The Pen Addict 287/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	287
Title:	Internal Sparkle
Release Date:	December 14th, 2017
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 287
Audio File:	Audio Episode 287
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 287
Length:	5454 min <br />0.9 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 287. Today's show is brought to you by Harry's, Squarespace, and StoryWorth. My name is Myke Hurley. I'm joined by Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: That was kind of a letdown. I was like, I'm joined by...

Myke Hurley: I figured, halfway through, I realised if I get much louder, I'm going to start distorting the microphone, so I decided to break it down.

Brad Dowdy: Well, in my case, if I get much louder, I'm going to wake up my daughter because it's 8am, where I'm recording. My daughter somehow got out of school two days earlier than my son, and they're in the same county, so go figure. So, my son is on his way to school, and my daughter's still in bed, so I think... Oh, man. I bet it was a fun morning in the Dowdy household. Oh, it was fine. Like, my son, he doesn't care because he's like, we're not doing anything anyway. Like, tomorrow they're wearing pajamas, so he's like, whatever.

Myke Hurley: We used to have Toy Day when I was a kid, so, like, the last day of school, everyone just brought in their favourite toy. It was, like, this huge show-and-tell, and everyone just brought in their toys, and then we all just played with each other's toys for the entire day and watched movies. It was the best. It was just the best.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, they'll do board games now for, like, my son's school.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, Toy Day was full of board games, right? Like, that was the thing that people tend to bring in, because it was, like, it's a thing that you have to share, so, like, bringing in your favourite action figure doesn't go very far, you know?

PodCon Experience

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah, that was a great thing. You had Toy Weekend in Seattle, apparently. I want to hear all about this PodCon experience. Like, I know this is a Penn stationary show, but this is kind of a big deal.

Myke Hurley: I met a bunch of Penn Addict listeners. Yeah. So, tell us about this event. PodCon, if you've ever heard of VidCon, which you may have heard of, right? Like, VidCon is the big YouTube convention thing. PodCon is VidCon for podcasts, so much as it was even arranged by the same people. Yeah, Hank Green puts it on, I believe. Yeah, Hank Green and a couple of the McElroy brothers and a couple of people from the Night Vale Presents, so, like, Night Vale people, they all came together to create this thing. And it was a weekend event in Seattle. I got home yesterday. And it was amazing, Brad. Like, it was kind of split into a couple of different things. So, there were, like, shows you could go watch as a fan, events you could attend as somebody who's interested in podcasts as a medium, and events you could attend as people who are interested in making their own podcasts. Like, it was kind of split into those three things. And I was involved in a couple of things. I did a panel with a bunch of people that I shouldn't be allowed to talk to because it's so amazing.

Brad Dowdy: I was very confused at that. I was like, Myke! That was awesome.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, my panel included Christy and Joseph from Night Vale, Gabby Dunn from Bad of Money, some panoply, Justin McElroy from all of my favorite shows, and Roman Mars.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I was like, there's Myke asking Roman Mars questions and Gabby Dunn questions. I'm like, get out of town. It was, yeah.

Myke Hurley: I was kind of sat down and I was like, what am I doing? But that went so well. Like, I was surprised just how good it was. I worked hard on preparing, but everyone was super up for it. Like, yeah, it was great. I did a bunch of other stuff. I did what's called a podcast scramble. So it was me and Kevin Porter of a show called Gilmore Guys. And he, well, I think that show's ended. It has a show called Good Christian Fun. And we had the best time. Like, me and Kevin, we had like an immediate chemistry. Like, we met in the morning and we just immediately clicked. We had a great time. My signing was a big success.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Did you sign right-handed or left-handed? Left-handed. Yeah, let's not talk about that. But I had a poster made. I had an amazing poster made by a guy called CJ Rowland. And he did an incredible job, except for one thing, which I didn't even notice, which I've forgotten about. Didn't see it. I'm writing my right hand in the poster.

Brad Dowdy: So thank you, Junie from Alt Haven for pointing that out. I didn't notice it either. I was taken in by the awesomeness of the poster. And there's a pen, or I guess Myke's Apple Pencil probably, in his right hand. And it was kind of amazing that Junie pointed that out. So thank you, Junie. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: That's the Easter egg, right? Like, that's how you know it's a legit one. If you ever get a poster with me in my left hand, then you know it's like, that's a fake one. Maybe I'll just... You know what, though? Like, it kind of worked out because then he got to put my tattoo in it. Like, for artistic purposes, it made way more sense to do it this way because I would have been blocking off a bunch of stuff. Like, it wouldn't have worked so well. But there are like a million Pen Addict references. There's references to every show, but there's a bunch of pens in this. Oh, there's a ton. Yeah. It was freaking amazing. Like, it's so cool. But yeah, PodCon in general, it was amazing. I hope they do it again because I had such a great time. Was this the first time or I don't follow it? It was the very first PodCon. Oh, wow.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I got to hang out with a friend of the show, Aaron Mankey, a bunch. I saw that and I talked to him a little bit and saw some of his tweets. So yeah, that was really cool.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Very, very cool.

Pen Modification

Brad Dowdy: So yeah. All right. So let's get down to business. I know we, I like to stray because I'm into this stuff. And I don't, honestly, you and I do not talk much during the week just on, hey, how's it going stuff. We'll say, oh, I need this. Oh, I need that kind of thing. So, you know, I'm just following along all your PodCon adventures just like everyone else who listens to the show. And I want to hear about it because it excites me. But we are here to talk pens and paper. So we have some follow-up to get to. The first one, I got a bunch of emails on the copper smell, getting the copper smell off your hands. Yep. And a lot of people replied with the same answers. What you do is you force the patina on your pen to get it to where you want. How do you do that? Just use it, you know. Yeah. But by force it, it just means use it. I mean, there's other things you can do. You can, like, pour things on it. Blowtorch.

Myke Hurley: Gotta do the old Cafeco thing.

Brad Dowdy: Blowtorch it from your desk. From your desk. Torch it, acid it, you know, lemon juice it, all that kind of stuff. So get the pen to how you want it. And then you apply some type of clear coat to that pen and it seals it off. The popular answer was Cerakote. I don't know how easy that is to get. But our good friend Tony from Everyday Commentary said in the knife world, which is his world, he says this is super common for knife handles. People will get them looking how they want to use it, use it how they want it to look when they use it, and then coat it with Cerakote. It's a clear varnish, if you will. And it seals. It seals off the copper. So it's no longer going to patina, which means it's no longer going to smell when you use it. That's genius.

Myke Hurley: Because you can get colored Cerakote, right? So this is just like a clear one? Yeah. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So the issue is, like I have, because I'm so anal retentive about my pen's look and feel, is like, well, do I get it in the threads? How is that going to work? Like I can see it on a flat side or a grip section or a round barrel. But if you start getting into like the nooks and crannies, like I would be worried about how it would look. So like that's not something I would ever do, I don't think. But I like the idea of it if like you really want to use that copper pen but are annoyed by the smell.

Myke Hurley: That is a good idea. You just have to live with the smell for a little bit.

Brad Dowdy: And there's other things you can do, you know. But Cerakote seemed to be the common answer in my emails that I got on this. The other email, I got a couple emails on the Pelican Ocean Swirl, the beautiful new release from Pelican. And good friend of the show, pen dealer, Pelican dealer to the stars is what I call him, Mr. Tom Bailey, who I've known Tom for a long time from the pen show world. Let me read his response here. He's a Pelican dealer. He says, The entire body is actually the same in four vertical panels. As Myke said, two opposing panels are bright and bring out the blue and internal sparkle quite well. Indoor, the other two panels can easily be mistaken for black or dark navy blue. In strong light or outdoor sun, it's easy to see it is the same material as the lighter panels. And the internal sparkle will have you reaching for your sunglasses. As he said. So, there's like a four panel variation, like a two and two, where bright sparkle and then depth. But the sparkle is still in there. So, as you rotate the pen, if you notice, all the pictures show the bright side, right? There's not many pens that, hey, check out my awesome ocean swirl dark side of the pen, you know. So, I mean, I guess it's how it's designed purposefully. They should all be sort of the same-ish, but I'm sure there's a lot of variation. And I'm sure that comes up from time to time, which is why it's great to check this one out as an in-person purchase. Tom also went on to add, he said, Side note, this is the first Pelican M800 series to benefit from the retail price reduction, which we talked about that before, right? I know I've talked about it outside the podcast. I can't remember if we went through it on the podcast. So, the previous M800s were $845 MSRP. This one is $650 MSRP. So, that's a great price reduction because almost all stores sell Pelicans for 20% off MSRP. That's like the standard. So, whatever that math is, you know, closer to $500, I guess. So, related are... Okay. So, I was going to say are good friends, but it's not. The people that work at MassDrop have the Pelican M805. And I'd like to table that topic momentarily. Should we... Do we have a whiteboard? Can we park it for now? Because we're going to hit a different type of full-length topic. And I want to bring this up when we discuss that. So, we are aware of the MassDrop issues. I, of course, have opinions on that. And we're going to table that talk until a segment later in the show, which I think should be pretty good.

Myke Hurley: All right. Today's show is brought to you by StoryWorth. A new way to bring the family together. Everyone has a family member who tells the best stories. And StoryWorth wants to capture that, to give you the ability to have all those funny, poignant tales in just one place. They make it easy for your loved ones to share their life stories with weekly email story prompts and questions that you might not think to ask. At the end of the year, they'll get those stories bound in a beautiful hardcover book, which is sleek with a black and white interior color cover of up to 480 pages. That means that you and your loved ones can relive those memories and even pass the book on to future generations. Here's how StoryWorth works. You buy a subscription for somebody that's important to you. And each week, StoryWorth sends them an email with a question about their life. They can email back with their story or even record it over the phone. And after a year, their stories will be bound into their beautiful book for them to keep. StoryWorth is a great way to learn more about someone. The questions are designed to evoke entertaining, surprising, and moving responses. And it's perfect for staying in touch with family members who maybe live a little further away than you'd like. StoryWorth is flexible. You can write stories and upload photos by email, on the web, or in the app. You can share the stories of as many people as you want. You just invite them by email. And you can save and edit all of them on StoryWorth.com. All your data is secure and everything is private by default. You get to control who sees the stories that are being put in. I've tried out StoryWorth and I was really impressed by how simple they make it for you to add the information. It's like I tried out for myself. What are these going to look like? And the prompts come by email and you can just reply right there. So when you're in your email app. I also like that you can use their app as well, which gives you a bunch of different options and a bunch of different ways to add media. The questions are really varied and the way that they're positioned, the kind of questions that they ask, will give you answers to things that you've maybe never thought of before. They help you kind of look at yourself and look at some of the things that you've done in your life. It's really nice. Obviously, StoryWorth is perfect for the holidays. The holidays are here. And it's not too late to get somebody a gift that they'll love. So, let's do this. Head to StoryWorth.com slash PenAddict right now and give the gift of stories to somebody that you care about. And because you're a listener of this show, you'll get $20 off. So get that Christmas present out of the way right now. Head to StoryWorth.com slash PenAddict. StoryWorth, a new way to bring the family together. Thank you to StoryWorth for their support of this show and for helping us give the perfect gift this Christmas.

Brad Dowdy: So I went and checked this out before, when I was writing up the show notes last night. I hadn't heard of them. And like my wife does the annual photo album type of thing. Like, you know, gets it, the photos and print. Like, this would be like a cool addition into something like that. So, yeah, it looks very cool. I'm going to have to show this to her.

Tom Ben Bags

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I like it. I like it. So you were in the home of Tom Ben last week. And then all of a sudden, I see all this chatter in our show notes document. Myke, I have a new Tom Ben bag. So how did this come about?

Myke Hurley: I went to Tom Ben.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. So you actually went there. So, yeah, I want to hear about that. I'm pretty jealous of this. Being someone who makes bags and, you know, related accessories. Like, this is like the mecca for me, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, a few of us went down there. So, like, we hopped in a car and we went down to see Tom Ben. And I wasn't intending on buying anything specific. But, like, I was just like, oh, I'll just pop down there. And, like, they have a bunch of, like, great accessory stuff. Like, I'll pick something up, right? Like, that's kind of what I thought I would do. And their place is awesome. Like, their store is kind of just, like, a cordoned off area of their workshop. Sure. And, like, the people there were super nice, really helpful. They can, like, explain everything to you, that kind of thing. And I'm, like, poking around. And, like, I love my manal bag, right? But I've noticed something that it doesn't have as much space in it as I would like at times. Like, when I'm packed for a trip, I have, like, a little space in there so I can, like, throw a snack in at the airport or something. But that was kind of all I could get. Now, I will say, right now, having used this, I bought a Synapse 25, was what I went with, which is, like, their kind of their big backpack. I will note that, like, then having filled up the Synapse bag, it's maybe heavier than I would want, right? Because I put too much stuff in. So, like, I need to refine this over time. But I do, like...

Brad Dowdy: That's a trick. Yeah. It's a very delicate balance. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: So, I mean, but the thing is, I was taking my laptop with me on this trip, which isn't, like, an always thing. And I do really feel that way. Right. Now, the great thing about Tombin, right, like, their systems, like, I didn't just buy a bag. I bought a whole system. Right. I bought the Synapse. I bought the Cache to put my, like, to put my stuff in, right? So, I bought two of them, like, one for the laptop and one for my iPad. But I actually ended up just using one and putting them both in the same one. That made more sense for me because you could just fit them both in there. I bought the Freudian Slip, which is the best product name, which is just, it's just, like, a thing that's made to fit perfectly in the bag that just has, like, a ton of pockets on it. So, that's an organizational thing. What else did I get? I know, right? A Snake Charmer. And, again, it's so awesome. I bought the Big Snake Charmer. And they have a pocket on the base of the backpack, which the Snake Charmer fits perfectly inside. Yeah. I like that pocket. And also the travel tray I got as well, which is just this little, it looks like a little bag. It just pops out to be this little tray. So, when you're traveling, you have, like, a, just, like, a little thing that you can put stuff in in the hotel room. It's kind of a smart idea. So, yeah, I went overboard and I emptied the Tom Bin store. And I love the amount of pockets. There's so many pockets on this bag. And I feel like I'm able to, like, just arrange things way better than I have been in the past. So, yeah, I am actually very happy with my purchase. I'm still going to use my Manal bag. But I'm actually now going to use that for more, like, out and about in the day type stuff. Which is actually what the bag is meant to be for. As opposed to my traveling bag. So, like, if I'm, you know, if I'm going swimming, I'm going to use the Manal bag. Like, if I'm going down to, like, work somewhere for a day, I'm going to grab my Manal bag. Like, it's perfect for that kind of stuff. And I have really enjoyed it for traveling. But I feel like I just needed a little bit more. But the thing is, the Tom Bin 25 is a lot more. It's not just a little bit more. But I'm happy with that.

Brad Dowdy: So, I considered the 25. And I ended up going with the 19, which was a mistake for someone my size.

Myke Hurley: I considered the 19, but it's too small for me. It's too small for my frame.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. It definitely looks like, you know, when I put it on, it just looks funny, right? It looks like I'm carrying, like, a kid. Yeah. Right? Yeah. But it's awesomely made. What exterior and interior colors did you get? Because their colors are great.

Myke Hurley: The ballistic gray with the Halcyon Island Bluve interior.

Bear and Fig

Brad Dowdy: Gotcha. Yeah. That's great. So, we get, you know, bags came up a bunch recently, obviously, with the Bear and Fig backpacks. And we all talked about that. And people liked them. People don't like them. They're saying, well, if I don't like it, what else should I consider? I'm looking for a bag or a backpack. And they asked me what I use. And I always have to preface this with, this is a completely unfair answer because my favorite bag is no longer made. The company's out of business. And it's by a company called Bowgear. And we've talked about it several times because it's such a good bag, I've never stopped using it. It's called the Bullpup. And Bowgear is going to come back at some point. They stop manufacturing. They're going to, you know, reboot the company. The guy behind Bowgear is going to reboot the company. And you can be sure I'll be first in line when he does it because this is the best bag I've ever owned. If you're familiar with like the shape of a standard Go Ruck bag, it's a very simple bag, but has just the right amount of pockets and that type of setup. Like it's just right in everything. And it fits me really well. And the shoulder straps are wide enough. And it's just a good all around bag. And if I don't use that, which that's like my overnight bag, like we just went on a trip this week for three days, my things go in there, my laptop, my cables, all that stuff. My day bag is the Lanier that I just use religiously. So like those are the only two bags I use. And I'm such a bag and backpack nut that I, you would think I would find something different than this bullpup that I could recommend to someone, but it's my favorite so far. It's better than like the Tom Ben 19, obviously for size reasons. So, you know, like my dad needed a new backpack. He's asked me what to get. I said, don't just come to my house. And I threw out all my backpacks. I just said, pick any one of these. Like I have like Patagonia makes awesome bags. Timbuktu makes really good bags. There's a new guy in town called the Brown Buffalo. He makes really good bags. So like I threw all these bags out for my dad. I was like, I love all these bags, but I only use my Bogeer bag. So pick anything you want. It's a, that, that's all I need is that bag. And then like my linear for the day stuff. So yeah, but there's lots of good bag stuff. I told people online that, you know, maybe I should start reviewing bags because that passion goes back as far as, you know, pins and stationary almost like I've been a bag and backpack guy for as long as I can remember. And our, our good, I pointed them to our good friend, Chase Reeves, who does amazing bag and backpack reviews on YouTube. So we'll put that link to the show notes. If y'all are interested in the, like a bag or a backpack, Chase is probably, reviewed it and he's hilarious on top of it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I love Chase's reviews. I've been a subscriber of his YouTube channel for a while for that exact reason. He does a fantastic job.

Brad Dowdy: And that's not an act. That's Chase. What you see in the videos is not an act. I promise you that knowing Chase and being in his presence, not an act. He's a one of a kind dude. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So I'm happy with my purchase. I mean, I'm hoping it's going to last. Like, I feel like bags and pens and all that stuff, they tend to go together in that, like you will buy one and then you'll keep buying them. And it's like, there's always the perfect one. Just that little bit out of reach, you know, I feel like there's a similarity there. Like just, just out of reach. Like there's the next one. It's just, it's so close. You know, that's kind of how I feel about the bags.

Myke Hurley: I'll give a little update. The, the Sailor Pro gear, the bung box one. Oh yeah. It's currently held at customs, which I expected, but at least it's in this country. So I'm expecting to get a customs form today or tomorrow. And then hopefully by next week's episode, I'll have it in hand.

Brad Dowdy: Cool. I'm anxious for you to get that. It's a very different pin in a, in a good way. It's cool. It's very cool. You've, you've seen mine. You've seen them in person.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And that's why I want it.

Brad Dowdy: Very cool. Well, let's, uh, let's talk about our good friends at Harry's because I have a very interesting discovery about one of our favorite, favorite brands and sponsors here at the pin addict.

Myke Hurley: All right. You know about Harry's. You've got to know about them. They make amazing quality products at super reasonable prices, which is why 3 million people have switched to them. And it's the holiday season. And Harry's is also the perfect gift. It's practical. You can personalize the handles of engravings and you can even choose the color of razor that will match the person in your life that you want to buy it for. Harry's offers custom gift sets to help you find the perfect gift. And they are even, those sets actually are even great for people who've already made the switch to Harry's because they have a bunch of lovely stuff that you can get along with them. For this holiday season, Harry's custom and limited edition shaving sets come with German engineered five blade cartridges that provide a close, comfortable shave. Foaming shave gel that smells just amazing. And a special limited edition winter chrome and emerald green handles that are available that can be engraved or presented in beautiful boxes that are ready to gift. They're set start at just $10, which makes some great stocking stuffers too. Now, what is this? What is this discovery that you've made, Brad?

Brad Dowdy: So, about two weeks ago, our friend Mark Backus of the Nib Grinder said, hey, you have one of those Harry's razor stands, don't you? He said, go see if a pin will fit in there. And it was like, just like seeing you right-handed on the PodCon poster. My head exploded a little bit. I was like, are you kidding me? Like, that's the perfect pin stand. So, their small little, I guess it's aluminum, Harry's razor stand is one of the best pin stands you could ever hope for. I took some pictures, posted them on Instagram. I was like, it's perfect. It's wide enough to fit, you know, wider pins. Like, I used like a custom acrylic pin from Woodshed Pin Company that's not a standard, you know, it's like an Edison Pearl size pin. And it fits in there just flawlessly. They're $15. And it was just kind of like a real eye-opener. So, now I need extra Harry's razor stands to hold pins. And yeah, it worked out kind of amazingly.

Brad Dowdy: That is wonderful. So, alternate usage.

Myke Hurley: Not only great for shaving, also great for just general display purposes, turns out. Yeah, yeah. This holiday, Give Harry's and Give Handsome was a special offer for listeners of this show. Harry's will give you $5 off your order when you go to harrys.com slash penaddict. This offer is only available for the holidays. Shipping cutoffs end this week. So, act now to get your gift deliveries in time. Once again, to get a limited edition holiday shave set while supplies last, go to harrys.com slash penaddict. Our thanks to Harry's for their continued support of this show.

Brad Dowdy Online Presence

Brad Dowdy: All right, Myke. So, we're getting to one of your favorite topics, which is Brad causing trouble on the internet. Mm-hmm. Right? I mean, this is like the highlight of your podcast experience, right? I love it. So, I know for a fact that you don't love it, and we're going to talk about it this week. So, I have a big audience on Twitter, with my blog, with this podcast. I have a lot of reach in the community. My words carry weight in the community. And I oftentimes, I would say more than often, don't realize that when I'm speaking, talking,

Brad Dowdy: you know, joking around on Twitter. Like, I'm just me, right? Like, this is me, and I'm going to have fun, or I'm going to say the argumentative thing that I want to say, or, you know, whatever. I'm going to state my opinion. And I never put it in the context of, I have an actual responsibility based on my status in the community. So, I struggle with that big time, right? Is there a line to be drawn between Brad the person and Brad the pen addict, you know, or Brad the not company owner, or, you know, whatever. I have a huge difficulty with that. Like, it's kind of new to me, right? Even though I've been doing this for years and years and years, the audience has grown to a point where things are taken differently. And rightfully so, I think. Like, I agree that my words can move the needle, can, you know, in the case of me about a week ago, commenting on Baron Figg's actions on the Kickstarter, instigating. You know, it was an incendiary tweet. And I have since apologized for that tweet. I didn't take it down. I don't delete things. You know, I'll stand by my words. I'll apologize if I make mistakes. And I felt I took it a little too far in that particular tweet.

Brad Dowdy: So, I struggle with... One of the things that is core to my beliefs is honesty with your customers as a business.

Brad Dowdy: I get mad when companies aren't. Do I have a right to say something? Is it fair because my words carry more weight than others for me to point this out? Should I just shrug my shoulders and go, Eh, you know, whatever. They can do whatever they want. You know, people will decide for themselves if they're being honest with them or not. But, like, when I can see it in, like, very black and white terms, in this case that they aren't, I get frustrated and sometimes lash out on Twitter. Which, obviously, is a stupid thing to do. But, I didn't... I never realized how important some of the things I say could be to other people. And there's a lot of different ways to look at this. Should I not say anything?

Brad Dowdy: And just kind of keep it on the fun, you know, let's have fun with stationary side and people can do whatever they want. Should I... I have a very protector kind of role and mindset in me. Like, I want to protect consumers in this space from people who I think are doing bad things. You know? Or questionable things. I think bad may be a strong term. Questionable. Everyone can look at things differently.

Myke Hurley: I would just like to add at this point that we're not making any... And Brad... I'll speak for Brad as well. Like, he's not saying about anything specific here. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll talk about specifics.

Brad Dowdy: But I'm just saying, in general, in general, if as a member of the stationary community, I get questions. So, someone says, hey, what do you think about X company?

Brad Dowdy: What's my responsibility to answer that question? Do I answer it... Are they asking the pen editor question? Is the answer different if I believe something differently? Like, I have a real struggle with, like, commenting. And because my words can, like, move the needle on things, right? So, it's a challenge. So, I bring this up to say... Maybe we should stop doing that on the podcast and having, like, these kind of Debbie Downer conversations. Because this is a podcast about pens and paper and stationery and inks and the people that make them. Maybe it should just... The focus should be on the goodness of the products and the goodness of the people and the goodness of the community.

Brad Dowdy: And just, you know, eliminate the negativity. I know you're very much for that. Yes. You've always been that way. You've had to back me down several times because of who I am and what I feel like I should say.

Brad Dowdy: And I don't know what I feel about that, right? Like, I want to have... Do you think I want to talk about this stuff? Of course I don't. No one wants to talk about the negative side of things. Well, some people do. Well, yeah. But I honest to goodness don't. But sometimes the facts are right in front of my eyes and I feel like I have to say something. Should I?

Brad Dowdy: Apparently not, a lot of people think. But apparently so, other people think. I don't know what to do. I'm struggling, as you can tell, with the responsibilities that I have. And I agree that I have responsibilities and that my words matter. And I should respect the voice and the platform that I have and use it for good. At the same time, my brain goes, well, this is bad. And other people should know it's bad. And choose, you know, have the full amount of information when they're choosing to spend their money. Because let's be honest, I mean, this is a frivolous, you know, expenditure kind of area we're in, right? This is all, like, non-necessary goods. So, you know, we have fun with this stuff. So, maybe the podcast should just be about the fun we have with all this stuff. I'll let you talk now because I've rambled enough. But there's definitely more to say.

Myke Hurley: The pen addict is not a journal of note. Right. Nor is it a scandal show. Right. That's how I feel about this. So, we don't have to talk about everything. And we don't need to bring up drama just for the sake of it. So, like, I'll give you some examples. When we spoke about the Field Notes issue with Abercrombie a couple of weeks ago, that was totally worth discussing. And it fell within our usual area of discussion. We talk about that company a lot. We love their products. We thought that they maybe didn't do something right. So, we should talk about it. Right. Like, not talking about that would have been the wrong thing to do. Okay. So, like, without going into specifics, because I'm not interested in this discussion on this show today, there has been a lot of drama, like, of this weekend about Baron Figs backpacks and their Kickstarters.

Myke Hurley: We have no need to discuss that. We spoke about the product when it came out. People have already got it. There's been some issues about it. I don't think that it's necessary talking about it because it's people getting upset about whatever and then people getting upset about the fact that people are getting upset. Like, if we would have spoken about that today, in my opinion, it would have felt super shoehorned into the show. Like, it's just so we could talk about the drama. Right. I'm not interested in talking about the drama. Like, I don't even want to talk about the drama surrounding, like, the Field Notes thing, but I felt like it was right to discuss it because not talking about it would have felt weird. Right? Yeah. Would have felt like we were avoiding it. But if we would have just done this episode today and not spoken about the Baron Figs stuff, I wouldn't have felt the same. Because really, it feels like a storm in a teacup kind of situation that's being discussed about. Like, when we discuss scammy Kickstarters and stuff, I think that can be fun as well as informative. Yeah, that's different. And enjoy it. Like, people are coming here to enjoy something. I don't think that it needs to be Debbie Downer conversations or Donald Downer conversations. Right? It's just not a thing that's required. And here's the thing, right? A lot of the stuff that you say you end up getting yourself in trouble over. So, I think that you need to make some kind of general rule that you don't talk about things that are going to get you in trouble here or on Twitter and you write them down to publish them. You have a blog that you can publish this stuff on. And maybe if you sat and write it down, you might take a bit more time and, like, edit and refine what you want to say. Let it simmer a little bit. Send it to an editor before you actually publish it. And then that might make you think a little bit more deeply about these things. That's a great tip. You wrote a note in here. Like, what would a new listener think if they stepped into these negative shows? And, like, yeah, that is exactly it. Right? Like, there can be negativity if entertainment surrounds it. Like, feeling the need that we need to bring up every bad thing that happens in the community. There's no entertainment to it. Like, and I care about making people come away from this show feeling good as opposed to coming away from this show and feeling completely informed about every discussion that's occurred in the pen bubble over the last four or five days. So. Right. Right. I think it's, we're having this, this is the exact type of thing I don't want to be talking about. Like, this exact conversation, like, is the exact problem. But I feel like we need to put our, like, flag on the ground and move forward. And, like, and this is a thing that, like, I know everybody's going to have their own opinions on this. And I don't like to be this kind of guy because I try not to be. But it doesn't matter what your opinion on this is. This is what we're going to do. Like, we have done this show for 200 years. We have done this show for 285 episodes, 287 episodes because we make something that makes me and Brad happy and in turn makes other people happy. And we need to make sure we're doing that because that's what keeps the show around. Because it makes us happy to do this. And I don't want to keep coming away from this show feeling sad, which I have done recently. Sure. It's because I feel like that we are, like, pushing into negative too much. So, there you go. That's my feeling on this.

Brad Dowdy: So, we are on the same page, which I'm not sure you thought you were going to get out of me. No, I didn't. By the end. I have come to the realization, as hard as it may be, or as, you know, as much as I beat my head against the wall and caused injury to myself and I'm having a concussion, that it's not fun. And this is what we do. We have fun. Like, I have the most fun on the internet of anyone I know. Like, I think it's a blast talking about pens and stationery. And I get excited about black staples in a notebook, right? That's fun. And that's what I want to talk about. And part of me still sees things like MassDrop and the way they affect the businesses in our community.

MassDrop Products

Brad Dowdy: So, do I talk about that, right? Like, I feel like we had to talk about Field Notes a couple weeks ago. So, MassDrop has the new Pelican for a price that retailers cannot compete with. By contract, they're not allowed to. Do we talk about that on this show? Like, that's my dilemma. Do I... Where is the expectations of me to expand the knowledge of our listener, even if it's negative?

Myke Hurley: So, that's a challenge. But, like, I feel like we can talk about something like that. Like, that to me makes sense. We've spoken about MassDrop in the past, right? Like, that's a thing. And plus, because it's a gray area. Because that's bad for retailers. It's great for customers. Like, if you want a Pelican MA05 right now, you can go buy one from MassDrop and you're going to get a huge discount, right? Yeah. So, you know, like, that's the thing. Like, in my opinion, it's like that... I know I understand where you're coming from, but that's not a completely negative discussion. This is actually useful information for people if they want to go and buy one.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Right. And like we said, we have a new listeners. They should understand, okay, why MassDrop is able to get them for this price, right? Yep. You know, I think that's a... Maybe I should approach it as a knowledge-based discussion as opposed to a personal opinion discussion. Is that a fair way to put it? I don't know if I'm saying that right. But like, you know, helping you make decisions, you know, without having necessarily like... I don't know. I have a hard time with the word opinion because I'm very opinionated, right? So, it's like, I want to say, don't buy this pen from MassDrop. But is that the right conversation, right? Like, it's hard. This is a super difficult thing. But I think if we focus on the fun and positivity side of things, I think we'll all be better off. I'm the one guilty here. Like, you don't do anything. I'm the one that's like knee-deep in this community and love this community with all of my heart. And want everyone to have fun and everyone to do the right thing. And it's not always going to happen. And there's going to be negativity. But living, you know, having a more positive outlook on everything. And just not completely ignoring the negativity. But not getting caught up into it. And that's very hard for a lot of us to do these days with the environment that we live in. And the ease of access to lots of people. And, you know, I've affected people negatively by my words. And that hurts me. You know, like, I don't want to be that guy. Like, that's not me. That's me, you know, turning into a gremlin for a second. And, you know, that's something I have to work on on a personal level. But from a community perspective as a whole, my God, this is like the funnest thing on earth, right? Like, it should just be about fun and humanity and empathy. Like, these are all the things that I believe in. And it starts with me, right? I'm the one that has to make the change. I'm not telling anyone else how to act. I'm saying this for my own good, right? I'm the one that will instigate on Twitter or say something, you know, very negative. And it makes people feel that, yeah, that's wrong. And, like, let's pile on. And, like, in retrospect, I'm like, oh, that's just, that's gross. You know? I don't want to be that guy. And the problem is I get, like, really passionate about people who do right and wrong. And so sometimes I let that get ahead of me. And I should just take a minute, like you say, reformulate those thoughts and decide what's fun. Because it's stationary. It's pens and paper and ink and people and awesomeness. And focus on the fun and enjoy every minute that we have doing this. Because you never know how long it's going to last. And that's where this should go, right? Like, I'm all aboard the positivity train. And let's ride it for the next thousand episodes. What do you think?

Myke Hurley: I'm totally down with that. There we go.

Brad Dowdy: Staking the ground. This is where we are. I'm going to move forward. Excellent. Right. Except I got to say one more thing. You know, because I do. I'm hopefully going to be on the RSVP podcast, which where I came up as a topic in that discussion. So I've talked to Dee and Les about coming on the show and discussing things with them. And I'm happy to be on there soon. Hopefully we're going to get that worked out. So I just wanted to point that out. That I'll hopefully be able to talk with them soon about all this stuff.

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Brad Dowdy: So it's a learning process, Myke. And we will continue to learn. I mean, 10 years into a blog, I learn every day. Yep. And there's new people along for the ride every day. And I want them to have a good time because that's what this is all about, right? Exactly. Speaking about learning, let's answer some other CPA questions. All right. So we got some good ones this week from Joel on Twitter. Is there an A5 notebook with good paper like Rodea that only has about 24 sheets? I'm trying to reduce the resistance to breaking in a new notebook. So this is actually a really good two-part question. I don't know if Joel understood that when he originally asked the question. Resistance to breaking in a new notebook is a thing, right? We all... How many notebooks do you have that you haven't started? But you had to have that notebook, right? And it's like, what am I going to use it for? How am I going to use it? What is the plan for this notebook? So, you know, that's a really, really important question. So Joel's actually trying to get around this. He's like, hey, don't make it so hard on me. I don't need 198 pages. Just give me 24 and I'm good. I'm good with this notebook. I think that's why I like pocket notebooks so much, right? Like you can plow through those pretty quickly. But A5 size in about 24 sheets, Life Stationery makes the best ones. I think Kokuyo makes wonderful ones. But I'd look at like Life Pistachio. I think they're more than 24. I'll have to look them up actually while we're talking.

Brad Dowdy: So some of the Japanese makers make something around that size. They don't miss... So 32. So pretty fair, you know. And it's cheap, you know, $4, $5, $6, whatever. So the paper quality is on par, if not superior, than Rodia. You know, Kokuyo is the same way. Apica. A lot of the Japanese brands do this A5-ish size in a small number of sheets.

Myke Hurley: Just open it up, tear out a few pages, you're good to go. So...

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah. And like we all say, you know, just start writing. It doesn't matter. Like that's a huge challenge. We've talked about it for years and years and years. Cracking open a new notebook. And I think we'll probably talk about it next week, Myke. Getting ready for 2018.

Brad Dowdy: You know, like the beginning of a new year is always a challenge for those who keep diaries and journals and things like that. So we'll talk about some more of that next week. But that's where you want to head, Joel. Life, Apica, Kokuyo, they make great paper in a smaller format. So Logan at 12, Yake on Twitter. I'm looking for an ink to put in my broad tip TWSBI Eco turquoise. Something in green or blue that will look amazing in my Hippo Noto. Any suggestions? So the Hippo Noto uses Tomoe River paper. So it's very good for sheen. It's very good for bright colors. And this, I mean, this color range is my wheelhouse, right? This is your Pilot Orochizuku Konpeki. This is your Sailor Sky High. This is your Edelstein Topaz. What I just put in my TWSBI Eco Tee was Robert Oster Blue Lake Ice, I think is the name of it. I get his name so confused. But it's in the same color range as like a Konpeki or a Sky High. I like bright turquoisey blues. That's some of the best colors on the planet. In my book, I use them very frequently. So those are kind of the top four or five I would use in that range. Do you have anything to add besides that?

Myke Hurley: No, I don't think so. I think that you nailed it. Like there's some excellent options there.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I think Blue Water Ice. I don't know what I said, but Blue Water Ice is the actual correct name. Thank you, Jim in the chat room. Jim, live and direct from Beirut. He's a world traveler, that Jim. So Dave wants to know, with his tactile turn survey submitted, what is your go-to refill for the G2 mover? I can seem to recall you saying the G2 isn't your favorite in that category. Absolutely correct. There is a refill called the Pilot Juice. So my issues with the G2 are the inconsistencies with the tip. It can be very rough, skip, tear the page I've seen, just have more flaws than what I want in a micro gel ink pen. And Pilot, a couple years ago, came out with an entire lineup called the Pilot Juice, which I, you know, I'm not Pilot. I don't know why this isn't just like the new and improved G2 because it's a micro gel ink pen. The cartridge is identical in size, shape, and manufacturing as the G2 cartridge. And it's better. It just is. And it comes in more colors, and it comes in more tip sizes. And all you have to do is buy a Pilot Juice in any color you want. They're like $1.60. Take out the refill. Put it in your tactile turn. I use the blue-black .38 mostly in the Juice lineup. But I think they have 30 colors in all the tip sizes. It's kind of crazy that this just isn't the rebranded Pilot G2 because it's a better pen. It just is. So we'll see if Pilot ever does that. They don't really have any impetus to because G2 is the number one selling pen in the world. And I don't say that jokingly. It's based on these last metrics that all these, you know, a lot of companies have all these things created to determine what is selling. And they can tell in the market. And G2 is the top. There's no doubt. So on the tactile turn front, the surveys just came out for the Kickstarter for the newly designed mover and shaker. And we were talking on Twitter, I think, this morning. Hey, what color did you get? I went with purple. So the new anodization that Will is doing on these pens came out amazingly. He sent me an orange. And I gave away purple and stainless, I think. So I reordered a purple for me with my new Kickstarter. So there's my answer for that.

Brad Dowdy: What do you think, Myke?

Brad Dowdy: I have nothing to say.

Myke Hurley: I don't. Is it a Retro 51? Can you put a Retro 51 inside of a tactile turn? No, I like the tactile turn a lot. I like that a lot. That's a great pen. But the G2 refill, like, I don't really have opinions on it anymore. Because, honestly, I can't remember the last time I used a pen with one of these types of refills. It's just not what I go for.

Retro 51 Pens

Brad Dowdy: I've moved on beyond that, and a lot of people have. But funny you should ask that. We'll skip to the last question and circle back around.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I thought it was just funny.

Brad Dowdy: Good friend Joe Lebo.

Myke Hurley: I don't know what Joe's doing. I don't know what's wrong with him.

Brad Dowdy: Do you think the Retro 51 would ever make a version of the Tornado that would fit a refill like the Pilot Juice without modification? I'll let you answer that.

Myke Hurley: I don't think they will. Because so much of the love around this pen is based upon the refill, and then the design is extra. I can't imagine them changing the base of what they do. I mean, they have two different refill types that they have, depending on the size. But the Tornado is considered to be so great because of that refill. And if they start muddying the waters with different versions, I think that it makes the product less appealing. I think it makes it more confusing.

Brad Dowdy: Agree with you. Retro 51, why we love them so much is they filled a gap that no one can compete in or has tried to compete in. I'm not saying no one can. They clearly could. But they've made a pin at a price point that has no competition. And it's really freaking good. Yep. So they have zero incentive to change, and nor should they. Yep. Unless they added to their line, but then that's a cannibalism of your own product line thing. I don't know that they would do that. So we'll see. And we'll end it on this question, Myke. I forgot. This is from Jilly. I forgot Myke's nationality last week. I don't know how you can forget that. You listen to him every week. So the question for him is milk into the tea or tea into the milk.

Coffee Preparation

Myke Hurley: Milk into the tea and into the coffee every time. You never do it the other way around, and the people that do are monsters.

Brad Dowdy: Is this like this is known? Like this is what you do or else you are looked at with the side eye?

Myke Hurley: Well, people that do it the way that I do feel that way. My feeling is like you add the milk to the color, right? When you got the color, you know you've added the right amount of milk. I don't know how you can work it out if you're putting the tea into the milk. This seems barbaric to me.

Myke Hurley: You just roll in the dice every time.

Brad Dowdy: I mean, there's a measurement called the splash, right? I mean, what if you put a splash in the bottom of your cup? Who knows how much a splash is? I mean, I know how much a splash is. It's a splash.

Myke Hurley: No, no. Put it in the bottom of the cup.

Brad Dowdy: Add the tea. I mean, then splash a splash of milk. No.

Brad Dowdy: I agree with you, though. This is unacceptable. I don't drink black coffee, but I don't put a lot of stuff in my coffee. I like a splash of half and half. No sugar. I'm probably trending towards I'm just going to have, you know, I'll be one of those 60-year-old dudes. Just give me black coffee. But I drink mine with a little bit of half and half. And less half and half the older I get. There's less things in the coffee because I actually enjoy the coffee part more than the consumable sugary part of anything. So, what a wonderful way to end this super positive podcast, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Yes. That's how it works. You can send in your questions with the hashtag Ask EPA, and we'll try our best to answer them at the end of the show. Don't forget, stationary.wiki is still there. It exists. We love it. You should go check it out. Still good work on that. Yep, exactly. You can find Brad online. He's at Dowdyism on Twitter, D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. I am iMike, I-M-Y-K-E. Brad is penaddict on Instagram. I am iMike on Instagram. You can find Brad's work over at penaddict.com and knock.co. And we want to, as always, thank you so much for listening. Thanks to Squarespace, StoryWorth, and Harry's for their support of this show. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.