro 51 to find the Abondanza for you, which I was very excited about. So, it turns out that the Retro 51 Abondanza first appeared in the 2008 catalog. So, that was the first time that you can find it. And in that too, I'm going to put a link in the show notes to a page on Retro 51's website called Fun Stuff, which has, like, it's like an archive of a bunch of their catalogs. And the PDFs are all still there, and you can go look at them. So, that's pretty cool. So, you can go there and look at that. It's on their extra, extra page, but it's like just this catalog of their old catalogs. And it showed up in 2008 as the pen version that I have. So, you've got the kind of the convertible model of the rollerball ballpoint, the ballpoint, I should say, and the fountain pen. So, you can switch them out. But by 2010, so it's mentioned a couple of times in a couple of further catalogs. But by 2010, it was no longer a convertible pen anymore. It was just a ballpoint. They weren't offering the fountain pen nib for it anymore. And then that 2010 catalog is the last time that it appears. So, it was on sale for a couple of years, it looks like. And was maybe not a popular product, right? Because they made changes to it, and it didn't last for very long. But yeah, that's kind of the history of the Abundanza. So, it does exist now. We know it exists. But yeah, and it's funny because I'm like, oh, 2008. That wasn't that long ago. Nope. Nope. 10 years. It's 10 years ago. And so, yeah. And I have to say, Brad, I adore this pen with just a great, great love. I have a great love for this pen. It genuinely has become one of my most prized pens because it's super weird. And it's like I've never seen anything like it before. And the box is so amazing. And that you got it for me as a gift. Like, it's become a real special pen for me. So, I also just love the way it looks. Yeah, and it's got a good story. Like, it looks great. And yeah, it has a great story, but it looks really good. I love the look of it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And a quick follow-up. Father Kyle, we missed you at the show this weekend, but he texted me yesterday. He actually has the ballpoint. He sent me a picture of the ballpoint in the same box that you have, but it's just the ballpoint model. So, yeah. I thought that was pretty fun. And so, you know, from never hearing it to, you know, now we find it in the catalogs. And of course, Father Kyle has one, right? Of course he does.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I bought a pen from Father Kyle, which I picked up from you. He sent it to you. It was a Retro 51 where the body is made of stamps, which is super amazing.

Brad Dowdy: Like hand-laid, not like printed, like hand-laid and lacquered stamps. It was really cool. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: And so, that's a really fun one. So, I got one of those too. So, that was great. There was a picture going around during the pen show, like an Instagram post of something from Pilot. So, it turns out that it is Pilot's 100th anniversary this year, as we know. We've been talking about this for a while. And lower tier shareholders were all sent a gift. So, if you're a shareholder in Pilot, whatever lower tier means, I assume just like not a lot of shares. General.

Brad Dowdy: Probably general shareholders.

Myke Hurley: Good point. General public. Yeah. They received a box. And in that box is four pens. Now, the box color says 100th anniversary. And they have a little logo for it, which is cool, which is like an infinity symbol, which is broken in half. And one half bears a fountain pen nib, and the other bears like a rollerball point. And inside of the box is a friction, just a regular friction, a regular acroball two-in-one, and a regular kind of Pilot 100 permanent marker. And there's also a Pilot Kakuno, which is branded with the 100th anniversary logo on the cap and on the packaging. So, Pilot also made a point of saying that this is not what they're going to be releasing for the anniversary. This is just for shareholders. But, like, this is not whatever they have or have not got planned. So, the reason that we're bringing this up is because we have been very keen to see how Pilot will be marking their 100th anniversary. Because the previous big anniversaries, for example, the 90-year anniversary, brought with it the Pilot M90, which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest pens ever made. So, it is very... I have a keen eye towards Pilot now, as they are clearly beginning to start whatever it is that they're going to be doing to celebrate their 100th.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so, I've been anxious since pretty much January 1st. I was like, when is this going to start? It's the 100th year. They're going to make a lot of special editions. And we've gotten bupkas so far. So, you know, I saw this while I was at the pen show. I was just sitting there scrolling through Instagram. This popped up in my feed. I was like, huh, okay. And I showed it to a bunch of people, and their response was, huh, okay. So, it's like this weird little box of goodies. And, I mean, it's cool. These are like barrel colors you can't get in the Acroball or the Friction and the little logo, Kakuno. And it's a nice freebie. Like, this is the freebie kit, right, that they probably made hundreds or thousands of, I guess. And, you know, it's super cool. I totally want one of these. But, man, I'm ready for, like, the big stuff to start happening because, you know, it's coming. I think it's around the corner. Like, I really do. At this point, I'm getting worried that it's going to be, like, all super high-end stuff now. I was like, I would hope we'd start seeing some, like, moderate pens, like, at least some sneak peeks or previews of things to come. But I'm starting to get worried we're going to have some, like, crazy expensive stuff. There's going to be crazy expensive stuff. I hope it's not. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Myke Hurley: I think they'll do some stuff that's a little bit more general. But I reckon that, I reckon everything that they're going to do is going to start at $100. Like, you won't get anything cheaper than that, right?

Brad Dowdy: Well, my dream scenario would be where they just did one of each, right? A special $100 for every pin line that they currently have. I mean, it's not out of the question.

Myke Hurley: They might sell this Kakuno. They've made packaging for it, right? So you never know. This might be just, like, a sign of something, right? This Kakuno may have just gone to the shareholders first. You know, because this is, like, it's stamped on the cap. They've made special packaging for it. You know, you never know, right? Like, that's a lot of effort to go to just for a shareholder box. So, you know, I am keenly optimistic purely because they've created a specific logo for this anniversary. Like, they've gone to the hassle of not just writing 100. Like, they've made a little logo. Like, they have started the branding for their 100th anniversary. All I want, though, is an M100. Like, that's all I want, right? And I will be so sad if we don't get anything, like, in the Mayu line or the Murex line, you know, that mimics those. Because, like, I will be, honestly, I will be really surprised. I think I might be on my own here, but I will be really surprised and disappointed if they don't have a pen in that style, you know? Like, the kind of pocket and with the integrated nib. Like, I would be super surprised if they didn't do something like that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, we'll see. You know, I don't have my hopes up for that. But I don't know what else is going on.

Myke Hurley: I feel like I'm the only one that does, and I don't know why. I don't know why it's just me that believes that this pen will exist. But maybe I'm just too hopeful. Yeah, I don't know. But you know what, Brad? I don't care because I've got two of them anyway. So, ha-ha.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I have mine, so I'm happy.

Myke Hurley: I'm sorry, everyone. I love you.

Myke Hurley: Sorry, teaser for a pen. That is launching on the 19th, April the 19th, as we record this, which is tomorrow. Speaking of owning two of something. Yes. This is something that I'm very excited about, which is Myke Dudek has partnered with Retro51 to create a limited edition Tornado, which is launching tomorrow. It's available on the ClickyPost. I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I have seen this pen. Mm-hmm. And I have keenly instructed Myke to keep one for me. Mm-hmm. Because this thing is going to sell out incredibly quickly. So, keep your eye out for it. I would recommend maybe following ClickyPost on Instagram. Yeah, this thing looks really, really, really good.

Brad Dowdy: Really good. This is better than any Retro51 that I've designed. Just flat out. It's amazing. Mm-hmm. It's better than probably anything. I don't know. I don't remember the whole last year or two of release cycles. This is one of the best limited editions I've seen in a while. Yeah, it's better than anything they've released in a long time. It's out of bounds. Yep. It's really, really good. I'm going to be paying keen attention to make sure I get one because I love this pen. It's fantastic. So, yeah. I can't wait to get this. So, tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow's the 19th. I need to figure out what time, but I will be ready to pull the trigger on one of these bad boys. So, yeah. I'm looking forward to it. All right. Next thing, Myke. Something we've got to talk about that broke, I think, like right after two weeks ago, podcast. Sometime before Atlanta pen show. That our good friends at Kenro Industries, the distributor for Aurora and Montegrappa, especially the Montegrappa. Montegrappa.

Myke Hurley: Montegrappa. I saw one of those, by the way. Yeah. That is a pen which is deceiving. Like, it is deceivingly heavy, which is a good thing because it just looks like it's like an acrylic pen, right? But it's a heavy pen. I just can't stand the clip and the little detail that goes around the cap. Aside from that, it's a really nice looking pen, but I can't deal with that.

Estabrook Acquisition

Brad Dowdy: So, they had a press release and an announcement where they bought Estabrook. So, the iconic American brand that was actually bought, I'm going to guess like four years ago, three, four years ago, by a gentleman named Robert Rosenberg, who pretty much like completely destroyed any goodwill that the Estabrook name had at the time. So, when I talked to Kenro, I actually had a conference call with him about the announcement. I was like excited on hearing what they had to say and finding out what they were doing about it and how they were going to, like now they own a pen brand and they can make their own designs and things like that. And I was like, you know, it's a super positive phone call. Then we hung up from a phone call and I went and read the actual press release online. It said that Robert Rosenberg was now an employee of Kenro and I was like, wait a minute. So, I got back on the phone pretty quickly to suss this out and, you know, I think that's unfortunate. And, you know, Robert Rosenberg has not been a good steward of the pen community. He has done some very unscrupulous things and, you know, all it takes is a Google search to realize these things. So, I cannot deal with a company that employs Robert Rosenberg. So, it sucks. Like my friends work for Kenro. Carrie works for Kenro. You know, I'm good friends with Brian and Ryan and Kenro. But now Robert Rosenberg is an employee of Kenro. And, you know, it's just not something I can deal with. In my year of positivity, Myke, I have to cut out the negativity, right? So, you know, I've had to cut out someone who, you know, has always been like really good to the pen addict and good to the blog. And, you know, you get lots of promos and first looks at things. But, you know, when you associate yourself with people who, you know, I just don't want to be associated with. I got to cut that from the cue, Myke. And so, in order to keep it positive, I'm just, you know, not going to be able to do business with Kenro as long as Robert Rosenberg is an employee of there. And, you know, I'm in a position to do that. You know, I understand not every retailer can do that. You know, I'm not a retailer of their products. I'm just a blogger. Yep. But, you know, it's easy for me. I know. But it's easy for me to make those decisions. Sure. Like to keep the positivity in my life. I don't need that. And for other people, it's not as easy. I understand that. No ill will to anyone else. But, yeah, that's just one of those decisions I have to make along the lines. And it was worth mentioning for us since we've talked about him so much and the revitalization he attempted with the brand back a few years ago. So I thought it was only fair to bring this back up and go on record with where I stand on this current news. So that's that.

Myke Hurley: I've put a selection of episodes linked into our show notes, which I hope would maybe try and fill the gaps in for people if you don't understand what's going on here. Like the basic timeline was everyone was excited as the brick came back. Turns out the products were bad. Turns out the guy behind it was a not nice person. So I think I've selected some episodes that should highlight that. And there's probably some running through it as well, which kind of gives some of the background. But that's the reason. It's like, you know, the product was panned and Robert Rosenberg was not happy about that. And then situations ensued between. I mean, and it wasn't just you, right? This was a problem that existed across the pen critique industry for a while. So I agree with you. It is a shame because I was excited when I heard this in the same way that I was excited the first time. Right. Like finally, someone's going to do something great with the Estabrook brand. And then it's a shame to see that maybe we'll be more of the same. It's not really... We don't know right now. We don't know. But...

Brad Dowdy: Hey, I wish them all the best. I hope they make a great pen and revitalize that brand.

Myke Hurley: Yep.

Brad Dowdy: Like I have no ill will towards Kenro or anything like that. It's just, you know, I only have so much mental overhead that I can pack in my brain. And having to deal with them knowing that Robert Rosenberg's an employee of Kenro, that just can't even enter my brain these days. Like it's just out.

Myke Hurley: But anyway, that's that. We don't want to, you know, we don't want to harp on about it for much longer because we don't like talking about bad stuff. So that's it. Year of positivity. Exactly. Exactly. And let me tell you about something very positive. Very positive. Oh yeah, please. This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron, the number one fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country. Blue Apron delivers fresh, pre-portioned ingredients with step-by-step recipes right to your door. When you cook with Blue Apron, you're not just having burgers for dinner every day. You're making seared steaks and thyme pan sauce with mashed potatoes, green beans, and crispy shallots, all in under 45 minutes. Blue Apron delivers fresh ingredients all straight to your door with 12 new recipes every week. And you can pick two, three, or four recipes based on what fits your schedule. You can count on them for ingredients with no added hormones. You're going to get good stuff. And from April 16th to May 21st, Blue Apron is teaming up with Airbnb to bring you the best home cooking from around the world. Each week, the menu will feature a recipe delivered in collaboration with an Airbnb Experiences host. You can cook meals like steak frites with roasted broccoli and lemon aioli from Paris, roast pork and salsa verde with sautéed vegetables from Florence, beef empanadas with roasted sweet potatoes and creamy zucchini from Buenos Aires, or how about Kung Pao chicken with stir-fried snow peas and sweet peppers from Shanghai? My word, Blue Apron. You're killing me here. Doesn't that sound good, Brad?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I don't think I talked about the specific thing last time that I got from them that was a standout. All of their meals are really good. But we had these sliders that we made, just ground beef and different things we mix in and the way you season the meat and cook all this stuff. My kids were off the chain on how good these things were and the fancy cheese that you put on there. I feel so fancy just making hamburger sliders, but they were so freaking good. My kids, we ate them all. Then the next day, it's like, you got any more of them sliders from Blue Apron?

Myke Hurley: You don't know how this works. This is not how we do this.

Brad Dowdy: So yeah, they've been on point with the meals recently, and I'll have some more coming soon in the next few weeks, see what other magic I can get into my mouth.

Myke Hurley: With incredible ingredients and chef design recipes, Blue Apron lets you see what the power of food can do. Blue Apron is treating our listeners to the first three meals free and free shipping. Just go to blueapron.com slash penaddict. Don't forget, check out this week's menu and get three meals free with free shipping at blueapron.com slash penaddict. Blue Apron, a better way to cook.

Canalea Hanuma Bay

Myke Hurley: All right, so we've been teasing it for long enough. Let's talk about the Canalea Hanuma Bay, which is the brand new Canalea pen. It launches today. It's available right now from Canalea Pens, and I believe that they are taking them to the Chicago Pen Show. I'm assuming, provided that there's any left.

Myke Hurley: That might be a problem. So what happened was, the wonderful folk at Canalea, Hugh and Carol, they were like, we've got this pen coming, and we want to make sure that you see it, so you can, if you want to, can talk about it on the show, if you like it. And we were like, great, send them to Brad, and we'll pick them up in Atlanta, so we can both take a look at them, and then send them back, right? These weren't gifts, these were kind of review units, or whatever, right? Right, right. So they sent over the pens, and took a look in Atlanta. You unboxed yours, and you were like, oh boy, wait until you get here. I mean, that was instant open on arrival. So then I arrive, I open it up, it's in my hotel room in Atlanta, and I immediately email Hugh, and I'm like, Hugh, let's just like, you know, let's make this easy on ourselves. How much do I need to pay you? Because I'm taking this home with me. So we did that, and yeah, this is just a wonderful pen. It was amazing to me that we had these, we were like secret agents, right? We couldn't take them out of our hotel room, because it was sent to us under a veil of secrecy.

Brad Dowdy: They were in our room the entire weekend in Atlanta, because we had to share them, you know, with each other, and talk about them, and even any visitors to our room, they were not privy to the, Nope. to the new Canalea hotness, so we did a, we did a real good job, and I just want to make, I want to, I want to reiterate, like I want to be super clear on the disclosure part, like they sent us these pens as loaners, right? Yep. So they sent us four pens, all of the Hanoma Bay materials, two pens in the classic design, which is the one with the little cap edge, and then two pens with the classic flush edge, all four had gold nibs, two were rhodium matching, and two were gold matching, so they matched the nib with the finials on the end, okay? So, from that point on, it's one of those things where I opened the box, where I just giggled, I was like, oh my god, like I'm just like giddy, like with how good this looks, and I'm running it over to the window, to see how the light shines through it, because the colors are amazing, won't you talk about that real quick?

Myke Hurley: So, the colors of this pen is mostly like, there's blue, and there's like a yellow, like a sunset yellow, because that's, you know, again, all the canalea pens, are made based on a photo, from Hawaii, and you can see in this one, that the oranges, are like a sunset, and also, I mean, both mine and yours have this, the oranges, are mostly clear, in the body, which is just a wonderful touch, that there are these like clear, like transparent sections, that run through the body of the pen, and there's a lot of like blue, which contains a lot of glitter in it, right, and there's a bunch of like white, kind of clouds, and it's like, it's just, I don't know how they keep doing it, I mean, but they keep doing it, and they keep topping themselves, like I almost feel bad for them, at this point, because like, every time, I'm like, well come on, come on guys, what you got for me, and they knocked it out of the park, I was actually talking to Jonathan Brooks, about this pen, I said I've seen it, I've seen the new pen, and he was telling me like, this is like a, was really hard for him, to match it, because he knew what he wanted to get, and he wanted to get it right, and let me tell you, he got it dang right, like this, yeah, I'm like blown, I'm just blown away by this, I, within a minute of seeing it, I was like, well I have to buy it, right, like I can't, I can't let this go, this is just, yeah, I love it, the colors are just, they're so special, and it's so much swirling, in this one, like it really is, just a wonderful design,

Brad Dowdy: all right, so here's what I'm gonna do, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna give you, where this pen ranks, in the entirety, of their, their offering so far, so when they launched their company, I guess two years ago, they had about eight colors, right, and I knew I was gonna buy one, from the get-go, so, at that point, my choice is, like, two stood out to me, and this is all, this is me, this is my personal taste, so two stood out to me, so the Kohala sunset, which is the all orange, right, oh no, the sunset,

Myke Hurley: the black, orange, and gray one,

Brad Dowdy: yeah, it's like, with the orange lava, in the middle, it's like, the floor is lava, right in the middle, so, and Maui Makai, which is the translucent, blue, onto the beach scene, right, yeah,

Myke Hurley: that's the one I have too, I have the Maui Makai, that was my first one,

Brad Dowdy: so that was the one, that was like, flying off the shelf, so I went with the Koala sunset, and I've been ecstatic, with it ever since, so I've held off, buying a second one, even though they release, release ones like the Haleakala, which is, it's amazing in its own right, yeah, that was released at DC,

Myke Hurley: last year, right, or just before that, around that time,

Brad Dowdy: yeah, yeah, so I've had, you know, kind of like the hankering, to buy another one, but I never have, I kind of didn't want the Maui Makai, since it seemed to be super popular, not that that's ever stopped me before, but I was like, oh, I've seen that one a lot, yeah, Penhipster, right, got to go against the grain, so, you know, I'll get blamed for recency bias, on this, this is, the best pen, on the product page, yeah, without question,

Myke Hurley: it is, like, it just is, complexity, like, you can see it in the design, like, you can take a look at, kind of, through their history, and you can see, that there are some, that, the Maui Makai, I think was so popular, because it really stood out, a lot, and, they have a couple like this, but that was one where I was like, wow, there is just so much going on, right, and I think that was why it drew people to it,

Brad Dowdy: yeah, it's that partial translucency, like, it's not full, it's mixed in, it's swirled, it's, you know, it meets an edge of the beach, right, where this one, is kind of that same take, but more swirled throughout the pen, it's, completely out of hand, I love it, so, like Myke, I said, okay, I, I'm gonna buy this one, so, so, they sent us four pens, they're only getting two back, yeah, so, in, the, full disclosure, thing, that we just talked about, Myke and I paid full price, for these pens, we paid $3.95, they gave us each a gold nib, so, we did get a bit of a discount, if you count that, so, I just want y'all to know, where we're coming from, as far as, you know, how we got these pens, you know, our purchases, and things like that, I just thought, you know, I wanna be crystal clear, on these type of things.

Myke Hurley: We have spent a lot of time, talking about, I mean, I bring, kind of layer up a lot, right, and, I, it is purely because, for me, I, I just adore their products, and, they're such nice people, right, and, yeah, I think it is worth noting, right, that we paid our own money for these, but they gave us the nibs, they were a gift to us, but it was not in exchange for anything.

Brad Dowdy: No,

Myke Hurley: no, no, not at all. But, you know, we were gonna talk about this pen regardless, so, here we are, but, yeah, I appreciate making it completely clear, because you just should, yep, but, yeah, these were pens that were sent to us, to be review units, and we couldn't let them out of our hands. Yeah. I tell you something that was new to me, I've never seen a Canaleo pen with a clip on it, and they have a clip, you can get a clip on this one, and have they always done that? I don't remember ever seeing a clip.

Brad Dowdy: There's options on several of them, there's always been clip options, they have like five shapes, I guess, something like that, they have a, they have a chart on one of the page, but they don't do all the pens, and all the shapes, so, classic and, classic and classic flush, are pretty much, I think everyone gets that, and then I don't know how they decide on the rest, so.

Myke Hurley: This, this pen is available in all of them, classic, classic flush, the V, the slim, like there's a bunch of different models, and it's, it's mostly, mostly how the cap is shaped, but there are some differences to it, so, you can see it, and they've got some, they've got on their page, they have, on the Hanun Mabay, they have an option of a clip, looks really nice, actually, I think the clip version looks really nice. Yeah, I mean, this pen,

Canalea Pens

Brad Dowdy: it's like, to me, this is, this pen is the daytime version of Starry Night, right? Yeah. It's, it's really stunning, and my favorite part is, where the cap meets the barrel, that's where a lot of the sun is, so it like, transitions like, all the way around the barrel, and like the swirls match up, I don't know, I, I can't put this down, this is, I, I already like this better than my, Koala Sunset, I will, I will use this more than my Koala Sunset, even though I love that pen equally, it's like, this is, I know it's new, and, you know, fresh, but, it, I don't see this pen going uninked for a while, I think I put like, Oster Soda Pop Blue, or something, so I put some bright blue ink in this, just so, I can match that bright blue of the, of the pen, yeah, it's really good,

Myke Hurley: I love this pen, Oster Orange Zest, in this, which is given to me at the show, as a gift, and, I, because I think, I have a lot of orange in mine, like, in the, in the body, like, it's predominantly, there's a lot, like, really, really orange, and that, so I thought that worked really well, I have a stub nib, a 1.1 stub, in mine, oh, okay, I was thinking you had a broad, or a medium,

Brad Dowdy: no,

Myke Hurley: it's a 1.1 stub, there's just something about canalea pens, where I feel like they have to be extravagant, in some way, like, they're just, they're such extravagant designs, I feel like the nibs have to follow suit, right, there must be some extravagance to it, and again, we've mentioned this in the past before, like, these, the blanks of these pens are made by Jonathan Brooks, and, you know, I have, what, four, I have, one, two, three, four, five, six Brooks pens now, which is wild, I'm including, okay, so in that, I'm including just the blanks that he's made, so, like, included in that is my Newton pen, but it's a primary manipulation, right, so, like, in the same way that, right, like, he's making, just makes the blanks for the canalea pens, and then they make, they turn them, right, I think that the partnership of Hugh and Carol and Jonathan is quite a special one, like, it seems like that they push him into making some very exciting things, right, like, that they push him creatively, and, as a trio, they are making just some, just wonderful looking things right now, I'm, continue to be very excited about canalea, because, every time, they release something new, it is, always very exciting to me, right, yep, and so, yeah, this is just such a great company, and they're such wonderful people, and, it really helps that they make incredible products, right, right, they make it easy, right, yeah, it is,

Brad Dowdy: it's not something, and it's not one every month either, right, I mean, yeah, I like that they spread it out, there's just no way it can be done,

Myke Hurley: one release a year, if that, right, like, that, I think that is really good, because they're not cheap, right, they are not cheap, you know, they, they, they, had a bold strategy, right, right, they came into the market selling $400 pens, which, I don't think happens a lot, so, like, they really had hard work ahead of themselves to prove that they were worth the value, and, you know, I think time has shown that, yeah, they were, and I think that they took a big gamble when they arrived on the scene, but I think it's been paying off, it looks like it's been paying off.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, so, that was our other Atlanta pen show purchase, so, that's why we, we didn't exactly go crazy at the show, because we just both dropped $400 on the Canalea pen, yeah, so, but I'm thrilled, I'm thrilled with it, me too, you'll be seeing a lot of pictures of these, yep, coming up soon, I took a terrible lighting one, right when I sat down to do the podcast, because they had already announced it, so, I have a terrible Instagram picture, but I'll take some, I'll take some better ones as we go forward, you'll be seeing this pen a lot, yeah,

Myke Hurley: yeah, yeah, do you want to do a couple of Ask TPA, before we leave today?

Brad Dowdy: Let's just hit a couple of these, and, as a note for, next week, we're going to record two episodes next week, so I've saved a bunch of Ask TPA, from, the episode two weeks ago, where we asked the question about, you know, what does it take to get started in, in making your own pens, yep, so I got some really lengthy, good quality emails, we're going to save for future episodes next week, when we'll have longer, to explore, and discuss those things, so, between now and next week, if you have more questions, please hit us up, at, just hashtag, Ask TPA on Twitter, that's the easiest way, or send them to, hello at penaddict.com, we'll get them all, in the show doc, we will, be needing some questions, for next week, to fill up those two episodes, but, knowing us, we can, we can handle it pretty well, so let's hit a couple of these, like this first one, from Hot Cup of Loving, who was there, I got my hot cup of hugging, at the Atlanta pen show, so she wants to know, how long does it take you, to recover from a pen show, it just depends, it depends on if I catch the crud, or not, I've had shows, where it's taken me like, five days to recover, I've had shows, where it's taken me like one, so it just depends, on if I catch the crud, if I catch the crud, it usually hurts me, for a few days, and that's happened once this year, and it takes me, it just puts me on my butt, for about three days, and it's, I hate it, so, you know, but like this show, took me about a day, because I'm same time zone, I drove, I didn't have to fly, I didn't get sick, so, yeah, it's been okay, but you know, I've had some, where I'll return home on Monday, and I won't feel good, until the following weekend,

Myke Hurley: yeah, jury's still out, for me, you're, you're still pending, on this one, problem was, I arrived at the show, with a cold, so, you know, I have, I don't know, I mean, these things, usually, the most, the thing I have to get over, is the jet lag, and that takes about three days, or whatever, the funk of like, not being at a pen show, can last a little bit longer, right, because you had such a good time, that it's like, oh man, like, now I'm not with my pen buddies anymore, that can be a little bit longer,

Brad Dowdy: right, right, right, so, let's knock out these next two, real quick, both of them from Tianti, in the, in the slack room, and she said, I think she sent them over on Twitter, so, the first one, it says, Myke, what do your co-hosts, on your other podcast, think of your pen, pencil addiction, I want to know the answer to this one, it varies wildly,

Myke Hurley: it tends to start out, or has tended to start out, where people are like, huh, really, right, like, that's, you know, like, is that, is that a thing, and then, what tends to happen is a couple of things, one, I can give my explanation, which I give to people, just in general, which is, there is news in every industry, and, for a lot of people, they go, oh, okay, that makes sense, like, because it's like, how can you have a podcast about pens, is the question, and the answer is just, there is news in every industry, every industry has news, and there are things happening all the time, so, there are product releases happening every single day, in the pen community, there's more than enough to talk about, right, and it keeps going on, it keeps changing, and then, people find, then, things happen, like, the Atlanta pen show, and they're like, well, okay, right, like, like, for example, Stephen comes, and he's like, it's so, it's so interesting to see, how people, react and treat us, when we're there, and like, people showing up to the live show, and stuff like that, so, you know, it tends to change over time, but I think Atlanta, especially, and the Kickstarter every year, has solidified to everyone in my life, that this thing, is actually a real thing, and it's not just me, and you talking to nobody, so that's kind of how it goes.

Live Shows

Brad Dowdy: The first live show, or maybe the first live audience show, turned a big corner, I think, on the network, from what I recall, I think it was the first live audience show, not the first live show. Yeah. The first live audience show, I think, was like, the first time anyone on the network had done that, and it was a very nerve-wracking experience, for everyone involved, especially you and Stephen, being partners in the network, and it went off without a hitch, and everyone in Relay as a whole, wanted to know how that went, and, you know, I think they took a lot out of, you know, seeing that be successful, so, yeah, we have developed,

Myke Hurley: it's been cool, and Stephen, especially, has developed, from Atlanta, a setup that we now use, a lot, and we'll be using more, in like, understanding how to produce, a live show, because it's really difficult, so, the answers help that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, and then, I get, ask pen recommendation questions, in our Slack, pretty frequently, so, yeah,

Myke Hurley: it's become a thing, for sure. Yep, I like that, people, whenever somebody wants a pen recommendation, sometimes they ask me first, and I'm like, don't ask me, ask Brad. I'm no good.

Brad Dowdy: He just, you just like, copy me in on the message. Yeah, I'm just,

Myke Hurley: I'm no good, Brad can help you.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, Tianti's second question, that one caught me off guard, and this is a really good question. This was hard, man. This was hard. This was super hard. So, she says, your turn for the existential question. Regardless of if you own it or not, what pen represents you, and why, and what ink? Wow, that's a tough question.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I struggled with this, so, I kind of went for something, a little bit tongue-in-cheek, I guess, because I wasn't really sure how to answer. Sailor Pink Love, is going to be my choice, for the pen that represents me, it is a limited edition, there are not a lot of people, like me in the world, good and bad, great to have around, you know, that's debatable, nice pen to have around, reliable, you know, okay, you are, you are very reliable, there you go, a little sparkly, you know, as you know about me, a little sparkly, and, like the pen, it says, peculiar and cryptic things, like, ink tells more, which is what the, the nib says, super weird, because sometimes, you know, everything seems normal, and then something super weird happens, which is like, ink tells more, which is just like me, I guess, and then for the, for an ink, I went with a Roshizuku Fuyugaki, because it is reliable, you can, it is there when you need it, it's not gonna go wild on you, and spill all over the page, and like, you know, dries quickly, like me, so yeah, that's kind of what I went for, with the ink, the ink, I actually struggled with more, than the pen,

Brad Dowdy: maybe so, maybe so, and like, I had no clue how to answer this, and then it just, like the, I could, once I realized what the answer was, no other pen, like, made it into my head, I tried to think of other things, like, when I came up with the answer, I tried to force myself, into something different, but I couldn't, which means, it's probably the right answer, which means, it's the Pilot Custom Heritage 912, with the PO nib, so, when you look at this pen, it's really plain, you know, on the outside, simple, and, you know, kind of clean lines, refined looking, but it's got a party on the inside, with the PO nib, so it's like the mullet pen, I, my, my, whole appearance, is just like one, one mullet, you know, business in the front, party in the back,

Myke Hurley: so,

Brad Dowdy: you know, a lot of people don't realize that about me, you know, I'm, you know, I actually am kind of shy, when I'm not like around, like, the pen people who, where I'm, I go extrovert mode in, so, but then once you get to know me, you know, I like to think I'm kind of fun to, to, to be around, you know, the nib is firm and fine, which is, you know, how I like to live my life, you know, I'm firm in my decisions, you know, you know, I'm not always right, and I'm willing to change those decisions, and I'm good with that, and, and I'm, you know, I'm fine, like, I like the finer things, like the pens, right, and the nib is a bit surprising, I like to think I surprise some people sometimes, so.

Myke Hurley: You're dang fine, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: And for the ink, I kind of went along the same path, as the, the 912 with the PO nib, the bung box, blue black, right, it's a subtle ink, at first, but up close, it has a lot of depth and character, and I think that's me, plus it comes in a fancy bottle, and I'm kind of a fancy man, so. You are. I think, you know, I feel pretty good about my answers here, Myke.

Myke Hurley: I think that we both did a great job, is what I'm going to say on that. Yep. If you'd like to find our show notes for this week's episode, go to relay.fm, slash penaddict, slash 304. Brad is online in a couple of different places, you can go to Twitter, where he is, at dowdyism, he's penaddict on Instagram, you can go to penaddict.com, for his incredible writing and work, and knock.co, to buy his wonderful products. Do you have any products left?

Brad Dowdy: I do, and we'll have a little email going out this afternoon, you all know what it's about, if you were there in Atlanta, we're going to send those out to the rest of the world here, mid-afternoon sometime.

Myke Hurley: You can find me online, I'm at imyke, I-M-Y-K-E, in social areas. You can find this show, and many other shows, at relay.fm. If you want to listen to the penaddict, go to relay.fm, slash shows, and you can find something new, to listen to, we have many wonderful shows here at Relay FM. I would like to thank one more time, Blue Apron, and Simple Contacts, for their support of this show. We'll be back next week, until then, say goodbye, Brad Dowdy. Goodbye, Brad. Goodbye.