Scribe

Hello, and welcome to episode 13 of the erasable Podcast. I am your host, Andy Welfle. I'm joined, as always, by my partners in graphite crime. That was a lame pun. Sorry, guys. Johnny Gamber and Tim Wasem. Hey, guys.

Hello. So this week we actually had a. We kind of had a big thing planned, and it just like, because of timing, it didn't work out so well. We were going to talk about back to school stuff and, you know, just. Just about, like, you know what the best kind of deals are, what? You know, you know, what to avoid, what to find. But then since we record kind of bi weekly, we, you know, we were just kind of an off week and we kind of missed our time, our window. And now most everybody's back to school. I know that. Tim, you've been back for like, two weeks now, right?

Yeah. And Johnny, I know that, you know, your back to school story is a tragic one, so we'll get to that.

Yeah. So we are going to do just the Fresh Points today. And we actually. We already have the name of the episode. Usually we come up with it at the end. This is the Fresh Points of Bel Air, so. Pretty proud of that one

That's cool. So this is actually part one, because, you know, there might be a time when we're just going to do this again. So hopefully for those of you who want a shorter episode, this will be a little shorter. But maybe not because we tend to talk a long time. So first, we should probably launch right into. Well, let me do a couple announcements first. Actually, we just have one main one is that the Teespring campaign that we're doing for the Erasable Pencils Are Forever T shirts is about a week out. We are, as of this recording, we are six days away. We have sold 49 shirts to a total of 20. So this thing is definitely going to print. That's awesome. Have you guys ordered your shirts yet?

Awesome.

So, yeah, we'll definitely top 50 we'll top 50. So if you want to get on, get in on this. One thing I'm telling people is that we will never print this design again. So if you want in on it, you need to get in on it now. I'll post a link in show notes, which by the way, is at erasable us 13 lucky episode 13. So, yeah, that is, that is the big announcement. Be sure to get in on that. I guess we should talk about the. Our tools of the trade. I'll go first. I am drinking. So yesterday at lunch I was kind of bored and I've been getting into bourbon lately, as I'm sure everybody has followed my journey here on the podcast because I talk about it a lot. I just basically watched an hour of artisanal Old fashioned makers making. So I watched a lot of people making old fashions with bourbon, with brandy, with rye. And so I decided to try to put some of my cheap bourbon and like, gross maraschino cherries to use and make myself an Old Fashioned, fancy Old Fashioned. So that was what I'm drinking right now. So far, so good.

So it varies a little bit, but the main components are a simple syrup or sugar, if you want to go with that, an orange peel, bitters, eggnostora bitters usually, sometimes a cherry, like a cherry. And you muddle all that together and then you add bourbon on top of that and depending on how you make it, maybe a little bit of water to kind of, you know, fill it out and water it down a little bit or as what I did, I just stirred a bunch of ice in and let it, let it rest. So, so, so far so good. It's. It's delicious.

And I am writing with a Mongol. 482. That was it you, Tim, who sent me that?

Yeah. So I actually had. I used to have a bunch of them and I loved them so much I used them all and now you can't get them. So. So yeah, I'm using one of my precious Mongols that you sent me. Yeah. And I'm writing. Oh, awesome. I'm writing in a Rhodian notepad. It's the advanced, which is the, the square ones that are kind of reversible side by side. So I just, I just pulled this out the other day and I was like, oh, I haven't used that for a while. So that's where I'm laying out all my various, like, show notes and sound cues and all that crap. So that is, that is My tools of the trade. How about you, Tim?

How do they come up with that?

No, you need to say that like you always spell it.

Yeah. Which we'll talk about, actually. So the Red Blooded is one of the few that's not a limited edition. That's a regular edition. Right?

What is that one like? I don't think I'm familiar with that.

That's cool.

I bet you use that one a lot.

That's cool. How about you, Johnny?

They've only, in the past few months, come to Indiana, at least Fort Wayne. I got it in Chicago a couple times just at. Just at like, a little market, like a fresh market type of deal. And yeah, I like them a lot.

Oh, wow.

Are you drinking poop?

We need to. You know, that's a medium that I don't think we've fully explored.

It's like try to smell your ink, everybody.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, that's part of the charm.

So, yeah, we should probably get right into fresh points because I feel like we have a lot more than usual and we want to try to keep this to an hour or less. So, Tim, would you like to fresh point us?

point us to the right direction is

The 18th they launched 18th. Okay.

I did. I actually listened to all of them except the video game show so far. Like, I'm a. Actually, I want to have a future episode about it, but I'm a kind of a big tech geek as well. So I just like listening to like Apple news and everything. So I listened to the prompt when it was on five by five, which was Mike Hurley, Stephen Hackett and Federico Viticci and they did like an Apple news show and that's what's turned into Konnected. And I listened to that. I've listened a lot to Command Space, which is now what you were talking about. Inquizitive. It sounds a lot tighter. It sounds now in the new network. It's just like, just super tight, I think now and then. Actually, my favorite of the new shows was Analog, Besides, like the Pen Addict, because that's an awesome show. But like, Analog is really good. That's what KZ List from the Accidental. Accidental Tech podcast. And it's. It's really well done. It's sort of about the emotional and like sociological implications behind technology. Like this week they had a big thing about, like, if you're somebody who, you know, just picks up your phone instead of like hanging out with your wife, are you a terrible person? Essentially they just explored that topic and. And I think it's fascinating. I can't wait to see where it goes. So that's a brand new. There was no counterpart on 5x5, so yeah, that's a great show.

Get some pity is what you want. No, just kidding.

Okay.

It's very different.

You don't think they're using basketball Once

Yeah. Yeah. I'm holding my target one right now, and, yeah, it's kind of reddish.

And then maybe they want to come on the podcast.

You should post that on the. On the group and see if Charles can give any insight, because, you know, he. I think they supply slats to Dixon and maybe he can tell you if that's like a basswood, which I Hope it's not. Or if that's what's going on with that.

ones just put on some Adele and have a good cry.

I'm older.

Is it mostly like the big clicks

mean, they're not clicks, but whatever. What is it called?

Yeah. Bicmatic.

Hey, that.

To me, that kind of like.

To me, that's still the archetype of disposable mechanical pencil.

I don't think I have. Have you. Have you looked at the. Kind of looked inside to see the little burrs? Are they clogged or something?

Huh.

To me that sounds like that maybe one of the burrs is a little either. Hopefully not like dinged or something like that, but maybe clogged. So I wonder if that's a thing.

And it looks like it was Joy from the group who posted that picture. And I'm looking through to see. Yeah, she says it just stopped sharpening, but she hasn't. She didn't quite say why. And I guess she was. I guess she was gonna unscrew it and check it out, but apparently she. She performed some quote, judicious jiggling, slash shaking, slash tapping, and that did the trick.

So my guess is it was clogged. Like maybe some pencil shavings got stuck between the burrs.

Yeah. So maybe just throw it on the ground and stomp on it.

Yeah.

What I love about that that blog is sort of, you know, applying the, you know, Jon Gruber's daring fireball kind of link blog method to like a pencil pen, stationary blog. Like Patrick. Patrick's a pretty good. Like he has used a podcast and blog called Minimal Ma. I think the blog is still going on. But he's very much like a tech blogger guy who is interested in pencils and pens as well. And so he's the first to kind of apply that shorter form link blog style to just kind of philosophy to a writing blog. So what I hope that means is it gets more people from that side interested, at least in analog and at least thinking about it. Yeah, definitely. I've written a couple articles on that. And he's, you know, he's great, he's super easy to work with and he's a great editor. I've enjoyed him.

Oh, I like that.

Are they the ones that say, like, yours sincerely, take notes, spell it out so well composed.

I bet she appreciated bringing you because wreck up the merchandise. I think my favorite here is. I think my favorite here is, in a manner of speaking, that's a good one. You say they have a racing machine?

Are these the ones that kind of look like the perfect pencil, but they're. They're black?

Sending this to your principal.

Let me show you how it's done.

This here is whiskey.

And what if we want to share some with somebody? We should buy three dozen.

Just place a curse on it. Somebody opens it, uses your pencil, and it only writes, like, stuff that comes true.

How would you screw up?

You had one job.

Your daughter just doesn't want baby pencils, was what it is.

Maybe she just knows the importance that you stress on them and she just wants to please her father. She spent her.

She spent her whole life trying to

Apparently, like, Edgar R. Murrow is your. Is your daughter's teacher.

He's like, I'm on it. He's like in Pulp Fiction. You know, Harvey Keitel's character is like, the fixer.

The wolf.

He's the pencil wolf.

He's like, I'm going to tell you what you need to do, and you have to follow exactly what I say. Without question.

Well, mine, I guess. That's a good segue. Speaking of David Ries, I've been watching Going Deep with David Ries. It's on the. It's on National Geographic. And then if you have Hulu plus, you can watch it. There's. And if you have a cable subscription that you can sign into, you can watch it on National Geographic's website. There's about nine episodes or something. So far. It is fantastic. I don't know if David Rees's. If you have read his book or not, or if you've seen his interviews or anything, but his super kind of dry, earnest sense of humor just really, really bleeds through. Have you guys. Do you. Have you watched any of his, like, CBS Sunday Morning stuff over and over again? Yeah, he's. He's so great, and he's just so earnest, but also he has a sense of humor about what he's talking about. Um, I kind of compared this show to, like, Good Eats with Elton Brown. I kind of compared it to that, but without the food. Uh, every week he picks something different. Like one week, it's how to make ice, how to light a match, how to climb a tree, how to dig a hole, things like that. But he just sort of, like, takes it to a.

I mean, he goes deep, so he takes it to a whole different level. And it's. It's super fascinating. I love the one. The first one you should watch is the one about matches. It's really good. It's really interesting.

And Making ice is kind of the best one that I thought, like, it was. It was interesting because, you know, he even got into the philosophical. Like, he was talking about how, you know, you know, no matter how good you make ice, it's eventually going to melt. Like, that's the point of it. It's. It's impermanent. And he decided to talk about impermanence by going to talk to a Buddhist monk and, like, one of the monks who make those, like, real elaborate, like, sand murals and then just, like, wipe it away. And it's. It's wonderful. David Rees is my hero. He's my. He's my man crush Monday. And I'm also super jealous of his hair is really what it is. But, yeah, he does have great hair.

So, yeah, go check that out. Actually, somebody today on Twitter, he retweeted it, said, does David Rees and his apron look to you like handsome mo When Moe Sleazak from the Simpsons is like handsome. I think I retweeted it. If I didn't, I will. And David Rees definitely retweeted it. You have to go check that. Check the comparison out. Really funny.

So, yeah, so check that out. The other really big thing I was going to tell everybody is, you know, one of the other problems with us only recording once every two weeks is that, you know, things just happen and then just stop in between episodes. So in between the last recording and now, we got in our stickers, our erasable stickers. We got that in on like a. Like a Thursday or something. And by. By Monday, we were sold out, which. Which is awesome because, you know, we. We had a lot of interest and we sold out. We made a little revenue. It was kind of logistically crazy, but we sold our stickers. I think it was $4 for three, and then I think it was $2 per sticker. And we actually. Or something like that, I can't remember, but we actually sold no single stickers. We only sold three packs. And so there's a lot of erasable stickers out there. So don't worry, everybody. We will be making more, and hopefully we will be ordering more at a time so we won't run out so quickly. So we'll have a chance to announce it on the podcast. For those of you who are not erasable Facebook community members, which, by the way, if you're not an erasable Facebook community member, why not? That's. I mean, I understand if you're not. If you're not a Facebook person. I. I took a year hiatus from Facebook and it was the best thing ever. But we'll have more information about that later if you want to join. But, yeah, those stickers are super cool. I have one rocking out of my laptop right now. The guys have. Some people are posting their shots of their stickers out in the wild. That's pretty cool. So we'll definitely have more the other Thing I wanted to mention was today I got my. Do you guys remember last episode? We were talking about the new Word notepad notebooks. We were talking about how they come in three colors, the polygon ones, which are super cool, but it sucked because we wanted one of each color, like in a mixed pack.

Well, sometime since then, Gary Varner, who is a Facebook group member, he decided, well, he's been working on a store, like a little online storefront where he's going to be selling, you know, mixed packs of stationery. He's going to be selling, like, retired field notes, things like that. He actually built a mixed pack of these new Word notebooks and sold them to erasable Facebook group members only. So I know that we got several orders. I definitely ordered mine. It's awesome because now I have one of each color and that's really what I wanted. So, yeah, this is really cool. It's not out yet. I think he's looking for a mid September launch, but the shop is called Notegeist, like Zeitgeist. N O T E G E I S t dot com. And if you go there, you can sign up for his email list if you want to be notified of when it launches. And I know that he teased to the group that sometime before the launch he's going to be offering a pencil sampler pack. So you know how I feel about sampler packs. I think they're the best idea for somebody just kind of getting acquainted with pencils. But yeah, check out the Facebook group. If it coincides with a podcast recording, we'll mention it here as well. So people could do it that way. Yeah, that's gonna be awesome. And then when he launches, I know we'll. We'll all be good friends. So check out Note guys. Get. Get signed up for the email list. The link is in. Show notes. Speaking of things online, there is a website called need. It's neededition.com or maybe needlifestyle.com, i can't remember. It's a guy named Matt Alexander. He's a good friend of my Curly's. They used to have a podcast called Bionic together. He started a new business called Ned Ned, and it's kind of one of those, like, curated shopping for men kind of a thing. It's basically like Barkbox where they have like, you know, except for not for your dog, but. Or Birchbox, even.

Yeah, Birchbox Bark Box is the dog version. Birchbox, where they have like, you know, they. They pick out like, you know, several different things for that month and they, I mean in Birchbox they send it to you, but in need they just basically make it available and you, you kind of get a pick and choose. So they usually pick out like a shirt and a jacket and a pair of pants and like an accessory and a magazine subscription. They had field notes a while ago. Well, this month they had the Blackwing 602s are in it. And I know there's another. This is. We're getting really like inside podcast baseball, but there's a guy named Moises. I don't know how to pronounce his last name. It's like Chaluin. He's, he's on the Incomparable, which is a really great 5x5 like pop culture podcast. He does a few other things too. But he, he's, he's like an old school Blackwing fan and somehow he did not find out about the new Blackwings until just recently. So, so we had talked back and forth a little bit about it. I kind of introduced him to charles from pencils.com and I know he was kind of working with need to try to make that available. So it's super cool. They're selling that. It's not so much. You know, everybody listening to this podcast already knows about the Black Wings and doesn't need to go buy it there. But it's just cool that it's kind of hitting one more kind of tech blog venue or. I mean it's kind of like a high end hipster type thing, but it's still really cool. They're pairing it with this super neat notebook. Let me pull up that link because I cannot remember what it's called. Have you seen this, guys? It's called a cultivation notebook.

Yeah, on the neat.

It looks really cool. It looks like one of those like old fashioned, not composition, like a blue book almost, but it's thicker, it's perfect bound. Yeah, it's just a super nice looking notebook. I haven't, I haven't used it. I don't know anything about it. But they're pairing a dozen Black wings with that thing. So there's a link in show notes. Definitely. Check that out. There's this other cool thing. I am a sucker for swag like you know, stickers or notebooks or what have you. If you're not a member of the Field Nuts Facebook group and if you care anything at all about field notes, you should go join. There's a link in show notes. Check it out. There's a guy doing a contest a while ago he made. After Robin Williams died, he made a patch off of that little moon icon that Mork wore on his suspenders, if you guys are familiar with that in Mork and Mindy. Yeah, he made a little. He made like a patch and tribute of that, and apparently it sold like hotcakes. So he's all into patches now, and he is now having a contest, a design contest, where if you submitted a field notes inspired design to him, he will put it up for a vote. And the winner gets their design printed. The winner gets 25 patches. And these are like, they're embroidered patches, but they have a Velcro backing and they.

And then the proceeds go to a charity of your choice. So I actually, we. We kind of submitted one on behalf of the erasable guys. I know a few other people submitted one. I'm not going to tell you which one because you should vote fairly and cleanly, but I'm pretty sure ours is going to win. What do you think, guys?

Yeah. So we're probably going to win. But if you have any inkling for design or you want to. You have an idea for a field. Field notes patch, go to the field notes group. The only trick is that you cannot use the field notes name. It's because it's trademarked or, like, you know, have a picture of field notes or something like that. So mine is heavily inspired by it, but not. Not the actual one. So that is the field notes patch, which is super cool. So, yeah, that's. That's really all of the. All the fresh points I had. So it looks like we're sitting pretty good for our time this week. Does anybody have anything else before we go on?

Well, I don't know where your dedication is, why we didn't just record. And I mean, you can mute if you have to throw up, right? Yeah, it's like, what are you drinking? The taste of my own vomit. So what are you drinking?

So I guess. I guess we could. We could button this up. Johnny, where can people find you on the Interwebs?

Tim, how about you?

I am Andy Welfle. My blog is woodclinched.com youm can find me there. You can find me on Twitter at awelfley A W E L F L E. Or my blog is woodclinched on Twitter. And I guess, yeah, I'm on Instagram. It's awealthly. But you're probably mostly going to see pictures of kittens.

Aww. So this is the Erasable podcast. We are at Erasable Us or in your friendly local itunes podcast directory. If you use Overcast, the Mac client, be sure to recommend this episode to your friends. You can find us on Facebook at erasablepodcast or on. We're not on Instagram, are we?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hashtag erasablepodcast. And by the way, I should spell erasable because I know that there's been some confusion. There's no e on erase. It is. I mean, there's an e at the beginning, but not at the end. It's erracible. We are. It's erecible. We are at Erasable. And then we are also on Facebook, our group. And I really recommend you join. There have been exclusive deals for erasable group members. There have been products offered. This is a way to keep up with us and other pencil fans throughout the week. And people are posting veritable pencil party. Oh, yeah, Pencil party for sure. I mean, there's a good probably 10 posts a day. So be prepared to talk about pencils. It's free to join. We just ask that you request and one of us will approve you to make sure you're not a spammer. That is@facebook.com groups erasable. Or you can go to erasable us and click on the Facebook group. One last thing. Be sure to check out our Teespring campaign for our erasable T shirt. Never again after this run will you get this particular T shirt. It is@teespringtespring.com erasable. So thank you very much. We ask that even though we are the Erasable podcast, you do not erase us from your podcast feed. So thank you very much and we'll catch you next time.