Editing The Pen Addict 460/transcript (section)

== TPA Segment Start ==


'''Myke:''' All right. First one comes from Bethany. I have a new book coming out next month and would love to give my editor a thank you gift. I know that he uses mechanical pencils to edit and has at least one nice one, though I don't know what it is. Do you have any suggestions for a gift for this person? Another mechanical pencil or something else? I'd like to stick close to a $50 budget. Well, I'd love to be more generous, but this is poetry we're talking about. No one becomes a poet to make money. But if you have any amazing suggestions that don't fit that budget, I'd love to hear what they are as well. Even if all I can do is draw over them online.

'''Brad:''' Number one, I owe Bethany an apology. I meant to answer this last week, then I forgot and didn't reach out to her directly, which I should have. So my apologies, Bethany. I hope there's still time to answer this question and get you some help for this. So the editor is a mechanical pencil fan and they need a gift one. And I think you know what I'm going to say. Maybe two of the things that I'm going to say. Number one is the classic rotary. Either the 600 or the 800. The 600 is everything you ever need in a mechanical pencil. It's about 30 bucks. The 800 is your big upgrade to allow for the tip of the pencil to retract into the body of the pencil. And those are over $50. I think they're closer to 60. But it's in the ballpark. So that's just, you know, kind of a style preference thing. Like I don't necessarily find myself ever needing the retractable lead pipe, but it's super valuable to those people who do, right? Who are putting their pencils in their pocket all the time or carrying them around a lot and they don't want to damage the tip of the pencil. The second one is a spoke model for which full disclosure, I'm part of the company that makes these. This is, I can't say this fairly. It's one of my favorite pencils ever, but take that with a grain of salt because that's a company I'm part of. But what the model...

'''Myke:''' But this goes back to what I was talking about earlier on. Like you feel like you made the perfect pencil along. Yeah. The two of you came together and made that perfect product. So you and Brian, like that's what you want to exist in the world.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. So there's been, Brian and I talk about this a lot. So there'll be more spoke model number pencils, right? So there's been spoke model one through five so far. But when you make one like the model four that is consistently wanted and it becomes a flagship on its own without being, you know, without you going out and saying, this is our mainline pencil. It just happened. Like the customers say, this is the one. And so we've leaned into that one and continue to make more colors, more grip styles, more accessories, things like that.

'''Myke:''' That even though there is a five, you continue to make the four because the four really capture people.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. It is the flag. It's the flagship pencil. It just is. And that just happens naturally, right? You don't, like I said, you don't go into it. So that one you can get in like different colors, right? Like the rotary, you can get in silver or black. And they do have some, the blue and green and red models that came out this year. And then the spoke, you can get like some wilder colors, you know, some bright blues or purples or limes or oranges or different things, different materials. So those are the main two gift type mechanical pencils. Then you get into like some really technical pencils that I don't know would, would work that well. And I'm trying to think like outside of like the Pentel carry, which is a really unique mechanical pencil. It's about 20 to 25 bucks. It's a capped mechanical pencil, which is very rare. And I just kind of love it. And an editor might like that because it's got a cap and you can clip it to things like a shirt or a bag or a backpack or anything like that. How do you spell that one? K-E-R-R-Y. Pentel Sharp Carry. It's fantastic. I rave about this pencil quite frequently because it's such a unique design. So those are probably like my top three gift type mechanical pencils. So check out the aesthetics and see if you think something might be a fit. Oh, I remember this. I don't like this one. Oh, it's brilliant. Such an amazing design. Love it.

'''Myke:''' This was one of the articles that was a collaboration article on your website.

'''Brad:''' I don't know. I've reviewed two or three times. So maybe. Okay. There's at least two or three reviews on there.

'''Myke:''' All right.

'''Brad:''' I think. But yes, I know someone's written one. I think I've written my own. And I don't know if Jeff's written one or not. I can't remember. I'd have to go look. But I rave about it anytime I can. Yeah. It's so underrated.

'''Myke:''' I don't like that middle part.

'''Brad:''' I get it. I get it. I don't like the middle part. That's why it's probably not more popular than it is.

'''Myke:''' I mean, I think it's fantastic. I can thoroughly endorse both the rotaring and the spoke. They feel different to me in what I would use them for. I can't explain why. Like, what I like about the rotaring, the rotaring is tried and true. It's like the standard bearer. Like, that's the pencil that every other mechanical pencil tries to be or tries to be different to. Like, it's just mechanical pencil.

'''Brad:''' Like, for Bethany, if Bethany doesn't know anything about mechanical pencils, the rotaring 600 is the one you would find in, like, a design museum as a pinnacle of, like, simplistic design.

'''Myke:''' And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this is the product that Bethany's editor is already using. Who knows? Who knows? I don't know. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me. I'm not saying it is, but it just wouldn't surprise me, right? Because Bethany said that they have a nice one, right? Yeah, true, true, true, true. I'm copying it. The spoke pencil for me is like the it's always ready pencil because I have the little stand that it goes in, right? So that's what I like about that product is, like, I don't really have a lot of products like this where I feel like it's just always ready to be grabbed at any moment and used. Yep. This next one comes from Shobit who asks two questions, which I love. One, what is the first thing that you had right every day? What is the answer for you?

'''Brad:''' Oh, we're going to go ahead and answer now. Oh, I was not prepared.

'''Brad:''' It's some stupid task note or something. Something work related. It's typically a task thing. To do or task. Yeah. I don't have, like, a morning session, like, for thoughts. So it's usually a task slash work related. How about you?

'''Myke:''' My first thing is typically the episode name and number for my first podcast of the day. Right. I'm writing my edit notes. Today, it was actually notes from a meeting. I had, like, a call. And so it could be that too, right? Typically be one of those two things. I'll add in, like, in a second. For me, the last thing that I had right every day is my journal. Right. Gotcha. Just journal in the evenings. And two, are there days when everything is normal? For example, you're not traveling. You're not unwell. But you do not write anything, handwrite anything at all. If so, why?

'''Myke:''' Yes.

'''Brad:''' Really? Mm-hmm. Okay. It's pretty rare. It's pretty rare. And the reason why I can answer that yes is because I've caught myself, like, the following day. I was like, oh, I didn't write a thing today. And I'll have to catch myself and think about that. I was like, why did that happen? So it's like, why is because I just get busy and forget, right? Like, if I'm just, like, if I'm writing an article and shipping products and doing emails and checking the accounting, I may not pick up a pen in those situations. A lot of times I do, but it might be that day where it just kind of rolls through and it didn't happen. And I always notice it, right? It's noticeable when I don't, which means it doesn't happen very often. It's not like a recurring theme. But I notice it and I was like, oh, okay, I need to catch up on this and this and this and I'll get out my pen and paper and write and, you know, do whatever, fill out my journal or, you know, write whatever thoughts I have going and kind of catch up a little bit from the previous day. But I don't like it when that happens because it's noticeable to me. How about you?

'''Myke:''' For me, to not handwrite anything is a day where I am horrendously busy. Like, something bad has happened. Yeah. You know what I'm, like, for me to go an entire day, I mean, that's meaning that, like, I'm working so much that I've blown past my journaling time and then for many hours more. Right. Right? And so, like, something bad's happened, I feel like, if a day where I've not handwritten anything, because that means, like, I'm incredibly busy and I'm not recording anything. And that would typically mean that something's going on. Well, this would be work days. Very normal for me to not handwrite anything on the weekend.

'''Brad:''' Very, very normal for me. It actually does come up more on the weekend. Yeah. But I'm usually working on Sunday at least and that's usually, like, a writing day for me. So, I'm always using, you know, pens and paper then. Saturdays, I may not. But, like, that, I don't catch, like, that's just, like, a weekend, like, off day. It may not be doing anything. But, like, if it happened on a weekday, like, I notice it. Yeah. So, I giggled when you said this is a good question. I actually replied when Shobit put these in Twitter. I was like, oh, these questions are great. So, I should do more morning handwriting. You know, like, with my coffee or, like, I usually have about, you know, 30 minutes or so where I just sit and drink coffee and scroll on my phone or something in the morning. And I could use that time to write instead or at least split it up. So, I think about, I thought these were good questions because I think about this. And, yeah, it's something to work on.

'''Myke:''' Last question today comes from AtMatch3 who asks, I'm a Lamy Safari newbie. I find that if I put my fingers on the indents on the grip sections, the nib is oriented in a way that doesn't write well. Am I doing this wrong? Is this something I can adjust?

'''Brad:''' Oh. The great Lamy Safari problem. Yeah. We say every pen.

'''Myke:''' Really? But Lamy just make it obvious to you.

'''Brad:''' Right. So, the question is, am I doing it wrong? And the answer is no. Yeah. Because your grip is not what Lamy has determined the proper penmanship grip is. But I am telling you that your grip is the proper penmanship grip because it works for you. Yeah. Now, Lamy's are pre-molded grip sections and they're not subtle, right? These are not subtle grip sections. So, if you have a non-standard grip, either, you know, you have a finger overlapping in a different position or like a finger coming across the grip, it's not going to work well. And the only thing you can adjust is your grip. Now, maybe that adjustment is maybe it helps you. But I'm of the opinion that like I'm pro the Lamy Safari grip, obviously, right? But I'm also pro the individuality of your grip.

'''Myke:''' Hold it however is comfortable for you, right? Like, you don't have to hold a pen in the way that the pen seems to suggest it should be held. Right. As long as the pen is comfortable to you to use the way that you write, then that's great. But like, for example, there are many pens where the way that the grip section is created means that I can't use it comfortably with my grip. You know, so we spoke about this before.

'''Brad:''' Know that this design was born out of like penmanship lessons, right? Like in the 70s. And so, like, they're trying to force you.

'''Myke:''' Because the Lamy Safari is used in German school, right? Like that's one of, it's one of, so like, you know, it's intended to be some element of my first fountain pen. Lamy actually make a my first fountain pen. It's called Lamy ABC, which is a fantastically cute pen. And it also has the same grip. But yeah, it has the triangular grip, which, you know, is helpful, especially for kids to learn how to hold a pen. But don't force your hand to conform to what it's doing as long as it's comfortable for you in the way that you are currently writing.

'''Brad:''' Right. You just may not be a Safari user. You may not be able to be that person, right? And there will probably be a few other grips out there that are not for non-standard tripod grips. So, it's just a thing. And that's what Lamy does. And that's why we can't just recommend Safaris as much as I love them. We can't just recommend them carte blanche over everything because of that issue.

'''Myke:''' If you would like to send in a question for us to answer on the show, you can set out a tweet with the hashtag AskTPA. You can use question mark AskTPA in the RelayFM members Discord. If you have a longer question, you can email it to us at hello at penaddict.com. Penaddict.com is where you can also find Brad's writing along with many other talented individuals. You can find Brad's products at knock.co and spokedesign.com. You can find mine at cortexmerch.com. If you want to find Brad on Twitch, go to twitch.tv slash penaddict. Brad streams live on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. Eastern. I will be streaming as I do on Friday this week. It's typically around 10.30. I'm actually going to be doing 11 a.m. Eastern time this week at mike.live. You can find Brad on Instagram. He is penaddict. I am imike. I am yke. And the same on Twitter. Brad is dowdyism. D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. In trying to be more detailed this week, I made this way more confusing. Thank you so much to Express 2PM, Pen Chalet, and Harry's for the support of this episode. And thank you for listening. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad.

'''Brad:''' Goodbye, Brad.

[[Category:Podcast Transcripts]]
[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]