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Transcript
You can find me on various social media sites as Mittmesaw. That was like my first and first and last name backwards.
Say that again.
Mitt Mesaw. It's a wasum. Tim Wasem. Backwards.
Hello and welcome to episode 64 of the erasable podcast. I'm Johnny Gamber, and I am joined tonight by a for Andy Welfle. And back from a short fraternity leave and the Cubs World Series win is Tim the Cub. Wasam. How are you guys doing tonight?
Good.
Cubs go.
Tim has a new Cubs.
Cubs.
We do. We do. We have a new little cubby. Yeah, it was a big week. Yeah. Big couple weeks. Lila. Catherine was born a couple days early. She was very healthy. Beautiful little girl. She's just been so awesome. She's super cuddly. And then I got to hold her while the Cubs were winning the World Series. And then I was also holding her while the Republic came crashing to the ground. Wild. Yeah. Wild rush of emotions.
Yeah.
Man, that Leonard Cohen, that actually, like, really hit me pretty hard. And I'm not, like, a huge fan, but, like, I literally sat in the dark and listened to Hallelujah. The Jeff Buckley one, of course. But I was just like, man, 2016, get your act together.
I know.
Besides the Cubs, like, if we were having to pay all these prices for the Cubs winning, then. Yeah, Cubs can still win. That's still awesome.
At what cost? Cubs.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Totally worth it. Cool. But so that's what my students came back and they were like, hey, congratulations. And it's like, are you talking about my daughter or the Cubs?
Yes.
They'd be like, take it. Did you cry? And I'm like, are you talking about my daughter or the Cubs?
Yes.
Yes. Because I did both times. There's a lot of crying going on. So it was a good couple weeks. Now I'm back in school, and now we all have colds and back to real life.
So sorry if this is a sniffy episode, everybody. I think we're all going to try to mute if we have to, but we're all a little bit stuffed up.
Well, if there's a couple seconds of dead air, it's all of us coughing at the same time.
Speak for yourself. I'm going to sniff, and when you guys are talking, I'm going to prowl around behind you.
Okay, perfect.
Yeah, The Trump sniff.
Horrible.
Wrong.
We just lost a couple listeners.
All right, well, hard not to got that much cocaine in your system. I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about Trump.
This is off to a good Start.
You're not supposed to do that once you have two kids, man.
Yeah. Three kids, though.
No, no, no, no.
Three kids. You could do it again.
Who knows? Drumsteps. I gotta stop talking about him. Yeah. We're gonna get some enemies.
Okay.
I'm turning everything back to Trump.
So everything all speaking.
It's Trump all the way back. Turning things back. We're gonna do another top five episode, because that seems to be something people ask about and listen to. Yeah, yeah. And I feel like it's a harder question than you think. Like, my wife and I were talking in the car, and I was like, what is your top five? Just like, oh, I don't know. You know, it's a thought experiment.
Yeah.
You're like, I have to include a black wing. Can I include more than one black wing?
Should I include more than one black wing?
Yeah, like, should I include something American, just so I don't look like a traitor?
I was surprised. We'll get into it, but I was surprised at how mine changed. Like, I was. I. I think the last time we did it, I was kind of, like, searching for reasons to change it. Okay. How can I do differently? Because I feel like I should change it. Just to change it or to, like, mix it up, you know, whatever. But this time, I actually looked at it. I was like, oh, no. I haven't used one of those in six months. So, yeah, we'll get into that later. I'm looking forward to that.
Yeah.
Awesome.
So you want to jump right into tools of the trade?
Let's do it. Awesome.
I'm gonna go first, Tim.
Sure.
You're newly back.
Yeah, I'm glad to be back. It was. It was a long couple weeks, in a good way, for the. The most part. It really was wild. Like, I can't get over, like, this. It really was one of those weeks where it's like a cornerstone of my life. And I know, like, people who don't like sports, like, won't. Don't get this. I totally understand. But, like, the Cubs winning the World Series was, like, unbelievable.
It's a big deal.
I. I was. I've been rooting, and, you know, and you have all these thoughts, and people have been talking about it, but the Cubs won the World Series. And then all I can think about is my grandpa who died a couple years ago, you know, and the people who had been around rooting for him forever and hadn't been able to do it. And it's just. It really is this amazing flood of emotion to have a Beautiful, healthy baby girl born. And then like several days later, like that amazing win. And it's just. It's been a good time. And so I've. And Jane and I have been just my wife, I guess I should clarify that, but just been doing really well and getting into some new stuff. And I've been listening to a lot of music while holding a really cute baby. And that's part of the stuff I'm digging, which is. And this goes along with the Pulitzer, which we haven't talked about, but the Pulitzer Prize was given, or. Sorry, the Nobel Prize was given to Mr. Bob Dylan, which we haven't talked about. Right. Did you all talk about that when I was there? Yeah. So the Pulitzer Prize went to Bob Dylan, the first songwriter to ever get it. And I've been this way for several years. I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan. But my favorite era, and it feels like sacrilege. But my favorite era of Bob Dylan is basically 1999 to present, like his last. The albums he's been putting out in the last 15 years. And so I've been listening to him like on a loop because they are just fantastic. He's so good. I know live, like you can't understand what he's saying. But the records he's putting out are just amazing. If you go in Modern Times, Love and Theft. Oh, mercy. Some of these albums he's put out in the last 15 years are so good. And if you want to get a really good taste of or just a good sampling of his sound, there's the collection Telltale Signs, which was from the bootleg series, which is outtakes, you know, just alternate versions of some of his songs from the last 15 years. And they're outstanding. So it's. I've been listening to that a whole lot.
You should start like a Spotify playlist or something. Tim.
Oh, yeah.
I feel like you're a music thought leader.
Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, I do a lot of. I guess I always mention I'm always talking about music on here, but that'd be fun. Yeah. So I've been listening to a lot of that. So I'll put that link in the show notes and then maybe I will do a playlist. Or we could do a group playlist if any of us mention something.
Yeah.
And then Jane and I, in our nice calm evenings of holding our cuddly little girl, we've been watching the Crown on Netflix. Are either of you watching that?
What's up next?
I have not watching. I've definitely heard of it, but I have not watched it.
It's excellent. It's really, really well made. It's about Queen Elizabeth II's rise, like, at the beginning, as shows you how she came to be queen and gets into their family. And it's really interesting because it's talking about the crown and the royal family, but really sticking to the sort of daily humdrum of being in the royal family.
Yeah.
Which is really fascinating because you realize, like, how meaningless these people's lives are. I don't mean that like a mean way. It's just like the stuff they deal with, like, the stuff they have to worry about is so piddly. But the fact that everybody's looking at them, you know, like, it was really fascinating. And I actually, I tweeted that it is also fountain pen porn if you're a fountain pen person. If you watch it. Because in like, every. Every scene, it seems like someone is using a vintage fountain pen. Like, there's Parker's. And I saw what. I see Parker's. I saw some Esterbrooks. They're all over the place. Everybody's writing for fountain pens, so that's cool. There are some pencils, but not nearly as much.
That's why the monarchy is failing.
Yeah. Yeah. So the Crown. I highly recommend it. It was really good. We just finished on Netflix and I'm assuming it'll come back. And I'm writing with. I put all the new pencils because I got some. I had a big mail day or one of several to come good mail days today. And so I have in front of me my Camel hb, which I didn't get today, but I just wanted to write with it. And I got two new pencils today, which I will talk about in FreshPoints. But I finally, finally got my Blackwing 344s and I got some jumbo golden bears. So I've got those in front of me. And I'm writing in the cherrywood field notes in my Cody Williams field notes wallet.
Fancy.
Yeah.
Love this thing. So that's me. How about you, Andy?
Well, I feel like, yeah, the last two weeks has just been insane. And also at work has been. So I feel like I have not consumed very much, like, media of note. I do. Like, there's a book that comes out every year, like an anthology of, like, short collection of essays and journalism pieces and things like that about food writing. So it's usually called, like, you know, best food writing. 2013, 2014.
Best. Is it like the best American series? Like the Best American Food writing or is it a difference here?
It's in that same vein and I think they usually are American writing. But it's not just. That's not just American. It's part of a different collection.
Not interested.
Only American writing.
That sounds cool.
I don't know what it is. I'm not like a particularly big foodie, but I love reading people's writing about food and I don't know why. My favorite issue of the New Yorker every year is the food issue. I have a big compendium of like best of food issue New Yorker stories since like the 30s.
Super good.
And so whenever this comes out, I like to just. Just consume it. Pun intended. But so weirdly so. I've been reading that there's been some really interesting. Sometimes they talk about like new and unusual restaurants. Sometimes it's about like a chef who's doing something interesting. Sometimes it's about like the science of food or something in the food industry.
Are there any articles by Stefan in there?
New York's hottest club is Erasable.
Oh, we need to decide what Erasables club would be. We'll do that later. That'll be the after darkest.
Well, it moves.
That's true. Moves from place to place. And I have been watching on Netflix they have old reruns of the Layover, which is an Anthony Bourdain show. The premise of that is he. Have I talked about this before? I never remember what I talk about on here.
I don't think so. Okay.
It was. It's probably about five years old the show is. And he, he goes to different cities and spends maybe like two days there. And it's your typical Anthony Bourdain thing where he just like makes some dirty jokes and eats a lot of unhealthy food and drinks a lot. But it's super good. So that's on Netflix.
I love that man.
Yeah, he's so. He's so great. He's like, I can't believe he's not dead. Like, I'm glad he's not.
But I love his other show on cnn. I forget what it's called.
Yeah, that show, it's so good.
It's good. It's really good.
I'm a little behind because there's just so many seasons of it. And I am writing with an Archer. Blackwing Archer? No, the other one. Baron Fig Archer. And I'm writing on a crappy little post it notepad because it's what was on my desk and I could find it. So just writing on some post Its.
That's the winter field notes edition. The sticky.
The postage edition. Did you get a notification that yours is shipped?
Did I. I got one of those. I hope your address is right once.
Yeah, like it's almost too late. Yeah. By next time I'll be able to talk about what it is, but I can't believe it's gone by that fast. I feel like the lunacy just came out.
They usually stack these for Christmas shopping.
Yeah, I think. And lunacy. Lunacy is one of the first ones in a while since I stopped subscribing that I'm thinking about ordering some because those are.
Yeah.
Pretty cool looking.
Yeah, they feel really nice and they look really nice, but honestly, like, the moon is good, but it kind of gets old after a while. Like the cutout.
I totally agree with that comment. Just in general.
Yeah, the moon. The moon just gets old. People talk about the.
Super tired of hearing about that game.
Every time I look up, there it is.
Stupid hipsters. Cool.
How about you, Jared?
Artisanal moon.
Handcrafted moon.
So with three kids, several of whom are sick, and NaNoWriMo. I'm not reading anything literally. Like, I haven't read the New Yorker since before the election, so I'm not gonna pick up the ones I've missed.
Yeah, yeah.
So we're watching. We're just gonna get into the last episodes probably tonight. And my kids are like, seriously into Bob's Burgers, which makes me either the best or worst father in my neighborhood.
Who's your favorite character?
Mine? Tina.
Yes.
How about you guys? That's a. That's a show that I've been dying to get into forever. I need to start watching it because,
oh, my God, it's so good.
Because I assume that being as big a Simpsons fan as I am, that I'm probably gonna love this show, but
every time I watch the Simpsons now, I'm like, man, the Simpsons is a smart damn show, but Bob's Burkers is sometimes funnier. Plus, like, I don't know, they're a screwball family that are crammed into an apartment so it's close to home.
Tina's. Tina's just the best. I'm a strong, smart, sensual woman.
I do a very good version of her dance.
You have Johnny's veggie Burgers. You could be. That's your version.
That's what Charlotte wants to do. She's like, we should start a veggie burger restaurant. I'm like, sure, we'll start up with the five people that like veggie burgers. My kids are, like, really into veggie burgers now from watching that show, which is a happy coincidence.
When you come out to visit San Francisco, we have to go to this new Mexican restaurant in the Mission. It's called Gracias Madre. I don't think it's new, but it's new to me. It's a vegan Mexican restaurant, and it's, like, really good, just kind of on its own. Like, if you don't think of it as, like, replacing a taco or something, it's, like, super good.
I'm there.
Yeah.
And my wife's coming out to Palo Alto in a couple weeks.
That's right.
I wanna come, but I can't because, kids.
I should see if she wants to have lunch or something. Or dinner.
She's going to something with Steve Jobs Widow.
Okay.
Or something.
Whoa.
I only vaguely understand what it is. She has to dress up and fly on a plane. It's very important.
She's an important person.
Yeah.
I live in jeans and shirts with
various kid stains on them.
But you know what? You have a pencil Podcast.
This is true.
You have responsibilities.
Fna, Johnny.
Oh, So I guess this could go under consuming. The other day, I achieved a new dad level wherein one of my children put count, pee, poop, spit, puke, boogers and blood on me in one day. And I had to change my clothes, including underwear and socks, throughout the day from these various fluids, which I wore
like a badge of honor.
It was really disgusting.
It was disgusting and amazing. Oh, gosh.
The blood thing throws you. I'm like, she had a nosebleed. I didn't stab her or anything.
Like, shut up. Moving on.
What are you writing with the blood? Colored black link? 340 in a right notepads. Royal blue, which I'll probably finish tonight. Murder tomorrow morning. Just such a nice damn book.
Does the. Does the smell hold up?
The smell of.
The smell of the right notepads. You know how it kind of smells like ink?
Oh, the ink.
Yeah.
Oh, no, it goes right away. It smells like paper and blue jeans.
Paper and blue jeans tied.
Yeah.
Yeah. The. The edges of the ink come off, like, just a little bit. I wish it came off a little more, but it ages very, very nicely.
Yeah.
Stays awfully stiff, though. You gotta beat it up.
Yeah. Yeah.
So shall we get. Get fresh.
Yeah. Fresh to death. What is wrong tonight?
We're all tired and sad from staying up and watching disappointing election results 10
days later and the Cubs winning the World Series.
I have to admit, I Didn't watch a single game.
Yeah, that's okay. No, I just keep bringing that up for myself. Like, every time I start feeling like Cubs man. Depressed and, like, worried about my children's future, it's like, wait, the Cubs won the World Series?
Is it true, Tim, that the parade after the Cubs winning was, like, the seventh largest gathering in human history?
Five million people is the largest gathering in American history. People in. Wow. Seventh largest. Yeah, yeah. In human history that's recorded. And all the other ones are like pilgrimages and, like, the funerals of dictators that force people to come. Anyways.
Yeah. So 5 million people.
That list is hilarious. Like, when you look at it and it's like. It's like Ayatollah Khomeini and this pilgrimage in India. And then number seven, the Chicago Cubs World Series celebration. That's amazing. And I feel like four hours of it on TV when it happened, it was. It was pretty incredible.
And I feel like that before they started recording these things, there probably weren't that many people in the world.
Right?
Like.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, 600 people came into this.
They're all pretty recent. Yeah. Yeah, they're all pretty recent. So it's a. It was something else. It was unbelievable. I mean, it was as expected, but,
yeah,
I wish I was there. Fresh points. I was having a baby.
No excuse. Does Jane really need you in the room?
I was wearing my Joe Madden Cubs coach jersey shirt during the birth, so I was like, I'm the birth coach, baby Joe Madden. She didn't find that hilarious because she wasn't
here for Ace Paint.
So am I starting?
Yes.
Yep. Oh, okay. We just transition. I couldn't tell if we transitioned already.
It's a terrible transition.
Yeah, that was. But we'll just go with it.
So.
Yeah, this is. This is the. I swear this is the last thing I'll say about the Coves.
Okay.
But this is a song. It's a song called Someday, and I put the link in the show notes. And this is the. She's actually stepsister of one of my best friends from growing up. And she's gotten some recognition in the north northwest Indiana, Chicago area, especially for some songs she's written about the Cubs in the last couple years. There's three of them. And Someday was the song she wrote when they won. And it is very, very beautiful. And she made, like, a music video, and it just, like, makes me cry every time I watch it because you see these, like, old people celebrating. Anyways, but it's a really great song. So I was just gonna throw that out there. I'm not gonna say anything else about it. But her name's Katy Day. She's a really, really talented musician. Most of her music is not about the Cubs, but the stuff that is about the cubs is pretty excellent, just like the rest of it. So you should check her out, Katy Day on itunes. And then I added the link for the YouTube video of her song someday that she released just a couple days after the Cubs won the world series. Yeah. Cool. So I finally got my Palomino Blackwing 344s. I finally ordered some the other day. I've been meaning to do it forever. And they are pretty fantastic, huh?
Yeah.
Love, love, love them. And I. I can't get over. And it's just like one of those little things, but I can't get over how much I love the typeset on palomino. Yes.
Yeah.
And the trees with the little trees. Oh, my gosh. These look fantastic.
And it looks a little bit more truly stamped. Right? Like. Like the other. The palomino. The old palomino was too. But this one. This one feels more like it was like Kachunk stamped.
Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting. Kachunk stamped. There's exactly what you mean. The chunk stamped. So I think they're fantastic. And these are the firm core, right? The 602 core.
Yeah.
So they're great. It's actually interesting. This, like, does not affect my opinion at all about them, but my feral is, like off, like crooked on this one. Like pretty bad. But really don't care. Doesn't matter at all. But I love that they're. You know, they keep going with the different colored ferals. We had the black on the 24 and now the red on the 344. I hope they keep going this. Going with this. I would love to see a blue metal barrel at some point. That would be really silver too.
I feel like they made friends with some anodizers. Some people who can quickly anodize some. Some ferals.
Yeah.
They need to do a purple one and do an Edgar Allen Poe edition. The midnight dreary edition. Yes.
Or they could do. Well, that would be a totally mixed reference. But I was thinking back to the Toni Morrison edition.
That would be amazing.
And do like a bluest eye one. But then you. The. The other part, the numbers wouldn't make sense anyways. But I. The 344s are great. I love them. And it's gonna. I'm gonna come back to them when I get to the. The top five update, so I'm very happy about that. And also with that order, I got a few backups of the single hole long point sharpener.
Yeah.
Because I'm just not ready to spend $30 on Pollux. That seems a little flipping absurd, so.
Oh, yeah, Nobody put that on their fresh points.
Oh, I should. I'll put that on mine because I did it.
Yeah, I heard you talk about it last time. Like, I. I just. I wish I could bring myself to do it, but if it was like $8 cheaper, I would just go for it. I mean, they're sold out now, so it doesn't matter at cw, but anyways. But I got some of the long point sharpeners, and I finally got some of the jumbo golden bears. Have either of you gotten these yet?
No, I keep forgetting about them.
I thought I had some, but I was looking for them the other day and I don't, so I need to get some.
Good. They're so awesome. I love it, love it, love it, love it, love it. So get some, because I've been really digging it. I just got it today. They just showed up today with my 344s. But I've written a good bit with them, and they are fantastic. So they. They feel pretty similar to the right notepads, Jumbo, which are also amazing. Maybe even like. I mean, those. They're pretty similar. And I think they're all.
They're all made at Musgrave, right?
Yeah. So they might even be the exact same, but there's definitely cedar really well made. So I got the. Yeah, the 344s and the. The golden bear Jumbo Golden Bears. And another order I was able to place a couple days ago finally, which I've been mean to do this for a long time, was to get a Baron Fig Squire, which I feel like I've been a Baron Fig fanboy lately, because they're just killing it.
Yeah, they do stuff lately.
Yeah, they're just. They're killing. I love those guys. And I love what they're doing and mean to get squire for a long time. So I was able to order one. I got one in charcoal with the darker one. Yeah, I cannot wait, cannot wait to get that thing. So that's gonna be here on Monday, I think. So I'll talk about that on the next episode. And yeah, I just really think they're doing a great job. I know you guys talked about it last time, but with the subscription service that came out, I was ecstatic when I Found out about that. I guess it's.
Yeah. I don't know. I've softened on it, I guess, a little bit. Like, it's. It's cool that they are just doing that to so many different things. Like.
Yeah.
Like, a quarter of the. Really, like, reinvention of all of their products. Maybe not reinvention, but. Yeah, that's really ambitious and awesome. So I hope they do it well.
Yeah. And I feel like all of it, you know, they're doing all these different ones, and they're going to do the Squire, which is super cool. Nobody's done that yet. Like, no. They're the kind of guys who. They're not going to do this hastily, I don't think, because I feel like they haven't effed up anything yet. They haven't done something and been like, well, that was too much. We couldn't handle that, you know? So. So, like, I know it seems ambitious. They're doing the Squire and the Small books and the Medium books and then the Confidants and all the. In the Archers. But they've probably been cooking this for a long time. Like, it's been stewing, and they weren't going to start it unless they were going to nail it.
I just wonder, though, like, if you have a year subscription to Squires. Like, it just seems so weird because, like, it's supposed to be this pen that's really durable and will last forever. And, like, then you just have four of them, and there might be. They might be shaped differently, or maybe they'll have a different, like, end cap or something. Or maybe they'll all just be, like, different colors.
I think it is. I think it's gonna be basically the same thing that Lamy does, you know, like, puts out special edition Safaris and Ale Stars. Like, they're gonna be the same pen, but they're just gonna keep mixing up the colors. And, yeah, for people who really like that pen, they can get a bunch of different colors and go for it. I wouldn't do that one just because. Mostly because I probably couldn't afford it.
I couldn't.
But the one that makes me the most excited is the Confidantal, which I know we'll talk about in a little bit, but nobody's done that. Nobody's done the subscription service for a hardback notebook because the Baron Fig hardback notebook has become just, without a doubt, my favorite hardback notebook. I have a stockpile now of, like, three that I'm working through, and I just love those things. So super. Excited for my squire. I'll talk about it next time.
Cool.
And then the last thing was just a little nano Rhymo update. Because of Lila being born, I started kind of late. And so I basically made my nanowrimo from 11:15 to 12:15, just for my own sake. I just started late. So it's still a month. And I'm still trying to do the same thing. And it's going well these first few days so far. I. I like starting it now because now I'm gonna have the Thanksgiving break to, like, gain some momentum.
Yeah.
Without being in school, which is awesome. And I am doing it actually as a combination of handwritten and typed. So I'm using Scrivener.
Oh, yeah.
The word processor, which I've been using for a few years now. And. But usually when I sit down and write, I start with pencil in a notebook just to kind of get the ball rolling to get my brain moving. And then just for time sake, and just because I have like a hundred million things going on right now, what usually ends up happening is that I find a good flow and like, yeah, that's the direction I want to go. And then I type. So that's what I've been doing so far, just mostly for the sake of timing. But it's a. It's a project, a thing I've been trying to write for years and years and years, and I'm trying again, so trying not to. NaNoWriMo is good for that because I feel like this story I'm writing has become really precious to me. And NaNoWriMo forces me to just put my head down and bulldoze through it and get it done without worrying if I got it right. Because it's a story that I love. It's characters, I love themes, I love settings, I love.
Is it about the Cubs? It's about a fictional team called the Baby Bears.
The Baby Bears. So cool. So it's been going well so far, so I'm looking forward to the weeks to come and I hope I can keep up with it and at least get something done. I don't expect to get all 50,000 done with a newborn and a toddler and stuff. But anyways, so that's me.
Yeah. Well, I. I was trying to think of freshpoints and, man, just the last two weeks, I've been just so busy with work stuff that I haven't. I feel like there's no news in my life about it. I did talk about the Pollux in the last episode, right, Johnny?
I think so, yeah.
So you did.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Now you've had it longer.
That's true. Still works great. It seems like that there are. There have been reports of, like, misaligned blades. I just saw Matthias posted a picture of the replacement blades. Did you see that? On the group?
Yeah, that sexy little envelope.
Oh, that's super cool. So, yeah, I haven't needed it yet. It's still really good. I've been trying to figure out how I can borrow a Janus sharpener so I can, like, test, like, look at the difference between the points. I'm going to do that soon. I think I have a lead. But yeah, I've just been so busy, I haven't followed up on it. So I have no fresh points, guys. Sorry.
That is okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm going to pass the baton to Johnny.
Okay.
I only have a couple.
Yeah.
So we're going to talk a lot more about National Novel Writing Month next week or next episode. So I'll just give a quick update. Also, I'm maybe a thousand, two thousand words behind on tonight, the 18th, which is not terrible, but Thanksgiving is coming up, which means, you know, with three kids, if you have a whiskey with dinner, you fall asleep at 7 o' clock and then, you know, wake up at 11 and that's it, you're up for the night. So I don't know how that's going to work out, but I've been doing it all in pencil and composition book, which has been a very nice experience.
Speaking of composition books, did anybody hear that other podcast had an episode about composition notebooks about a week after ours copycats.
Next thing you know, they're going to do an episode about black wings. Love you, Brad. So what else? Oh, so my wife is very, very particular about her pencils and she developed a taste for. I think I talked about this before the 211, you know, when they got to $100 a dozen. So not having any 211s herself. I have less 211s now. So when she liked the 344s, I bought a second dozen and we split them and she lost one one day and we found it a few days later and it was in a spot I often park in. So either I ran it over or someone else ran it over with a car. And it's flat. Like the ferrule is pretty flat. The eraser won't come out and the wood itself is kind of flat. But the son of a still sharpens and writes. The lead is not busted. The lead is fine. Yes. So she was still using it for. I gotta get some pictures of it before it's gone.
Please.
It's just that. Tickled me to no end.
Yeah.
So does she like the 24 because of the look or because of the writing?
Oh, did I say 24? I meant 211. I'm sorry.
I think you said 211.
Yeah.
Okay. Sorry.
I don't know. She's very picky. She doesn't like the 602, and she hates the 56. And they all have the same core.
Is it a aesthetic thing or is it, like, a tactile thing?
A lot of it could be. I think burgundy was one of our big wedding colors, so that could be it. Although that was many, many, many years ago, So.
Yeah, burgundy is still a color. Johnny, don't worry.
Just. Now, you don't have to use, you know, the blood of a chicken to make it. They have artificial pigmentation now.
Yeah.
Hey, that's not nice.
Even with my kids. And we're talking about the color purple. Like, back in the day, like when Shakespeare was making Romeo and Juliet. Do you know what they made purple out of?
It was toxic. Right.
I don't know about that. Okay, well, I. Like, that's not in my brainscape right now, but maybe it was. But, yeah. Snails.
Huh?
Snails.
They made purple? Yeah. Out of smashing these certain snails. That was why it's so expensive, which is, like, totally weird. That's, like, one of the weirdest things I've ever learned in my life. But that is super weird. They're talking about how it was illegal to wear purple and, like, nobody could afford it anyways. You had to crush thousands of snails? Yeah.
It was a royal color.
Yeah.
I'm making a purple snail ink tattoo. I will die.
Just crush some snails
this summer. I am at least getting one tattoo this summer.
So can I come? Yes, I will be there.
Please.
You can squeeze my hand. I won't tell anybody.
Hold my hand.
I have very meaty hands. For having kind of short fingers. My hands are like big, hairy meat.
Can I. Can I come to. And we'll. We'll just do our pencil tattoo. Matching pencil tattoos.
Yes. There's a good place in Johnson City. Come here. We'll do it. I'll show you guys a good time. Yeah. Just get, like, a ticket. Come here. Stay for a few weeks. Be fun.
Yeah. What's the closest big airport to Johnson City?
Asheville has an airport. Okay. Knoxville has an airport. Big airport would probably be Charlotte, but
anyways, there's a Direct comment from San Francisco to Charlotte.
Yes. See?
Okay, you come into. Coming to Baltimore, we'll drive down.
That sounds good.
I'll drive. You can drink all you want, Willow Soldier.
Anyway, yeah, one of the weird things about Tennessee is that it's legal to be a passenger in a car and drinking alcohol.
Really?
Beer. These are good things to know while you're driving. Good.
As soon as we hit the board, like, Andy, hand me a coffee and grab yourself a beer. So speaking of tattoos, the first limited edition confidant came out. You guys probably have seen it or have it. The Baron Fig Workplay 2.
Yes.
And this one is different from the Workplay one in that the workplace one was lined and then blank, if I'm right. Is that right? And this one is dot, grid, and blank. And this one is a black bookmark. And most notably, it's stamped with a pencil for work and a paper airplane. And that pencil would, like, make the coolest tattoo. I was joking with Adam about that this week.
He's like, do it.
I was kind of hoping he'd say, no, don't do it. I'm like, now I feel like I'm dared to do it. Crap.
So, yeah. Yeah, they are. That is a good looking notebook. I'm so excited. I can't wait. I've got one here and I can't wait to use it. Yeah, that black. And gosh, man, I love those books. And I'd actually the. So was the first one lined?
I think for sure.
I just gave my. I still had a first one and I just gave it away, like, in September to somebody.
I should have kept it. Yeah. Because the. Actually, the dot, grid and blank is more appealing to me, and I'm really excited to break it open.
They do a really good job on their dot grid. Oh, no, it was dot grid.
Yeah, I thought that was sounding right, but I think it was a good. That's a good choice by them. It's a little since they don't do dot grid in, but no, they do. Never mind. I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm tired. I have two kids now.
My brain hurts. I don't know what my excuse is then. I have no kids.
Do you have a real job?
No.
No, I don't. I showed my kids the Hobbit today in school because I was just tired.
That's awesome.
No, it was. It actually was good. We. We did this, like, test prep thing and we read a section of the Hobbit, and today, like, we were up all Night, like, because all my kids had colds. And I was like, hey, kids, since we read two pages of the Hobbit yesterday, how would you like to. How would you like to read. How would you like to watch the Hobbit? Because your teacher was up all night with a sick toddler and a sick newborn.
Mr. W. You're so cool.
He's like, we love you.
Yeah.
Guys, want to jump into our topic du jour?
Yeah, let's do it.
What's night time? I don't know how to say that in French. So. Yeah.
So is noir night or is that just dark Junoir? Do you noir?
I don't know what that means.
Oh, man. So we should probably update after this. The website that we have, we have our top fives listed on the website, so. Yeah, we should do that too.
Yeah. Is it erasable? Us top five?
I think it's top five.
Yep.
Excellent.
Hold on, let me check that. Is it the word five or the numeral?
I think it's the number five.
Yep.
Cool.
Awesome. So you want to keep the same order. Do you want to go first, Tim?
I'd love to.
Should go backwards. Let's call you mit and MIT
Yidna and Yiddonage.
You can find me on various social media sites as MittMeSaw. That was. It's like my first and first and last name backwards.
Say that again.
Mitt Esau. It's a wasm. Tim Wasem. Backwards. It's me. Bit me. So this is why.
This is why people tune in.
Right. See, I was kind of. I was kind of surprised making my top five, updating my top five, because there were only. There was, like, one and a half holdovers from my first list. The only, like, solid holdover, which is a surprise to no one on the planet, is the Palomino hp. So that one's still there. Still use it more than anything else. The only other one, the reason I said one and a half is that. And maybe this is, like, against the rules, but I've become pretty. I don't know. I just really don't care what the pencil looks like. The core has become super important. I don't focus too much or I don't get distracted by how the pencil looks. And so I added to my list any variation of the 602 core, basically. So the 602, the 56, the 344, the 211, all those just, like, in the same category just because they have the same core.
So am I misremembering? I thought the 56 was the pearl.
No, I don't think so.
They've only done that once with the 725.
Okay.
Yeah, that'll be next.
It's gonna be winter.
Yeah.
Driving's prediction. We'll get neat silver.
Get neat silver on this.
So Palomino HB. Any variation of the 602 core? I would put those in the same category just because I don't think about the. With. With that I don't think about the aesthetics as much. It's just whatever I have on hand. And to go along with my Baron Fig fanboyishness, the Archer I added to my list. Andy, you did as well. That I. I really have fallen for that pencil. It's. It's pretty fantastic. So. I know we talked about that before. The other one, I used to have the Tombow mono 2B on my list. And then I was looking back at the list to prepare for tonight and I realized that I haven't used that pencil in months. I haven't touched it. But one Tombow Mono that I have used is. And we talked about it on the podcast was when in our F episode, the effing episode that we did a couple months ago. In that F episode I was talking about how much I love the Tombow Mono. So and the Tombow Mono F has grown on me quite a bit and I use it all the time. So the Tombow Mono F and then the. Probably the most surprising because I've used it the least but it made a good impression on me is the. The Camel HP with the gray eraser.
Love it.
Beautiful pencil. Writes really well. I wish I could buy it by the dozen. Yes, really, really, really, really wish I could buy it by the dozen. So. But yeah, that's me. Andy, what about you?
Yes. So mine changed a little bit. I decided like to put a combination of pencils I've just been using a lot lately along with some just old favorites. So that's why the Golden Bear is still on the list. Yeah, I think that's still important to put on there. But I see in our show notes Johnny's trash talking me a little bit. So. Yeah, as Tim mentioned, I did also put the Archer on my list just because I've been using it so much. I don't know what it is. It's so lightweight. It's amazing. Is that a big part of it for you, Tim?
I think which this totally against what I was just saying about the 602s, but aesthetically I love that pencil a lot. It's a Beautiful pencil. So for me, my reasons are more because of the looks and because it has what. Which I know it's up for interpretation, but it almost feels like that. Tombow mono F. It just feels like that that point will last forever.
Yeah.
And it pairs really well with the Baron figs, so. Yeah, those are my reasons.
Yeah. No, I totally agree with that. I like that. And I think that the. The weight is just another really big feature too. It's so lightweight. It's so good. And it's the wood. Even though we're pretty sure it's not. It's not cedar. It's. Whatever it is, it's really great. It's not like some crappy plastic pencil that people like. Johnny, like, wait for it.
You're gonna rag on the Wolfex.
So.
Yeah, you can't drink beer while we drive to Tennessee now. And you gotta sit in the back.
Privilege Revoke.
Third row.
I've also. I've been finding myself more using the pearl. I've always been more of a 602 fan like Tim, but I don't know, lately I've just been picking up the pearl and using it. It's really dark and nice. It looks really good in the. I think it's because it's so dark then compared to what I usually use. I've been using it in my Lunacy notebook and it looks so good in there. Just because it's kind of a gray paper. I think that a lighter pencil would look worse. But the pearl. Yeah, Just write so nicely in it. So I put that in there. I don't want to spoil Johnny's list, but I. He mentioned the CW pencils. Pencil and. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I totally agree with that. Do you have that pencil, Tim?
I actually don't. This morning I made a. I filled my card at CW Pencils and I added one of those in there. So I haven't tried it yet. I'll have one within a. Within a couple weeks or within a week. So.
Yeah, it's so good. It sounds like they were able to kind of control every bit of it and they put something really good together. It's like, pretty heavy. I actually like it for the opposite reason that I like the Archer. It's kind of heavy and substantial. It feels really nice. It looks really nice. I'm totally down with that. Then my last one, I guess, would be the Nataraj pop, which I've talked about here before. I was kind of obsessed with it for a little while, but I still really like it. I'm trying to remember if it made it into my last top five. I should check.
Nope. Nope.
Okay. But it is no longer sold by CW Pencils, so therefore I don't think it's sold in the US Anymore. So I don't even know if it's made anymore. It's really good.
That's depressing.
Yeah. They replaced it with something called the Apsera Joy Joi.
Yeah, I think the production quality of those is not quite as good as.
Yeah. So the pop is still my favorite. I kind of hoarded them a little bit and trying to be. Trying to be light with my. My usage, but such a good pencil. It's beautiful. I just love the color. The color scheme that they use. So those are my five. How about you, Johnny?
Well, so to come up with my five, I looked at my little pencil box, and since I'm doing National Novel Writing Month, these are my top five, specifically November pencils. So those would be, you know, smooth pencils, maybe my hands hurt pencils, etc. So number one, the Blackwing 344, which we talked about a lot tonight because it's beautiful. It writes beautifully. It's just. It's awesome. Oh, I should mention the one that got run over by a car didn't crack the lacquer, even though it really messed the wood up. I think that's something special. And I'm gonna go with Andy with the CW Pencils pencil because I have an eczema problem on my hands, and I'm often lotioned up. And that's a very good pencil for being lotioned up because it's grippy and it's fat and it's unfinished. Number three, the Blackwing 24, which is billed as the writer's pencil. And I didn't like it that much when it came out, so I never bought another dozen. And now I kind of wish I'd bought, like 12 dozen because I love it and it does hold a point for a long time for the general's layout, which is the only round one on my list, because it's dark, it's not smooth, and it holds a point very well. And it doesn't smear, which is super good. And like Tim and put in the Camel Natural hp, which is the lightest one on my list, weight wise and mark wise, just because, I don't know, sometimes you want something a little lighter. And the pencils are so beautiful. It smells so good.
Yeah. I still think. I still think that eventually Blackwing, if they were smart, they would put out A standard edition that is some version of the 24.
Oh, yeah. And a standard natural pencil too.
Yeah, yeah. That seems like a big loss of profit to not do that because the blackout is appealing in itself. And also the harder lead than the 602 is appealing in itself. I feel like they just. They have to do that at some point. It seems like a really. A swing and a miss. If they don't, they should do.
Johnny, can I ask you. Can I ask you why you changed your mind on the 24?
When it first came out, I thought it was kind of a lot about it. Well, unnecessary, like. Well, it just feels like a palomino hb. And you know, I like that pencil already. It didn't. You don't need to mess with it. But I don't know, I've become. I've come to appreciate the slightest width of a width increase of a black wing with the heavy finish and the bigger dimensions of. There was pencils and I don't know.
I don't know.
It's hard to put my finger on. I just really like it if it's one of those, like, you know, I've hoarded pencils before and then been like, why did I hoard this stupid pencil? But, you know, I do probably only 500 WPEX. But okay, maybe not 500, but a couple hundred. This one. I'm like, ah, I really should have jumped on this one. But if they made that one, like, you know, CWP pencils did a. Their own pencil. Black wing should make one for us called, I don't know, the Black Wing 3. That was natural with the 24 core and a silver ferrule and a pink eraser. The perfect pencil.
Ship it.
I'll email Charles tomorrow.
We'll get on this GD exclamation point. That would be an awesome pencil. Yeah, I would have no more top five. I would just, like, sell my children in my car and buy a lot of those. Get very fit from walking everywhere.
Yeah.
So that about wraps up our show already. Yeah, Sad face, because we haven't all
three been together in a while. Yeah, that's pretty interesting. Just like all of our lists changed quite a bit.
So I think it's probably good, like quarterly ish to check in with our top five just to see where we are.
Yeah, we haven't done it since like January or February last year. Yeah, it's like dead of winter. Like, hey, what are we going to do about showbot? Let's do top five, which is kind of what happened tonight. Yeah, because we thought there were only two shows in November, but there were three.
Yeah, it paid off quite a bit. Yeah.
So maybe this will keep you company on a crappy flight for Thanksgiving. Although, you know, we could do an After Dark episode about something political. Listen to that on the plane. Laugh maniacally when they ask you if
you want a Coke.
Would you like a beverage?
Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to please get off the plane.
Would you like some Coke? Be more specific.
What kind of Coke?
Oh, my God. Okay, sir, put that brass pencil sharpener away.
Should we button this up?
Yeah, let's do it.
So we are the Erasable Podcast. The very, very, very best pencil podcast in the entire universe. So, you know, we. No matter what political party you like, you're going to enjoy our podcast.
We still hope you are part of the pencil party.
Yeah. Nonpartisan pencils.
Yes. The natural finish with a silver eraser pencil party doesn't really roll off the tongue. I know we've got to come up with an acronym for that. So you can find us at Erasable Us. You can also find us on your favorite podcast, Catcher as Erasable Podcast. This episode is episode 64, which you could find at Erasable Us. You can check out our top five lists always. And the content of the page always changes at Erasable us. Top numeral 5. I am Johnny Gamber. You can find me@pencilrevolution.com on Twitter en solution and on Instagram yholename. Where can we find you on the Internet, Mr. Andy?
I am @woodclinch. Wait, no. Woodclinched.com that's my blog. Or on Twitter at a Wealthley or oodclinched, which is not super active. None of the Woodclinched franchises are particularly active right now. And Instagram wellfly. How about you, Tim?
You can find me on Twitter imwassum. Hear me talk about the Cubs and Bernie Sanders. And you can find me on Instagram TimothyWassum.
You can find the erasable podcast on social media, raceablepodcast. On Twitter and Instagram. We have a facebook page@facebook.com erasablepodcast which you can like, quote unquote, so that you can get sort of official updates. And if you want to find a place on Facebook where we really, really don't talk about politics and instead it's just pencil joy all the time and occasional jokes about how stupid fountain pens are, it's facebook.com groups erasable. Thank you for listening and tune in next week for a big NaNoWriMo recap.
The intro music for the Erasable podcast is graciously provided by Vismountain, a collaborative folk rock band from Johnson City, Tennessee. You can check out their music music@www.thismountainband.com.