Scribe

There's a store in the Lower east side that just sells pencils.

But you know what, guys? You can't spell pencil without pen, so they probably sell pens as well.

Hello, and welcome to episode 49 of the erasable podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Elgin. I'm joined, as always, by two people who know that $1,000 isn't a down payment on a Mazda. It's a new Mont Blanc. Caroline Weaver and Alex Cullen. How are you, ladies?

Good.

Tonight I'm terrific.

Today we're going to be talking about our favorite subject, pens. We'll be joined later by brow daddy of the pen addict to discuss his favorite starter pens and why they're so much better than pencils. But first, let's jump into tools of the trade. Caroline, what are you writing with and what are you drinking?

Well, I am writing with a vintage Faberge pen that is encrusted with rubies that I found on the side of the road. And I'm drinking. I'm drinking the blood of many paper cuts. And by that I mean wine. But I've actually had a lot of paper cuts this week, so that could. That could be appropriate.

Alex, how about you?

I'm drinking writer's tears pot stilled Irish whiskey tonight. And I'm writing with a blue bic crystal.

And I'm drinking Doma coffee Roaster love shack blend. This is a special roast blend that they made named after the B52 song that they sent to us unsolicited. And I love them forever. And it comes in a pink can and I'm drinking it out of a Gilmore Girls mug.

Everyone buy it?

I am writing with a freebie gold spot pen with blood red ink that was given to me by a random customer, which is kind of interesting and a little bit strange, but I do really like it. Yeah. So before we talk to Brad, let's jump into some fresh nibs. Who wants to go first?

I'll go first.

All right, Caroline, let's hear it.

So this weekend was a big weekend for me. I went furniture shopping and found a new desk. I moved into a new apartment last summer and used my old desk in my living room, which doesn't really fit. So I found this office armoire. It's beautiful. I bought it at room and Board. It's perfect. Has a little fold down desk. But anyway, I've been cleaning out all my desk supplies and I discovered an old favorite. I think we all know this one. I discovered my Mr. Sketch markers. If you don't know what those are, they are these jumbo scented markers that were mostly popular in, like, the late 90s, early 2000s. And each one has a different scent, and they're very fragrant, and they're not terribly pigmented. But I believe I bought them when a friend of mine from London was visiting, and I wanted to make her a really embarrassing airport pickup sign. I think I got them at Staples for that, and I've had them since then and haven't really used them at all and just rediscovered them. I got really excited, like, childishly excited.

So, Caroline, do you have a favorite marker? And is it for the color or for the scent?

Oh, that's so easy. That's a watermelon one, which is, like, the light pink one, and it's. Well, first of all, it smells like watermelon. Unrealistically, of course, but it smells like

kind of like Jolly Rancher watermelon.

Kind of like Jolly Rancher watermelon. Yeah. And it's this weird pink that's kind of like, pale, like 1960s girls bedroom pink, but, like, a little bit more. More fluorescent, if that makes any sense.

Like salmon. Like hot salmon.

Like hot salmon. Yeah, exactly. It's like hot salmon.

Sounds delicious.

I know I would eat that. But, yeah, that's definitely. Definitely my favorite one. I hate licorice, so I hate the black one. But, like, you. You need a black marker every now and then, so you can't really avoid that. I don't want to have to buy Sharpies that also smell awful just to replace my licorice marker, because I hate the smell of licorice. But that's a huge conundrum, really.

I have two questions. First of all, are they the Mr. Sketch with the little, like, humanoid fruits on them from before the rebrand, or are they after the rebrand where they have the fart commercial?

No, I bought them, like, just before the rebrand. This was, like, two and a half years ago that I bought them. So it was just before the weird blueberry fart commercial. Yeah.

I feel like you need to explain what the fart rebrand is.

So they have a commercial on TV, and if this is not Mr. Sketch, I'm gonna feel really dumb later. But I'm pretty sure it is where they have a blueberry in a sound booth and it farts a blue cloud, and it's, like, picked up somehow, and it's like. Then it's like the marker.

So it's like, that's how they put

the smell on the marker is the blueberry farts.

We'll look for it on the Internet

and link it to the Bluetooth Appeals to me.

You can find a link to that in the show notes. Even if it's not Mr. Sketch, it's still funny.

My second question is, did you guys ever do that thing when you're like, here, smell this marker. And then you, like, push it into somebody's face?

Oh, yeah.

And those are a little mustache.

Those markers in particular are, like, super, like, chunky felt tips. So it was so easy to do that.

Yeah.

That has never. I have never done that, nor has that ever been done to me. I feel like I just put a target on my face.

I was really uncool in third grade. And those were the markers that our third grade teacher used. So they were very coveted in the third grade classroom. But we lived in rural Ohio, where Mr. Sketch markers were not available at any of our local stores. And I had them because my grandma in Pittsburgh gave them to me for my birthday.

Wow.

And I was not cool in third grade. I repeat. But they. The green, like the dark green one, not the light green one, the dark green one. The green apple one got shoved up my nose once by Pete Schaefer. Pete Schaefer did it to me.

Pete Schaefer, if you're listening.

Pete Schaefer, who is definitely not.

Sorry, everyone.

Sorry. Pete Schaefer, if you are listening. But you, like, that was the most offensive form of bullying to me because that.

Cause it smelled up your nose really quickly.

Is that why you sell pencils, though?

Is that why you hate green apples?

I don't know.

I'd be happy.

I do hate green apples. I mostly prefer red apples or like, gala apples or like any of those, like, mixed color ones. I don't really like green ones.

Where were you when you were abused by a pen?

I think we're, like, going off on this a bit too much. I'll go into my second. I have one more fresh nib, which is. This is a little bit embarrassing. So about a week ago, my boyfriend was out of town. He was in Austria on a work ski trip, which I'm quite envious of. But I was at home alone and I was kind of bored. So I went on HBO Go and I was, like, trying to find a movie to watch. And I saw that 50 Shades of Grey was there. And so naturally I chose to watch 50 Shades of Grey because that's what you do when you're alone and you don't want anyone to know that you're watching an incredibly embarrassing movie.

I'll have you know. I saw that movie on opening day at 10am by myself.

I love you for that. Anyway, I watched 50 Shades of Grey by myself. And about like two thirds of the way into the movie, there's a scene where Anastasia and Christian are sitting at a table and they're looking over their contract and it's. The lights are out in the room and it's just like lit by the sunset, so it's very red. And she is using a black on black on black pencil, which is like a trademark of Gray Enterprises, which is recurrent throughout the film. And he is using like a slightly metallic red Caran d' ache Goliath pen, which those pens retail for about $30. And I just thought, I couldn't help, like I was so distracted the whole film because I was thinking to myself, the entire film? No, like, actually, yes, I was distracted for the entire film because I was thinking, Christian Grey is a billionaire. Clearly he could afford a more expensive pen. Like, at least in Ecuador, like you don't need to buy like a $10,000 fountain pen. At least, like buy the $200 sil. Like silver is a shade of gray. I'm just really obsessed with the idea

that that was your one problem with the movie.

I mean, I had a lot of other problems with the movie, but that was my main point of contention with that movie was that he was writing with a very nice but not like super expensive pen.

Spare no expense. Come on, Christian.

Yeah, I don't have a problem with him writing with a ballpoint. I just have a problem with him writing with like a mid range ballpoint. Couldn't he have like sprung for like the like sterling silverwood?

Like an unambiguous like Bic click pen or like. No, those are good pens. Those are good pens. Or like maybe he thought he was

like demonstrating how grounded he is.

Oh, geez.

By slumming it with a $30 pen.

I don't think the prop stylist thought about that. I think they were just looking for something that matched that was red, but they put.

There are other red pens in the world.

Yeah, lots of red pens. I just. Yeah, I just feel like they really messed up with that.

Just raise your hand if you've read the book. I don't want to tell you how many people are raising your hand right now.

Two of the three of us raise our hands.

See, the point of raising our hand is so that not everybody knows that we've read it. I've read it.

Well, no, I've blogged about it. You just Admitted that. So no one else has to know who the other person is. It's either me or Alex.

And you can never tell.

No one will ever tell. All right.

Anyway, moving on.

Yeah, so think about that and watch that movie and tell me that you're not totally distracted by that, because I'm sure you will be.

Tell people to watch 50 Shades of Gray to look for the pen.

I did.

For the pen.

Unashamedly. I did say that. Yes, for the pen. Anyway, continue.

All right, Alex, let's hear your fresh nibs.

I have some extra fine fresh nibs. Get it? That was a. That was a. That was a pen.

That was a pen pun.

That's really funny.

Thinks.

Yeah, well, so my first one is about the Coeco Skyline sport pens. I have mine in mint green.

So pretty.

It's a beautiful pen, and I like it. And it's also, you know, like, pocket size, which is fun. But I'm a big bottled ink fan, and previously the only converter for it was one of. I don't know how to describe it other than like an eyedropper thing.

It was like a squeezy thing, right?

Yeah. Like you, like, squeeze, squeeze it. And you're supposed to take up the ink that way. But the converter's small to begin with. And then that method, you just get no ink in it. And then I finally got a syringe and filled it with a syringe, but then it was clear plastic, and I put black ink on it. And then the plastic of the converter turned red, and I was like, I don't know what's going on here. Anyway, I really don't like that converter. So I finally did some research, and you can get the diamine ink cartridges that fit fit on a Coeco sport pen. So I'm currently writing with that. It has an umber green cartridge in there.

It's a really lovely color.

Yeah, it's this kind of like mossy, sagey green, I would say.

Oh, it dries a lot. Like, more emerald than originally.

It's a little bit of blue to it, though. I like that.

It's a really nice green. So I'm enjoying writing that and actually getting to use this pen again. Although this week, Coeco also came out with a piston converter that I am very anxious to try out. And then my second fresh nib is this Belgian company. I think they're Belgian. It's called Breipols B R E P O L S. I'm writing in their notebook right now. It's really nice. It has. The COVID is kind of the same texture as Saffiano leather. It's that hash patched kind of black texture. The paper is really nice. It takes both pencil pen and fountain pen really well. There's like an index sheet. It comes with a bunch of like stickers in the back. So you can like.

Is it lined or blank?

The one I have is lined. I'm not sure if they. I feel like they might have another blank one as well. And also like the corners are like cut off. So like rounded. No, they're not actually cut. Yeah, they're truncated, I would say. Oh, yeah, yeah, it's is the word.

The line width is nice. It's like college ruled, but like bolder and more sophisticated.

Yeah, the lines are blue too, which looks. It's like cream colored paper with blue lines.

Is it one of those things? Like, I've noticed this with I think the Baron figs and like the craft design technology. A five grid that the. We write on it with a fountain pen and the lines show through the ink.

Oh, no.

Does it do that?

It is not like that. But the hobonichi also does that too.

Yeah. I wonder. I've yet to figure out why that is.

It's almost like the like whatever they use to make the lines is like water resistant or like.

Water. Yeah, like it's like plastic or something.

Yeah,

it's just an oil based ink probably.

It's weird. I don't like it.

Anyway, notebook people, give us feedback, please.

Yeah, let us know if your notebooks do that and why. Also importantly, why?

I'm actually like a little obsessed with it because I feel like it's a weird science y thing that's happening to my writing. But also, I suppose you don't want. I don't know, does that do something to like the light fastness of it, like, because it's already like repelling the. I don't know. I'm like thinking about this a little too hard. Sorry,

Caitlin, what are your fresh nibs?

All right, so I've been talking about this a little too much amongst Alex and Caroline, and I think they're a little bit sick of me talking about it. But always I've been. I obsessed over getting this planner for like a month and a half. And it took a really long time to get because for whatever reason, I think they had an issue with their printer. So I finally got this planner that I obsessed over. And it's beautiful. It's an A5 size planner. It's got this like Gorgeous black and white marbled cover. It's by a designer. That name escapes me right now. I am so sorry. I don't remember the name of the planner.

You can find it in the show notes.

We'll put it in the show notes. But it's black and white and it has gold embossed writing on it. And it's an open date planner. So it didn't bother me so much that it took a long time to get to me because I could start on whatever date I wanted to. But since it was a soft cover planner, I really wanted something to carry it around with me every day. And I really wanted something that would carry around a lot of writing utensils. Cause I'm a little bit of a hoarder and I always have too much stuff in my purse and I didn't want to have a separate pouch for my writing utensils. I wanted to have like a all inclusive everyday carry. And I finally found it and I think I've told a little bit like everybody about it. It's called koku. I'm gonna try that again. Kokuyo. It's Japanese. The Kokuyo systemic refillable notebook cover. It's an A5. The great thing about it is it fits any kind of like a size notebook, a five size notebook. It flips open in like multiple directions. It's got like a lot of slots for business cards, for papers for. It's got a like a specific slot that your, your planner, your notebook goes into as well as like ribbons to mark your pages. It has an elastic that specifically fits pens as well as it has these great pockets on the outside. So the pockets on the outside fit. I've been in the terrible habit of carrying four to five writing utensils with me, plus a pocket notebook. Plus I can also fit my cell phone in there.

Shame on you, Caitlin. Like seriously shame on you.

It's like so much stuff.

Like, Caitlin, why do you have so many things? I don't know. It's like a problem. Plus like I put my mail in there, but it's like amazing that I can put like a pocket notebook in my mail and my cell phone with like five writing utensils.

Can I just point out that in your front pocket, which is visible to us right now, you have a new. Wait, is that a New York Department of Tax letter?

No, that's New York Presbyterian where I got my mri.

That's a New Presbyterian doctor letter. Yeah. A pocket notebook, a gel pen, a pencil extender, and a swisswood pencil. With an eraser cap on it and a Koeco Sport.

Can I also just say that this pencil extender is being used with a pencil that, like, when Katelyn holds it, like, her hand doesn't touch the extender.

It's like between the Steinbeck stage and the pencil extender stage.

It's a premature extension.

You don't need an extension for that.

No, look, your hand comfortably fits on just the pencil portion. Like, it doesn't even touch the extension.

Wait, but your hands are smaller than Caitlyn's, so Caitlyn is so right with that. Caitlyn is like a very tall, I

choke up, tall woman. I choke up on my writing utensils a lot. It feels weird that it's so short. You're right. I'm being. Yeah, I just really.

She's being frivolous, but she can be, so why shouldn't she be?

You do you.

The point of this discussion is that I found this planner cover and there are three pins in it that fit beautifully.

You sound a little, like, ashamed of it right now.

I am a little ashamed of the fact that you just made fun of my pencil extender and my desire to use up this pencil that I've had since April 2015.

When do you guys put your pencil stubs in pencil extenders? Tell us.

When my. When the. I guess, like the crux of my thin thumb touches the feral. Then I put it in a pencil.

I feel like that's my. I have a similar cut off point.

Yeah, I don't know. I feel like when I can't get,

like, a resistance from them.

Yeah, exactly.

Anymore.

Actually, this is. This is about the length I would put it in because it feels too off balance being so short. But I also, like, choke up and hold my pencil, like, really close to the point.

Pencils are so light that, like, the balance doesn't really get to me in the way that it does with pen.

Yeah, I feel like I do it

sometimes literally different strokes for different folks, like, for real.

But I do it sometimes when feral. Yeah, for real. Feral. It's like the same word sometimes. If I'm going to a cafe, I do this sometimes on my day off, I go to local cafes. I have a lot of really great cafes in the East Village. And sometimes I go there and bring all. I pack, like, a specific pack of stationery supplies on my bike, and I bike there and sit there and write letters in a cafe, which I get lots of weird looks from people, which makes me angry and, like, kind of makes Me a little bit sad. But anyway, I do it. And on those specific occasions, like, even if I have a pencil that's not quite like extender stage, I put an extender on it anyway because I know I'm gonna get that far in the time that I'm sitting in the cafe. And also because it looks like extra legit. So I feel like the people in the cafe, if they see me writing with like this stupid thing on my pencil, they'll think like, okay, she's not like. Like, she might be crazy, but she's at least very serious, very dedicated to what she's doing.

Yeah, at least package of stationery communicates a level of dedication.

I don't know. Like, and I don't. I mean, I don't care that much about people, about what people think about me, but the type of people who hang out in cafes all day are very small, specific breed of people who are very strange. And I feel like if you bring

out any, literally any fountain pen, your Cred goes up 10 points.

I don't like fountain pens. Like, I really. I obviously I love pens because this is a pen podcast and I have my Caran d' Ache Ecuador, and I have all my muji. Like 0.3. Was it 0.3? Yeah, 0.3.

0.38.

0.38 gel pens. But you just never know because, like, sometimes I want to use a pencil and sometimes I want to use my Ecuador, and my Ecuador is beautiful and I love it and I write all my checks in it because I feel like a fancy woman paying my bills in a fancy pen.

I write my checks in my Karen Dash limited edition Paul Smith moth pen.

That's the same one about my mom. My mom's obsessed with that.

It's just really pretty and it's like, got a nice matte finish to it.

You know which one I've seen around and I can't find it anywhere to buy online anymore. Is the. I think it was the Paul Smith collection too, but it's the one that's striped.

I know they're gonna talk about.

Yeah, I don't think. Was it a Paul Smith?

It was one of their collaborations.

It was from like a year ago.

I think it might have been another.

I think it might have been one of the original Mari Botta one.

Yes.

Thank you.

Yeah, yeah. But those, like, Caran d' Ache Goliath pens are really great. They're like the perfect, simple, like mid range ballpoint pen for the person who uses a pen all the time. And the Thing that we learned recently, a fact about this is like a good fact about these pens, is that at the Caran d' Ache factory in Geneva, literally everything about the pencils, the pens, like, everything that they make is made in Switzerland. Except the balls that go in the ballpoint pens. Those just. The ball guys grow up. Sorry. The balls in the ballpoint pens are made in the US and everything else that is a part of a Caran d' Ache pencil or a pen or like. Or like, artist material is made in Switzerland except for the balls and the ballpoint pens.

I do specifically remember that the inside of it's not all of their ink refills. I think it's only the. The metal ones that might be like Goliath and better.

Those are the Goliath repels.

Yeah.

Yes. That the insides are galvanized to prevent rusting.

Yeah.

Which is like, a weird thing that most pen companies don't do.

Well. And it's because those refills are the part of their, like, thing about those refills is that they're meant to last for, like, multiple years. I forgot, like, they've calculated, like, the number of words or the number of miles you're meant to be able to write with them. But the. If you buy a Goliath pen, it's basically supposed to last you for, like, at least four years. You know that my mom had one that she and I bought. She and I both bought one together. We bought with the same neon pink Goliath pen in Geneva at the Caran d' Ache store about five years ago. And she uses hers on a daily basis. And it only just ran out of ink a month ago.

Do you know? Cause I actually. I bought my boyfriend a Alchemyx pen. I forget which one I got him. I think it has a wood barrel, but it doesn't matter. It's the alchemics. Do you know if they can just swap the refills in theirs for from blue to black? Because it's in blue and I don't like blue ink either. He doesn't like blue ink, but can

you just put black?

Like, I prefer. Well, no, that's not true for ballpoint pens. I prefer blue ink.

I think

big crystal. I think it's because it, like, just looks different from all my other inks.

Yeah.

So, like, stands out, I think. But yeah, I think you probably can also if you just, like, research it on the Internet. There's, like, a website that tells you, like, what refills go with which pen,

like, will fit what's that website?

I can't remember now.

Okay, so there's. Can we include that in the show notes though?

Can you find it?

Yeah, I'll find it and put it

in the show notes. I also know that jet pens often, if they carry a pen, will have like, related parts. Yeah, a section like that you can click on. So even if it's like out of brand, they'll still put like, you know, the refills that you can use in that pen.

Yeah.

Good to know.

Jetpens is awesome. We love them. So shout out to Elaine.

Hi, Elaine.

Hi, Elaine.

Hi.

We know you're listening.

I have one more fresh nib. I heard that there is a specialty store and in the lower east side of Manhattan that sells writing utensils. No, just writing utensils. And I'd really like to give them a call and see what they have to say about pens.

Okay, sounds good.

Hello, CW Pencil.

Hi.

Do you guys sell pens this Caitlin? No. No, we don't. Do you have a favorite pen? No, Caitlin, I don't. Do you think that my pen would fit in a sharpener? Hold on one second. Sorry, Just one second. Stop messing with me. Caitlin. I have to go now. Okay. Thank you for your help. Our guest for this episode is founder and podcaster for Pen addict, Southern gentleman and prince of Pen's Brad Dowdy.

Hi, Brad.

How are you doing this evening?

Wow. I love the intro. I haven't had a good intro since Mike stopped doing those like 100 episodes ago. That was awesome. Thank you.

Yes.

Have you had any adventures recently?

I have adventures these days going back and forth to my shop, which I hopefully have CW pencils. One day, my own shop, where I could just be there all the time. So those are my only adventures. Driving like an hour and a half, two hours back and forth from my house to the Notco shop to get some pen cases made. But adventures. I'm only getting ready for an adventure, which is next month's Atlanta pen Show. So that's taking up all my time these days.

Yeah, that's a huge deal. That's like the big one, right?

It's the big one. It's pretty much like for our company, it's like Christmas. I mean, we'll do. It's literally way more than anything we do during the holidays. It's our big event of the year. We invite a lot of people into town for the show. We throw a bunch of parties and just have a bunch of pin nerdery going on, which is pretty cool.

Sounds like a Lot of fun.

Yeah, it's too much fun. I mean, you need a week to recover from the three day weekend. That's the show. There's no doubt.

That's funny. Do you guys come up with any pen themed cocktails for your parties?

You know, we haven't, but our good friend and your friend Ana Reinert would be the perfect one to come up with that. I mean, she probably already has like a notebook full of ideas for that. So if there's anyone. And we actually fly her into the show as part of the pen at a Kickstarter, that's. That's one of the deals. She's our favorite guest on the podcast, so we fly her in to do a live show and if there's anyone that can pull whip out a quick cocktail drink recipe, I think that would be Anna.

Yeah, she should be your mixologist.

That's right.

Like a real thing.

Yeah. And I even made a point this year to move the room where we record right next to the bar. So we're gonna be. We're gonna be covered.

That's really funny. Brad, what are you drinking tonight and what are you writing with?

So I was actually prepared for this since we don't do that on our show. But I always love hearing what the Erasable Guys are drinking. I didn't put too much thought into it. I was gonna go for a beer because I'm a beer guy at heart. And then I went to the fridge and the not yout Father's Root Beer was calling my name for tonight.

So it's a. I love that root beer.

Yeah, it's an alcoholic root beer. About two of those and your sweet tooth is just like off the chart at that time. But they're really good. You could get in trouble with these things. They are tasty. And tonight I'm writing with. I just got a new pen in today which I'd been wanting for a while. It's called The Pilot Custom 823 Pilot. Makes a really broad lineup of fountain pens and they sell most of them in the us. This is their high end production line, Pension. And they only sell one color of it in the us and so the color I wanted was only available in Japan. So I got one of those fancy little pink slips on my door yesterday. Say, hey, you have a package for Japan at the post. From Japan at the post office. So I was there at like 9:01 this morning because I knew what this was. So I filled it up with ink this morning with Pilot Blue Black Ink, which is one of my favorites and I have been using it literally all day. I've written down my like the same thing over and over like three and four times already just because I'm enjoying writing with it.

I think that's a good segue into. One of our first questions is what are your current top three pens?

Oh, wow. So wow. You're putting me on the spot right out the gate. I won't say the 823 because it's, it's really a brand new pen to me. Even though it's going, it's going to rank up there really, really highly when I get to spend some more time with it. The pen I've been using the most is a pen I bought at the La Pen show in February and it's by a company named Stylo Art and they make these beautiful. It's a Japanese company. They make these beautiful wood barreled fountain pens out of rare exotic woods. They Arushi lacquer. Yeah, they Arushi lacquer over them so they have this great finish. They're all kind of shiny and you can get these really, really nice sailor nibs on them. So I've been using that pen a bunch.

So.

So that's a personal favorite of mine. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum. I used two pens a bunch yesterday that like that pen I just said. I almost don't want to say how much it costs, but I am, I am because related to the next two pens which I got equally as much enjoyment out of. It's kind of crazy. The Stylo art pen was $650.

Wow.

So that was kind of dumb, but I really enjoy it. But then I used two pens all night last night. One of them was the uni Ball Cyno DX in 0.38 Blue Black, which is my favorite gel link pen. And then I use the Kuretake Zigmangaka. It's a cartoonist drawing pen. It's in purple which is like the best. Those are, those two pens are always on my desk. And I was sitting there doing a bunch of work last night and I was just writing and writing and writing and I was only using those pension and it's weird. Like I can get that much enjoyment, equal amount of enjoyment from a two or three dollar pen as I can out of a several hundred dollar pen. It's like this is a really great pen and you know, maybe I should cut back on the, on the high end pens if I'm enjoying my $3 pins that much.

No. Well that makes up for it though, if you're buying $3 pens and $600 pens, as long as you're not buying anything in the middle, you're fine.

Right? It'll average out.

That's true. It is. There is a. There is a weird middle ground once you get into the pins where you either spend less than $5 or you spend like $150. There's not much in between and people come. I get emails all the time. I want to spend $50 on a pen. And my response is generally, well, you're missing the point. At that point, you're paying for things that aren't going to give you a good writing experience. Do you want a good writing experience? Yes. Okay, here, spend $4 on this pen and it'll write better than any other pen you have. Yeah, but I want to spend $70. I was like, you know what? You're paying for the barrel and you're paying for the fancy and you're paying for the marketing, and it's not going to write as good as that $3 pen I just told you to buy. Okay, whatever. Then they'll go buy the $70 pen. They don't listen to you.

Well, speaking of $3 pens, what would you say is like an ideal pen starter kit for people who might not already be pen geeks?

Yeah, so I think the Uni Ball Jetstream is the pen I recommend the most because it seems to fit so many people's needs. Like, I get a lot of students that listen to the show and read the website and send me emails between students and people in the medical field. I get those. People seem to write the most these days, just in the general sense. And they always want something that is retractable, that can handle the speed of quick writing, that can last a long time if they're writing pages and pages and pages of notes. And then when I tell them it has extra features, like it's not going to smear if you run your hand across it, or if you're a left hander, you know, you're not going to get ink all over your hand. And the ink's archival, so it's not going to go anywhere. If for some reason you need these notes forever. And then on top of it, it's, you know, one of those $3 pens and you can get it in some pretty cool colors. That's one I recommend the most. The second one's probably also a Uni ball. It's the Cyno 207. Only I say that more so than the DX or the, um, 151. Because like, for y', all, y. I mean, you would have to go over to Kinokuniya to pick up the dx, but you can get the 207 that writes almost as well. I think it's a little bit different. You can get that at Staples or any grocery store, really. And it's a really good pen that's kind of like the best, just basic gel ink pen. And then outside of that, I usually recommend a Sakura Pigma micron. Like that Kuretake cartoonist pen I mentioned is my favorite drawing pen. It's just not easy to get at all. But you can get the Micron at like art stores like Michaels or, you know, any of those types of places. So besides those three pens, if someone's wanting to get into fountain pens, which scared the crap out of me when I first started, I'm not gonna lie. I still get grief about how I. Several years ago I said I would never use a fountain pen. And I just told you I bought a $650 fountain pen. So how's that work? That's not really working out well for me. But the one I recommend the most is the Pilot Metropolitan. And they're actually showing up on store shelves, like at big box retailers, which is very strange to me, which is good. I'm glad to see Pilot doing that. And for like a $15 pen, it comes with a converter, so you could use bottled ink if you want. Most beginning fountain pen users just want to stick with a cartridge just because they feel like it'll. It's easier to maintain. You know, fountain pens do require a little bit of extra maintenance. And, you know, if that's kind of not your style. The other one is called the TWSBI Eco, which it's a little bit more than a beginner's fountain pen. But if someone wants to go right to something that's going to last them a long time and they can use a bottled ink with. It's got a different filling system than the Pilot. It doesn't take a cartridge or a converter. It's a piston filler. So you actually have to have an ink bottle buy a bottle of ink. So I don't recommend that for beginners unless they tell me something specific that would make me think that, okay, they're ready for that. And it's not that much more expensive than the Metropolitan. The Metropolitan runs about 50, $15. The Eco runs around 28. But then you got to add in a bottle of ink too, so it can get a little bit more expensive. But, you know, the Jetstream I recommend constantly. The 207 is just the best off the store. Shelf. Gel ink pen you can get. The Secure Pigma Micron is one of my favorite just everyday writing pens. If I'm going to write in any kind of paper, I'll use that. And then the Pilot Metropolitan for like a beginner's fountain pen. That's kind of the best things to go with.

Is that what's sitting in front of you, Alex? The TWSBI Eco.

No, this is the TWSBI 580 vac, the rose gold edition, which I love. It's one of my favorite pens. Currently inked with Inoho from the Pilot. I never. I'm gonna mess up how to say this, Brad. The Ishii. What is it?

Oroshizuku. Yeah, don't worry.

Color. Yeah.

I've been saying signo wrong the whole time. I mean, cyno wrong the whole time. It's supposed to be signo, but I just can't make myself say signo. So I never get on anyone about their pronunciation because we run across all kinds of, like, crazy stuff. And I'm sure y' all run across that, too. You know, all these brand names that us silly Americans can't pronounce.

Yep.

Yeah. But the TWSBI, TWSBI 580 with the Aroshizuku ink, you almost can't do any better than that. I mean, that's like the way to go.

Yeah. And that, I mean, that pen is kind of in that 50 to $80 range.

Yep. And that's. That's about where it stops. Like, that's one that I recommend for that range. After that, you're going to spend like 150.

You're doomed.

I know. It's only going to get more expensive from here.

This is totally how it starts. I started with a Lamy Safari. It was about $25 at the time. And, you know, I barely used it for months. And then I don't know what clicked. I just. I. At some point, I just kept reaching for it. And then I guess I discovered that you can do all these different things with a fountain pen. You know, add these different ink colors or, oh, I can get a different nib. I think once I discovered Japanese nibs, that's what set me off, because I like that very, very fine point like you can get with a 0.38 millimeter gel ink pen. Once I found or discovered that Japanese fine nibs could replicate Something like that, that it was done. It was over for me at that point.

Right when I first got my first fountain pen, which was a la me vista, I kept wanting to save it for a special writing occasion. And then I think I had a similar click moment where I was like, oh, I could just write with this all the time. I don't know why I keep saving it.

Yeah, I was so scared I was gonna get ink all over me or, you know, on my shirt pocket or something like that. I don't know that I've ever had an ink accident even one time in all these years. So it's, it's not, it's not your grandfather's fountain pen, Kerry, that's for sure.

Speaking of recommendations, I want to know how like approximately how many emails do you get a day from people wanting you to tell them what to buy?

Probably between five and ten, I'd say.

Really?

Yeah. It, it. By the end, I try, I try to stay out of my inbox all day long. Now that I'm working for myself. That's like just a huge time sink. So I'll check it once or twice a day and every time I check it, it seems like there's two or three emails. So if I don't answer email for like two days or three days, sometimes I'll just, you know, give myself a break and not answer pan addict email for a couple of days. There'll be like 10 emails I need to respond to. So it's, it's a decent amount. It's enough of amount to make me have to give myself a break from email. But I enjoy doing it, right? I mean, that's why I started doing this in the first place, is to find information, share information and help other people out. The reason I do that is because I reply to everybody, right? I don't just ignore everything. So I don't just fire back short answers. I want to take my time to, to where I'm focused on the email and give them an answer they can actually act on if they're so inclined. So I take the email stuff seriously. But it does get. My inbox does get pretty full on any given week.

Have you gotten any super unusual recommendation requests?

Nothing. That's from a freaked me out perspective I've never had. I want to write with my blood. What pen should I use? Which there are actually options for that scarily enough.

Why have you thought about this?

Because I've seen things and people ask me, people share these things, hey, have you seen this pen? But I've never had that email. What I will get though is this isn't even a one off thing and it's not a weekly thing, but every couple months I'll get an email that will say, here's what I need in a pen and it'll be 20 bullet points. And that's a very frequent thing. And very usually I can come up with an answer. I've actually had once or twice when someone's been that detailed. And I can appreciate that because, I mean, that's the kind of problem I have. I mean, for goodness sakes, y' all working a pencil store, we all have this problem. Right, I can appreciate that. But I've had to tell one or two people. It's like it doesn't exist. I mean, you can get close with this, but that doesn't exist. So the weirdest things are when I see myself in an email like that, I go, oh, I could totally write that email. But you're so detailed, I don't even have an answer for you because that product doesn't exist. So maybe we should make it.

And for anyone who hasn't explored penatic.com, brad has this really great top five page that's like very comprehensive in terms of categories and top five recommendations.

Yeah, I'm always trying to. I use that a lot. I refer people to that a lot. Because still, I mean, aside from all the what pin should I buy emails I get every week, I always get the, oh my God, I had no idea a blog like this existed every week. So that's always a good place to point people to kind of get an idea of what's out there. And I try to keep up with it two or three times a year. I'll adjust it if need be or I'll add items. If I've had a bunch of different things. Once I get some more experience with other things that I haven't been using, different papers or things like that, I'll update them as needed. So it's been a really, really good page since I started that up.

Yeah.

So you get a lot of recommendations. You're obviously the biggest celebrity in the pen blogging world. If we can say that. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that. I want to know if you will we. Well, I want, I want to know if you, especially at pen shows, does everyone want to take pictures with you or do you ever get people like recognizing you in public?

You're gonna make me talk about myself, aren't you?

No, I know I'M like obviously trying

to make you uncomfortable.

No, I'm genuinely curious. I want to know because you're pretty principle dude.

The short answer is yes. At the La Pen show. This is the perfect example. At the La Penn show, I worked with Vanessa Penn. So they brought me out there to work with them. I mean they, they fly me out there and, and you know, but in, in return, I'm working for them the whole weekend. I'm not doing, you know, other pen addict stuff or just walking around the show doing whatever. So I'm working their table at the show. But we talk about it. So people will come by. If they want to meet me and say hi, they'll come over there. So Lisa Van essentially gets the biggest kick when someone recognized me. She like falls out and has to go like behind the table because, you know people. I'll just get these huge bear hugs, which I'm a big hugger, so I'm all about the big bear hug when you come. She's watched people like shaking, talking to me, like they can't like being nervous, like can't get the words out. And you know, and she's seen everything from like, you know, young kids, like you know, 14 and 15 year old boys and girls to like 70 year old women, like just talking my ear off. And she just gets the biggest kick out of it. But I mean, but so to answer your question, yeah, people recognize me and the people who don't, who didn't like come over. Well, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna meet Brad or something and say hi. I'll be working and talking to someone else about ink or whatever Van Ness is selling, like they're known for their ink at these pen shows. So I'll be talking about pilot of Roshizuku Inc. And here's all the colors and the person next to them. You'll see their head kind of turn and look at me and go, are you the pen addict guy? And I'll be like, yeah, I totally recognize that voice. So those are the two kind of things that happens. One, there's, there's people that will come, you know, to meet me, say hi. People are so nice. They. I swear at this La Pen show, it was the most bizarre thing. I got gifts just left and right that people wanted to bring me. And it was like, not just random stuff, like something things that meant things to people. Like, it's overwhelming like that people would do that for, to give to me. It's just. It boggles your mind. It really does. But it's pretty. I have fun with it, too. I mean, I enjoy it. I play it up. I like to talk, and I like to meet people, so it's fun for me. But, yeah, it's funny when other people are watching it and see it happen and then tell me about it afterwards. What they actually observed in this communication I always have with other people, it was great. It's good. And Atlanta is the best place for that. When we set up our NOC table to sell our pen cases in Atlanta, it's kind of like right in front of the main door, and we, like, cause a traffic jam right around this door because that's kind of where everyone congregates. Everyone that knows each other online, they're there not just to meet me and Jeff, but they're there to meet each other. Right. We've brought all these people together that have never met each other online, and there's just this big mass of people blocking the entire show floor. It's kind of funny.

We actually have a. About your celebrity touching New York.

Uh oh.

It's kind of a funny story. A couple months ago, this gentleman came in by the name of Brendan Bledsoe.

Yeah, Brandon. Hi, Brandon. You know, you're listening.

And he was super friendly and very chatty and really informed about writing utensils. And we just talked to him for forever, and it was. It was awesome. At the end of the. Like, you talk about people bringing you, like, personal things. He gave us his compass from his tours of duty in.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah, he was in Afghanistan.

Yeah, he gave us his compass and he showed us how to use it because we appreciate analog things. It was really very touching.

That's really, really special.

The funny thing is that while he was in and talking to Caroline, this girl came in, thought he was you.

No, she, like, she was buying things in the store, and then she left, and then she stood on the sidewalk for a minute, and then she came back in and then ended up having a conversation. They followed each other on Instagram. They took a picture together still, even though he wasn't you, but he didn't. He didn't know who you were and was, like, so amused by the whole thing. He had a great sense of humor about it.

It was.

It was a really special interaction.

Yeah, that's hilarious. That I can't even imagine.

Really, like, just the best.

It was great. He's a great guy.

I'm jealous of everyone. Everyone seems to have been to your store except for me, so I need to rectify that. Like, really soon.

We met Mike. Even I know he lives way further away than you do.

God, I know. I am such a letdown. So I'll work on that. I'll work on that. You know, right now, the closest I'm getting on. On the show tour is D.C. this year. But there's no reason I can't make another trip up to. Up to New York and. And see if I can get up there, meet you guys.

Yeah.

Well, maybe this leads us to our. Well, silliest question.

It's very serious.

It's very serious. Yeah. When did you first decide that pens are better than pencils?

I mean, I've always known pens were better than pencils. That's just an innate thing, because I think when I was growing up, I did enjoy mechanical pencils when I was growing up, because even back then, I wanted the finest line I could possibly get. And it was just how I wrote, how I drew. And we're talking like middle school, high school. I wrote small. I drew everything small. Everything was tiny. So, you know, back in the 80s, you couldn't find any pen to really write that small. Everything was like a 0.7 millimeter rollerball or a 1.0 millimeter ballpoint. But the only other thing that could handle that if you couldn't find, you know, the needle and the haystack pen that I was looking for was like a mechanical pencil. So I've always enjoyed mechanical pencils. Wood case pencils. I never did because I didn't have the permanent sharp tip. So I just never gave them the time of day, really. So I've always been way, way more into pens because I could get that tiny, tiny variation now. But as I've learned over the past couple of years, through our good friends Andy, Tim and Johnny.

Who's that?

Yeah, through you guys, that. Holy cow. There's some really incredible wooden pencils out there that have just captured my attention completely. I carry one with me most days now, if not 1, 3. And they still don't top a pen for me. They don't top a good pen for me, mostly because of how I write. And that's what I try to explain to people. They want me to tell them, what pen should I buy? Well, the first question I have back is, what are you going to use it for? How are you going to write? Well, if you're just writing, journaling, basic things, a wooden pencil is really, really great for. The way I write is very specific to me. It's very small. It's very blocky. When I'm using a pencil. I have a sharpener handy because I prefer to have a really pointed tip. And I tend to lean towards harder lead grades or harder graphite grades because of that. So finding that balance for me between the darkness and hardness is my challenge right now in finding those things. But I hate to burst your bubble. The pen's always going to be better than the pencil in my book.

You heard it here, folks.

Brad Dowdy hates pencils.

That's not fair.

That's the next thing that'll come back and haunt me. Like the fountain pen thing. I'll totally swear off pencils and, and I mean pens and use pencils full time and then this will come back to haunt me. Which, you know, what, I'd be quite all right with.

But then what activities or what things would you use a pencil for over a pen?

I've been taking things. Yeah, I've just been taking a lot of. Honestly, any. This is gonna sound bad and I don't mean it this way, but any like throwaway notes, right? The jot down stuff, the short lists, you know, the like if I'm writing in my planner, it's with a pen. If I'm taking notes on a note card, I've generally grabbed a pencil. Or if, then if I have a notepad on my desk and I'm just jotting down what I'm doing today, pencil. But you know, it's. That's the way it kind of seems. I don't have. I'm thinking about like my desk and like all my notebooks that are filled. Like I don't have like a permanent record of like pencil things. They all seem to be in pen. My pencil things to be more of a transient nature, if that makes sense.

So what pencil are you reaching for most often these days?

I'm pretty stuck on the Blackwing 602. It's kind of got that sweet spot of point retention and darkness that I like. I also like the gray barrel. It's really good looking. I also like that I can stick an orange eraser in it. Even though those erasers are terrible, they look cool. So I love how that pencil looks and then I love the fact that it performs to how I like a writing utensil to perform. Firm, dark, graphite, good point retention, things like that. Outside of that, I like the Tombow Mono 100. It's a very similar feeling pen to me, just the HB and I like that black lacquered look. I would actually go for a non eraser style if I Had to choose. But I think the 602, even though it has the eraser that I don't use, I think it's just a little bit better. Those are like 1 and 1A, and then kind of everything else. I like the. I do like the Caran d' Ache Swisswood. I mean, that's a pretty amazing pencil. I like the fact. Well, I don't know if I like the fact, but I think it's cool that. Oh, my gosh, there's like, a $5 wooden pencil. That's crazy. So people just, like, people can't fathom spending $50 on a pen. Spending $4 on a pencil is pretty crazy. When people, like, think about it that aren't really into this stuff, it's pretty out there. Yeah. So those are the ones I'm using the most. I did just get the new the Blackwing volumes, the 24. So far, it writes wonderfully. I'm not crazy about how it looks. It looks pretty awesome. I just think all the other editions look better, but this one might perform better than all the rest of them so far, so. But if anything, I carry the 602 and the mono 100 with me pretty much all the time. Outside of that, it's just kind of a mismatch of whatever I'm trying out these days. All right, what pencil should I try?

Well, we're not really here to talk about pencils.

Oh, yeah, right. This is the pen.

It is a pen podcast. I don't know.

Yeah, I like it. Y' all are gonna start carrying pencil pens, right? I mean, that's the announcement you're here to make.

Exactly the announcement we're here to make. We have numerous pens in front of us.

Nice.

Kind of, But yeah. Does anybody have anything else?

No.

You're awesome.

We're really excited to talk to you. I think none of us have officially met you in person. We do hope that you finally make it out to New York to visit us so they can harass you.

We will change that. We will change that soon. Hopefully this year. I'm going to work on that. Seriously. It's been in my plans for a while now, and I'd like to get up there this year for sure.

Yeah.

And maybe one of these days, we'll go to a pen show.

Yeah.

You know, we do sometimes talk about, you know, the wooden pencil on this podcast we do called the Pen and Addict, which is, you know, the world's greatest podcast. And, you know, I would love to have you on to talk pencils one day. That's for sure.

Hell, yeah.

Excellent.

We'll do it.

Well, thank you, Brad, for your time. We hope that we can talk to you again soon.

Yeah. Thank you all so much.

And we'll be in contact about being on the Pen Addict.

Yes. And I'll be in contact about visiting CW Heck.

Yes.

Awesome. All right, thanks, Brad.

Thanks, Brad.

All right, thanks. Bye. Bye.

All right, so now we're gonna take a call from Andy W. In San Francisco. Let's get him in here.

Hello.

You're on the Erasable podcast.

Welcome.

This is Andy, right?

As you should be.

Okay, let's hear it.

Well, Andy, that is a really good question. What I really think you're looking for is getting that, like, syringe needle fine point on your pencil. And what you're really going to want for that is a razor blade.

Yep.

Like the kind that you go. You just go to Home Depot, go into the construction section and get the kind that you use to cut wires with.

Yeah.

Don't be lazy about it.

Yeah. Or like an old hunting knife, like a vintage one.

Work really well for sharpening nibs.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you do want to be lazy, though, you could just use a regular sharpener. Do you just. Just have to have a sharp blade?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't you. Don't use those, like, freebies. Don't do it. Don't go to staples.

Your sharpener should cost at least $20.

Just like use, use the. Use a razor, like the kind you shave your face with.

Oh, that's fine.

With multiple blades because then you have to use less straight strokes because it's like shaving the nib five times at once.

Get that five blade action.

Yeah.

Yeah. Those moisturizing strips might help too.

Yeah, I mean, use some shaving cream if you feel like you need a little lubrication in there as well.

Yeah, lubricate it a little bit.

What are you using your pen for, Andy?

What do you say in those letters?

Has he responded to any of the letters personally so far?

Well, Andy, thanks for calling and may the best candidate win.

Sharpening your nib?

We're calling Johnny G from Baltimore. Hi, Johnny.

We're good. How are you doing?

Yeah. Do you have a question about pens for us?

What's your question?

Wait, Johnny, we can't hear you very well. Where are you? Are you on the street?

You're on your balcony? Okay, so you're trying to clean your pens with alcohol.

What kind of alcohol are you using?

What's not working about.

No way. I'm so. I'm sorry I'm laughing, but like, it really. It melted your pen?

Are you sure you didn't drink the pen?

Well, Johnny, I think Caroline has an answer for you. That has to do with eggs.

Wait.

But no, clean it with egg whites before that. I just, I just really want to know, did the nib melt or did the whole pen melt?

What? What the hell is that clip Made out of? Do you know?

Metal.

What brand of pen is it?

Paper.

Hello?

Hi, Johnny. We lost you.

I'm sorry, we didn't mean to hang up on you.

Excuse me.

Yeah, you don't have to get a fancy Bic pen. So where we left off, Johnny is trying to clean his pen. He put it in Jim Beam. It's a Papermate pen. And the whole pen melted, except the clip, which is made out of metal.

Our first advice for you is that paper, mate, is a fine pen, but what you should really be doing with the Jim Beam is drinking it. Like, really soak in those vapors. Let it soothe your nerves a little bit. You're not gonna drink it?

Do you drink?

Now, I've always wondered about White Lightning. Do you. Do you buy it or do you brew it yourself?

Oh, okay. All right. All right, then we got that.

So how's Johnny cleaning his pen?

How should he clean his pen?

He should.

He clean his pen.

My solution to everything is just use an egg. Take the milk out just like a farm fresh Hudson Valley egg. I know you're in Baltimore, but you

probably can get Hudson Valley eggs.

Yeah, or just go to your. Make sure they're organic. Go to your Farmer's Market, Dodge station. Go to the stationery store. Go to your Farmer's Market, Dodge. All the hipsters buy an egg. They'll try to sell you a dozen. Just buy one. It should probably be about 60 cents. Make sure that you separate the yolk from the white because the yolk is not good for you. It's not good for you, it's not good for your pet.

High cholesterol.

Very high in cholesterol.

You can give it to your pigs, but just cook it first, okay?

No, they like raw things. What do they normally eat?

Johnny, what's your pig's favorite pen?

Oh, I suppose that makes sense.

Higher fiber.

Higher Fiber.

Yeah.

Instead of plastics.

Yeah. Well, basically our advice to you is to use a little bit egg white. Only organic. Only organic, local farm egg white. And maybe a little bit of baking soda if you need something abrasive. Only. Only arm and hammer, though. Do not buy an off brand.

No store brand.

Hear us? No store brand baking soda.

And whatever you do, do not clean it after midnight.

What will happen, Katelyn, if you clean it after midnight, it'll grow spores and you might get a bacteria infection.

I was. Alright,

well, that's a different problem for a different person. Thank you, Johnny, for your call. Best of luck to you. Let us know if you have any further problems with this pen melting situation.

Okay, that sounds good. Thank you. Thank you, Johnny.

Goodnight, Johnny.

Bye, Johnny.

So that about wraps up episode 49, Caroline. Where can everybody find you on the Internet?

So I am on Instagram, arblesonpaper. I'm on Twitter wpencils. And you can find me on Facebook. Nowhere, because I hate Facebook.

It sounds about fair. Alex.

You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @AlexCullen. But that's Alex with a Y, a L, Y, X, C, U, L, L,

E, N. All right. And you can find me Kaitlyn Elgin on Twitter ait Elgin. I'm actually not sure if that's correct right now.

It is. It's correct.

Okay. You can also find me on Instagram at Kate Elgin. I'm so sorry, I don't know my own name right now.

That's why you have friends.

That is why I have friends. And you can find the Erasable podcast online@ erasable us. This episode will be up online at erasable us episode 49. You can also find us on Facebook at the Erasable Podcast or on the Facebook group where most of our discussions happen throughout the. Throughout the week at groups. Erasablepodcast. I think that's right. At Twitter erasablepodcast and Instagram erasablepodcast. Please, please, please rate and review the podcast on itunes and recommend it on overcast. This is a really fantastic podcast. We're really happy to be a part of it.

And who doesn't love hearing about pens?

And every week that's, you know, pens roll, pencils roll. The end.

Hell yeah.

That's a wrap.

Thank you.

The intro music for the Erasable podcast

collaborative folk rock band from Johnson City. Tennessee. You can check out their music at Disney www.thismountainband.com.