The Pen Addict 632/transcript

• From Relay, this is The Pen Addict, episode number 632. Today's show is brought to you by Ooni Pizza Ovens and Enigma Stationery. My name is Brad Dowdy, and this week, I'm joined by April Wu. April runs the Stationery Cafe podcast, the Penguin Post blog, an amazing Instagram, which I'm sure we're going to get to at some point. And I'm pretty sure she holds down the fort for Plotter's entire United States operation at this point. So welcome, April. How's it going today? Hey, Brad. Thanks for having me back after two years. I think my last one was 2022. 2022? Yeah, it was like June or July 2022. And when I was looking at this, I was seriously like, I might have talked to April this year. So let me like just start scrolling back. So I was just like scrolling manually trying to find the show. And then I had to stop and just go search because I could never get to it. And I was like, I can't believe it's been two years or over two years. Yeah, no, it's been wild since you last had me. Yeah. And it literally has been wild in your life. So we're going to talk a little bit about that over the last two years. I'm very curious about a few things. But first, before we really get into it today, I want to talk about everything we're doing for St. Jude here at Relay. So as you know, September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. So here at Relay, us and the community are coming together once again to support the life-saving work of St. Jude. We have now hit a staggering $3 million raise since we started this campaign in 2019. Thanks to the incredible generosity of this community, Relay will be recognized on the wall inside the hospital that highlights corporations and organizations with exceptional fundraising efforts for St. Jude. The wall is updated annually based on fundraising contributions, and we'll be sure to share photos with everyone soon so you can see it. With your continued support, we hope to see the Relay name in the halls of St. Jude for years to come. So why do we support St. Jude? One of the biggest things, one of my biggest takeaways is the global impact that St. Jude has. So did you know that about 400,000 children worldwide are estimated to develop cancer each year, and nearly half of them are never diagnosed? In the United States, more than four out of five children survive cancer, but in many countries, this statistic is reversed. Fewer than one out of five children who develop cancer will survive. The most significant predictor of whether a child will survive cancer is where the child lives. That's why in March 2018, St. Jude became the first and only World Health Organization collaborating center for childhood cancer. The goal of the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer is to raise the survival rate of six common childhood cancers to 60% by 2030. In 2021, St. Jude and the World Health Organization launched the global platform for access to childhood cancer medicines. It aims to provide free chemotherapy medicines in the next few years to as many as 120,000 children around the world with cancer. So you can go read more about all the work that St. Jude does and that Relay supports at global.stjude.org. So the Relay community this year has really adopted this campaign as its own, and it's easy to get involved. So you can just go to stjude.org slash Relay, and you can register to create your own fundraiser to join us in raising money for St. Jude. After you sign up, share your fundraiser with your friends and family to spread the word for this amazing mission. Folks who host their own fundraisers can earn some limited time incentives. You'll find out all the details at stjude.org slash Relay. So go to stjude.org slash Relay to donate or create your campaign today. So when I click on the link there, Relay.stjude.org, I see that we've raised $423,000 so far this year, which is amazing. Yeah, yeah, it's definitely amazing. And hey, we're going to talk about this later, April. Plotter has been a big supporter of what I do for the pen addicts. So I'll have a link in the show notes to my giveaways that help raise awareness and raise money to St. Jude. And Plotter has been donating products for years now, and y'all are participating again. So I wanted to thank you personally now that I have you here. Thank you. No, it was an honor to be a part of it. So happy as a fan of the pen addict for so long that I get to contribute substantially this way. Yeah, yeah. And it's always great to hear from you. And just to have that support from other stationery makers and vendors and just people in the community, even people who just come and read the post and learn about St. Jude. Like that's all we need to just hear about what we're trying to do. So I want to hear what you're trying to do with your life right now. You have a lot going on. You are so busy.
• I look at April like I think I'm busy. And all I have to do is go look at April's Instagram. Or, you know, we talk every now and then. Go talk. And it's just like, oh, I'm doing this. I'm doing that. Or Plotter's doing this and that. So for those who may not be familiar with you or who didn't listen to our original episode, which has a wonderful show title. So I'll put a link in those to hear your origin story. We don't have to go through all of that. But tell everyone what you're doing right now. So, you know, what's your day job and then what you do with the stationary community online. For sure. So you thought I was busy in 2022 when we last interviewed. I'm probably actually like twice or thrice as busy these days. Easily. Since then, my role at Designfield have actually been promoted to marketing manager of Designfield. So across. Okay. I not just manage Plotter now. I also manage Travelers Company USA. So 2022, I think we did two events, San Francisco, Pensil and D.C.

Event planning and personal travel.

• 2023 last year, we did six events. And this year, we have a total of 11 events until the end of the year. So it's been kind of nonstop. And plus my own personal traveling, I've been holding on to this mantra of like do things when you still have the energy and when you're young and have the luxury. So I stuffed my itinerary for the last two years with a lot of stuff. So that's why you saw me flying everywhere. I'm constantly jet lagged, happy, exhausted, but still scheming for more.
• And of course, the station cafe is still ongoing. But in the last few years, because I've gotten so busy and Kelly also has a change of jobs. So the two of us kind of slowed down our pace of podcast episodes a little bit. We no longer do two a week, which was wild that I think of it back then. But now it's like once a month or something like that. And I'm not as active on Instagram anymore. As you mentioned earlier, I feel bad. I post here and there. But, you know, the algorithm and all that got me jaded. So I'm with you on that. Like that's how it should be. You should just do like Instagram. Just I'm totally taken aside here. Just I just have fun with it. Like I'm not run a business from Instagram. Exactly. If I ran a business from Instagram, I'd game the algorithm. I'd play the algorithm. Exactly. I just want to see I just want to see people's cool stuff and share something cool that I have every now and then. I just do stories because that's. Yeah. I feel like that's a way I can share with my friends in the community. And that's it. But other than that, just, you know, despite being very busy at work, just having fun with stationery, acquired so many pens within these last two years. No thanks to you guys. I know. Well, we're going to get there for sure. I have some that I want to talk about specifically later in the show. I want to if we can stick with like Plotter and Design Phil. So for those that don't know, Design Phil is essentially the parent company of Plotter, Traveler's Notebook, few other Japanese specific brands. Any other brands in the U.S. besides those two? No, we currently only directly manage Plotter USA, Traveler's Company USA, which actually came first. Plotter started in 2021-ish. Okay. So just those two. Yeah. Yeah. What have you seen, if I'm okay to ask you some general business questions, just you started when Plotter did not exist here in the U.S., essentially. Like there was no website. You know, I was fortunate to be able to work with you all amongst a group of people that were doing some early testing. And so that doesn't seem that long ago. And to see the growth, it's clearly your fault that we're here right now, which is a good thing. It's like, man, I don't know. I think you've got to feel pretty good about what you've seen over the last few years. And this is just from an outsider perspective. I know nothing about the business and nor should you feel compelled to share any real details. But from an outsider's perspective, the growth looks great. No, it had definitely grown in, I think, awareness and popularity.

Increased demand for Mini 5 products.

• I don't know exact numbers off the top of my head, but I know my team is packing three times as much orders compared to what we did last year. Something actually happened around June this year. I think a few videos about the Mini 5 went viral on YouTube. And oh, my goodness, the interest and the demand had just been off the charts. We were all overwhelmed.
• Yeah. But I think maybe a part of it is really just so my colleague Job, Job's Journal and I, we've been doing a lot of groundwork creating content since he joined the team last year. And really just ramping up a lot of our marketing, I guess, reach or content reach. And I think that really laid a great foundation to helping more people understand what Plotter could be and how it could be used.
• So, you know, we're really grateful, obviously. Takayuki was so happy. If you remember Takayuki, he came to SF Pen Show 2021, Abounded Your Narrow. He built mine. Yeah, he built mine. Exactly. He came this year to California Pen Show and he was just like, wow. I can't believe there's so many people this year that are interested in Plotter.

Growth of the pen and stationery community.

• And I kind of have to thank this pen community, too, because you guys are really the first place we debuted at the pen show. You know, we started out really honing in into this niche community who are nerds about paper, nerds about ink, nerds about fountain pen, and really starting to grow from there. And I think what really touched me the most is this year at the SF Pen Show, a lot of vendors were buying refills and like they're replenishing their diary refills for next year. They have plotter at their tables using it. And, you know, more so than the actual, you know, fans. It's really heartwarming to see that vendors are enjoying it, too. Yeah, it's interesting to see. Yeah, it's almost transition is not the right word. But like the reach is getting a little, maybe even a little bit more than you thought. I mean, it's certainly where you hoped it to go. But like, oh, now you get to see once you start to reach like this one, this first level of popular popularity, then you start to learn how people's secondary uses for your products that you didn't think of beforehand. That seems to start happening right after like you get past the initial like the first year or so. So, you know, I remember at San Francisco a couple of years ago, you were actually teaching classes about, you know, almost like how to use like a plotter or, you know, just some free some free classes that people would come attend. And now it's like, well, people are coming to you saying, hey, this is how I use my plotter. Right. Do you see that? Absolutely. And so many different ways of usage, too. So it it was very fun. It's almost like with the Traverse table, people love showing their spread and they're starting to do it at plotter, too. I'm like, yes.
• I love seeing that. Yeah. Yeah. Is it hard for you to see, given the number of people around the tables at all these shows now? Because that's that's become a thing. Like I was at Stationery Fest. You weren't there really at like at the table, but you knew what was going on. But then you were in San Francisco and I it was funny. I happened to catch you on your one hour off. Like that's the only time we got to talk was you were you were like sprinting from place to place trying to do your shopping is like I have one hour I'm going. And I was like, OK, we'll talk later. And like we pretty much never talk later because what are these tables like at shows now for you and the entire team? I think for one, the interest at to San Francisco pen show in itself has grown. So we have that to thank. Yeah, I on Friday morning this year was the first year I'm determined to enjoy the show as an attendee. So I asked my boss, can I just have the first hour off? I'll set everything up and just let me go buy those limited stuff that I wanted to buy the glass pens and stuff. And I was actually going to take two hours off. But then I started hearing like people passing me like talking about the queue at Plotter and I'm like, oh, no, I need to go back. And I went back and it was just chaos. I would never imagine. I mean, I kind of expected it for the Travelers Company table to have a crowd. But the fact that there was a queue for Plotter, man, I was I was a little bit in shock and it was very a very flustered hour just kind of trying to sort out the crowd and, you know, directing them nicely. Felt really apologetic to all the vendors that we disturbed. Sure. I hope I hope they forgive us. And, you know, that's definitely not a bad problem to have. But also, you know, we I'm definitely already thinking about contingency plans for next year and where we should be placed and how can we make it a more convenient and comfortable experience for users and for the show themselves. But to see how it had become like the first year and the second year, really, when we exhibit Plotter, I always am nonstop talking because it's a complicated system from the surface. You have to kind of explain and make people relate to the system. But this year it was a brief because people knew what they wanted. So I didn't have to do too much explaining anymore.
• That's that's true. And, you know, you have to kind of build this as you go. So I know like you've worked on like the flow of the table, right? Like it's kind of it helps it to be a certain way because, you know, if you're going into the system as a new user, well, there's a certain place you have to start. But if you're an experienced user, you may buy something extra, figure out like maybe a new cover for a new system. But you can go. You're you're you're a much easier customer to grab and go. I know y'all have. I did laugh at your one of your pictures that showed our friend Jessica who helped you out in San Francisco. You said, sorry, I won't do that again to you. No, no. It was it was it was it was good. Like it's a good problem you have because like you said, because like you didn't know like going in. I mean, like, you know, it's going to be busy and you know, you're going to be popular. But until it actually happens, you know, like what what do I guess my question is, do you have any experience with your bosses and what they feel about or how they understand this type of pen show that we do as opposed to like a trade show? Is this kind of uncommon what y'all are doing in the U.S. market from a pen show perspective? Or are they familiar with this type of setup? I think for Plotter, they actually do relate a little bit to it. Plotter Japan team does a lot of pop ups in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. The difference with them is they deliberately I don't know, maybe it's the space thing. Their venues are always so small. CY could actually speak to it because he he was in queue in one of those winter days to get like a special limited leather cover. And oftentimes the queue is out the door and it's kind of expected. Honestly, this culture is expected in Japan. So I wouldn't say it's too different. But what's shocking to them is that people here loves talking, like staying and talking to you about the products once it's done, once they pay for it. They're excited to share more and have those conversations. And I think that to them is a little bit more of a different culture and actually very enlightening because they don't get that experience in Japan. People don't really share feedback until later or on the Internet. But there I tell Takayuki and my team members all the time. It's so great because they ask about him. You know, they ask about, you know, the product. They they share their product. So you you get to have this closer relationship with with your customer. And that's definitely something that, you know, the Japan team doesn't get as much. Yeah. Yeah. And that's certainly a marker of like a healthy company, right? Where your customers are like that engaged with with more than just a transaction. Right. It's not necessarily a transaction. And I think we see that across a lot of the vendors and a lot of the makers in our space. Yeah. It's a very we have just in the stationery market as a whole.
• Our customers or our fans are almost forced to be inquisitive because we kind of sell complicated products. If you think about it, like for someone who's not into this stuff, it's not just a pen or just a notebook. It's, you know, what nib is on this pen? What is the material of this pen? What is this paper good for fountain pens? Or how do you build how do you build a plotter? Yeah. Like it's a complicated hobby if you like really think about it too much for new users and getting having that comfort level with your customers at a show. Like it's great. It's great to see. So, yeah, that's that's my favorite part of the show is talking to people about how they use stuff. And I know y'all get a ton of that at Plotter. So we'll probably talk about Plotter some more throughout this show because I've been using mine for a couple of years now. But we have some other things to talk about. We want to talk more about journaling and planning, more about your personal usage, stationary usage. Yeah. So I think we're going to have a little bit of an interesting conversation today. But before we get into that, let me talk about our first sponsor. And that is Uni Pizza Ovens. Uni is the world's number one pizza oven company, letting you make restaurant quality pizza in your own home. Uni Pizza Ovens can reach up to 950 degrees Fahrenheit and cook pizza in as little as 60 seconds. This high temperature is what separates these pizzas you'll make in an uni oven from those you can make in a conventional oven. And they are super quick to heat up. You'll be ready to go in only 20 minutes, which is just enough time to get all of your toppings ready. Do you love an authentic wood-fired flavor? How about the convenience of cooking with gas? Well, whether you're looking to cook with wood, charcoal, gas, or even electricity, there's an uni oven that fits your needs and lifestyle. Now, Uni designed ovens like the wood pellet-fueled Fira 12 and the multifuel Karu 12G for maximum portability. It's made for those who like cooking on the go, camping, and getting out into the wilderness. But if you want both the convenience of gas but love the flavor of wood-fired cooking, Uni's Karu line has you covered. Because you can use wood or charcoal right out of the box or get the optional gas burner for cooking flexibility. And now with Uni's Electric Volt 12 pizza oven, you can make pizza both indoors and outdoors. Uni ovens are for more than just pizza. You can cook juicy burgers, sizzling fajitas, buffalo wings, and so much more. Uni pizza ovens start from just $299 with free shipping to the US, UK, and EU. They also make cast iron cookware, pizza peels, thermometers, and loads of other accessories to help you level up your cooking. So I have used the Uni Karu 16 for a while now with the gas burner option. It is awesome. What I love the most about it is not only is it quick to heat up, in my experience, less than 20 minutes. So we have all our stuff ready to go before that. The consistent cooking time of 60 seconds or less is absolutely spot on. I put the pizza in, let it start cooking for about 30, 40 seconds, give it one quick spin around to make sure we have a nice, even cook. And then within 60 seconds, we are done and in. And I'm usually cooking several at a time. And that way, everyone can be eating, making their own pizza, cooking them all almost at the same time. And everyone enjoying their pizza all in one go. So they're fantastic. I love them. So listeners of this show can get 10% off their purchase of an Uni Pizza Oven. Just go to uni.com and use the code PENADDICT2024 at checkout. Uni Pizza Ovens are the best way to bring restaurant quality pizza to your home. So go to OONI, that's uni.com, and use the code PENADDICT2024 for 10% off. Our thanks to Uni Pizza Ovens for their support of this show.
• Okay, April, let's get into it. And when I asked you if you wanted to be a guest on this episode, I was kind of, I kind of knew what we're going to talk about. I want to talk about plotter and I want to talk about journaling and planning because you're so good at that. And then you gave me an interesting bit of information that I said, oh, yes, we have to have a conversation. So if I recall from our last episode two years ago, you had eight active notebooks, I think it was. Yes.

Transitioning to new planner systems.

• That you were used for various different things. And I'm actually, as someone who has tried to use very few notebooks, I'm going your direction very quickly. Nice. Unfortunately or fortunately. But I feel good about it because it's from a use case perspective. It's not just from a hoarding perspective, allegedly. But you're making a big change. You've been using Hobonichi for a while as your planner and slash journal. So what was your current setup and what are you thinking about doing for 2025? 2025. So my current setup right now this year is actually just five books. Look at you. I'm going the opposite direction. I'm grown up now. Yeah. See, I think I'm up to five, I think is where I counted.
• A5 plotter for work planning, Bible-sized plotter for personal planning. So actually, my Hobonichi is my kind of diary journal, creative journaling space exclusively. And then I use a Potter narrow on and off for spending tracking.
• And then my Traverse notebook is kind of like my fun scrapbooking overflow journal, I would describe it as. Because the Hobonichi only has one day, one page. If I have something that spills out, like I did many activities over one weekend, they get to have their own 10 plus pages in the Traverse notebook in an expanded form. So that's how I've been kind of enjoying my current setup. And it worked so well for me this year that I was going into August. I was so confident. I was very cocky. I was like, oh, I'm good. I know what I'm using next year. I'm not doing any changes. Like everyone's talking about new planners. I'm like, I know what I want. I'm not tempted at all. But sadly, so this is actually my 10th year of using the Hobonichi 2024 since I started. And unfortunately, it's going to be my last, I think. And they had a lot that went down, honestly. Like I survived the 2023 Sanson TRP paper change.
• Although I did not like, I did not enjoy watercoloring in it as much this year. And apparently rumor has it the five year for next year isn't, it's a little sketchy. I pour one out for that one. I know, I know. I bought mine. I finally made the jump to the five year in 2023 because it was the last. So you still have the good paper. Oh, yeah. And I was like, if I'm going to do this, I need to do it now. But yeah, there's been like a lot of paper changes. I saw a lot of paper testings and they were not good. Not questionable. Maybe it's a batch thing, but I feel really bad about that. I was shaken, but marked safe from the September 1st Hobonichi Day fiasco. The one that, although I was very irked because I was there trying to get something for myself. But, you know, I had a whole night. I was out there with the people, if you know what I mean. Like I was just as frustrated as you guys. So for those who complain, like I am not, like I share your feelings. They can't invalidate those frustrations.
• And then I don't know if you even know, like September 6th, they had a price adjustment afterwards. Oh, I didn't see that. Yeah, they raised the price of almost everything because apparently for six whole days, they've marked their prices lower than they should have been for their foreign market. So it's wild. That's actually pretty funny. I'm not laughing at their expense, but like this is a large publicly traded company. And things even think, I mean, you don't have to be a smart. Someone in their wholesale team messed up. Yeah, I make those mistakes on my little pen addict shop site. It might price the ink wrong. Or we did a spoke pen launch. We priced one pen at $4 and one pen at $890.
• So I can't imagine the scope of like a large company like Hobonichi. No, they must have lost like millions for sure. Like in my opinion, just those first six days. Because that's when the most volume comes in too, right? Sure, sure. Yeah. So they have a lot like, and all of those, it's not enough to break my resolve. But something happened actually the week before launch date, a week before. And I actually think not many people knew about it. Because it was done pretty much under behind the scenes. Or at the expense of Chinese and Taiwanese users. So they basically did like a preview event across different cities. And they were announcing it. And so they made a post on Instagram. You know, they were like, oh, we're doing all these events at these cities in China. And then we're also doing one in Taipei. And they labeled it, you know, Chengdu, China, Taipei, Taiwan, all that jazz. No biggie. But apparently it's very much a big deal for Chinese people. Because for those who are more, you know, on top of the political tension between China and Taiwan. Sure. They are very, the Chinese people are very protective. And they felt like Taiwan belongs to China. And for the record, I'm Taiwanese. And all my life, that has never been a thing. Like for me, we don't think of ourselves as belonging to Taiwan. So it's a very sensitive topic. Hobonichi made that post. And then they immediately get sworn by thousands of angry Chinese fans. Basically threatening to boycott, threatening to report them to the Chinese government. Wow. It's actually pretty bad. And I felt so bad for them because I felt like, oh, no, this brand I love so much was being bullied. And just some of those people are just being really unreasonable over this thing. Like to me, it's such a.

Hobonichi's pricing and market changes.

• Anyway, I wasn't really pleased with what happened. And then I thought it would just blew over. But two days later, they put out an apology post only on the Chinese side saying that, okay, you know, we apologize for the mistakes. And, you know, we are we are going to we are going to follow the Chinese and like Japanese government regulation and acknowledge that China thinks Taiwan is part of their country. And we are going to be careful moving forward to not make these language mistakes anymore. And what that essentially means to me is that they're never going to include Taiwan as a label on anything anymore. And I mean, sure, business wise, like I feel like that's a very, I guess, the only thing they could do to not like suffer the three million ish, like, you know, market that they have in China. But on a personal level, that just suddenly something my connection to when you just snapped in that moment. And sure, I could no longer feel comfortable moving forward because it's such a it felt like a backstab to my identity, obviously. So this is something that, you know, it's not going to affect anyone's decision to listening to this podcast because you obviously are not in the same, you know, national identity as me. And I still think they're a great company. I still think they're making amazing products. But if I continue using it, and especially since Hobonichi is such a big the system, the notebook is such a big part of my projection of my persona onto a physical notebook. And if you know me and know the things I write in it, and how I basically, you know, I guess this past 10 years, that is a big part of my life. It's too big of an identity conflict. And I feel like a hypocrite to continue using it. Yeah, it's a special ritual. And I just felt tainted to me in some way. Yeah, I get that. And knowing you like I do, and you said it right there at the end, like these notebooks and planners are rituals for you. They're important to you. And they mean a lot to you. And that still doesn't outweigh your personal identity and your personal feelings, right? I like to talk about one of the things when it gets too serious, like some company talking about some other company, Myke and I joke like, oh, like, we're literally talking about pens here. What are we doing? But this is a little bit different. This is different, right? It is a little different. And it hits a little bit. It's very personal and very close to home. And that's why, actually, that's one of the reasons why we all like stationery so much is because this pen or this paper or this notebook is personal to us for reasons that are only important to us. Exactly. And that's how we find these things. And that's how we make these decisions. So I think, like, the decision you made is wonderful, like, for you, right? For me, exactly. Yeah. I used it in – I started using kind of a little context to why it's so special to me, too, if I could kind of elaborate a little bit on it. Sure, sure, sure. So I started using it in 2014. That's when I went through a gap year. Like, I was applying for graduate school. And then I continued to brain dump in it because, to me, like, the Hobonichi is really about sitting with my emotions and capturing my thoughts. Less so creating pretty spread, but more like capturing my life experience on paper over time. Like, I had so many ups and downs in it, like surviving the United States on a work visa, moving across countries, getting married, going through the pandemic. My father passing away last year. Like, it was – it has a lot of things in it. And it felt like a security blanket. And, like, I think people can relate, you know, to a stationary item that's just so precious, it felt. And I think in a way it's like when outside world is so out of control, having this Dear Diary notebook feels like a very stable rock that, like, grounds me. And so it felt like this weighs so much in the part of my life.
• And in a way, I also think Hobonichi has changed a little bit, like, in terms of – I guess it's kind of – they are getting bigger. They have to appeal to a bigger market. But when we first – like, you and I, you know, back in the days when the site crashed, like, when only the niche market knew it. Yeah. They actually had kind of marketed the Hobonichi in a very unique way. That speaks to me. Like, I think it was a 2017 article by Ito Ishige Satosan. He said that Hobonichi is a fishing net, which is really interesting because today people think of it as a planner or as a journal or something like that. Yeah. I'll quote a little bit because I just love this thing so much. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love Ito'i's, like, marketing or, like, copywriting. So he says that, I get the feelings there's never been a container to keep things that surface during unnameable times. Unimportant things that stick with you or things that resonate with you when you don't know why. So I would like the Hobonichi tetro to be a fishing net to catch all the things you think and feel during your unnameable times. And there will be days when you couldn't catch a fish and there will be days you won't fish. But with 360 days in a year, over time, your net will fill with plenty of minnows. And such is the wealth of our thoughts. And, like, it gives me chill even now to read about it because I love it so much. I just love that. They gave me a reason to view this book as something that's not for work, not for planning, not for daily diary, but more for you can document the most unimportant things in your life. And it'll only mean something to you. And he encourages you to do it, not daily, but try, like, 365 days. So just like the other day, I binge-watched a K-drama. I think some people are coming. I binge-watched a K-drama. I had this scene and I was just feeling these tingly feelings from it. And I immediately rushed to my stationery desk, opened my Hovonichi, and jot down that feeling. And, like, that is the most, like, this doesn't matter. This feeling doesn't matter to anyone else but me. But the fact that I put it pen to paper, like, in my book that represents me, it feels like an experience is completed. I know I'm feeling, I'm getting very philosophical and weird about this. No, it's perfect. I'm nodding my head vigorously, yes. Like, it's like that experience is sealed by you writing about it. That's something special to you. And then you can, I feel like, okay, I can move on to the next part of my day now. Like, because I thoroughly gave that thought the time and the weight that it deserves. So, yeah, when I, like, that night when I decided I'm not going to use the Hovonichi anymore, I actually, I was scared. I was so shaken. Like, it's like a foundational core has been moved or debunked. And my thoughts were, oh, no, what do I do now? What do I do in my journaling habit? What other notebook can I use to reliably hold my entire year's thought and, you know, some of the durable space for my inks, my journaling, my stickers, all that stuff. So, it was very traumatic. I'm sorry to use the word traumatic. But to me, it really, it was a breakup. It was a very bad breakup. Yeah. It matters. And I'm glad we're here to be able to talk about it. And from that breakup may become some opportunity, right? A closing of a chapter and moving on to the next one. Exactly.
• Yeah. So, you know, I don't want to, you know, jump forward too much. But, you know, I'm sure once you've figured out that, hey, I'm no longer moving forward, did you start thinking about other things you were going to use? Were you just going to, you know, use what you have? Were you trying to find, like, an actual replacement for what you were missing going forward? Oh, yeah, absolutely. It went from, like, panicky to trying to be logical. And then doing some research, you know, hitting up all those different books that kind of has, like, a similar size. Because even though I'm throwing away the security blanket, it's too much to switch completely to a different thing. I kind of still want a size that I'm familiar with that I can move forward to. So I think I researched Sterling Inc., which kind of had a similar layout.
• But do I share what I ended up deciding on? Yeah, if you've already figured out what you're doing, yeah. So I'm diving into the system that I actually used years before when it first came out. And it's called Take a Note. Take a Note Planner is made by a Taiwanese creator.
• And actually, I know that that person was a fan, like, probably still a fan, but used the Hobonichi at the very beginning. But she collaborated with – she's, like, a product designer, and she collaborated with National Taiwan University to come out with a planner-type thing for really, like, professional and, like, scheduling. But also incorporating the Asian kind of culture of, like, the Techo thing together. So it's also A5 size, Sanzen TRP, but 68 GSM instead of Hobonichi's 47, which they changed to. That I did learn this year. Yeah. Me too. I didn't realize it was down to 47. Yep. Yep. And then it has, like, the monthly layout. It has all the – it has 365 days. But instead of one day, one page, it's two days per page. And actually, this – after I thought about it, it's actually going to work out so well because my lifestyle has changed. I got so much busier this past year. I rarely have time to journal. And this year is the year I have the most empty pages in my Hobonichi. So I figure, you know, like, maybe I don't need a whole full page to journal my thoughts anymore because of how sporadic my schedule is. Like, I travel and I go to do things. And I feel bad, too, you know, with the empty pages. And maybe half a page is sufficient. So take a note is definitely a welcoming change. And, like, in that flustered moment, I was trying to calm myself down. Like, I was trying to not panic. Like, April, there are other books you can use out there. The Hobonichi doesn't define you. It's you who do the thing. Okay, April? So, you know, and, you know, I realize it's the connection and, like, what came out of this journaling habit that defines me. So I should be able to do this in any book I want. I've reached stationary Nirvana. There's your episode title. I find that interesting because I agree completely with you. And I wonder if I'm on the initial stages of that myself because I've been having my own conversations in my own head. I saw, yeah. Which we all do. Just about how I use things, how those things have changed over the years, how much more interested I am right now in capturing ideas on paper, writing. And just putting things on paper, even more so than, like, grabbing a pen or, like, looking at pens. Like, I'm really, I don't know, I'm having this paper transition right now. And that doesn't mean that I think that I've, like, solved for pens on my end. Like, there's always going to be new pens and things like that. But I'm super content, right? And I'm super lucky to have all these great things that I enjoy using. Try to use as many of them as I can. And I won't profess to have hit stationary Nirvana yet. But I'm having these different, over, like, the last year, I've had these different thoughts about how I use things. And I'm actually using the things more. Yes. Which I am, it's weird that I'm, like, having to come to terms with this as someone who literally does this all day, every day. That now, all of a sudden, after, like, 10 or 15 years, I feel like I'm using things more. Like, and because I'm really happy with the things that I have. Like, I don't know. It's an interesting, so I'm going to, I am going to make this the show title. But it's actually kind of thrown me for a loop because now I'm thinking about, okay, where's my position on the path? You're still on the journey there. Yeah, I'm still on the journey. Maybe to be specific, Planner Nirvana, you know, like they say Planner Peace. I've, like, ascended that. And I'm in Nirvana. I feel good about myself right now. Yeah. I think just on the technical side of things, I think the two day per page is probably an interesting layout. I do, I'm going to go browse around, take a note. When they started, back years ago, they sent me a huge amount of their notebooks. That was when they were doing the, they were doing the traveler style layout. The record series? I can't even remember. But it was literally, it came with a build your own notebook folder. Like, I had to build, I remember building this. It was probably in one of my reviews or I did a video. Or maybe one of their covers, I think. Yeah, it was a cover, but it was out of cardboard. But it came flat. And you had to build it and then put all your notebooks in it and stuff like that. She's super innovative with the kind of things she's trying to do for Take a Note. And next year is actually their 10th year anniversary. So just perfect. You know, I just ended my 10th year anniversary of Hobonichi. Jumping on to the next. I'm just really happy about everything. So I think that's going to be fun. So yeah, I'm going to have to go browse through. We'll make sure I put a link in the show notes for the Take a Note. So everyone can go take a look. And now you're going to have people going, oh, maybe I can use a two day per page. If you think one day, one page is too big. Two days per page might be a good solution. That's why I always enjoyed that either the travelers one week per two page, the Hobonichi weeks, and then the plotter narrow the way the planner pages work. Those are all generally the same concept where you have seven days on the left and then information on the right. I don't know. Maybe two day per page is something I need to look at. You should. And they have it in A6 size, an A5 size, and one in B6. I don't know. I'm like, we'll go look at them. I'm touting them now. I know. I don't know. All right. I'm not done talking about stationery and notebooks with you. But real quick, I want to thank our second sponsor today. And that's our good friends over at Enigma Stationery. Enigma Stationery offers unique items made from in-house designs along with top brands and hard to find imports. The time has come. Get ready for the Enigma InkVent 2024 by pre-ordering now. 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• All right, so I was watching a little bit of your Hobonichi D stash on Instagram, and then I was reading a post on the Penguin Post, and I started wondering if April had a Closet of Doom situation herself. So just for reference, for those who don't know my personal lingo, I keep this closet in my household with all the stationary items I have, and they just get stashed in there. And it's come to be known as the Closet of Doom, because it's one of those doors you have to be careful opening, because if you go in there at the wrong time, you might not return, right? The shelves might come crashing down on you. And, you know, the kids, you know, the wife may not know you're in there. Toby would probably find me. He would probably be looking for me. I don't know if anyone else would be looking for me. My dog, Toby. I just get sucked into it. Yeah, but do you have a situation where you have, like, a mad stash of stationary that's at risk of the tumbling? I don't have a full closet, but I have containers of hope,
• Tower of Terror of Stamps, like Valley of Unused Notebooks. I do have a lot of these.
• Elliot, my husband Elliot is really into car, and he always tells me the garage is full. Like, my studio is the garage, and refuses to let me buy more shelving to organize things. And I'm like, no, I need to take these stuff off the floor, put them on a shelf. And then he said, but then you'll buy more. I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about.
• Yep, yep. I know. We get more storage to solve our problems, and that just allows us to put a few things away so we can fill it up with more stuff later. I think that's generally how it goes. Yeah, I know. Yeah, hoarding. We're not exactly hoarding. Everything we buy is something that we love and connect with. So, you know, my personal attitude, I'm like, honestly, the worst person to talk about about consumerism is because it's a bad thing, of course, in capitalism. But my attitude is if you can afford it, and if it's within your means, that's the most important thing. Like, then after that, if the item connects with you on an emotional level and, like, makes you happy, you know, the world is a horrible place. Life is short. Just do it. Like, you can sell it later. Yeah, exactly. So that's kind of why I have, I'm surrounded with things I love right now. Yeah, I know. My, yeah, for sure. Like, my philosophy is, will I use it? Like, number one, right? I'm not going to buy something that is going to sit. And then two, can I afford it, right? So, like, I do it a little, that's pretty high on the list. You know, is it like, you know, am I making a good purchasing decision? To be a stationery lover, you have to be a responsible person financially. Please, please be financially responsible. Yes.
• All right. So let's be financially unresponsible real quick.

Glass pens and stationery trends.

• I noticed you have, you know, have quite a few glass pens. So I just want to talk about glass pens in general. And then kind of, you know, what's inspiring you in the stationery world right now.
• Right. Um, glass pens. So I think, um, the U.S. is a little bit like one year behind the, the, the fad that, or like the, the most hot thing, because I think it was a year or two ago that ink starts, like ink is the thing in Japan. And people are not going to buy a lot of fountain pens to fill those ink. So instead glass pens came to the foreground because it's a cool tool with variations that you can use to enjoy ink. So the association of ink swamps and glass pen, um, audiences has been mentioned a few times, I think on the Tokyo Inklings, um, yes, podcast. That's where I learned a lot about it initially. Oh yeah. And I was, I was just kind of on the sideline looking in and just like, I don't know if I need a glass pen. And, and I think it was, it started last year when I got to be friends, uh, closer friends with a few people in my community who owns an,
• I don't want to call it a very prosperous amount. Um, glass pens.
• Um, and her name is Polly. Not a hoarder. Polly pan. Go look up her Instagram. She's amazing. And she is on the hunt always for these, um, glass pens that are exclusive to Japan and like at events. I know food a fan is always shocked to see that Polly was able to get these like super limited glass pens at these Japanese events. And I, I got to like know her more and got to try some of her glass pens and art impression of glass pens might have always been like, it's scratchy. It feels like it's going to be broken. And I think that's probably due to the, uh, the most popular glass pen here is probably like the J. Urban type. Yeah, I'd say so. They're not really, they, they, they offer you the worst experience compared to what you would have tried by these Japanese craftsmen. Like specifically at SSA, a pen show, we cajoled our own glass studio to come to SSA pen show for the last year. Like all of us have been visiting Kurasiki, going there and buying a glass pen from them, writing in person, seeing them tune and grind the nib. Cause you could sand a glass nib to be extremely smooth. And when you write on it, it sometimes even feels better than writing with a Sailor Pro gear. Like that's, that's my experience. Okay. And they're so beautiful. And the craftsmanship of course, and crafting the design of it is just out of this world. And that, that whole innovation had been going on in Japan for a year or more, I would even say. And so I'm really happy to see that trend coming in. And I think it's something that people needed to, to dip their toes in carefully because the impression is glass do break, but a lot of these brands, like even Bungu box, they, they have warranties. So even if you break the nibs or something like that, that happened to Kelly, she sends it back to Bungu box and they were able to reshape it for her, like under warranty. So there's a lot more responsibility and like a pride to the things they make from the Japanese makers. And I, I super admire that. And the fact they, our own glass studio has like two craftsmen. They call the person who's the fire person who shapes it. And the person who's the coat, the water person who sands and grinds. And then he's the guy who came to as a pen show. Okay. Mr. Ono Takusan. Um, and then also like not just Japan, of course, one of my favorite brands that I got to learn and know about this pen show was glass of fee. And they, she makes these awesome, like super crafted shape, like the little foxes holding, holding things. Um, the sailor moon, like one, super intricate artwork. And it just kind of opens up another facet, I think, of the pen world. Like, you know, we have seen a lot of innovation and creativity with pen bodies and things, but how about, how about glass? And what if they offer amazing writing experiences, stub nibs, flex nibs, or not, sorry, not flex, stub nib and the calligraphy music nibs, um, thin, fine nibs, medium, stub, but all that kind of stuff. And, and then now you have things to play with, with your inks. Yeah. So now that I've learned like over the past, I don't know, just really this year, like I have obviously known about glass nib pens for a while and have definitely seen some amazing works of art out there learning now,
• like mostly this year, like you're saying in the U S getting to talk with several of these makers, learning the customization options that are available. Like I'm probably at some point next year. Yeah. I talked to, talk to them very much. Uh, at, actually I spent a lot of time with them at stationary fest going, huh? I did not know that was what we could do. So like, I'll could, that's one of those things where I'll continue to do my research and I'll end up with something like that specific for me. Right. Like that's why we do all this stuff is to find the things that are specific to us. And luckily in our hobby, like we can find notebooks and pens that really speak to April or really speak to Brad and like fits my handwriting style. Like my handwriting style is going to be different from April's. And yeah, that's like, these things are just like really, really cool works of art. Now these, um, these glass dip pens and like, if I actually would have made it up to the front of the line, some of these in San Francisco. Yeah. They were swamped. Yeah. They did not bring enough. Yeah. Like if there were like little foxes there, by the time I got up to the table, like I would have just gone for it. But yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to look into that because I think that's an interesting aspect. So what do you use a glass dip pen for primarily? Are you, will you write your journal entries? Like literally just use it like a pen, right? Yes. I write in my Hobonichi with it. Um, you know, it works just like a fountain pen. Um, some other people have more meditative practices with it. You know, people who wants to practice their handwriting and just copying books. Uh, in Japan, there's a habit called the morning, right? Like they copy a phrase or paragraph from a book or a quote, and they make it a whole ceremony ritual out of it on a single pristine page, just copying it down. Um, I think that's what Polly does on her account. So she, she writes in kanji and like Japanese and stuff like that. Um, and then some people do art with it, like, especially with the cool food day nips, um, that Hanabi glass studio was making and customizing, you can make really cool marks and use it for drawing. And because you can redip them almost immediately, like into a different color, you can, you'd have so much flexibility with it. That's the one that, that's the one that got me when I was talking to him and he was showing me, uh, how it worked. I was like, okay, I did not know this was the thing. It's not like you need to use a glass pen, but you want to use it. Right. I don't need any of this. I literally don't need any of this, but man, it means something to me. And like I said, like I've never been just as compelled by my own stationery right now, then we still get to learn about new things. Like, you know, Hey, you know, I'm going to explore, you know, a new journal or a glass dip pen or something that's going to continue my enjoyment of this hobby that we love. So, yeah, I think we'll probably wrap it up there because I could talk to you for hours. Like you're one of my favorite people, uh, in the world. I'll just go ahead and say that. So like, I have so many more questions for you and so many more, things I can learn from you. And I appreciate how much time you spent with me today, talking about everything and, and putting it out there. So it's really great stuff. Always awesome to talk to you, April, before we go, can you tell people where they can find you online if they're interested in, in finding out more? Absolutely. So I'm on Instagram as penguins creative. I also run a sub stack called the penguin posts. And I think that's where I am trying to deviate from the social media world as I wanted to share more in-depth thoughts and writing, um, about my adventures, if you will, my food blogging and, um, my love for stationary and related stuff. You need to grab a drink when one of those posts comes live that they're super enjoyable, but, uh, yeah, make sure you're hydrated. They're very long. I ramble a lot when I'm, I think I'm like those old school millennial that like still wants to write a blog instead of short videos. Um, so I do that. I also stream on Twitch, um, sporadically. So twitch.tv slash penguins creative. Uh, and I think that's the three best place to find me these days. Uh, and, or if you meet me at a show, yeah, running around if, if they can actually, uh, get to the table to see you, which is, uh, you know, that's, that's a 2025 problem we can solve. Uh, we're doing a really fun road trip event. If you didn't see at the pen show for travelers, that's November. Um, so in November, we are doing a, a great American road trip for travelers company. So they do these stamp, uh, traveling caravan concepts. And the last time they did one was in Madrid, um, before the pandemic. And this year they just ventured out to Malaysia, I think this week. So in November, the Japan team, the travelers company, Japan team is coming, um, to LA, um, specifically to long beach for two days, uh, November 2nd and 3rd. And then there'll be going to San Francisco. Um, we're going to be hosting a pop-up at heat ceramics, um, in the mission district on the sixth and seventh. And then they're actually going to come to my area. We're going to go like take a ferry, go all the way to port Townsend to visit the folks at our toolkit and do a pop-up there. And it's going to be super exciting because we're going to have events like the aspiring Viking. Have you heard of those where you build your own notebook? So there's going to be a buffet of paper types and you basically pick and arrange them as you wish. And they, the craftsmen will spiral bounded for you on the spot. And so it's really exciting. And they haven't done this in so long. And, um, I'm very exhausted, but also very excited.
• So hope to see you there. No rest for you. There's a lot going on. You need to send me some information about that so I can share with everyone, make sure I have the right links. If people are interested in finding out more about that traveler's road trip, because it sounds spectacular. So, uh, thank you again, April, just real quick, everyone. I'm, I'm Brad. You can find pretty much everything I do at penaddict.com. I'm on Instagram at penaddict stream on Twitch with April. We need to do a co-stream one time, uh, figure out all this new technology that they have on there and do a, we'll do a co-stream sometime. Uh, you know, when you're, when you're not busy, you know, I'm intimidated by all the new things on Twitch. I'm just like, I know I, I, I get it lost a little bit. So we're going to wrap it there. I will talk to you later. I will see you on the road, road soon and, uh, uh, have a great rest of your night. And thanks so much. Thank you, Brad. Thank you, Brad. Thank you, Brad. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Brad. Thank you, Brad.