The Pen Addict 273/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	273
Title:	Myke Hurley Appreciation Day
Release Date:	September 6th, 2017
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 273
Audio File:	Audio Episode 273
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 273
Length:	6060 min <br />1 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Brad Dowdy: Welcome back, Myke. Hey, Brad Dowdy.

Myke Hurley: As you did the intro there, I realised how poor a job I did on the intro last week. I used kind of the old intro pacing. I didn't use the Relay FM moniker that you lead with, which I should have. And that just goes to show how good you are at your job.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, this is what you say now, when I'm sitting in front of you. On last week's episode, you're just trash-talking me the whole time. But when I'm here, it's like, oh, it's so nice to have you here.

Myke Hurley: You are wonderful, Myke, and you know I love you. And to be quite honest, I've gotten a couple emails that said, stop being so hard on, Myke. So the people love you, Myke, and I'm going to do a better job at being a good friend to you and being nicer.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, come on. You're the nicest person.

Myke Hurley: I know. Believe me, you're not off the hook, but I just want you to know that the people love you. You were greatly missed. And it feels like a month since we've last recorded a podcast together is what it feels like to me. I guess because I feel the time we were together kind of didn't count because I was just like, hey, it's a normal day and Myke's here. And then I recorded with Joey last week, which honestly, it went really well. So he's a great guest. Yeah. And he was fun to talk to. I've been wanting to do that for a long time. Did you get a chance to listen to that one? I listened to it yesterday. Yeah, you said because we were killing you a little bit. Not too bad. But yeah, it's just a shtick. Everyone knows that I love Myke. And I wouldn't be here without Myke in my life. And I just wanted you to know that. So I missed you while you were gone.

Brad Dowdy: I love you very much. I love you very much. And I know that you guys, everyone makes fun of me when I'm not there. But Jason, Jason does like a full on on upgrade. Like he does a full on like from Ricky to he takes makes fun of my intro. Like he does the whole thing. I expect it. But I like it in a way. I like it because it's funny. But also I like I like being able to listen to my shows. Because I like those shows, you know, like the pen addict and connected and analog and upgrade like those shows exist because we like to make them. So it's nice to be able to listen to them just as a listener. Right. Like I enjoy that when I get to do that. It was funny. Like my podcast queue was just all my own shows.

Myke Hurley: Well, it's nice. It is fun to go back and listen. And I try to listen to every episode every now and then I won't get to it. But I always like to go back and re-listen to usually because I've I've said something stupid and I need to see if I need to fix it.

Myke Hurley: Well, there'll be lots of there's lots of stupid in this document, by the way. I'm going to get in serious trouble. I just feel it.

Brad Dowdy: OK, well, we'll see about that. I mean, I've I've always got something to get you in trouble. But I wanted to tell you. Like, so I was going to I wanted to just extend my thanks to Joey as well. He was a great and very entertaining guest. So it was a great, great pick. It was a different episode to what I was expecting you would do. And I really liked that. So it was it was a great it was also great to learn a little bit more about Joey Feldman. So I was really pleased for that.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And that was the plan. You know, I I've always wanted I love when I get to hang out with Joey and I thought he would be a good guest. And I know he's done some podcasts recently. So I thought that was kind of the perfect guest if I could pull it off. And I appreciate Joey making it happen.

DC Pen Show

Brad Dowdy: So yesterday I got back from being in America for a month, a month and two days, which began with the DC Pen Show. And there was a moment last week, me and Nadina were on vacation last week. She came out and we went on a vacation together. And it was a moment where I was going through my suitcase to find something to wear. And I pulled out one of my knock T-shirts and then realized that I haven't been home since the Pen Show, which was like just mind boggling to me. Because I have a very vivid memory of recording the last episode we did together in my office. That's where I remembered recording it. But I wasn't in my office. I was in a hotel room in Brooklyn. Right. Because we recorded after the DC Pen Show. We recorded one episode and then Joey was on last week. Right. Yes. Yes. And my mind was kind of like just broken by seeing it, by realizing the two things. One, that I haven't been home since then. And two, that my brain was lying to me about where I'd been recording. Very strange.

Myke Hurley: Well, I think that's the same feeling I had when I said it feels like it's been a month since we've done a show.

Brad Dowdy: I noticed it, which is one of the things that made me think to tell you this story. Because we have recorded together since DC. We recorded one episode.

Myke Hurley: So our brains are intertwined.

Brad Dowdy: They sure are. It's been a long time, man. It's been a long time. I'm happy to be back in Mega Office now.

Myke Hurley: Good, good. And since it's been a long time, I'm going to use that to professionally segue into something else that has been a long time, Myke. Mm-hmm. So the NotCo Kobanichi case. Yep. Our seed lineup, which is A6, A5, and Midori Travelers. They're so close. That's what you were at. I wasn't planning on talking about it. But you put it in here. Mm-hmm. Because it's almost there. I was hoping we're going to have them next week on the site. That's still a possibility. But as I've mentioned to y'all, I don't know, earlier this year, you know, one of the things that's my job now is I get on the phone and yell. So let's just say there were some of that yesterday. Okay. So it's happening. It's happening very, very, very soon. I was hoping it would happen sooner, but it's not going to be much later. Okay. So it's almost there.

Brad Dowdy: So we're looking this month is the plan.

Myke Hurley: Well, I was about to say without question. There can be questions. There can be questions, but I mean, absolutely, positively trying to make that happen within the next two weeks. Okay. It's going to be close. It's going to be close.

Brad Dowdy: I have a question for you about one of these images here in your Instagram post. Mm-hmm. There's a pen that I don't recognize.

Myke Hurley: So the one you linked in the show notes?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Okay. So there's only two pens in this. One is the Platinum Shung-Yu, which you also have later in the show notes, and you don't recognize the other pen?

Brad Dowdy: What is it?

Myke Hurley: It's the pen type B.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, okay. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Interesting. Okay. Mm-hmm. Hmm. Well, it looked like wood. It looked like it was made of wood, not brass. Now I see it. Yes. I like that pen when it's like that, when it's covered like that, you know, when the pen type B has its cover on. I like it. I like all that stuff. I just don't like the writing end of it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, totally. No, I get that. I'm just messing with you. But that's a pen I carry with me pretty much every day because I like the high-tech C refill. And we're going to talk about that. And as it relates to the Platinum Soft Find Nib, because I did a review on that, and you put it in the show notes. We're going to talk about it.

Brad Dowdy: We sure are. But okay. The reason I put this in the notes, because what you'll find is an Instagram post that was on the Nock account, because it said available in a few weeks for the seed cases. So I was interested. I was very interested about that. So I thought I would ask you about that.

Myke Hurley: That statement remains accurate, but I had a headache and a stress bucket all day yesterday. I'm sorry. We'll leave it at that. So this is dealing with manufacturers, right? Yeah, it is what it is. Hashtag manufacturing is hard. You know, it's what we do. It's what we do. We'll get it.

Brad Dowdy: That's why you get paid the big bucks. Yeah, that's what it is. All right. There was also, so everybody was at the San Francisco Penn Show and posting amazing photos a couple of weeks ago. One of them that particularly caught my eye was something that Anna posted on the well-appointed desk Instagram of, it looked like kind of a teaser shot, really, with the way that she, the photo that she used. Maybe they're not allowed to post full images of it yet. I don't know. But a Star Wars line of Schaefer pens.

Myke Hurley: I'm not going to lie, Myke. I miss this at the show. When you put this in here, this is the first time I've seen this.

Brad Dowdy: Now, look at these bad boys and girls.

Myke Hurley: They look fantastic. They are.

Star Wars Pens

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I'm very excited about these. So what it looks like to me is an R2-D2 pen, a Boba Fett pen, and I'm assuming just like a generic Empire. But these look fantastic. These are the Star Wars pens I want.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, exactly. Until you find out the price, which we don't know. Which, the cross pens were awesome. They were just $450 for a fountain pen. I know. Yeah. But, so, we'll see. I mean, I hope these don't cost that much, because they don't look like they should cost that much. But they look really, really great. And that looks more Yoda to me than Boba Fett. The green one?

Brad Dowdy: Hmm.

Myke Hurley: I can't tell.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, no, you're right. That's probably Yoda. With the ears. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: The ears on the logo.

Brad Dowdy: I didn't notice that. I was thinking, like, oh, they're available.

Myke Hurley: I've had to, like, upscale this.

Brad Dowdy: Oh. Huh. Okay. Well.

Myke Hurley: Let's go find them. I haven't looked at them yet.

Brad Dowdy: Let's just talk about this in the current, the fact that these pens are currently available. I'm looking at them on an English site, John Lewis. They have them available, and they are £16 each, Brad. Which is. What? Literally nothing. And I'm going to buy 100% of all of them.

Myke Hurley: Like, one six. One six. Like, 16. 16.

Brad Dowdy: What? They're rollables. Are they fountain pens? Rollable pens. I don't even care. There are fountain pen versions, though, which I don't see on here. Right? But that's what Anna's looking at. It looks like to me that they are fountain pens in Anna's image.

Shaper Pens

Brad Dowdy: But they are. Yeah. It's Yoda, R2-D2, and Darth Vader. Shaper pens. They look just like that, but they have rollable versions that are £16 each.

Myke Hurley: Okay. In the U.S., the first sight that popped up was Farnies. And the fountain pens are $26. What? And the R2-D2 one looks even better in this picture than Anna's picture, because you can see the blue and the gray.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, my God. I'm going to buy all of them.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, this is pretty solid. See? Cross? You missed a huge opportunity. Yep. Even though they probably sold them all. I don't doubt that they sold them all, and a bunch of our listeners and friends bought those pens. But to have them be continually used and shown off and talked about, you miss a little bit of opportunity when you're limiting your market like that. And maybe they just wanted to do something nice for Star Wars, and they were really, really nice pens. But I will literally buy all three of these, and you're going to see them on my desk and in pictures for years and years to come, just because of the price point. And they're kind of cool. Cool.

Brad Dowdy: Can you send me that link to Farnie's?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It's in the... I'll put it in the show notes, but it's in the chat room right now.

Brad Dowdy: Wow.

Myke Hurley: But yeah. Really, really cool. These are amazing, Brad. So, live follow-up there.

Brad Dowdy: Man, I need to buy all of them. I need to find someone in the UK that's selling all of them.

Myke Hurley: Myke's ready to end the show right now, so he can go shopping. Although that's never precluded you from shopping live on the show before.

Brad Dowdy: But these are just wonderful. These are really, really amazing. Looking pens. They just... They totally look like Star Wars pens. You know what I mean? Like that... Yeah. I'm super excited about this. I just need to find somewhere that will sell me them. Please, can somebody sell me these pens? That's all I want.

Myke Hurley: I'm sure it won't take long. If it's Schaefer's big enough and the price point is good enough, that they'll probably be everywhere. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: The rollerballs...

Myke Hurley: I'm in.

Brad Dowdy: What do you think? Do you think rollerball fountain pen? Because, I mean, how good are the fountain pens going to be for $20?

Myke Hurley: I mean, not great, but I'll probably buy maybe two fountain pens and one rollerball or something like that, because we can always put different refills in it. I'm not sure what refills they use, but it should be something pretty normal. I bet you could be swapped into something good.

Brad Dowdy: I bet you could do a better job of replacing the refill than the fountain pen nib. Maybe.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I mean, I'm sure this is probably... I don't know who does Schaefer's nibs. It's probably a pretty common fitting. You know, something like Schmidt. Who knows? I don't know.

Brad Dowdy: If anyone finds these available in the UK in the fountain pen, please let me know.

Myke Hurley: So, let me pull up the Schaefer rollerball refill. Oh, that's kind of a weird refill.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I'll have to do some more research. That looks like a very unique, maybe proprietary type refill. So, we'll see. We'll do some researching. But, yeah. Very cool. These are awesome. Yeah. I totally missed that, and they happen to be available. So, good job by us.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Well, I mean, you know, late breaking news or something, I guess. Yeah. Is that what this is? Yeah. Late breaking news. All right. So, we'll follow up on that, I'm sure. Yes. Brad has once again been contacted by the world's media for a quote. This is it becoming a frequency of which I am uncomfortable with now. How many times you keep getting your name printed by a massive news organization. This time, it's Bloomberg. And Bloomberg wrote a really interesting and super surprising to me huge article and kind of profile about Nakaya.

Myke Hurley: It was a huge article, wasn't it?

Company Turnaround

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Like, basically talking about how this company, whilst kind of facing going bankrupt or like just going away, turned its business around and focused on their quality and then became who they are today. It's really interesting.

Myke Hurley: So, you saw who wrote this article, right? Our good friend, June Thomas. Our good friend, June Thomas. So, it's all about who you know, Myke. Not necessarily about what you know. But she went on a... When we talked to her, she did one of my favorite episodes of this podcast. We'll put it in the show notes if you haven't listened to it. She took us on a New York City stationary tour on the show. That's been a great episode. I've linked to it a bunch for people traveling to the city. And a lot of people have mentioned that they've used that show. And after that show, I knew she was going a few months later to Japan for a couple of weeks. And she got the opportunity to do this. And she came back and she pitched this story idea to, I guess it was Bloomberg at the time. I don't know if that was the first place she pitched it to or whatever. And she got it and was nice enough to think of me and give me a call and get my thoughts on the brand and the pins and why they're so special. And I really appreciate her doing that. So, thank you, June. And everyone, be sure to go follow her work at Slate. And she does some awesome, awesome stuff.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I'm super surprised that... I mean, obviously, June does good work. And I know that, right? But I'm really surprised that someone like... I can't just a company like Bloomberg would take it. Like, it's just such a niche article. But it is interesting, I guess, to a business magazine or website. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: And this is under their, like, luxury subheading. Yeah. Right? So, it's not like in the Bloomberg News area. But still, I mean, it's still Bloomberg. It still gets read by, you know, quite a few people. So, yeah, it was exciting. And actually, I had forgotten about it because it had been about two or three months since we did the interview. We talked on the phone for about, you know, 30 minutes going through all this. And, you know, and then I forgot about it. Then the link started showing up on Twitter. I was like, oh, cool, it's out. And then I read the article. I was like, she did such a great job. Obviously. It was a great article.

Brad Dowdy: I got to meet June extremely briefly at the DC Pen Show.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Like, I felt bad I didn't get to spend more time with her. Like, she was there. And that was one of the times when, like, the aisle was, like, super crowded. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I think I was just coming back from something. And I walked around the corner and there was just, it was just body to body. And I was like, I need to get behind the table. It was one of those moments, probably on Saturday.

Myke Hurley: Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. So, I wish I would have got to spend more time with her. Same. But we'll see her again soon, I'm certain.

Brad Dowdy: Hope so. That was really cool. Obviously, I'm just, you know, so happy to see you quoted in all of these massive websites and blogs and stuff. You're so fancy.

Myke Hurley: That was cool. That was cool. I really appreciated her thinking of me. And that's one you can send to, like, the in-laws who don't know what you do, but Bloomberg means something to someone.

Brad Dowdy: And you're like, oh, you know, okay, cool.

Myke Hurley: I still don't get what you do, but cool.

Brad Dowdy: Hey, Brad, I have a question for you.

Myke Hurley: Yes, Michael.

Brad Dowdy: Are you a thinker?

Myke Hurley: I am not a thinker.

Notebooks

Brad Dowdy: Okay, good, because that means you can keep your notebooks in regular rectangular shape, because apparently thinkers require triangular notebooks.

Myke Hurley: Okay. So, I'm going to jump in right now. Okay. I'm going to stop you right here. I purposely didn't put this in the show notes the last few weeks, because I didn't want to talk about it. And you and I have not discussed this, but you clearly knew what I was going to say about this, right?

Brad Dowdy: Look, people want to make stuff. I get it. I get it, right? Like, I understand it. We both do this stuff. And I appreciate that. You know? Yeah. And, like, if you think you have a great idea, go for it. Like, all you're going to do is just not get there, right? And as long as you haven't sunk a ton of money into it, which you shouldn't before a Kickstarter campaign anyway, like you shouldn't put your life savings into something, then fine. But sometimes you have to ask yourself the question of why doesn't this thing currently exist? And this is one of them. So, this is a Kickstarter campaign, which still has 27 days to go, for the Slice notebook, which is a notebook for thinkers. This notebook is a triangular notebook, which opens up to become a square notebook. I don't understand this. I don't know why anyone would need this notebook. Like, it doesn't make sense to me.

Myke Hurley: It seems more of a usability issue than a usability, you know.

Brad Dowdy: Benefit.

Myke Hurley: Improvement or benefit, yeah. It seems very, very challenging. I'm clearly not thinking enough to be able to use something like this. And, plus, isn't notebook for thinkers already taken by Baron Fig? It's like you could have looked at that a little bit more before dropping that in your tagline.

Brad Dowdy: I might suggest that that is why it's in there. Yeah. Right? Like, as opposed to just being simultaneous creation.

Myke Hurley: But then that makes you question it even more, right? If, was that done purposefully? Because they want to get someone else's mojo. So, yeah. That's not cool. But, you know, like you said, I don't want to dissuade people from doing things that they believe in. And Kickstarter is the perfect place to do that because you're going to find out pretty quickly. If you have something or if you don't. Yep. And I think this was at least a 45-day project. If not, I don't know if they do longer than that. This has been around for weeks. And they still have 27 days to go. And they're only about half their goal right now. Yeah. August 15th. Which is only $5,000.

Kickstarter

Brad Dowdy: It launched August 15th. So, they went for the big, long project.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So, and there's lots of questions around just the manufacturing of this in general. You can hit your comment button there and see some very interesting questions and some very lack of answers type of things. So, you know, I'm just, I mean, I'm running, not walking away from this. Not because of that, but because I just don't think it's a useful product for me.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's, you know, I don't like to just do things to laugh at people. But this, I mean, I kind of, I couldn't resist this one. I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist it. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: And I had resisted, but you usurped me. And, yeah, I was not going to call attention to it because I was getting it on Twitter. And I was just like, there's that, just no. Please no.

Brad Dowdy: But we do have some great products to talk about today. Yeah. But before we do.

Myke Hurley: I'm anxious to hear what you think about this next one. But before we do, yes, you go. Before we do.

Brad Dowdy: I've just come back from a bunch of travel. So, I'm in the perfect space right now to talk about Away. Away are a team of thinkers, real thinkers. Seekers and designers. And that's why they've made smart premium suitcases for under $300. So your luggage doesn't cost more than your plane ticket. And look, if you're anything like me, what do you need most when you're traveling? More battery. That's why when you buy an Away suitcase, you can charge all your devices while you travel. Because both of their amazing carry-ons feature USB ports of a battery large enough to charge your phone five times from just a single charge of that battery. Go to awaytravel.com slash penaddict right now and you can browse all of their suitcases. They're made with premium German polycarbonate, which is unrivaled in strength and impact resistance, whilst remaining lightweight. Away offers four sizes of suitcase. The carry-on, the bigger carry-on, the medium and the large. And they have nine great colors for you to choose from, all at a fair price. Away cut out the middleman so you can get first-class luggage at coach prices. Away's suitcases have a patent pendant compression system, which is great if you're an overpacker, along with four 360-degree spinner wheels. And Away's carry-ons are all compliant with major US airlines, whilst maximizing the amount that you can pack, with a TSA combination locks built right into them as well. One of my favorite features about the Away suitcases is that they feature a removable, washable laundry bag as well, so you can separate your clean clothes from your warm ones whilst you travel. So I have an Away carry-on, and Adina just bought an Away carry-on as well. She bought one of the bigger carry-ons, which for her, she's a small person, that big carry-on is actually the case that she used for an entire week's worth of travel. Oh, wow. Exactly. And this is because they have this compression system. So she was like, I'm not sure if I bought the right one, right? She wanted an Away suitcase. She really wanted the battery. So she went with the bigger carry-on, hoping that it would be big enough for her rather than getting one of the medium or large suitcases, which are awesome, but don't have the battery in them. And it ended up fitting her perfectly. She had space to spare, even. So we have two Away's in this house now, and it comes with the seal of approval from our household. Away believe in the quality of their products, which is why they offer a lifetime guarantee. If anything breaks, they'll fix or replace it for life. And they also have a 100-day trial with a no-questions-asked return policy, with free shipping on any order within the lower 48 states of the US. Travel smarter with the suitcase that charges your phone. To find out more about Away, go to awaytravel.com slash penaddict. And if you use the code penaddict at checkout, you'll get $20 off any of their suitcases. That's awaytravel.com slash penaddict with the code penaddict, as one word, for $20 off. Thank you so much to Away for their support of this show and RelayFM.

Myke Hurley: I need to look at this. And I mentioned that last time. After going through this year of travel, my travel kit is worse for wear. So I use the Tom Ben Aeronaut 48. It's perfect. It's not. It's my main clothes-packing suitcase. But now I have to travel with... And it's a carry-on size. But now I have to travel with at least two bags. So I need to look at the bigger size Away to fit all the other stuff that I need when I travel for knock and go to pen shows and things like that. I'll tell you, man.

Brad Dowdy: So I have the regular size carry-on, which I love. But that bigger one is fantastic. It's huge. It's actually really big, but it still fits within what you're allowed to bring on a plane. So I would take a look at that one.

Myke Hurley: All right. So when I was... When I saw last night, you put the slice in here. I had gotten another link on Twitter about another Kickstarter project called RollGut, which... Okay.

Myke Hurley: The name is interesting. But the product I actually find kind of compelling because it looks really well done. I couldn't use a product like this. It's essentially like a tube that rolls up. It's not a physical tube, but it rolls up into about the size of a pen wrap, but it contains a pad of paper. And then also an internal, like, I don't know, pen storage, if you will, inside it. I don't necessarily get this, like, on a personal level. Like, I couldn't use this, but I'm kind of intrigued by what they did here. What do you think about this?

Brad Dowdy: So I'm struggling to understand how the paper goes in. That's my hangup. I'm a little bit confused about that part. Like, the images and stuff, it doesn't really show me how it works. I think there's, like, some kind of clip in the back which flicks up. Like, it's a little bit confusing, but I'm assuming that it works fine. Yeah. Okay. I mostly agree with you. This is a product that I don't want, but can see why somebody would want to. So it says it features an integrated clipboard. So I'm assuming you just put loose paper in and clip it shut, which is kind of how it looks, right? Yeah. I think that's how it works. It has kind of like a clipboard. So you just pull up the wooden part, put it underneath, and clip it back down again, and then it holds the paper in place. It looks really nice. It looks great. I tell you, like, I can see a use case for this if you, like, like to draw in nature.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Like, if you're on the go and needs a small profile writing kit or drawing kit or sketching kit, I can see this. For me, since I don't do that, I would cringe at the rolled up, possibly wrinkled paper and having it curve back. Like, it would annoy me more than I would get the usefulness out of it. But I see the usefulness out of it. I appreciate the design that they did here. I think it's really cool. I mean, it's not for me, but I kind of dig this thing.

Brad Dowdy: Also, I've dug through the page a little bit and worked out why it's called Rollgut. Because in German, Volgut, V-O-L-L-G-U-T, means great stuff. Gotcha. Well, this looks pretty great. That's why it's called Rollgut. So, yeah. This is a really nice product. It is just not, it's not something that I would use.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Yeah. So, anyway, I thought it was super interesting. And this is the kind of stuff I like seeing on Kickstarter, right? It's super unique. Yeah. This is ingenious.

Brad Dowdy: We have a real use to it in the way that I feel the Slice Notebook doesn't have. Like, the Slice Notebook, for me, is kind of just like, here is an idea. Like, without really, it doesn't really feel like the idea was fully thought through. Right. You know?

Myke Hurley: So. Right. All right. All right. So, that concludes our Kickstarter portion of the show. At least for this week. There's always something interesting popping up on Kickstarter. Kickstarter, what popped up in my email yesterday was this note from Blackwing. And it's kind of, in the end, not a big deal. But for people who have followed them since the beginning, it's a really cool thing that they did. They updated the design of their basic pencil. So, they have three basic pencils. The original Blackwing, the Blackwing Pearl, and the Blackwing 602. Which is the pencil that I use the most. And the 602 did not come out at launch. The Blackwing did. Then it was followed by the Pearl. And then the 602 came like a year later, I think. I may have my dates wrong. And when the 602 came out, it was supposed to be the closest throwback to the Blackwing 602 that everyone loves so much. And they launched it with a black eraser. And everyone's like, well, you had this great opportunity to mimic this classic style of pencil. And you didn't make it with a pink eraser. Now, you can buy pink erasers, you know, aftermarket or secondhand. Not secondhand, but as an accessory item. You can buy all different color erasers. Like, I bought orange erasers for mine. But this is perfect. Like, this is kind of what they should have done since the beginning. And since they added that pink eraser, which I think is a really important callback to the original, and I'm glad they did it. They updated a little bit of the other two first Blackwing 602 that came out. So the Pearl now has gold stamping and a white eraser. And the original Blackwing now has the black eraser. So it's really cool. It's, you know, a small minor change. But I like their thinking here. And they did a really good job with the updates. So, you know, I don't need to rush out and get more because I can always buy pink erasers and have enough 602s. But I'm glad they did that callback in the 602. So, for the future.

Brad Dowdy: I don't have a ton to say about this, but if it makes you happy, then I'm happy.

Myke Hurley: It makes me happy. And that's all we care about on this show, Myke.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I do agree with the idea of like, okay, sure, you can buy erasers and put them in yourself, but why not just sell it to me the way that people expect it to be or want it to be? You know what? I just feel like just sell that.

Myke Hurley: Yep. Yep. So, you know, hey, things change. You know, they're trying to do something different in the beginning. And, you know, they make a pivot. And it's been all good. So I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this. Next, Penn, you have some questions.

Sailor Pro Color Stardust

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So this is a review on the Well Appointed Desk. Amazing. Third host, Anna, wrote a review about the Sailor Pro Color Stardust, which I put this in originally because I saw her posting image of it and thought, that's a beautiful Sailor 1911. So I put it in the show notes for me to look at later on. Then yesterday, when I opened up my notes document to read through all the articles I'd saved, I found out that this is not a Sailor 1911. It is a new line, I think. It seems like a new line called the Pro Color line.

Myke Hurley: They've had them off and on for a little bit. And what it is, is the entry-level 1911 type model with a steel nib.

Brad Dowdy: I don't understand how this pen is $60. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I mean, it seems pretty, I mean, it seems like a really good price. Yeah. You know, these, they've started to do more special materials like the Galaxy here, which I kind of hate that they did that since they did the Galaxy in limited edition. I think the Pro Color should have its own special colors. I mean, the Pro Gear. Oh, sorry. What is this called? This is the Pro Color. Too many saved. I think the Pro Color shouldn't be using the same materials that previous limited editions used. But in general, I like the idea of it. They made a couple of other entry-level pens. One of them is called the LeCoule, I believe. And it's more of the Pro Gear shape with a steel nib. And they're like $40 or $50. You know, they're pretty good. It's just, it's essentially Sailor's entry-level steel nib pens. Well, not entry-level. They have, because they have the Hiace Neo and a couple of the Clear Candy and some other things like that. But it's kind of a mid-range steel nib pen. And yeah, for $60, I definitely need to try one of these to see how it would hold up or compare to other things in the price range. You know, that's where you're talking Twisby's or Pilot Prerra's or Kaweco's. For $60, it seems pretty good.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. I mean, it looks fantastic. I'm glad they're expanding this line. Right? Like, it looks so good. And it's a Sailor pen. Like, what a great way to get introduced to this line of pens.

Myke Hurley: Yes. I'm glad to see them expanding this line.

Brad Dowdy: But it's also something that's impossible to buy right now, obviously.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. They've kind of been around in this price range, but they've never really pushed them. And then I started seeing them, what, about a year or two ago, they were making some solid colors in this range. But if they can do some fun colors, just don't use the... I don't like that they use the limited edition Stardust, though, on a standard pen. I don't know. Maybe that's just me. Unless this one's like a limited edition, too. Maybe that's also why it's out of stock.

Brad Dowdy: That might be the case. This one actually may be limited.

Platinum Pen

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Maybe so. Maybe so. So, the pen I reviewed this week, and I've already talked about on the podcast before how much I liked it, the Platinum 3776 Shunggyu. Yep. You wanted to talk about my review on that one? Because I got that posted this week.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I just found it interesting because there's kind of these two parts of the review, these two lines, which I thought were interesting when put together. You said, I never used a stock nib that felt like this, and it fit my writing style perfectly. And this is the Pilot Hi-Tech C 0.3mm gel ink pen of the fountain pen world. Because you're talking about the soft, fine nib, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So, it's almost two different reviews. It's like the style and look and feel of the 3776 and this beautiful red and rhodium-bladed limited edition barrel, and then the nib. So, because I tried the soft, fine nib. And I mentioned it when I first got it, how unique this nib felt for me. It's really soft, but doesn't flex. I mean, it's got some spring in it, and there's a little bit of line variation if you push it, but it's by no means a flex. But it's got like a bounce to it. But I thought my line would be wider in width than it was. It ended up being a very fine, thin line, and I enjoyed it. I was like, wow, this is great. And I've always been asked, you know, what pen, what fountain pen can I get that writes like one of, you know, my favorite super fine gel pens. And a lot of times, anything you can get, like Pilot had the best extra fine steel nibs. If you could find them and you could modify some existing pens, move, you know, pens around from, they had the Pilot penmanship with the extra fine nib that a lot of people would put those in a Metropolitan or a Prayer or something like that to get that extra fine style. Or you'd have to get the extra fine nib unit for the vanishing point, which wasn't all that common years ago, but now it's become easier to get. And those were always kind of my go-to answers for if you wanted a super fine gel ink line and a fountain pen, that's what you get. Well, this one is even different than those because of the softness, it requires very, very little writing pressure to make a very fine, clean, neat line. And I enjoyed it. But the more I used it, I realized, you know, it's by no means a perfect nib. Um, and there's some gotchas. And I wrote and wrote and wrote. I wrote a ton with it because I was very curious about it. And if I had my writing angle wrong, it wouldn't write well, you know, or. Like if I twisted my hand a little bit and the angle wasn't right, I couldn't hit the sweet spot right. And it was very, very particular. And then it hit me that that's exactly what the, this is how I feel about the Pilot Hi-Tech C, which is my favorite gel ink pen, but a lot of people hate because it is so particular. Sometimes it's a little bit dry. When you start, it needs a little bit of priming to write with. But when it's going well, it makes my letters look better than any other pen I own. And I'm kind of getting that feel from the Soft Fine Platinum nib. And I wanted to be sure in the review that I talked about how particular this was. This is not, I'm not going to go out and just rave about this nib and say, everyone should get this nib and it's awesome and wonderful. Because it's not, like it's not going to work for a lot of people. And I saw that in San Francisco. Anna wanted to try my pen. And she is a lefty like you. And she just started writing with it right away. And she's like, oh, this is amazing. And I'm going to go try to find one. And then she'd hand it around to a few other people. And I would watch them physically not be able to get ink to come out of this nib. Like they could not write with this pen. I was like, oh. And Anna saw the same thing. And she's like, you know, I've given it to this person and that person. And like, they hated it. Like they couldn't even write with it. But look at me. Like I have this and look at the line go. And it feels awesome. And I'm going to go get one. So there wasn't a lot of middle ground in the soft fine. And I even had our good friend Dan Smith at the Nibsmith tweeted at me yesterday after he read the review. And from someone who, he number one sells platinums and number two repairs nibs and modifies them. He said Brad's experience is spot on with the SF nib out of the box. Right. So having, you know, someone who has to deal with these nibs on a multiple user basis, he sees the same thing. So it's an interesting nib. It's one of those products. And we all have products that are particular to us. And this is one that's very particular to me. I really enjoy it. I love it. I'm going to use it a lot. But it's hard to recommend to other people in that nib. So that's just kind of wanted to say about the soft fine nib. Because in general, I would recommend the 3776 as a pen in a normal nib to anyone. I think it's great. But this nib is super particular. And there's a chance you might not like it.

Brad Dowdy: It always underscores the benefit, like underscores the message of if you are able to try a pen before you buy it, that is always a good thing. Yep. Right. Especially if you're buying something you've not had before. So like if you want to buy one of these soft fine nibs, try and find a way to try it or buy it from a place that has good return policies. Yep.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. I don't think this one would work for me. Like if the Aurora didn't even work for me, right? Like I literally just couldn't get ink to come out of it.

Myke Hurley: So I assume this is probably very similar. Right. And unfortunately for you, that's kind of my style. So when you grab some of the pens that I use regularly, you're going, ew, gross. I hate this thing.

Brad Dowdy: That might be why whenever I use a pen of yours that I love, I immediately buy it. Right? Because it's like if we can both use the same pen, it must be incredible.

Myke Hurley: That's true. That's true. You know what else is incredible, Myke?

Brad Dowdy: I most definitely do. It's Squarespace. Enter the offer code INK at checkout and you'll get 10% off your first purchase. Make your next move with Squarespace. They'll let you easily create that website for your next idea. Or if you're like me, not even necessarily an idea. It can just be an important thing in your life. I am working with creating a wedding site for our upcoming wedding on Squarespace. So I've known about this for a while. I remembered when Squarespace introduced like the template specifically for weddings. So it's always been in the back of my head and it's awesome. So like one of the best things that we've been able to do so far, we set up an RSVP page. So whenever we get around to actually sending the RSVPs, which is a whole story for another time, because it's it turns out this stuff is really difficult to do, especially if you have international guests. But when they do finally get to our Squarespace website, there's a little form that people will fill out. They'll click a button and then because Squarespace is so amazing, it's integrated with Google Sheets and it just fills everything out into a spreadsheet for us. It's just so cool. Squarespace, think of everything. They do it all. No matter what type of website you want to make, whether it be a blog, portfolio, an online store, a page for an event, a page for your business. Squarespace have all of the tools right there. They are the all in one platform. It's nothing to install, no patches to worry about, no upgrades needed, and they're always adding amazing new features that you can take advantage of. They have award winning 24 seven customer support. You can easily and quickly grab a unique domain name. And there are loads of fantastic templates. Some are general purpose. Some are really like tailored for a specific thing, but you can use and work with any of them. Squarespace plans start at just $12 a month. You can sign up for a free trial, no credit card required. Just go to squarespace.com to do that. Then when you decide to sign up, use the offer code INK, I-N-K, and you'll get 10% off your first purchase and show your support for the pen addict. We thank Squarespace for the continued support of RelayFM. Squarespace, make your next move, make your next website.

Myke Hurley: So I wanted to hit on a couple of email follow-ups and questions that we've had from previous episodes, including this one. The original question was from listener Logan, who's talking about what to use when he hikes the Appalachian Trail. And we have a listener who did just that and documented the entire trip. So let me read this email. It says, I just listened to the latest pen addict podcast with regards to the AT pen recommendation. I through-hiked the AT in 2015 and carried a Kaweco AL Sport fountain pen with me the entire trip, filled with Faber-Castell carbon black cartridges. I always carried two cartridges, with my mom sending me a replacement when I put the second into the pen. So let me stop right there. We talked about how you're through-hiking, you know, like a 2,000-mile trail, you have people send you things in advance. You know, where you go off the trail, you have off-trail days, you go pick up supplies and things like that. So that's what he means when he had cartridges sent in advance. I wrote in my journal every day of the trip and went through about 12 cartridges in my six months on the trail. I also had a pencil just in case, but never used it. The fountain pen worked like a charm, even when the paper was damp. Obviously, if it was wet, I wasn't writing, but my journal did get damp from humidity and such, but I never had a problem. About halfway through, I took a week off-trail to go on a motorcycle trip, and while at my apartment, I washed the pen and nib, but I don't know that I needed to as I was having zero issues. If Logan or you want to read more or have any questions, the blog is at spendthecompass.com, where I documented my trip. And if you have any questions, you can get in touch with Jason there. So thank you, Jason, for sending in this real-world feedback from what you used. Number one, I didn't know Faber-Castell had carbon black cartridges, so that was new to me. So I'll have to look into those. It's another option. But I'm glad the Kaweco AL Sport worked. You know, it's a little heavier than just the Sport or Sport Classic. It's the aluminum barrel, but it's going to be awfully durable, and it was a good idea to have those cartridges shipped to future destinations so you can pick them up and didn't have to carry them. So very cool. This is the awesomest kind of feedback, right? When someone's done the thing, that's like the big thing that you want to do.

Brad Dowdy: So good suggestions, and obviously, it comes with great weight, as you say, if you've already done it, right? Like, how much better can it be? Like, we can sit here and make our recommendations, but we have no real experience and context for it. So thank you, Jason, for writing. Just dreams. We just have dreams. Yeah, just dreams. Grand plans.

Myke Hurley: All right, so this next question is from Michael, and he sent me an email, and I said I wanted to handle this on the show because I thought it was an awesome question. It says, Hello, Brad and Myke. I have a fairly small fountain pen collection consisting of two sailors and four platinums. They are all extra fine or ultra extra fine, except for my Platinum Cool, which is an F nib, so you can tell where my tastes run. I've tried some Western nibs before and haven't found one that I really liked yet. My question is regarding the standard Yovo and Bach nibs that so many pen manufacturers use. Companies like Franklin Kristoff and Edison and Ryan Krusek are making some fantastic-looking pens, but my concern is those standard Yovo or Bach nibs that they are all using. What are individual pen makers doing to make their nibs stand out from the crowd like Platinum and Sailor do? I just can't see spending hundreds of dollars on a fancy pen body when the nib is a regular old Yovo, especially when they don't get as fine as the Japanese extra fines that I like. For me, the nib feel and writing experience is the most important in choosing a pen. The pen body is a distant second place. Thoughts?

Brad Dowdy: So can I start?

Myke Hurley: Yes.

Nib Customization

Brad Dowdy: So from my experience, whilst these companies do tend to use these nibs because, well, the nibs have to come from somewhere, right? Like, you know, Franklin Kristoff or Edison, they're not going to make nibs because I just don't think that they have the capacity to do that at scale to make it worth it. Because I imagine it is a big manufacturing process and quite expensive when there are companies that make what most people consider to be good nibs, right? So the base comes from somewhere. But what I've experienced with both of these companies is that they will tune and grind them into completely different grinds or tune them to your own style. And, you know, of course, you can get this kind of service at Pen Show. But like Franklin Kristoff, they have specific grinds from Myke Masayama that they will sell to you that he has done to these nibs. So I think that there is definitely some room for maneuvering in there. And I think that especially when you get into these expensive pens, they are more than willing to do something for you with the nib if they don't already sell it as like a standard thing. Because these companies, these manufacturers, they know what they're selling are expensive pens. So I think they'd like to go the extra mile for it. That's my experience.

Myke Hurley: Totally agree with everything you just said. So there are things that these manufacturers are doing, like customization, that you can't necessarily get from a stock nib. And how Michael mentions, you know, the nib feel and writing is the most important. The pen body is a distant second place. For these manufacturers, the pen body is the most important thing that they're making. So it may not be a fit for you, like you say. If you're using Japanese extra fine and ultra extra fine, you're probably right. You know, the needle point from Franklin Kristoff would be right up your alley. But you're paying for Franklin Kristoff's barrel work.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, if you value this way, like almost like stringently, like you really are, this is your way of valuing this stuff. Then maybe a lot of these manufacturers aren't for you. Like, yeah, maybe you should be sticking to companies who have hundreds of years of, you know, experience with making fountain pen nibs. Like maybe that's what you should look at. And I think for me, they go almost hand in hand. And like just depending on the pen, depending on the manufacturer, they move up and down as to what I'm looking for, whether it's a fantastic nib or a beautiful body. And Rez in the chat room puts it away that I love and I want to use the exact words. But like, I can't use a great nib in a terrible body of a pen. And I agree with that. Like, but you can give me a really great body of a terrible nib and I can just go about and try and fix that somehow, you know? Right. I think I may be, especially these days, especially over the last couple of years, I gravitate more towards pens that aesthetically please me. And then hope that they'll write a way that I find comfortable.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So I think platinum is the perfect one to group into this decision process because there's no doubt the nibs are amazing. Flat out. But it took me years to purchase a platinum because I thought the barrels were so weak that I didn't want to use them. Weak in design, not in technical weakness. They are light and things like that. But I mean, just the most basic, simple design that I didn't care if I could get a UEF nib, I would hate the look and the aesthetic of the barrel. So it just depends on what you're looking for in your writing experience. And, you know, you can get a combination of both things with both, you know, both sides of the ledger. You just have to do a little bit of work to find, okay, can I get a platinum with a fancier barrel and the amazing nib? Can I get a Ryan Krusak pen with amazing woodwork and get something done to the nib? So, yeah, it's a challenge. And, you know, not everything's for everybody. Like we discussed, you know, all the time in this podcast. That's why we have a podcast about pens because there's a million different variations and things people can get into and talk about and like. And it's about finding your personal thing. Those types of pens where the focus is on the barrel of the pen may not be for you. And that's cool if you found something that works for you so well, like Extra Fine and UEF Sailors and Platinum. So I thought this was a great email and something that I really wanted to cover because it's a question you kind of get a lot, especially when people are trying to figure things out. Well, why does this cost this? You know, what is this manufacturer all about? Things like that. So I thought it was cool.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, definitely.

Myke Hurley: All right. Let's hit a few ask TPAs. So Ben Crumback on the Twitters says, Brad, on episode of 271 of TPA, you mentioned you fill converters with a syringe. Any advantage to this over just refilling carts? I think the connection of the converter stays more stable than a cartridge. Eventually, you'll just have to throw the cartridge out if you feel it gets loose, but not really. I mean, there's no huge, you know, advantage. I've refilled several cartridges, especially like for Kawekos and things like that before there was a wealth of short international cartridges at my fingertips. I've refilled cartridges for Kawekos all the time. Eventually, you will loosen up that connection because it's not as strong as like the molded plastic connections you get on converters. So that's about it. But no, go for it. Refill your carts with a syringe. Definitely approved. So Bob at MyPenNeedsInc. Any suggestions on artificial lighting for a writing desk in a room with no windows? LED, incandescent, fluorescent, warm, cool, white, white. I don't know. And I'm asking this question because I want to know. This is a great question because I wonder, like my desk does not have a great lighting situation. So I have to go somewhere if I need a little bit of better lighting sometimes. So I'd like to hear from people, you know, what they use for like a really good lighting situation in a writing area. And I'm going to tell you why Bob's asking this because I've been following him on Twitter and notice in the last couple of days. He's fitting out a writing room or he's fitting out basically a non-digital room in his house. So he just moved a writing desk in there. There will be no electronics allowed in this room. So he's, I like where he's going with this. He's going to need candles then. Yeah. Well, he'll have electricity for lights, I guess. But I'm sure he means no computers, phones, things like that. Go all in. Go all in.

Brad Dowdy: Candles only.

Myke Hurley: There you go. You need to go Ben Franklin style, right? Yeah. So yeah. Let's, so I'm interested to see what he does here. But that's actually why he's writing because I saw a picture of him like moving in his writing desk and I'm building an analog room. So it looked pretty cool. All right. A. Yarev wants to know, how many wristwatches do you own? Why is it that so many pen lovers also like watches? Pen lovers like a lot of similar things. Wristwatches seem to be one of them. Then there's all kinds of like the EDC stuff, you know, that everyone seems to be into. And there's just a lot of like overlap and crossover from different types of groups. I don't have a wristwatch problem. I own two plus my Apple watch that I never wear. So I guess you could say I own three, but I only wear one. Um, and I don't, I haven't spent, spent stupid money on watches. Like I've spent stupid money on pens. Like the Timex that I wear was like a limited edition one, which set me back a whopping like $160. Right. I'm not spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on watches. And then my other ones, um, just a Seiko one that costs like $130. So I own two that I wear regularly and I did stop wearing my Apple watch because I needed that break from technology. I didn't need it on my wrist. Interesting. I get, I, I was really into the Apple watch. I was like, this is really useful for when I'm driving or traveling, but otherwise I didn't want to see it. Um, so I would, I started wearing it all the time and then I just started wearing it when I was traveling and then I stopped wearing it and just back to a traditional watch and I haven't missed it at all.

Brad Dowdy: Okay.

Myke Hurley: Yep. Um, you are strictly Apple watch, right? Or do you wear a mechanical watch at all?

Brad Dowdy: No, I don't, I don't own a mechanical watch. Um, but I am going to buy a mechanical watch before our wedding.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Because I don't want to have a Apple watch in our wedding photos because I think it will date the wedding photos.

Myke Hurley: Gotcha. That makes sense.

Brad Dowdy: Because it's going to look silly in the future, I think.

Myke Hurley: Did you get any watch information on your vacation last week from your co-host? One of your, your, your vacation hosts? Okay.

Brad Dowdy: The, we're, we're with the, with Marco. Tiff Ahmed, who are big watch nuts. And I, I, there is a watch that I have wanted for a while, which is because of Marco. Um, he had recommended a watch to me and both Marco and Tiff wear the most beautiful watches by this brand called Nomos. I've seen the pictures. Yeah. There is a watch that they make called, uh, the Datum Gang Reserve, which is just, it's wonderful. And it's the watch that I am going to buy at some point in the future because I love it, but it's like $3,000. Yeah. This watch is beautiful. It's no joke. Yeah. But I'm buying, you know, I will, it will be like a wedding thing. Right. Yeah. And so, yeah, this, this is part of something that I want to do for that. And, um, thinking about getting like a little engraving on the back or something.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Yeah. I will say I've, I'm always fascinated by watches when I was younger. I thought, you know, when I get older, I'm going to have that one watch, you know, like the Rolex or the, um, you know, the Omega, like I really liked the Omega Seamasters or like the, the Rolex oysters, any of the silver stuff. But like, I just haven't, like, I don't need to spend that money now that I'm older and wiser. I was like, Ooh, that's a lot of money. And this Timex is pretty sweet. And plus I need to buy expensive fountain pens. So I don't need another expensive hobby. That watch is my only expensive hobby.

Brad Dowdy: It's very nice. I like it. Yeah.

Watch Recommendation

Myke Hurley: I love that watch. Like, so that's the one. Um, it's, you can put it in the show notes cause I get asked about it constantly. It's a Todd Snyder Timex and I can get you the link.

Brad Dowdy: I can find it.

Myke Hurley: Yep. It should be easy to find. All right. Last one. And this is another awesome question. All of our, all of our questions are awesome. Thank you all for sending in the, the STPA tweets. And we'll tell you at the end how to send in more, but this is from mod watch, right? Uh, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. You got it.

Myke Hurley: Yep. So pastor, pastoral urban it, urban it. I don't know what this is. What's the best way to find out your, what your favorite nib size might be by a Lamy Safari and buy all the nibs. Get a dip pen set. Don't say pen show. I love that. I crack up every time I read this. Don't tell me to go to a pen show and try all these things.

Brad Dowdy: Go to a stationary exposition.

Myke Hurley: Travel to a local pen store. No, this is a good, this is a good question, right? So the, the way I approached it in the beginning was to understand what I liked in a Jell-O ballpoint pen and then read up a bunch on how I could duplicate that performance. And when I started, you know, I thought, well, extra fine is what I need. Well, as it turns out, the first pen I bought, the Lamy Safari extra fine, it was extra fine as far as a German fountain pen nib would be. But I didn't know that there was a difference at the time, right? That, oh, well, if I bought a Japanese fine nib pen, that would be finer. And if I could source a Japanese extra fine nib, that would be even finer. So to find out your favorite, it is going to take a little bit of effort. But understand what you're trying to do, what your writing style is. Is it cursive or print, you know, block or, you know, small, large. And I'm happy to talk about these things. And you can email me, send me a comment and say, I get these emails all the time. This is exactly how I write, what I write, what I'm looking for in a pen. These are the pens I currently like. Is there a fountain pen that's going to give me this type of thing? It's very, very rare where that answer is no. So there's almost always something that we can find. And I'm glad to help you out and discover these things to help you save a little bit in the beginning. So you're not buying something that you really dislike and it turns you off from fountain pens. Or you feel like you wasted your money and things like that. But I'd really take a look at yourself first. What your current likes are. What your current style is. Do some research on what you think might be a good fit for you. And then start asking questions before you even purchase. And dig a little bit deeper and try to narrow it down. So that's kind of what I would say. And this is something I'm glad to help out with all the time. It's something I do. I won't say weekly anymore. My email has gotten a little bit crazy. But I do reply to everybody. It just kind of takes me sometimes a week or two to get back to you. But I'm happy to help. So send an email my way with your specifics. And we'll see what we can do.

Brad Dowdy: All right. If you want to get your question in for the show, you can send us a tweet. You just tweet out into the world of hashtag AskTPA. And they go into a spreadsheet for us to pull from. So thank you to everybody that does that. You can contribute to the stationary.wiki, which is always a fantastic place to be. So you can go and find out information about stuff we discussed in the show. And also contribute as well. We really love that. The contributors are amazing. And the more the better on that one. The more the better.

Myke Hurley: It's really, really impressive.

Brad Dowdy: If you want to find Brad online, go to penaddict.com or knock.co, where you can find his writing and his products. He is penaddict on Instagram, dowdyism on Twitter, and I am iMike, I-M-Y-K-E. If you want to find the show notes for this week's episode, relay.fm slash penaddict slash 273. I want to thank everybody again who has become a Relay FM member in August. There's still more member specials to come, by the way, from other shows. So go to relay.fm slash membership and you can find out more and help support the show. We'd really appreciate that. But until then, until next time, Mr. Brad Dowdy, I would like you to say goodbye, Brad Dowdy.

Myke Hurley: Welcome back, Myke.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, no, you did it wrong.

Myke Hurley: Goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad. I'm gonna stop it.