The Pen Addict 334/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	334
Title:	Yes, I Am a Tastemaker
Release Date:	November 14th, 2018
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 334
Audio File:	Audio Episode 334
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 334
Length:	7676 min <br />1.267 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: Welcome to The Pen Addict.

Brad Dowdy: There's lots of stuff, there's lots of things for us to talk about, there's lots of follow-up for us to have, so I am looking forward to this episode for many, many reasons.

Feedback Discussion

Myke Hurley: Well, let's just get it started then. Let's start with some follow-up from last week. We did the Top 5 Pens episode. Feedback, as always, was wonderful from Pen Addict listeners, we really appreciate that.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, got lots of mails, lots of tweets.

Myke Hurley: Good, good. I saw something in Refill, though, your membership newsletter, which was pause for thought. After my goading of you to start talking about your favourite pens instead of just what you consider to be the best, you've decided that, I mean, and we're going to get into a bit more detail about this later on, kind of like from, I think, an emotional standpoint, but you have come to the decision that you will be publishing your Top 5 favourite pens, asterisk, on a monthly basis starting next year. Or quarterly basis, I should say. Sorry.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah, at least quarterly. You know, it's kind of a, we'll see how it goes, but I think the biggest feedback I got out of that entire episode, or just the list itself, was that, okay, this is great, you know, we're good with this, and I appreciate it, and I want to know what you're using. Just like over and over again. And I get it, I get it, and I can do better with that. So I'm taking that feedback to heart, and I'm going to start up in January, I'm going to shoot four, I'm going to shoot quarterly at first, and I don't know if I'm going to call it a Top 5, I don't know exactly what I'm going to call this new type of post that I'm going to do, but it's going to be based around me and what I'm using the most, or what I'm enjoying the most, or what I find the most compelling, kind of like my personal favourites type of list post. And that'll, I'll start doing, because the people, they're clamouring for it, Myke.

Myke Hurley: I saw in refill that you were wondering whether you should be including kind of all stationary items, or just pens, and I 100% think that you should just be, everything that you're using should be included.

Brad Dowdy: It's going to be everything.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I think that's a good idea. Here's just the five things that I like right now. It could change, it could not change. I think that's a good idea, because then, you know, you'll be able to accommodate for recency, and all that kind of stuff, so that'll be fun.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, yep, so I'm looking forward to it. I mean, that's pretty much, you know, my day-to-day life is using these things, so I might as well, and I never, like, take the opportunity to sit down and, like, write about, like, okay, what am I literally carrying every day for the past month? Like, I never write that type of post. So I'm going to start doing some more of that. I think it'll be good.

Myke Hurley: Over the past week, all of the notebooks have been released. Just all of the pocket notebooks have been released to the world. Anyone want to get in the notebook business?

Myke Hurley: Well, the pocket notebook business might seem like a tough one to get into right now. Do you want to start off by talking about the new story supply?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, because it's super cool. I love, so it's called Morning, like, simply that. Like, it's not called The Morning. It's not called In the Morning. It's not called Good Morning. It's Morning. And what this morning is, if I told you this notebook's going to be styled after morning, would this have been what you come up with?

Myke Hurley: Absolutely not, no. Absolutely not.

Brad Dowdy: But it's amazing. I love the story that they tell behind it and the feel of the design, right? It's a dark, cloudy fall slash wintry morning. It's cool. It's damp. It's really kind of a neat cover, the way it's displayed, the way the artwork is. I don't know. I thought it came out fantastic. What do you think about it?

Myke Hurley: I feel like the best, like, compliment I can give to this notebook is something that, like, I don't know if Story Supply would necessarily see it that way. But the best compliment that I can give is this looks like something that Field Notes would make. Sure. Just the design of it is, like, it looks technically complicated and there is a really cool theme going on. So, like, I'm not trying to say that they are copying anything. I'm not trying to say that it emulates anything. But just it looks like a really well thought out idea which has been communicated with a what I assume is technically difficult process or at least appears to be technically difficult to me. So, yeah, I feel like it's something that a Field Notes release would have been. So, I feel like that is a compliment.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I think it's high praise. I mean, I think it looks great. I love this. I gave a pack away last week and I know the winner was, like, super excited about it. And, you know, I know people are getting these into their hands now. And the paper is always awesome that they use for these notebooks. So, it's fantastic. And if you want more from the guys behind Story Supply, Gabe and Vito were on Art Supply Posse. I listened to that episode last week, I think, that it came out. They were interviewed by Anna at the DC Pen Show. So, that episode is out now. Art Supply Posse, episode 53. We'll have a link in the show notes to that.

Brad Dowdy: Next, on my agenda, Myke, you see what I did there? My agenda.

Notebook Introduction

Brad Dowdy: The pen puns and the stationary puns. You know, they're there for the taken. Write Notepad's meeting notebook, Myke. I have this sitting right here at my desk. It is a... I was going to say work of art. It's not a work of art. It is a technical wonder. I don't know. The way these notebooks feel and look in my hand is like, I can conquer the world with this thing. Like, the way Chris builds his products. They're like rock solid, purposefully made, high quality. Like, it feels like quality, you know, sitting here on the desk. I have the pistachio colored cover one. There's a black covered color one, which I sent to Jeff Abbott to review for the blog. And I am just... I love this style for... The way you put it, single purpose notebooks, right? So, what did you mean by that?

Myke Hurley: Should we explain what it is? So, it is a notebook in an interesting 7x10 format, which is quite a tall format, which has purposely printed pages that are made for meetings. So, it is a meeting notebook. So, it has like... I can't really very clearly see the columns on the website. So, can you explain what the columns say?

Brad Dowdy: Sure, sure. So, the top left is composer and date. So, I'm assuming that's you and the date. Top right is just kind of like a title space and page numbers, if you want. The left column is actions and the right column is notes. And the right column is lined and numbered.

Myke Hurley: Oh, if they're listening, I would like to give some feedback to the right notepad folks to make an image that you can clearly see this on their website. Right? Because they don't... The image isn't clear. Like, I know if I wanted to buy this notebook or if I was in the market for this notebook, I would want to be able to see what you've just told me. Because it is not possible to see the headings. So...

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, see all of it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Makes sense. I would want to see it.

Brad Dowdy: So, when I had my jobby job, this is the type of notebook that I wanted and I could never find it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, well, because you would just find a way to do it yourself, right? Like, in your own kind of like, I'm just going to write this part over here and this part over here and I'm going to highlight this thing in such a way. But it was always, you know, it's always kind of like messed up, mashed up on one page. Right.

Brad Dowdy: So, I used the Doan Idea Journal for that. You know, it's a big, bulky, heavy-duty notebook and I would separate it out how I needed to. At the time, these things existed, but I didn't... These types of things existed. Like, Levenger has like a meeting pad and Rhodia has a meeting notebook. But I didn't know of these things at the time until, you know, years on when I didn't really have a use for them. Like, I would have killed for this type of notebook at work. It's exactly the way I set up my work notes during the day. So, I don't know what I will personally use it for sitting at my desk here. But I want to figure out what it will be because I want to use it. It's really nice.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I mean, for the exact purpose that this thing is meant for, me and you don't really need so much anymore, I guess. Right? Right. There are many, many, many, many, many, many, many people around the world that would need something like this. But it's just because we don't really take traditional meetings anymore. You know, I have like phone calls and stuff like that. But this is really a more like we're all going to sit around a table for an hour or an hour and a half and we're going to get into it. Right? Like, that's what this kind of notebook is for. I mean, even just like if you are a note taker for meetings, like this is frigging perfect. Let alone the fact of like just the, you know, an average person doing it. But like if your job is to sit in meetings and take notes for people, like this is like a godsend. Oh, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I would have used the entire page, like at least a page a day in my old job. Like being on like a nine hour shift, you know, tasks and things that would come up and, you know, I could, you know, notate it properly. I don't know. It would have been perfect. So, it's great. Next one, Myke. I'm really curious to what you think. And it's probably not fair because you don't have it in your hand and I do. The dome paper box car. So, Chad introduced two new products. Well, three, but two new styles. So, we have the dome paper box car, which we're going to talk about first. And then we have the dot plot, which comes in the idea journal sizes, you know, the large and the small. So, what were your thoughts when you saw images of the box car utility notebook?

Myke Hurley: I don't really have much of a feel for it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That's kind of what I thought you would say, not having it in hand. Like, not like I thought it would be, I don't get it. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I don't dislike it. Like, I don't look at it and be like, oh, no. But like, I don't look at it. Right. And I'm like, oh, I've got to have it.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So, I don't, this is another thing. I don't know what I would use this for. So, it has these railroad type lines and dashes is the page mark or the page markings. It'd be really good for like learning languages and writing and drawing and sketching, things like that. As far as a note notebook, I don't know how I would use it.

Myke Hurley: It's so close to being a full grid. I don't know what its purpose is. Right. So, basically the lines go across the pages horizontally and vertically, it's like a dot, like a dash pattern. A dash. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: But the dash is. The railroad track ish.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And that's kind of like Boxcar. I said, you know, like it's a railroad track. It's a clever, you know, it's a clever branding thing around what is essentially a donor come up with two new paper layouts. Right. This is one of them. I just don't fully understand it. I, you know, like Inc. Dependence in the chat room is saying maybe it's less distracting than a full grid. I don't see how that's the case personally.

Notebook Design Discussion

Brad Dowdy: I just replied in the chat room. I don't think so.

Myke Hurley: Because I think it's more distracting. Because the lines are so close together and they're so heavy. It, from just glancing at it, it looks like a full grid. Maybe if there were like the vertical lines were fainter, you know, like they were just like in a much lighter ink. Maybe that would help. Right.

Brad Dowdy: That's how a lot of the Japanese writing pads are. So they'll be lined and then they'll have a faint vertical. Right. And this is a same tone vertical. I'm going to give this a shot because I have a specific project that I'm just starting on and I think it might be good for this notebook. So I want to give this one a fair shot and see what I think. Like, I adore, let me just go out and say something you probably all know already. I'm a Chad Doan fanboy. I love his design style. Like the look and feel of his products.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. You are straight in the Doan zone, right? Like you were. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I am in the Doan zone. So this is just beautifully designed. Extremely well made. It's a really good price too. So these are five by seven notebooks. You get a three pack. How much is it? I think it's 12 bucks. Yeah. 12 bucks for a three pack of five by seven notebooks. It's pretty cool. What we haven't talked about yet is always been my favorite product of Doan paper, which is the Idea Journal. That's the big bulky thick cover, double wire bound, you know, crazy sturdy notebook. So this is that style. The dot plot is that style of notebook with the thick covers and the black cover like he did for the moon camera.

Myke Hurley: Yes. Seriously huge wire rows, like really big wire bound.

Brad Dowdy: This is a hardcore notebook in the best way possible. Like this is like my dream notebook. The gridded one, the grid plus lines. The dot plot, I think it's going to be good too. So it's dotted, but let's see, they're, they're wider than normal. They're a half inch spacing.

Myke Hurley: The 0.5 or 1.27 centimeter squares effectively is where the dots are plotted. This one I like way more. Yeah. Because it is, you know, it's not restrictive on you and it gives you more space. Like this one, I, this one, I totally get, like I get this.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So, but it's a different type of dot layout. I don't, it's, I mean, it's a dot grid, but it's not a dot grid. Like you'd normally think of a finer, like a five millimeter square gridded pattern. It's big and wide.

Myke Hurley: This reminds me of some paper that I used to use in mathematics in school. Had like, I don't remember why, but it had like seriously chunky dot grids. So, you know, I, I'm down on this. I think this one looks, looks pretty cool.

Brad Dowdy: So I'm actually going to go for the box car first to try that one out just because it's so weird. I want to see how I can, how I can use it and if it works for me.

Brad Dowdy: Last paper good, Myke. I think everyone knows what this one is. The new field notes clandestine edition. So it came out yesterday. I do not have them in hand. They have not arrived. They've shipped of course, and they've been released on the field notes site. What are your thoughts on this one?

Myke Hurley: So I don't feel like it's worth playing the game this time because I expect we both feel exactly the same about this, which is that it's like, it's a cool idea. I mean, black on black is just like, you're really appealing to a seriously core part of the field notes audience. But I reserve judgment on these until I see them because I think it's all about that cover. And from the way they've described it, it's like, it's called urban grave, metallic crown foil laid in an enigmatic dark matte finish surface. I need to touch it and see it. And I bet it's going to be a favorite of many, right? Like, it's like Raven's wing mark two, effectively.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. But they've done that before. They have pitch black now. I'm not like super thrilled by it. I mean, I'm pretty much on this on the same page as you. Like, it's fine. It looks awesome. It's going to be great. It's going to sell well. All those things. I mean, we clearly hold them at a different standard, fairly or unfairly. And like, they did like everything they should do for this, for what they are as a brand for this edition. And it's really good. I want to get them in hand, test them out, see what they're like. I do like the puzzle aspect of it, even though that's not really my thing. Like, I'm not going to participate in trying to figure out all the secrets and all that stuff. But we do have listeners that do. As a matter of fact, the Take Note podcast already has a shared spreadsheet. We'll link in the show notes of people collaborating to try to figure out the answers to the puzzles in this edition. So I think that's what this edition is about. It's more about the collective puzzle making than necessarily the edition. Because, like, we've got a lot of black notebooks from them. Like, it's not going to go into, like, my heavy rotation of what notebook I would use. So it's perfectly fine.

Myke Hurley: Because the subscribers get a cipher wheel. And there's, like, a code written inside of the notebook. So, you know, like, we always, we look at the year. So this has been a year now, right? So we had Coastal, Three Missions, Endpapers, and Clandestine. Or Clandestine. Clandestine feels to me like a back pocket idea. Right? Like, because this one, it feels like it fits comfortably in what they are able to produce on an easier basis. Right? Like, would be my assumption. And again, I'm really not trying to, like, make assumptions about the way that these companies work. But, like, just as an outsider's perspective. So it's like, we have this idea. It's a fun idea. People will really dig it. We'll use it when we need to use it. That's how it looks. I mean, this may have just been something they came up with, like, a week before. And they were like, we got it. But it is, what I'm trying to say is, it is of the three, of Coastal, Three Missions, or say the four, Endpapers, and Clandestine. It's clearly the most true to regular form. Right? Where it is a plain cover with a cool print of the name and then a fun idea that wraps around it.

Brad Dowdy: The funny thing is, I am one of the more traditionalist Field Notes fans. Right? The more basic the edition, the better for me, in general. And I think this is number four out of the list of four releases this year. Yeah, it probably is.

Myke Hurley: Well, I reckon it'll be number three for me because Endpapers just doesn't do it for me.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. But in the grand scheme of things, like, it's a really good notebook. Like, it's going to be good. So, yeah. Great edition. Fun movie, right? Little stealth movie.

Myke Hurley: Oh, easily their most high-budget looking. Like, this movie is very, very good. It looks like, honestly, it was a clip taken out of a high-budget movie. Like, it is shot fantastically. It is lit very well. Like, very, very well done promotional movie for this one.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so it's like a minute and a half long. I can't imagine the work that went in to just capture that minute and a half.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, it looks like a pretty, pretty serious thing that they've got going on. But, yeah, I think that this is a fun edition. This looks like it's going to tick a lot of people's boxes. You know, I reckon it will rank probably number three for me in the year. But I will say, you know, like, we've said it before, but now we have all of the additions so we can say it. Like, this is probably Field Notes' best year.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, like, there'll be other years where this notebook would be the number one. Yeah. Right? That's how good a year they had, in my estimation.

Field Notes Year Review

Myke Hurley: An absolutely excellent year. Like, easily for as long as we have been covering them on this show, this is the best year that they've had. There has been no, like, addition this year. You know? Like, and again, like, End Papers isn't for me, but I dig it in a way. You know, like, it's not a notebook that I want to use, but I can appreciate what they did with that one. Right. But all of the other ones are like, yeah, okay. Like, Coastal is one of my, probably one of my top five. Like, I absolutely adore that notebook. So, bravo, Field Notes. Bravo. You're going to get another renewal out of me. My renewal's coming up.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. I just did it for End Papers. So, yep. I think I've only gone, like, one year without doing it. So, yeah, I'm still on the train.

Myke Hurley: Although I am thinking about just buying one edition every day. Because I've got so, they're just, it's building up.

Brad Dowdy: It's, I need to work out what I'm going to do with all my extras at some point. We're going to talk about that come January-ish. Yeah. I've been working on something in the background.

Myke Hurley: Okay. Okay, cool. That sounds great. Talking about January-ish, the holidays will fall between now and January. And I have a great gift idea for you. Brad, should we talk about Harry's? Of course we should. Harry's knows, and we all know, that finding gifts for your loved ones is difficult. Do they really want more socks or pajamas? Why don't you get them something that they'll use every day, that they're going to love, and that they'll really want? You should buy them a gift from Harry's. Harry's razors and shaving products make the perfect gifts because they're super practical. And once they get immediately hooked on the product, it will cost them less than $2 each per razor because it's really fairly priced. You can personalize your Harry's razor to make the recipient feel extra special. You can choose from multiple razor handle colors and even have the option to engrave it for them, which is super cool. And the Harry's gift sets come in ready-to-gift, wonderful gift boxes. Now, Brad, these Christmas sets, these holiday sets, are amazing. So they've got a new color of the razor. So it's red on one side and blue on the other, which matches the box, which is super cute. The box, it's got like a foily look to it, but it's got like a nice kind of tartan pattern, which is super cool. They have really gone all out on these ones. These are absolutely beautiful. I love it. And I think it's going to make fantastic gifts for people. So this is some real good stuff this time. They always do like a special razor around the holiday season. And this red and blue, this double color one of the Winston, this is, I'm all about it. Like this one is my jam. I think this is a great color combo.

Brad Dowdy: Did you know that Harry's makes bath products as well? I did know. Bath soap and body wash. And they are used every day, which is 50% more than I use their shaving products. I don't know if I did that math correctly. I'm not really a math person. But they get used every day. And my razors only get used every other day. So that's a lot more times I use them. So their soap is awesome. That's probably my favorite product of the bath products. But they smell great. They feel great. They are lasting a long time. Like this soap has lasted me for, I don't even know. I should have put a calendar date on it because it's lasted forever. It's a big chunky bar of soap that does not disappear quickly. And, you know, keeps me fresh like Harry's always does.

Myke Hurley: I know our listeners are going to hear about this. And it's a special offer for listeners of this show. We've partnered with Harry's. This is a special deal. And you do this at holidays. You can listen up. You can get $5 off any gift set, including their limited edition holiday sets, when you go to harrys.com slash penaddict and you'll get free shipping. But this offer is for new and returning customers, only available for the holidays. Every Harry's shaving set comes with an ergonomic weighted handle with an option to engrave, German-engineered five-blade cartridges that provide a close, comfortable shave, foaming shave gel for a richer, lathering shave, a travel cover to protect your blades, and a handsome holiday gift box. Or if you're looking to treat yourself, you could redeem a Harry's trial offer and experience the quality of a shave before committing. Get your holiday shopping done early. Free shipping ends on December 12th. So act now. Go to harrys.com slash penaddict and you'll get $5 off a gift set while supplies last. That is harrys.com slash penaddict. Our thanks to Harry's for their support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: You ready for this, Myke? Maybe. This next topic? Mm-hmm. The Kickstarter Vitae Dual Nib Fountain Pen. Yep. We're going to talk about this. We do not have one. I don't have one coming. I don't know much about it, but we've gotten lots of links sent to us by our listeners. And we've had both independently had a little bit of conversation with the creator. So if you're not aware what this is, let me explain real quick what we're looking at. So this is a, what you'd consider probably a traditional style metal fountain pen barrel. You know, not a traditional acrylic barrel, but like if you were looking at a machine fountain pen barrel. But the nib unit are two back-to-back Lamy nibs, like the safari size nib. And the feeds, I mean, excuse me, the nib tines face each other. So the feeds are outwards, kind of, I guess is the best way you would explain it from your writing position. And the nibs are inwards. But this is only because one nib's kind of stacked on top of the other one. What this is designed to do is for you to have two separate inks inked up at the same time. So there's a chambered style converter that's being custom built for this. And a custom built feed to allow for basically two different ink flows in a single pen unit. Two different nibs, two different ink colors. All in one pen. I don't know if I explained that correctly, but we'll have a link in the show notes. You can go get a visual of it. So do you want to say anything about what I've left out just from that description?

Myke Hurley: No, I don't think so. I mean, like just from a basic level, imagine taking two fountain pens and putting the feeds on the outside, right? Two nibs in the middle and they're back-to-back. That's kind of what's going on at a very basic level here.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So once we got this tweet over the weekend, I hadn't heard of it at all. No pre-information or anything like that.

Myke Hurley: I knew about it from a while ago. So a couple of months ago or something, one of the guys involved in this project reached out to me. Kevin. Yeah, they reached out to me to tell me about this pen and they were going to be in London and they wanted to get my... They wanted to see if I could come and take a look at it. But I was traveling at the time. But I asked Kevin to... This was back in July. They sent me the information about it, right? But I was just like, you know, let me know when you've got it kind of to this level and I'll take a look. And so, yeah, I've heard about it. I've known this project was coming for a while. When he first told me about it, I was like, oh, I don't know if you're going to be able to make that work was like my thinking. I was like, go for it. But it seems like a tricky prospect was my initial thought. But now that I've seen the design, I mean, I think I can see how this would work.

Myke Hurley: I don't know about the internals. You know, my main question, I think, outstands is like, what is the feed system? And how is that going on inside of what looks to be not a huge barrel, right? Yeah. But just the idea of putting one nib on top of each other back to back. I mean, the theory holds true to me. Like, I see how it could work. Not easily, but I see how it could work.

Brad Dowdy: So, I went into it not knowing anything and went through the project. And initially, I was very skeptical. Anything that's multi-pin anything on Kickstarter immediately raises my red flags, like immediately. And then, like, I went through the pictures and I'm, like, scrolling through the pictures. I was like, you know, I always want to see it in use, right? Show me the real action. And there was a lot of, you know, Photoshop pictures and, you know, graphic design type pictures. But the video showed the pen working. And it showed more design elements of the pen. And the more I got through it, I'm kind of like you. As I went through the project just for my sanity checks, I could get there, right? Like, I could see how this could work. I don't know if it will work, but I could at least imagine this working. So, then it happened over the weekend. Kevin, the project creator, reached out to me. Said, hey, I'm doing this pen on Kickstarter. And, you know, would love for you to check it out. You know, take a look at the project. Let me know what you think. At that time, I was like, oh, as a matter of fact, I have some questions for you. So, I asked him, this pen is 100% based on the feed and cartridge system on how this is going to work. So, I asked him that. Like I said, the questions we're getting are around the cartridge and how durable is it going to be if that's your only filling mechanism and you have to keep refilling the same cartridge. And, you know, are you going to eventually wear down that seal on that? So, I kind of asked him that. And I'm going to read part of the email that he sent me back. And I think most of this is pretty evident or mostly evident in the campaign. But he wrote back, he said, there's a shot of the cartridges on the main page and a glimpse of the feed section in the video. It is, in effect, two feeds back to back in a single part. I have more shots to take over the next few days. The reason there are limited shots of the ink wells is that these will be subject to change once the tooling is complete. The overall footprint will stay the same with the hemispherical shape being used to optimize the space inside of the body. So, just, I'm going to stop right there. The cartridge is basically two D-shaped parts.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, it's two semicircles.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, two semicircles where the center is separated, right? It's chambered off.

Myke Hurley: So, you could take them out individually, fill them with different colors individually, and load them back into the pen.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. So, he continues, as you know, this means they will not be a standard size, but will be robust and be designed to be refilled repeatedly. I'm considering including a small component which houses two spare inks for traveling. This would allow the D-shaped cartridges to fit in either side and then be deployed when needed. The way that reads is this is two separate D-shaped cartridges. I pictured it as one unit chambered off.

Myke Hurley: Okay, no, I always saw it as two separate cartridges. But it's just, you know. And I have, as long as it's built well and made of a relatively durable plastic, I don't have a problem with this. Like, I've never had a converter, like, wear away or anything. Yeah. Like, I'm sure on a long time scale, like, it could happen. But I would expect that for as long as someone is probably realistically intending to use this pen, as long as the cartridges are made well enough, it should suffice.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So, I mean, that's the gist of the email. So, I went ahead and backed it.

Version Two Product Discussion

Brad Dowdy: And because I think it can get there. But what I would say about that is that this seems like the ideal version two product. I think there will be some things that can be corrected from version one once it gets out into the wild. So, I'd like to help version one get out into the wild. I think this will work.

Brad Dowdy: But, you know, would I recommend someone who's not experienced with Kickstarter to jump in on this one? Probably not. But if you want to take a chance on something cool and you think you might use it, I kind of get the feeling just by reading all this that technically it's going to work. So, we'll see. So, I'm in. We'll follow it. We'll see how it works out.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's going to be interesting. I'm anxious to get it. I hope it fulfills. I hope it succeeds. You know, they have a ways to go on the project. I'm fairly certain this will work if it comes to fruition. The second part of that, which I'm completely ignoring, is do you need this?

Brad Dowdy: That's going to be the biggest question because it's not expensive. I think it cost me around $100 US, 105. It's 80 pounds. So, it's like 100, 105. It's not expensive. But that makes sense, you know, based on what's going into it. But do you actually need this? I don't know that I do need this product, Myke. I don't know that I get the benefit of using the two ink cartridges. But I want to see if this works. So, we'll see. I'll keep tracking it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I plan to keep my eye on this one. It is very intriguing to me just from a design perspective, like just from a problem-solving idea. It intrigued me. You know, like there's a bunch of comments in the chat room. There's a bunch of comments like on the page about the nibs drying out and stuff. It just doesn't really feel like an issue to me because I don't think I own a fountain pen that doesn't dry out like after not being used for a period of time. And so, you know, it just needs a little bit of coaxing to get started. Right? Like I just had it this morning. Like I uncapped my Aurora and I was kind of scribbling with it for like a minute before the ink would start moving. You know, like this is just the thing that happens. I don't really feel that it's going to be necessarily better or worse because, you know, like one nib isn't being used as frequently. It's just like if you uncapped a second pen, you know? Like I don't really share in that concern. But I think that this is an intriguing idea. Like because, you know, we're focusing on colors, but it's got interchangeable nibs. You could just use the same ink in two different nib sizes.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And those Lamy nibs are super easy to swap out. You know, I'd probably have like an extra fine on one and a stub on the other side or something like that. Two different colors. You know, it'll be fun to play around with. So hopefully this works.

Myke Hurley: I support the idea and I back it too for that reason. Because I just think that this is like, there's just something about it that works for me kind of from a product design perspective. Yeah. And I would also like to see Kevin get to the point where he could make this pen. I thoroughly expect this pen to have a lot of twists and turns in its production because it is quite complex technically for somebody's first pen, right? That they're making. But I sometimes think that like, because Kevin isn't maybe coming to this with the knowledge of having made a bunch of pens in the past, he may be freed up from what is traditional thinking. Sure. And that could lead to an interesting product at the end of it all. Right.

Brad Dowdy: Right. And that also, what you said right before that, it goes along with my version two thinking. I think this was going to be like, this is one of those products where I don't know that would be iterative change between V1 and V2. I think it could be a big jump in quality performance style. Like, this is what Kickstarter is for. It's like to take these ideas and see what could happen.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Like if he works out the mechanism, right? Like, because that's what this was about. This project is about helping him fund the production of the internals of this thing predominantly. Yep. Yeah. It's, you know, internals. Imagine what he could then do if he got that nailed down for future, for future products. Like it could open up a lot of really interesting possibilities. So I would like to see this product exist.

Brad Dowdy: So I'm, I'm down. I'm down. We're down on lots of things this episode, Myke. We're just getting started. But we have a wonderful new sponsor of the show that I had. I definitely have some things to say about this one, Myke. What you got for us?

Myke Hurley: This episode is brought to you by, as Brad noted, a new sponsor, Cain 11. So Cain 11, they're launching next week, the week of November 19th. This is when their product becomes available. This is something that you don't have. Cain 11 makes socks for exactly your shoe size. They have 11 shoe sizes to choose from, from size 7 to 17, so US sizes. And because of this, because they are like making these socks to fit the exact size, they're going to be feeling better and more comfortable than any socks you've worn before. To celebrate their upcoming launch, they're giving away 100 pairs of their socks. If you just go to Cain11.com, you can get, you can sign up for a chance to win a pair of socks in your exact shoe size. That's C-A-N-E-1-1.com. C-A-N-E-1-1.com. Cain11.com. I have a couple of pairs of Cain11 socks now. I'm going to be telling you more about these over the coming weeks because Cain11 are going to be sponsoring a few episodes of the show. You want to hear more about these socks. When they sent, when like I heard about it, I was like, how different can it be? Like just to have them in, you know, your exact size rather than the size range. Yeah, very different is what I'll say for now, but you'll hear more about that. So sign up right now and you could win a pair of socks in your exact shoe size. So you will have the perfect fit and ultimate comfort every day. Our thanks to Cain11 for their support of this show.

Brad Dowdy: Do you want to hear my Cain11 story? You want me to save it for future episodes?

Myke Hurley: I think I want you to save it. I think I want to tease it because the Cain11, they're going to sponsor the show for a bit. And this is like, you know, I don't want people to hear all your amazing stories and they can't buy the socks. Yeah, right. I want you to tell the great stories when they can actually go and buy the socks. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. I'll give a teaser. I'm really happy with them.

Myke Hurley: Good. That's good. I'm pleased about that. Because so am I. I'm pleased you are too. And we'll be able to talk about it more in the coming weeks. Cain11. All right. All right.

Pricing and Products Shift

Brad Dowdy: All right. Let's talk about some not so fun stuff, Myke, that just came across my radar here in the past few days. It's about pricing and products, including a product we know and love and recommend wholeheartedly. The Pilot Metropolitan, Myke, is getting a price change for 2019. And not just any price change, Myke. The price of this pen is going to be $29.50. What are your thoughts? Go. Seems high. You think?

Myke Hurley: So what was the price before then?

Brad Dowdy: You could get them for as low as usually $15 to $18. Yeah. You see?

Myke Hurley: Now, when I saw this, I had one thought that jumped into my mind, which was, finally, we can say there's a different pen. Because I've never been that keen on the Pilot Metropolitan, right? Like, I know lots of people love it, and it's a great starter pen. Not at $30 it ain't. Like, that's too much. Right. $30 has, like, hit it into a different price point, which I don't think it holds up in.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right. And the chat room is saying, well, that's what it should be priced at to begin with. And that's what we agree. I mean, that's why we loved it so much. Because it was a deal, right? For what that pen was, that's why we recommended it so much. Because it was excellent for what it was. But this is kind of outrageously raising the price by a lot. Like, 40% at least. If not more, if not closer to 50% in some cases. Like, it's crazy. The price change year over year for what was considered their entry-level fountain pen. Now, I know they have lots of other fountain pens. You know, like the Varsity and, you know, the Plumix and Penmanship. And even the Kakuno. Hopefully the Kakuno price isn't getting raised. But this seems like a lot. And I don't know. Either they were toying with us in the beginning. Or they made a mistake. Or something happened. Because this doesn't seem normal. And, like, I understand prices have to change. But this seems like a big, big number to me.

Myke Hurley: I just think, now that it is equally priced with the TWSBI Eco and the Lamy Safari, it has changed the conversation. Yeah. Because I think both of those pens are better than the Pilot Metropolitan. Yeah. Right? But would agree with the general consensus of recommending the Pilot Metropolitan. Because it was excellent for its price. Which made it a perfect starter pen. But now, I mean, I would recommend the Lamy Safari over the Metropolitan for convenience. I think the Safari is a better looking and performing pen. But if you really want the best in that realm, you would say TWSBI Eco because TWSBI's nibs are so good. But you then had the complexity of bottled ink. But I think that this has been blown wide open now. And I'm intrigued to see what fills the Metropolitan's old place.

Brad Dowdy: Well, what if I told you it was the Pilot Explorer? I would say... So that's their new... Ew. I don't like this pen. I would say ew. I don't like this pen either. But now, that pen has launched as of this past week or two in the US. It's in the low 20s. Something like $22, $23, something like that. This is probably why they've done this. It is not a... Right. But this is not a good pen. No. Like, it's... I mean, I've gotten the chance to see them and hold them. Like, it's fine. It's fine. But it's not good. Right? There's a difference.

Brad Dowdy: You know, like, if you got the Explorer and you inked it up and you wrote with it, you'd say, this is a perfectly fine fountain pen. But related to its price, related to what else is out there, like, it's just not going to hold a candle. It's not going to hold a candle to the Metropolitan. I would never recommend the Explorer over the Metropolitan, I don't think. There'd have to be some really odd reason. So, that's why I'm sure they, you know, were able to move that price. But it's just... Yeah. It's a weird... Weird decisions are being made. But weird decisions don't stop there, Myke. My good buddies at Lamy, you know Lamy, the crystal ink that I was talking about, what, it's been months now since those came on the scene. First, you know, their PR launch and then they started showing up in the European stores and we were really happy, even though I feel the colors are pretty boring and kind of not required. The price of the ink seemed good. 30 milliliter bottles for like eight or nine pounds in the UK, which without the VAT, like if I was to order them, it'd be $10.50 US. The pricing came out in the US market. They're going to be $18 in the US, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Suck it. Suck it.

Brad Dowdy: Suck it, America.

Myke Hurley: You finally have to pay more money for something.

Brad Dowdy: It's like, I don't know. I mean, in the big picture, that's kind of priced okay. It's kind of like the Pilot Metropolitan. It was really underpriced for the value that it gave you. I felt the Lamy Crystal inks were really underpriced for the value that they were going to give you. $18 for the 30 milliliter bottle. That's pretty much right on price. Like, that's probably what it should be. But if I go over to Colt Pens and click the button, it's $10.40. So, I'm throwing my hands in the air on that one. I don't know what Lamy's doing, but I guess they're doing what they normally do, which is whatever the heck they want, whenever they feel like it. So, that's Lamy for you. I just thought I'd bring that up because we spent a lot of time talking about that ink lineup and found it to be interesting and compelling. I'm not so compelled anymore, Myke.

Myke Hurley: They still look good. I look forward to maybe picking up some of my cheap inks. I'll get one.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I know, right? You'll have them all. I'll have one. So, yeah, it's just, hey, that's Lamy for you. So, a couple more things before we get into an even bigger topic today. I want to give some shout-outs. We've been missing our shout-outs on the past few episodes. We've been so busy with the shows that I've been forgetting to mention a couple of these. One is self-promotional, Myke. I was on the 421 Archives podcast where they talked to pen addict Brad Dowdy. So, I had a really good conversation over there about how the pen addict came to be and what makes a good pen and different ink types. Lots of 101 type stuff, but it was a really good flowing conversation. I had fun on that. So, we'll put the link in the show notes.

Brad Dowdy: Second is a podcast that I think it was tweeted at you as well by one of our listeners. It's called Bob and Marge.

Brad Dowdy: And I'm very interested in what you have to say about this. If you've had the chance to kind of go through this. You may not have, but I have gone through this. Have you had a chance to listen to Bob and Marge or read what it's about? I haven't listened to it yet, but I have read about it. Okay. So, basically, this is a podcast where the letters between two people, Bob and Marge, during the Korean War are read in chronological order. And you get to hear their love for each other and their daily drama and all kinds of neat tidbits. And the thing why it was sent to us is because for each episode, you can see the scans of the letters. So, you can see their handwriting and all the letters that they wrote between each other while Bob was off in the army. And Marge was moving around in her job. So, it was really neat to see that. And then, there's also, we'll put it in the show notes, the link to Marge's Estabrook that she wrote these letters with. So, it was super, like, pen addict adjacent podcast. So, like, her Estabrook's a black Estabrook and it's stamped Bell System Property. She was working for the Bell companies at the time. But I like how it says Bell Systems Property, Myke. Like, it's not her personal pen. It's like, this is your work pen and it may not leave the premises. I thought that was pretty funny. So, I've enjoyed that. Like, each episode's only, like, three or four minutes long. So, you could get through, like, I don't know how many episodes are out now. Like, 15 so far. You could get through the whole thing in, like, an hour. So, it's really neat how everything's, like, consecutive chronological through there. So, it's really, really cool. I liked it a lot. Finally, one that I've been holding. We had a really good post on the pen addict from Sarah Reed, who is one of the writers at the pen addict. How to keep analog alive in the edit minds. Number one, we got a lot of feedback on that post. Or Sarah got a lot of feedback on that. About how she writes and edits her books. And by books, I mean, she's getting published, Myke. Her first novel is due out in early 2019. So, I wanted to give a shout out to Sarah Reed. So, stay tuned to the pen addict. Stay tuned to her. Her blog will have a link in the show notes to that. And she's on Twitter at Inkwell Monster. Her novel is coming up soon. So, I will be pimping that big time. Congratulations, Sarah. Very proud of you. That's exciting times. So, that's our shout outs for this week. I appreciate everyone who sends these things over. Even though they were mostly my stuff this time.

Myke Hurley: And this episode is also brought to you by Squarespace. You can make your next move with Squarespace. Because they will let you easily create a website for your next idea or project. Squarespace very simply allows you to register a unique domain name directly with them. You can take advantage of and customize award winning templates. To let your website look exactly how you want. And you can integrate complicated functionality. Stuff that would be super difficult to do if you were trying to do it on your own. Stuff like having an online store. Or creating a portfolio. Or creating a player for music. So, people could listen to your music if you were a band going to your website. Squarespace is an all-in-one platform that lets you enable all of these things with just a few clicks. There's nothing to install or patch or upgrade. There kind of isn't really anything to learn either. It's all super intuitive. It's really easy to work with. But they also have 24-7 customer support. So, if you do need help with absolutely anything. They're there for you when you need them. I've been using Squarespace for many years. As has Brad. Both penaddict.com and knock.co are both on Squarespace. So, you know. Like, if we trust them. Like, and I have done for like 10 years at this point. For various projects that I've had going on. Squarespace plans start at just $12 a month. You can sign up for a trial today. With no credit card required. Just go to squarespace.com slash penaddict. When you decide to sign up. Use the offer code penaddict. To get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. And show your support for this show. Once again, that's squarespace.com slash penaddict. And the code penaddict. To get 10% off your first purchase. Our thanks to Squarespace. For their support of this show. Squarespace. Make your next move. Make your next website.

Brad Dowdy: So, continuing our theme of us not talking much about the show before the show. Aside from our document that we share. How do you want to tackle this next topic, Myke? Well, let me set it up.

Myke Hurley: So, on the last episode. I kind of requested that Brad would begin sharing his own personal top five. Because, for a couple of reasons. One, because I felt it might help add some context to some of the picks that Brad made. But also because people come to the penaddict. And they listen to the show. Because they want to hear what Brad is enjoying. Because that might be something that they want to get in. So, I referred to Brad as being a tastemaker in this industry. Which was a phrase that he took.

Myke Hurley: Too heavily.

Brad Dowdy: Are you saying that before you read what I wrote or after? Both. I believe it.

Myke Hurley: Because at the time you were like, I can't talk about this now. We're going to talk about it next time. Too much to say. And then I read what you wrote today. So, I know that the idea of being a tastemaker is clearly something that is very... It weighs very heavily on you.

Brad Dowdy: I don't know that specifically. I would say that you know me better than most people. Because we can talk about things that we can't talk about in public. And I don't mean that in some elusive, you know, sketchy kind of way. But we can talk business behind the scenes, you know, or things like that. Without it being out in the open conversation, right?

Myke Hurley: There are also some things that happen to you when you are what I refer to as micro-famous. Which is what me and Brad are. Like, people know us but only in a very certain slice of the world. But in that certain slice of the world, people know who we are. And, you know, in the pen industry, Brad has... At least in the portion of the pen industry in which Brad operates, he has an opinion that people care about. So, when you are in this type of... When you have this type of life, there are things that you can talk about with people that are also in this life that they will understand. But if you talk about publicly, you sound like a tool.

Personal Reflection Begins

Brad Dowdy: Right. That's exactly right. That was a nice word. That wasn't the word I would have used. But yes, agree. So, let me kind of go... So, when you said that, I had just been... Last week, I had just been, like, thinking about... The reason why it stopped me in my tracks, like, so quickly... Is because I had been thinking about that related to, like, some product I was looking at. Like, it just... It was, like, the perfect timing of wanting to have a longer conversation about why I do what I do and what I believe in. So, I guess if I can have the floor for a minute, I'm going to go through some of the things that kind of set me down a path of, you know, the tastemaker conversation that I just kind of wanted to get out there. I think a lot of people that know me on a personal level know these things already. I don't think I'm saying anything new or novel to them, but there's always new listeners. There's always new followers to the blog. There's always new people that are tuning in or reading the things that I do. So, I'm going to go for it. How's that sound?

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I'm going to step in. I'm not just going to let you talk. Yes. Yes, please. Go for it.

Brad Dowdy: Please. But what I wanted to make clear from the jump, and this should go without saying, but this is the internet, and it never goes without saying, I'm not curing cancer here. I'm not reversing climate change. You know, I'm not changing the world. Like, I'm passionate about stationary. Like, this is what I do. This is what I am. I've said it in the past. I can't not do this, right? This is who I am, like, down to my core. It sounds weird to say that I'm that passionate about, like, pens and paper and inks and stuff, but I can't not do this. This is how I'm built, and that's what I built the pen addict on. Like, that type of passion of learning and sharing and conversing and helping. That's why the pen addict exists. Mm-hmm. And, you know, when I started that, it'll be, God, we're a couple weeks away from the pen addict turning 11. You know, I didn't, you know, plan on being where I'm at now, but, you know, I just took it as a learning experience, and I kept learning things about pens, and I kept sharing those things, and I kept building the site. Right. And, luckily enough, I'm pretty good at it. Like, those are words you don't say out loud to people. I'm good at what I do. I think I am.

Myke Hurley: I'm very pleased you said that, because it's hard to talk. This is the type of thing that I'm saying that's hard to talk about. Yeah. But at a certain point, you have to say it, right? Like, if you're talking about something like this, you have to say it, and I agree.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I like what I do, and I think I'm good at it. I'm very lucky that I could take my passion and make a job out of it. Like, all these things that I enjoy so much, I was able to do something right along the way, and turning it into my full-time job. So, what this has done over, say, these past 10 years has kind of changed my perspective. It's changed my day-to-day. It's changed what people think about me. It's changed how people, you know, read my words. But it didn't change me. Like, as Brad, the person, like, I don't feel that I changed. But I did learn that the words I say and the words I share can move the needle. And that's a responsibility.

Brad Dowdy: And it sounds weird to say when you say you have a responsibility to other people and you're not changing the world. But people do look to the content I create as, you know, important or, you know, for whatever reason they enjoy it. I realized it took a while for me to realize that the words I say matter and that they can change things. And I fought that for a long time. Like, I didn't even realize I was doing it right. You don't, I just, like, we've talked about it before. You've heard me say a million times. It's like, I just do what I do, Myke. I don't put a lot of thought into it, right? So I just do what I do. Well, it got to a point where, like, I was actively pushing against that a little bit, you know, just kind of putting it to the side, if you will. Like, okay, there's, yeah, my words might mean something. But, you know, I'm not going to take that too seriously. Um, but then I realized that people did care what I said. They did care what I thought about products. They did care about my beliefs about companies. And they act on those words. I didn't think that would happen. Who acts on the words? The readers or the consumers of the words. Like, the words I say, people would take action on those words, right? Also, the companies, though. And the companies, sure, sure, sure, sure. So, yeah, I didn't put all that together. Or I did put it together and chose to ignore it. Like, no, not really. You know, just, no, no way. Well, turns out, yes way. People will act on the words I say. And it took a bad experience for me to figure that out, right? You know, it was, I had a really bad moment last year, almost a year ago right now, where I got openly agitated about a product and a brand. And the way I handled that was not right. We're talking about Baranfig? And that's when I... Yes. Okay.

Myke Hurley: I just want, I don't want it to sound like it was a secret, because it wasn't.

Brad Dowdy: It's not. It's public. Like, all that stuff's out there. I have never deleted anything that I've said, because I stand by everything that I said. But that doesn't mean that I handled the problem correctly. Yeah. And that's when I realized that my words did matter, and my actions did matter, and my stances on things do matter. And I wanted to refocus that to a more positive path, right? I was channeling anger and angst and going down this path of negativity, and I hated it. Like, it was really bad.

Brad Dowdy: But it didn't change me. It changed my perception of what I wanted to be, and how I wanted to present the things that I do, because I think I have gotten bigger, and, you know, more eyeballs on me, and you have to handle yourself a certain way while still remaining true to yourself. And that's kind of the biggest thing. So I kind of accepted. That's the point where it took me a while, and I fought it. But I accepted the fact that my words do matter, right?

Brad Dowdy: I'm happy that my words matter. I'm proud that people want to know what I'm thinking, and what my opinions are, and what I like, and what's good, and what's bad. And I want to live up to those people's expectations of me to provide them answers that they're looking for. Because that's how I started. I went out looking for answers to the questions I had about pens. And now people come to me looking for those answers, and I want to be able to help them. And I want the way I treat everyone to reflect that. You know, I want to live up to the expectations of the community as someone who has a voice and a platform to share these things. And, you know, I just want to keep building. Like, this is awesome. Like, I'm so lucky to be able to do this. It's crazy. So I did change. And that's really, like, only, like, in the past year.

Brad Dowdy: So I just wanted to say, this is, like, really hard for me to say. I'm really good at what I do.

Brad Dowdy: You know, it's not my style to come out and say that. But I think I'm really good at what I do.

Myke Hurley: You have built a business which supports your family because of the fact that you are good at this. Like, this is not a thing that many other people in the world are able to do. You know, like, you make, I mean, this is like a whole other train for probably another time which we'll probably never get to. But you make money from blogging, which is an incredibly difficult thing to do today. You know, like, you have multiple revenue streams based upon the fact that you created the pen addict and the only reason that people, people don't go to the pen addict just because it ranks high on Google, right? But, like, and then there's, like, a reason it ranks high on Google. Like, you don't SEO it. It's just people want to go and find your information. So, like, it's just ranked higher because your opinion is the opinion that matters. Like, you are the guy. This is what you are. Like, you don't even have, like, it's not because you have a particularly good brand or web address, right? Like, it just all works. I mean, we look at it now and, like, in the wider pen community, pen addict has just become a phrase, right? Which is a lot of the time devoid from you even. And that shows purely how big everything has gone over time. And this is all related to the fact that you are, yes, very good at what you do.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, and I want to make sure I act and work and communicate in a way that reflects that, right? Like, the words I say are important. Yes, Myke, I am a tastemaker. Like, the things I say change things. They can change things, you know? Whether it's perception, whether it's, you know, black and white numbers, anything. So, I'm happy I got to the point where, like, I can do that. Like, I don't, you don't go in thinking, like, you know, one day I'm going to change how this company thinks about how they do business. I mean, no one thinks that, but sometimes it just kind of happens. And my goal now is just to reflect and build and communicate and share, like, everything I have the best way possible in the most open, transparent, ask me anything. And I'll tell you why, because that's what I believe in. And I just want people to understand that when they're working with me or dealing with me or asking me questions or listening to me, that, you know, the things I say, even though they are my job, I always keep your best interests first and foremost, you know, in the top of my head. But at the end of the day, I'm also, I mean, I didn't know a better way to say this, but I'm in the business of me, right? I have to work a certain way. And I believe in what I'm doing. Like, I'm passionate about these things. And I care about these things. And if I didn't, I don't think y'all would be listening to me, right? Like, if I was fake or phony or full of crap or, you know, didn't, you know, really care about the products that I talked about, y'all wouldn't give me the time of day, nor should you. So I always try to just operate in the way that, you know, it's very simple, you know, treat others like you want to be treated. And that's the way I run any business aspect that I do, you know, any, you know, the blog, the podcast, not, you know, I don't, I do things that I feel like are normal and easy, but they don't always come off that way. So I guess that's mostly it. I'm a tastemaker, Myke, and I'm proud of it. And I'm going to keep working at it. And I'm going to keep sharing. And I'm going to keep believing. And, you know, I'm going to prop up the people in this community. I'm going to prop up the companies that I believe in. And I'm going to enjoy everything that comes my way because of it. I'm going to enjoy this pen and this paper and that ink. And, you know, I hope y'all enjoy it too. Like I, that's, that's how I operate. And I hope, you know, this didn't come off too tooly. But sometimes you just got to stop and like kind of lay it out there on the table, you know, just from like a personal level, especially since this is a business now, right? Like it's a different perspective all the way around. So, you know, it's, I'm going to, I'm going to keep doing what I do. I've had a really good past year of changing my focus to just staying positive while still being critical and opinionated because that needs to happen too. Right? Yep. This is that whole conversation we had a year ago about, you know, how to handle negativity and things. And there's, there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. So I've been working on that and I, I hope it's coming through and I think it is. And yeah, so that's that.

Topic Shift - Pen Reviews

Myke Hurley: So this is just a really long way to say that Brad will be talking about what he likes.

Myke Hurley: But I'm pleased that you're able to get to a point where you can come to terms with it in a, you know, in a good way. Yeah. And use it as a base to do more of what people want you to do. So I'm very pleased.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I put in this link, you know, and we'll just talk about it for a second because I did a review on Monday from the Muji 2B pencil, which you were there for me to purchase.

Brad Dowdy: And just to give you a little insight about this post, the amount of detail that I considered writing about this pencil would have taken. And I think that's, that's what I enjoy doing is like breaking down a product. I don't care if it's a 50 cent pencil. I don't care if it's a $500 pen. Like I like breaking them down, trying to figure them out. I'll also tell you whether I think it's good or bad, but I want to figure out other things too. Um, and this stinking 50 cent pencil sent me down a path that I was giddy over. And that's why I think I'm good at what I do because I get stupidly happy about the markings on the barrel of a 50 cent pencil and what font they're in and how that relates to the other Japanese pencils. That's completely normal for me. Yeah. That is no second thought that I was going to do that. Like it didn't even register with me not to talk about that. And there was so much more to talk about that I didn't talk about because it was even stupider than that. Right. I like, I looked at one of the wood slats for this pencil compared to a different natural wood pencil and how the slats laid together. It's, it's really, it's really crazy. It's really crazy. How, how, how my brain works sometimes, but like you take that little example and you multiply it by the entirety that I've been doing this in my entire life where I lived this life before I started sharing it online. And I believe that's why I'm here today. It's just who I am. Like that's how I work. This is what I enjoy. And I'm going to share it with people and I hope you like it. And I think they do.

Myke Hurley: If you would like to find Brad's work, contact Brad, tell him how much you love him. You can go to Twitter. He's at Dowdyism, Pen Addict on Instagram, twitch.tv slash Pen Addict. Anything going on with the Twitch? What you got coming up?

Brad Dowdy: Oh man, I've been really slow on the Twitch. I might try to get a stream up on Thursday. I've been very inconsistent and you know, my consistency is the key on Twitch. Why don't you pimp your Twitch? Cause there was a new one out, new, new podcast episode, this out for playing for fun. And you'll have been very active on there. So you pimp yourself because I haven't been doing a good job.

Myke Hurley: So playing for fun is the show that I do with Tiff Ahmet, the host of Make Do on Relay FM, where we pick a video game every month that we love and we talk about it and we talk about just the good stuff. So even if, I would say, even if you're not a big video game person, even if you sometimes listen to some video games, but you haven't played the game that we're talking about every month, I think it's worth checking out because it's just two best friends talking about something that they enjoy. Wink, wink, like the Pen Addict. Right. So there's a lot, you know, there's a lot of just niceness to find in it, but we do stream. We stream now every Friday at 10 a.m. This is new. We now are on our schedule. And I think that that helps people. Right now we're playing Half-Life, which is my first time playing the game. Yeah. I will say that I am not immediately in love with this and I'm really hoping that I'm getting more grips of the game as we go through. But it's not easy for me. But we're getting there.

Brad Dowdy: I laughed when y'all chose that because that game predates you. That was like a heyday game for me, right? Where that was like it. That was like what you played and it was amazing. But that was kind of like before your cycle.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Tiff finds it unacceptable that I haven't played it. Yeah. It's worth checking out. But I'm also follow me on Instagram. I'm imike, I-M-Y-K-E on Instagram. You can find show notes for this episode at relay.fm slash penaddict slash 334. Thanks again to Kane11, Harry's, and Squarespace for their support of this show. And we'll be back next time. Oh, by the way, two weeks time, we're going to do a big episode of Pen Horror Stories. We've been saving them up. We've got loads in. And also hashtag Ask TPA Questions. So if you have a horror story or a question that you want to send in, please do. Full episode. Full episode. Where can people, you can tweet with the hashtag Ask TPA for the questions, but where can they send the horror stories?

Brad Dowdy: Hello at penaddict.com. And I have got, gosh, I bet we've got a dozen or so that we haven't read yet. So yeah, that, Ask TPA, we're just going to dedicate an entire episode to catching up on all those things because we've been so busy recently.

Myke Hurley: So that's going to be in two weeks time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: Goodbye, Brad. Bye, Brad. Thank you.