This transcript was generated from an audio file by AI, and may contain inaccuracies.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to episode 184 of the erasable Podcast. This is Tim Wasem checking in from Summertime at the Poolside In My Mind with Johnny and Andy, iced coffee in hand, of course. Hey, guys.
Hey.
Hey, Tim.
Mine is a nitro cold brew.
Fancy.
It's a lie. Mine is hot.
And mine's lacroix.
Yeah, yeah, I'm not going outside today. Hot coffee it is.
Yeah.
I don't need any help being overheated these days, but I spent a week in 103 degree weather in Georgia, which was.
Nope, nope, nope.
Delightful. It was so nice. It was just paradise. No, actually I. I thought, like, I need to go to the hospital. I was, like, sweating so much. Oh, no, no, not. That was. That was a joke. I meant, like. I just meant, like, there must be something wrong with me, like, why am I sweating so much in this? But 100 humidity, it'll do that.
Well, also something you and I have in common.
Yeah.
Definitely make you sweat more.
I did think about that, too. Yeah, that's probably it.
Beard, facial hair, right?
Yes.
Yeah.
Great. You know, astounding intellect is what.
Yes.
Yeah.
Tends to do that.
Your brain's working so hard.
It's not even just us working so hard. It's so damn big.
Yeah. So just like carrying this brain around all day just like, really works of us. But that's the argument I use for not exercising. I was like, man, you have no idea what I'm dealing with. So over the last few weeks, there have been a couple big summer releases from blackwing and Field Notes, which we are going to talk about. So aside from Tools to Trade and Fresh Points, we're just going to talk about those two things. Our iced takes. Thank you, Johnny. That was nice on these new toys.
Johnny's our ghostwriter.
And Johnny, why don't you start us out with tools of trade?
Sure. So, speaking of summer, there was a show that came on PBS recently called Hotel Portofino about this British owned hotel in the Italian riviera in the 1920s. So before it sounds like the Darrells and Corfu, there's fascism everywhere. So there's lots of more serious contentions in that show than the Durells, but it's still pretty delightful.
I love the girls.
Yeah. I feel like watching it just for fun, over again. Because it's so damn good.
Yeah. And just like, so relaxing. Just like all of the problems that everybody have is just sort of like, it's fine. It's like the stakes are low. It's Like Downton Abbey.
Yeah.
People do the right thing, then everything works out. Yeah, this one, not so much. There are a couple episodes where like, oh, no, that's not the way this should end. But totally good. And I finally finished the Paris Library on the train, which was like, if you like poppy fiction, it was good book, it was cool. Too many spoilers. So that's it. If you like libraries and World War II period books, definitely. Check it out. And my last consuming is Roblox. Have you guys played Roblox?
I am aware of it and I've. I've like been around when my niece has played with it, but I have never myself really jumped into it.
Yeah, I didn't understand what it was. And Henry's really obsessed with it. And so it's like a gaming platform. And then people create experiences which are really just games inside of it. So there are tons of Star wars games. So Henry got me into it on the train and there's an airplane simulator that I'm pretty obsessed with. I have like lots of money and lots of, lots of aircraft in my fleet, which is cool.
A lot of students play Roblox. And then I would say, I remember one time being like, isn't that just basically like Minecraft? And the kid was like, well, actually Roblox is older than Minecraft. It's been around for.
And you were like, did you just. Well, actually be child.
Back off.
It's like. Well, actually, your grade just went down. Yeah, I. I haven't searched if there is a pencil experience on there, but if any of our listeners know how to code, then that would be so damn cool. Just make an experience for sharpening pencils and erasing. That would be satisfying. And so I'm writing with a pencil that our friend Anna sent me that says, this machine kills fascists. I'm going to use this to write the lines for the January 6th commission that are going to destroy all of the bad guys with words. Words are going to be like annoying. You're going to jail them.
I was gonna say, I think it could be much more effective if you did something else.
Yeah, I don't think you know what you're talking about, son. Life in prison. So field notes have been on my mind because they have a cool new one lately and they made Heavy Duty into a permanent edition. So I whipped out one of my Heavy duties and I'm writing on that one. I forgot that it has lined paper on one side and graph on the other. These are so nice, like chunky and satisfying. So if you're, if you were like me and you didn't want to use your two packs up from your sub. Now they're available for however many you want, but don't buy them all, please. That's all I got. How about you, Andy?
Oh man. So Katie has been out of town for the last week and a half and she's still out for another, for another week or so. And what I, what I, what usually happens when she goes out of town is I basically just like, just sort of like follow little unstructured YouTube rabbit holes. So I've been really into. I think I might have mentioned this on the podcast before. There's this, this, this YouTube channel called Solo Japan Travel. And it's just some guy who goes, takes a lot of like ferries around Japan and he like stays overnight and he just sort of talks about the like the room and he goes up on the deck and explores the boat and he goes into the restaurant, eats things and it's like very relaxing in that there's no words. It's all just sort of subtitles. And I, I sort of just follow the recommended videos based on that. So I've gotten a lot of like, hey, let's go to a, the oldest ramen shop in Tokyo and order things. And then there's like, let's go like figure out there's one about like how lavender oil is extracted and made or something like that. Just, let's just weird I guess, quote unquote Relaxing YouTube videos. And a friend of mine told me recently like, hey, I think that that's your asmr, right? Like, like I don't watch people like brush makeup brushes against microphones. I'm just like watch like people eat food in Japan and other places. And that's basically what I've been doing. But I have watched the first two episodes of season four of Stranger Things. Um, so good so far it's very, very Nightmare on Elm street compared to years past. Like there's like this demon or something that lives in people's minds and I'm, I don't know what that means yet or where it comes from, but just based on these two episodes, that's what it is. So they're also trying to make these like grown ass kids look like they're younger.
Yeah, they're like, like pre, like post teens.
Like Mike and Mike and Will like are just really tall and gangly and they're still giving them their like old haircuts. I'm like, come on.
Three was like with like two Years between episodes. And you got teenage.
What's her name? Millie. Bobby Brown is like 18 or something like that. But they're trying to like kind of dress her like a 14 year old. Like it's just very like. Yeah, it'll be interesting because they have another season coming, like in two years, so it'd be interested to see. Yeah, they said they're gonna have season. Season five is going to be the last season, so maybe they'll do like
a time jump or something.
Yeah. And hopefully that's what they do. Like all of a sudden we're in the mid-90s. Like, this is fine.
Everybody's got their docs and their sand.
Yeah. But it's. Yeah, it's so good. I. I don't know. Stranger Things is just so good. I've been also. I don't know, when I've been driving around, I've been just like a. I don't think melancholy is the right word, but just sort of like ennui about the world. And something that makes it feel a little bit better is listening to a lot of like 1960s, like folk, like acoustic folk and like protest songs and things like that. Been listening to a lot of like Peter, Paul and Mary and. And Joan Baez and people singing Bob Dylan songs. And I don't know, they're just. They're all very simple and have a big message. And I went down the. The rabbit hole of all, like on YouTube, of all the people covering It Ain't me Babe, which is really good. And some Crosby, Stills and Nash singing Teach your children well. And I don't know, just lots of. Lots of those kind of kind of songs.
Yesterday I was driving around listening to the inside Llewyn Davis soundtrack. That would be right up your alley right now. That is so.
I'll listen to that.
It is inside the. For the. Yeah, the Coen Brothers movie.
Yeah.
Also I just.
Oh, God. No, go ahead.
Just an hour ago, I found this. It like popped up on my Amazon music radio station. But it's, you know, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. So it's a cover of Times. There are changing, Changing with. It's the Gritty Dirt Band with Roseanne Cash, Steve Earl, Jason Isbull and the Warren Treaty. Like, and they did this like big kind of like super group cover of it. It's just like a single they released and it's really good.
Yeah, understatement for that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's really good. Yeah. So just stuff like that. I went down this. In this, like, I was going to go down like a little Joni Mitchell rabbit hole and then I realized that she pulled all over music from Spotify, so I need to go, go find that. But she has a song that, it's called A Case of you. I don't know if you're familiar with that song. Yeah, it's a, it's so weird, but so good. And like it just, yeah, it doesn't follow like what I would think of as just like a very like standard way of singing a song. I don't know. But yeah, it's just, just really good. So just been listening to a lot of that kind of stuff and last thing I guess I'll mention is that I just started reading the Library at the center of the Earth, a Kindle book by an author named Harry Marks and friend of ours. This is, I think I mentioned in the last episode like that, you know, he put this out and released it and just started reading it. It's really good so far. If you have like, if you have a Kindle and you have Kindle Unlimited, it's free to read. It's part of that program. I think I paid like $3 for it. Which, if you have an option to give him $3, like you should do that. Also. Did you guys know about his new job?
Yes, yes. Sounds pretty cool.
I, I, it sounded, it sort of escaped me for a while. I don't know. I haven't been looking at LinkedIn very much, but he is full time writing for Cabinet of Curiosities, which he was doing part time. So he's like a full time writer for what's his name's company, Grim and Mild.
Manky.
Yeah. Aaron Manke. Yeah. Which is amazing and such a, such a departure from like the stuff that he has been doing, but just like so completely perfect for him. So I'm so happy for Harry for finding what just to me on the surface, I need to talk to him about it, but it seems like a dream job, which is really cool.
Yeah, it'd be good if they would let him on the show because he's got such a great podcast voice.
Absolutely. And honestly, at some point we should have him on our show to talk about what he just does all day because it sounds fascinating to me.
Yeah.
I'm in a role where I'm a, I mean my job and my team's job that we're professional writers, but it's way less creative. It's more of a, like almost more of a technical writing kind of a role. What we do so I'm so interested to see what. So interested to see what like a, you know, a very like, creative version of that sounds like. How about you, Tim? What are your tools of the trade?
Well, I have been reading the new book by David Sedaris, which just came out. I think it was like three weeks ago, two weeks ago, I don't know. But a new collection of essays that he came out with called Happy Go Lucky. And it is, of course, it's amazing. It's awesome. In the audiobook, I got that as well. And that's always a treat to hear him read his own stuff. And you know, he does that cool thing with his audiobooks where some of the essays he actually records live, like in front of an audience at one of his events. And so, so that's always neat. So you're like listening to the audiobook, like, studio version, and then suddenly one of the essays will be like a well produced live. So you get to hear like the laughing and all that. You get to hear how it works a crowd. So I'm, I'm really, really loving it, as usual. It's this one. Yeah, the original title. I heard him interviewed on Conan o' Brien recently and he, he said that the original title had the word genitals in it, I think is what it. Or testicles. It was one of those two words was in the title, his original title. And like a bunch of stores like, like, I guess like Walmart had said, like, well, we're not gonna buy any of your book. Which. Who's buying? David Sedaris Walmart, by the way. But like, like Walmart and like all these places are like. And so he, he's like, oh, okay, it's no big deal. He had stolen it from like a piece of art that he had seen. So he's like, I'm gonna change it to Happy Go Lucky. But the consolation is that I get to pick the COVID image. And he picked the most, like, I mean, just like a super weird, disturbing picture of a child, a dog and a clown. Like, and it's pretty funny. So. But it's a great message. He writes about.
Oh, that's alarming.
Yeah, he talks about. On the Conan, he's a friend. Like, how. Why he loves it so much that, like, they're all looking in different directions. And. But in the collection, he writes about his dad passing away, which he's written about his dad a lot, but his dad passed away. So it talks about like, end of life stuff. And then he also writes about guns, like the first essay is about him and his sister just like randomly deciding to go to a shooting range and about how like, they went through all the classes and were both bored within like five minutes. And then it goes into talking about like gun violence in America. And I don't know, he's. He's amazing. So I'm always, always excited when he has something new come out.
Yeah.
And this one I'm not even going to try to recreate because it would be super boring and, and annoying to hear this. But I just need everybody, if you don't to go on, don't already do this. Go on Instagram and follow Asher Perlman. I'm not sure how I found him or how I found this account, but he, he's a writer for Stephen Colbert and he also is a cartoonist for the New Yorker. And so he just posts tons of his comics that he makes and they are always funny. I'm like obsessed. Like, I just scroll through his whole Instagram feed and read them and reread them. Like, I think I found. I actually, I'm scrolling through now and I think I found it because he always puts them out like by theme. So he'd be like, here's some Father's Day tunes. And like, it's all like, like parenting or father related stuff. And yeah, there's just this really great one of this like guy at a concert and he's holding out a microphone and this like very dad looking dad is like singing into the microphone from the, from the crowd. And he says, I don't know this song. I'm just here with my daughter and her friends. But he's like, you know, he's like holding the mic out to the crowd. There's just like stupid stuff like that. But I, I think he is like the best cartoonist I've, I've looked at a long time. So Asher Perlman is his name.
You know, my, my theory on New Yorker cartoons and especially like this, this kind, because I definitely recognize this art is like, like there's, there's a proportional like, like correlation between like the older you get and the more you understand these cartoons. So like, yes, when I was in college, I started reading the New Yorker and didn't understand any, any of the cartoons. And then I'm just like, huh. And sometimes, sometimes I'm like, katie, can you explain this one to me? Do you get this one?
That's really funny you mentioned that because I literally, in the last like couple of years, I had this thought of like, oh man, they're getting Their cartoons are getting so much better. Like, I'm actually, like, enjoying it. Maybe I'm just getting old. Maybe that's what it is. Yeah, it's like they changed something. Like, these are actually funny now. It's like.
No, no, no.
They always were. You just.
I feel that way about crosswords that you've been alive for a certain amount of time. You can do half a crossword just on stuff you've seen.
Build the context and. Build the context.
Yeah.
And. Yeah. So the last thing I was going to bring up is I discovered a new band that has been a delight. They're called Goose and they're a jam band. So which, you know, I've talked about before that I like. I grew up listening to a lot of jam band music played in jam band stuff, and I sort of gotten away from it, don't listen to it very much anymore. But these guys are really, really, really good. And they're like, you know, like, usually with jam bands, they'll have like a bend to them. Like, this is a funk jam band or this is a sort of like country rock jam band. Or this is whatever. This one is kind of like. Like indie rock jam band kind of, I guess is the best way. Like. Well, first of all, they have a singer who's actually good, which most jam bands don't have. So I don't know. I highly reckon they're in there exploding in popularity. Like, they've been. They just did two shows at radio. Sold out two shows at Radio City Music Hall a couple weeks ago and had like, Father John. Misty sat in with them and Trey from Fish sat in with him. But I like him a lot. And they have a lot of videos, like good concert videos on YouTube, which I've been watching with the kids putting on the back.
How do you feel about Father John, Misty?
He's a lot.
There's something about him and I. I don't really have any opinion about his music, but there's just something about him. I just like, really just. He makes me just. I just really hate him. And I don't because he's just like a. Seems like a huge douchebag.
There was this big. Yeah, yeah, no, I. I totally agree with that. If I. If I hear him. If I hear him talk, then I'm just like, get out of here. There are just like a few songs of his that I enjoy that I. That I would listen to on the regulars. 1. One great song called I'm Writing a Novel, which is just this, like, sort of Bob Dylan Is absurdist song with all these weird like abstract situation lyrics. Like kind of like a dream, like a fever dream kind of thing. Yeah, but, but coming from this person I'm about to mention, he doesn't have a great reputation either. But Ryan Adams, like famously like in an interview four or five years ago or something said that called Father John Misty the most. Most. What is it like the most self obsessed. A hole on the planet or something like that. So coming from Ryan Adams, that means a lot. So. And I like, I like Ryan Adams.
Yeah.
So anyways, but Goose and they have a. They have a studio album. That's the other thing. Jam bands usually make terrible studio albums. And this one's really good. It's called Drip Field, which is a very jam bandy name.
Yeah, I like them.
And I am writing with a Bob Dylan center Blackwing in a Johnny Gamber original notebook. Actually it's the one I started using the, the Thomas Wolf letters cover. The one that you made from the top. That's an old one. Yeah, that's one of the first ones you sent me and I finally think
I haven't busted it out.
Still.
Great. I love it. That's all I got. So let's go into fresh points and circle back to you, Johnny.
Sweet. So I just got back from Boston and I'm going to give a full travel report, but there are some stationary store news if you're traveling up there. And that is Bob Slate is alive and well, which is very good news because they didn't have a very good website, so they weren't doing well during the pandemic. And then right as they were about to reopen, their building was flooded and they lost most of their merchandise and had to move. So when I was there, it looked exactly like before, just they had a new floor and either they had a lot more paper than I remember or just I wasn't paying attention to it last time. But you know, that place is like all the cool stationery you've ever heard of. Like here it is, I can touch it. And a lot of the prices are very reasonable. So like I found some really cool air mail paper which is really hard to get. And yeah, I behaved myself at the pen counter. All I bought was one bottle of ink, so that's good for my bank account.
Just one bottle?
Yeah. And the, the black ink in Harvard Square, which is a really cool store, is gone now. It's a top drawer. They've come down to Boston and disappointingly, the black ink, the original one in Beacon Hill Was closed when we went, but the sign was still up. So I was joking that I should come back at night and just, like, get up on a ladder and act like I worked there and steal it. But Fourth of July weekend in Boston, there were like, 2 million tourists. And also I didn't have a ladder, so that didn't happen.
So it just was not going to work out.
Yeah, but, yeah, it's. It's weird to see, like, there was a lot of development up there before the pandemic, so there's a lot of empty stuff because, you know, nothing happened. But the Moleskine store was still there, which is surprising because all the times I've been there, I've been the only person in there. So I guess this Moleskin's got deep pockets.
Yeah.
And, yeah, the only other thing about traveling is to remember to take a pencil sharpener, because. So Frankie went and she's like, do you have a pencil sharpener? It's like, no, I didn't bring a pencil sharpener. I thought you would. So she had this black wing, like, just gone. It was worn out of the wood, so I went out. You know, it's easy to find a sharpener in Boston, so got one that was good. She killed an entire black wing on our trip, which I thought was really cool.
That's impressive.
Amazing.
You're like, I've never been so attracted to you.
Damn, why are the kids here now? But I made travel books for everybody, and she, like, went, like, ballistic on hers, which made me very happy. And so my other fresh point was about the Field Notes. Mighty Mississippi Edition. So when the Title IX stamps came out, Field Notes did a partnership with the usps, and you had to buy them from the usps, which is good because the shipping is super cheap. And then they did one for Mighty Mississippi, where there are five books, because that is only a ten stamp set. And they put two on each book. And I just saw that the mariachi stamps that came out today, just today, they released another set of notebooks with USPS and field notes, which is so freaking cool. So I ordered them while we were talking because I needed stamps anyway. But, yeah, they look super cool. And I don't know, there's something really harmonious about field notes and the USPS tv. Not. That makes me just super happy.
Yeah, it's cool that that happened.
And like, you know, I thought it was a one off, then a two off, because, you know, Mississippi, that seems like field notes, but now they're just, like, still doing it. So I Wonder, you know, if they'll do it once a season or once. Once it. Once they have, you know, the big stamp releases. So they could have done with Shell. They have the Shell silver scene stamps that could have been amazing. But I know that they're very protective of how this stuff is presented. Like, quick fact, he used to. He insisted on picking the paper that his books were printed on. Like, there's a reason there are no paperback Shell Silversteins. He was like, no, paperback books are horrible. I want these books to feel good.
Yeah.
So, yeah, there's a good biography of him that you could check out called A Boy Named Shell. But yeah, that's. That's all I got. How about you, Andy?
I don't have a lot. I mostly just wanted to talk about the new Blackwing release, the new volumes edition, which is volume 55. And I remember when they kind of announced the number, they had a picture with an Instagram teaser with a flower on it and a seashell. And it's just like, just random, like things from nature. And I just was, I was not thinking. I couldn't quite figure out like, what the, what the pattern was going to be. And I can't even remember if anybody guessed it in the group. Did anybody notice that?
Oh, I wasn't even paying attention.
Yeah, it happened. I think things were just like super busy. So I. So what it is, it's the golden ratio pencil. It is the Fibonacci sequence. And the, the. The 55 number is basically like the. If you, if you're doing. If you're adding up the sum of the previous two numbers. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, like, that's the, that's the golden ratio. And so 55 is kind of like the, the, the ending of that. So it's a, it's basically celebrating that, which is a symmetry and a composition that occurs in nature into so many different areas in ways that people don't fully understand. It's very mysterious. And the pencil itself is like this kind of like dusty teal color and gray and it's, it's a balanced core. And they basically have like the golden ratio, the Fibonacci sequence, like in, like on the pencil. And it's, it's, it's such a cool theme. Like the, the thing that they're going for here is really great. But I don't know, man. Like, it just isn't really very interesting to me and I hate to. And I want to preface that by saying, like, they don't always have to be interesting. Right. Like, some things are going to speak to some people, and something's going to speak to other people. Like, the. Like, there's been so many more that are just much more interesting to me. And this one, just, like, it could be just the execution of it. I don't. Like, the colors aren't really speaking to me. And the way that they did it, the farther down the pencil gets, the smaller the change. Do you know what I mean?
Yeah.
And so when you sharpen it, you automatically sharpen off four of the different transitions from one color to another. So I'd really think, much like the first edition ever, the 725, which. I wish they would have reversed it so the yellow was on the top rather than on the bottom. That was kind of the case with this one. Like, I wish that they would have sort of, like, turned it around, and maybe they have a very good reason for doing so. Because the pencil tip is the one that's, like, the beginning and the eraser is at the end. So. So that's. That could be the case. But it's just like, it's. It's a balanced core. It's a pearl core, which is not my favorite. It's probably my least favorite. And it's just very. It's well executed. Like, the. This isn't a wrap. This seems very much like it's a dip.
Oh, it's a wrap, man.
Oh, is it?
I think so.
I don't see the seam, but I guess I haven't looked that carefully. I mean, they're probably all wraps, right?
No, wait. They would say it's not a wrap. It's a roll on print. And I would say, cool it with the damn roll on prints.
I'm sure it's about budget and ease, right? So it's just like, it's one of those things where it's such a cool theme, but it's just like the execution of that theme was just not. Didn't really speak to me. And. And really, you know, really, that's okay. Like, it's. I'm impressed with how. How much they are still going. Right? Like, I. I never would have thought that, like, however many years later, like, they're still doing this. So. Yeah. So what do you guys. What do you guys think about this pencil? Have you. Does anybody have it in hand? Yeah.
Yeah, I don't have it in hand, so I'll let Johnny start
trying to find something nice to say. Like, I like the eraser color choice because I like Pink erasers. But the roll on prints, like, really stop, please. Like. And yeah, like, doesn't feel like a premium pencil anymore.
Yeah.
But I do keep letting my subscription renew, so what does that mean? Yeah, I don't, I don't think they're in the investment they used to be. I assume they make a lot more of them than they used to, so.
And they do have like. I mean some of, some of the ones that they've. They've done recently are like, like pretty good. Right? Like, I think that. But like there's. I think the magic that I've really seen has been in some of the like, like limited time releases. Like the independent bookstore day ones are
really fun and yeah, those are really pretty.
Yeah. Yeah. So I, I think, I think a lot of it is like. Yeah, they're just, they're. I don't know, I don't want to say they're scraping the bottle of barrel. I don't want it to seem like they're just wearing out. But like they. I've been getting more out of some of those limited edition ones or the collaboration ones.
Yeah. I mean, yeah, I don't think they're out of ideas. I think you're right. But yeah, it's just something like there used to be a theme or like. Yeah, common thread. Like here, this concert, this trail, now it's like, hey, this abstract idea from a couple thousand years ago.
Yeah.
Okay.
And probably safer that way. Right? Like nobody can be like, oh, hey, I see that you covered the. Like you're, you're racist because you covered the Fibonacci sequence, but not. Right. Like, I'm sure this is a much safer theme, but.
Yeah, yeah, it's. It's definitely lacking like a story. Like as far as the theme goes, like, there's nothing.
Yeah.
It doesn't have a story behind it. You know, I mean, obviously there is a story of like the. But not like a specific moment. Like, I like the ones that are tied to a specific moment. Like the Nelly Bly and you know, Bob Dylan. Like those ones that were like. Yeah. Linked to.
Yeah.
A moment in history that we can point back to or.
Yeah, maybe we can get a James Webb telescope edition soon.
Oh my God, that would be so hd. They'd have to do a roll on.
Yeah, yeah.
I think you're right about the stories. Like I, Yeah, like they made a coffee pencil and I was like, eh. Because there's such a cool story associated with the discovery of coffee that, you know, anyone with Wikipedia could see. But they just wrote about white people in coffee shops. Yeah, that's boring. That's like still going on. Yeah, it's my life.
So that is. That's it for me. For fresh points. Actually, no, let me just. Here's a really quick one. So next year, sometime early, like early in the year. So when you work at Adobe for five years, you get a 30 day paid leave, like paid sabbatical. They call it a sabbatical. It's not a real sabbatical but. And then for every five, every five years you work there, you get like, you know, like a, like 20 time off like that. And so I'm, I'm have qualified for mine and I'm going to try to schedule it for early next year and Katie and I are still trying to figure out what to do. I would be really interested in like what, what's a good city either domestically or internationally that you could travel to? That's like just a good stationary city as well as just a good travel to city. Like I'm thinking there's stuff like Tokyo, right?
Like Japan on that list.
Yeah.
And Boston.
And Boston. Like that's, that's another really good one to think about. So yeah, I would just. If either of you or anybody else has ideas like that. But it's also like really low key. Like if you're like, hey, you should go to Colorado Springs because they have a.
We're going to Paris. So.
Yeah, that too. Right? Not quite.
Also stop in Baltimore and get me.
Yeah, exactly. So there's a lot of like stuff like that that I like if there's anything that flies under the radar that like we don't know about or haven't talked about and is outside of like you know, Paris, New York, Boston, whatever. Like would love to know that stuff.
If you were somewhere in the northeast, anywhere between like Washington and Boston. It's so easy to pop off to another city on the train so you wouldn't have to just be in one place.
Everything's so close together. Yeah, that makes sense.
I mean unless you're driving, then that close together stuff as.
Wow. We honestly, I just have no idea. Like so much of it depends on time and budget and energy and Covid and what Candy's job can do. So weather. Weather. So yeah, it's. We were thinking about taking it like early in the year. So like, so I, we. If we stayed domestically, like we'd probably just want to go to like Palm Springs or something like that. But I, I have no idea.
So you want to get some Winter on. You've been in San Francisco so long.
Yeah, but that's what I'm trying to avoid. Yeah. Cool. Yeah, thank you. That's a good place to start then. Yeah. If you. If you two or if anybody listening has just ideas, love to hear them. That is it for me. How about you, Tim?
I only have one thing which we've all been excited to talk about, but just to bring up the new field notes edition. What was that? Three, three or four days ago. When did they announce that?
So they announced it on thorough's birthday. So I was sort of like. But that was the only thing disappointing about this one is that it wasn't thorough.
There's no throw involved.
Yeah, that's not really their. Their wheelhouse.
Yeah, I feel. I feel like. Right. Notepads would be real mad if they did a throw edition.
Yeah, yeah.
They did it for 100 or 200.
Sorry, yeah, sorry, Tim, I interrupted you.
No, you're good. So I mean their. Their new edition is the Great Lakes edition covering the five great Lakes, which is a really, really pretty addition. I know you guys were excited about it too. Mine are on the way. I haven't got them in hand yet. But each notebook is. Is dedicated to a different lake. But they all feature the same map of the lakes, which is. What do you call those images that they. They used this little like there's probably.
It's almost like they're half tone or isometric or something like that. Yeah, I don't quite know.
Yeah, like sort of like puzzle pieces that fit together to create a cool kind of abstract. Ish version of the Great Lakes. And then it highlights whichever one is dedicated to that specific notebook. And yeah, it feels very. It also feels like a little bit of a nod to the. The county fair editions with that blue.
And they're done. They're not making those anymore.
Yeah, it's sad.
Yeah.
And the other thing that's notable about this is that it comes in a five pack, which is pretty awesome. So it comes in a five pack and I think if you're a subscriber or if you subscribe to a new. And you'll get a sixth notebook that is just representing all the lakes. It just has it's. Was it gray? Is that what it is, you guys?
Yeah, yeah.
That one is sharp. I'm used that one first.
Yeah, I think it's one of the best looking ones in a while. And also I really love how like, gosh, that's my dog shaking his collar. How like a complete set they made like with not just the notebooks but also that awesome T shirt which I'm going to have to get at some point. Like they created a T shirt that features the same artwork and you can get it in blue or in white.
Yeah. And you're, you're getting as a, as a northwest Indiana kid, like you're getting the Lake Michigan, right?
Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely. So and then also the postcards. Like these like vintage looking postcards.
Damn, those look cool.
Those are so cool. So I don't know. I think they knocked it out of the park. Unless I don't even have them in, have them in hand. So I think this is like one of the best ones in, in a long time.
Yeah. And there's a fold out at the end of each one with info about that lake. And just the photos of that they put. Look I. They posted look really cool.
Yeah. Yeah.
Really well done.
As someone who sometimes makes and sells notebooks, they package them so that they fit because you can't stack five notebooks because of spines. So they sort of turned them into. You could see in the photos and that's just very satisfying.
Oh, I see what you're saying. They. They like back and forth kind of. Yeah, yeah. So you can see it in the corner. Gotcha.
And this blue wants. I mean, let people think we hate everything from Blackwing. It wants a Blackwing Volume 73 with it.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. I will, I will be doing that. I will definitely be doing that. Yeah. So you guys have any other thoughts about this edition? I think it's just, it's really, really handsome and this is one the first time in a while that I will be tempted to grab an extra package.
So I, I don't have it in hand yet, but I, I really, really want to feel it. I. The COVID is so interesting looking and it just feels like the texture is going to be really good.
Right.
They haven't made one that I don't like in a long time. I feel like they've been on a roll for like two or three years.
Yeah. Yeah.
They're speaking for my own tastes.
Yeah. Okay, there are the tech weave cover stock is. It's an isometric triangular triangle rendering of the lakes is how that works. So that's very cool.
That's one.
This one with the info and the five packs and the five T shirts must have been Switch and Undertaking.
Oh yeah, I bet.
And just being a Chicago company, I mean I would suspect that this edition had been like they'd been kicking around this idea for. Yeah, a decade or something. They've probably been planning to do something like this because.
And they nailed it.
Yeah.
Yep. So yeah, can't wait for mine to arrive.
Maybe next week they could do like Great American Rivers edition.
That'd be cool. Yeah, I don't know.
I don't know how you'd narrow it down to six. Yeah, I could do one like the National Parks but with the rivers.
Yeah, you're welcome.
Field notes.
All right, so that's all I got.
Yeah.
Well done. Field notes.
Yeah.
Anything else you guys want to bring up or chat about before we call it a day?
We probably should have talked about this in the background, but our book club hasn't happened.
Oh yeah. Should we, should we at this point just consider that dead?
I mean maybe we could do like, just like a little chat one day.
Yeah, maybe.
Yeah, we'll talk about the book for a couple minutes and then we'll talk about something else.
There's, there's. I think, I think the book club idea is a really good one. Like you know, our friend Joey from Baron Fig is, is writing a book like that would be like, that would be a fun thing about stuff related to our stuff.
Right.
Creativity and things like that. Our friend Harry Marks has written a book we could, we can do this with.
We will just, we will just be grown ups about this and I will take the, the brunt of the blame because I. But man, did not like that book, did not enjoy it, don't really want to talk about it. So, so we're sorry if you put yourself through that, but it was.
Johnny. Johnny. Should I mention, should I mention our plumbago update or should we wait for. Yeah, okay. Oh yeah. One thing, one thing I should mention is that, you know, I, it's. We're more than a year overdue for Plumbago volume. What is it, 8? The music edition, which we've talked about on the show, which is such a good idea. And I've had sort of like this kind of profound overwhelm and burnout at work and creative luck and it just didn't go anywhere. Anywhere. And I have successfully handed sort of production of this off to Johnny and contributors to this, this edition. I'm going to put, I'm going to put you just announce this a little bit and put you in touch with Johnny and then we can talk about pre orders and stuff soon. So it's still, it's just very late, still on track. I mean it's off track but like, you know, you Know what I mean? It's still, there's still momentum and we can make this work. So I'm, I'm excited about this and I'm thankful to Johnny and to Tim for, for just sort of like taking, taking the reins here because I mean, I, I just like blew out.
Cool. It happens. We took. Yeah, we're, I'm excited, excited to get these songs out there that people submitted so long ago. There's some really fun, fun stuff in there and some fun like instrumental, instrumental stuff. So we're, we're excited to share.
They're really cool. Yeah. Cool.
All right.
Well, guys, where can people find you on the Internet? Andy?
I am on Twitter and Instagram is at awealthly and my website is. Andy, WTF? How about you, Johnny?
I'm on social media at PennSolution. I'm going to revamp my website soon at pencil revolution.com and you can buy my books at pencil revolution.etsy.com Cool.
I'm Tim Wasem. You can find me on Instagram Timothy Wasom and on Twitter timwassom. You can find the show notes for today's episode at erasable us 84 sorry 184 and you can find us on facebook@facebook.com erasablepodcast and our facebook group, which is a wonderful place. Please join if you haven't done so yet. It's facebook.com group erasablepodcast.
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