Scribe

I mean, you've had me on as a guest a couple of times, so, you know, there's that. But honestly, it's one of the few podcasts that I've listened to every episode of and continue to tune into. When I was doing work from home and I wasn't driving anywhere, I just. My. My podcast player just kept clogging up, and I had, at one point, like, 200 episodes, and I just purged all of them because I primarily listen and always listen to podcasts either on my commute, like on the bus or the train or in the car. Um, and all of a sudden, I wasn't driving anywhere. So I just never listened to podcasts except Erasable. Like, I'd be puttering around in the kitchen or doing chores, and Erasables was always something that I continued to listen to. So I purged everything except for Erasable and Pen Addict and a couple of others.

Well, I just have to say I'm partial to the host. I mean, we go way back. Back when I first started with the Pencil Store. The podcast was around before the Pencil Store, but you and. And Andy came in together, and it was very memorable. And it was immediately this, like, welcoming into this community that I didn't know existed. And it was like hyper niche, and pencil people are just really specific people. And I'm really glad that you guys have stuck around and that you've created this, like, community for that Cause I can't tell you. I know. I can't. I can tell you. Cause you know, you know how weird it is to try and weird out about a pencil to somebody. Just like go off on what you like about a pencil or what you know about it. Because, like my coworkers see the line of pencils behind me because I have them displayed and it's like on camera when I'm on zoom calls and they're like, what is that about? And I have to like rein it in because at some point light leave their eyes because they're like, oh, she can talk about this a lot. So basically boiling it back down to your question. You guys are the best podcast in the world because you've created this hyper niche community and you leaned into it and you've like dug into every little corner facet of it and, and you've done it for a really long time now. And that's awesome.

It's true. Like, there's a point at which you kind of have to stop talking, but once they know there's like a layer to peel back besides just like yellow pencils, they're. People get intrigued really easily.

Erasable is my most favorite pencil podcast in the whole entire world because I just adore the three hosts. They are funny and relatable and charismatic and smart. And I just really admire the courage that it takes to create something for such an incredibly niche audience. And I mean, from a selfish perspective, I just love Erasable because my business could never have existed without you guys. I created something that I didn't know there was a market for. I was just naive and crazy and did it anyway. And then when I discovered, when I discovered you guys, I remember when it happened, I was, I was on vacation in Costa Rica. It was when my website had launched and before I was going to open the physical shop. And you guys found out about my website and all of a sudden I had a bajillion orders and I was on vacation, just freaking out because I didn't know what to do. And I had been aware of a reasonable podcast. I didn't understand how vast the community was and I was too Sheepish and afraid to reach out. And so I just didn't. I just, like, waited until somebody found out, and, boy, was I grateful that somebody did. I think it was Mike Dudek. I think I have him to. To credit for connecting us originally. But, yeah, I feel like together we got to do a lot of amazing things together.

Like, cool.

Yeah, it's. It's. It's amazing with. With neat, very niche things that I think. I think in many cases that even outside of pencils, you don't. When. When nobody has created a community for that thing. Once somebody does, the. I guess the. The gratitude that comes along with that for the other people who thought they were alone and loving, that niche thing is just. It's just so vast and incredible. And I am so grateful to you guys for creating a space for that.

Y' all just found each other, but it's because of the three of y' all together. Make something that no one else could. And I mean. And that's, like, obvious when you say it out loud, Bruce, right? It's like the three of you and, like, that's. It's, you know, that grouping. But the way y' all talk about things and the information you share and the care you give to the listeners, right? Like, y' all very listener focused and, you know, make sure you're one to, you know, do the. Make the best product out there for the listeners to. To hear you talk about pencils, because, again, like you said before, that's not a normal thing. Like, these aren't words that come out of people's mouths very frequently, right? Hey, let's do a podcast about pencils, right? And then the topics you have to talk about is, like, you, like Johnny breaking down, like, a pencil sharpener to, like, the nth degree. Like, this is not normal in the best way possible. Right?

So that the three of y' all have your own individual tastes, but they come together and just kind of like this perfect setting that allows you to each have these conversations about something that we all love. People that are listening to this clearly, like, love this stuff, right? So, yeah, it's. It's super unique that you found each other, and we're able to talk about this super nerdy niche topic and have it going for 10 years. I mean, come on.

It's.

It's amazing. So it's. It just comes down to y'.

Y' all are just really, really awesome people. And that's what it boils down to.

I'm gonna be a little bit selfish. I'm gonna have to choose the April Fool's episode that I did with a couple of the punzel ladies, Caroline and Alex, in which we interviewed Brad Dowdy.

That was.

It was really funny. I still laugh when I think about that night and. Yeah. How just, like, silly it was that we were like, lol. This is a pen podcast now.

Yeah, yeah,

My kids on the podcast. No, that's not right.

I think I was on it officially, like, like, properly before I do this on an April Fool's episode.

That is a really, really, really hard question. And I. I wish I had a week to, like, go back and re. Listen to a lot of the ones that I have loved and some of the ones that I've missed. I'm going to pick an episode that I was part of, which was. I forget which year this was. It was an April. It was an April episode. It was an April Fool's episode where I think it was me and Caitlin and maybe one other person. And we did an episode for you guys where we talked about pens and we talked to Brad. We called Brad Dowdy, and we talked to him about pens. And it was an April Fool's episode that was not about pencils. It was so fun. And I remember where we were when we did this. It was, like, kind of late at night, because that was just when we could record. And we were in, like, the weird, like, dingy fulfillment office that we used to work from on Forsyth street in the early days of the pencil shop. And we, like, went to dinner beforehand and got a nice bottle of wine, and we all crowded around the little, like, YETI microphone and just could not, like, restrain our giggles. It was so funny and so fun. And I'm so glad that you let us do that.

Well, all of the episodes that I'm in or on, of course, I'm being a little sarcastic.

I think so. You know, talking about composition books and bookbinding and art and all of it, we talked about so many different things.

I really dig your special guest episodes, like the zine episode with Ed Kemp, Marginalia with Caitlyn, or any of the episodes where you dive deep into a topic. I just get really engaged in how y' all talk about stuff. Um, I also really enjoy your conversations around Musgrave. It's really nice. Like, I remember the early days of, like, RSVP and. And, you know, the erasable podcast where we were all kind of joking about Musgrave's website, and it was kind of like, this website is from, like, 1995, and it hasn't been upgraded since then. You can't place an order, but can you. You've got to make a phone call to order from Musgrave. And watching them go from, like, a gag website to what it is now and their amazing packaging and all of that, like, having you guys talk about all of those things is just really nice. I enjoy that.

Yeah, it's. It is amazing how much has changed in the world of pencils in 10 years. And I mean, outside of, like, my experience with my business, just looking at it objectively, there are so many. There are. There are many products that no longer exist that maybe did then, but I would argue that there are more new products now than there are ones that we've lost as far as products in the pencil world go. And I just am in awe of how many things exist that have kind of elevated the cool factor of analog tools. And I mean, I'll stand by the thing I've always preached for as long as I've been interested in this stuff and talking about it publicly, which is that the deeper we get tangled up in technology, the more we're going to crave these things. And for me, that has absolutely been the case, especially now that my job is quite a bit less analog than it used to be. I find myself really wanting to sit down with a well sharpened pencil and my journal every single morning in a way that I maybe didn't 10 years ago. And it's, it's a. Yeah, I mean, in, in a way that I don't think is so bad. I think it just is becoming more and more and more of a novelty. And because of that, we're able to, to glorify the objects that we're using in a way that I think is really lovely.

Yeah, it's super interesting because in like relation to the podcast, being 10 years old and talking about pencils or in my case, pens for that many years, that moves pretty slow. But technology over 10 years is, that's like, you know, three, four, five different iterations of the world has changed in that same span. Right. Where the techno, the, the stationary world, it's not static, but, you know, we have a lot of, you know, new makers, a lot of people still very, being very interested into it. And from my perspective, I've never loved stationery more than I do now. And I don't see that changing. Like it comes up every now and then over the past year, few years, it's come up, you know, the question of, well, if you do it for a job, does it lose some of the passion that you had just for like the, the newness or the creative aspects of it? For me, it never has because it's such an ingrained part of who I am as a person. It just so happens that I'm also able to do these other things right. So if I didn't have the podcast, if I didn't have, you know, these other outlets that I have now, I would still be doing literally all the exact same things I would be doing right now. So while my, my technology, technology versus my technology usage has certainly gone up, but my analog usage has not gone down, I don't think in any measurable way. So I don't know, like, maybe the math doesn't. Math when I say that, but, But it feels like from a stationary perspective, those are the tools I'm grabbing first to do the things that my brain needs to do.

That's exactly right. Yeah. So it's super interesting to think about. And I try to think it was like, well, have I. Has anything changed in, like, how I do things? And if anything, like, I'm even. I. I've never been, like, a one pen, one notebook type of person, right? So if that was the case, maybe I would. I would, you know, have a different answer to the question. But I just love exploring the tools. I love hearing the stories of the people who make them. You know, I like being involved in this, and I don't get the same passion out of, like, the technology stuff as, you know, but, like, other people do. Like, hey, I love. You know, I love my computer, and I love my phone, and they. They help me do my job. But I'm super glad to have these analog options because that. It's literally just how I've always been. Like, I would not be any different even if I wasn't sitting here talking to you today. I'm. I'm very confident in saying that.

It just like, don't feel like I could pick one favorite. I do still really, really just love a tombow mono 100F. As far as, like, writing goes, that for me is my most compatible pencil because I write kind of heavy handed and it's just so delicious and smooth and sexy and like, well finished and sharpens perfectly every time. And I just love using it, especially with an eraser cap on the end because I kind of like, like the dichotomy of this very sophisticated pencil, which is like a dumb arrowhead cap on the end.

They're the best ones. And I really like the weight of it on the end of the Pencil. It just feels really good. But it's baseball season, so I broke out my secret stash of baseball scoring pencils that I saved, and I've been using them a lot because it's baseball season, and they are just really nice to write with The. The. The later version of it that we did with just, like, the natural finish with the shiny red foils. And those Generals erasers are pretty good. I'm just always delighted to use them. And of course, I actually, I don't care if you include this. I'm sure it doesn't fit at all. But because I'm opening a shop now that sells products made within a hundred miles of New York City, we're carrying so much Generals.

Not just pencils, but we are also bringing back the baseball scoring pencil. And that's fantastic. I'm so stoked we're not having an online store. But I'm gonna. I will find a way to, even if it's just through my own personal website, to sell this pencil online. But, yeah, I'm really excited to get to bring back the baseball scoring pencil. So that is. That is coming soon.

It's definitely changed over time. It's definitely changed over time. Like, I say, like, I'm gonna give you an answer, but, like, just in general, like, over time. My pencil. So my pencil, like, my woodcase pencil love came, like, probably even after, like, my fountain pen, like, fascination. Once I started getting fountain pens, I was always a mechanical pencil fan, right? Because my whole goal in life was to write tiny, and I couldn't really get that with a wooden pencil. So those came later in life when I found, like, the Tombow Mono 100 was my discovery pencil. It's like, oh, I can tell the difference between this pencil and. And just like, whatever I picked up at school or anything like that. So, you know, there's probably like, five or so. Like, I don't know, I could probably name five or so, like, classic pencils that would kind of fit in that tombow mono 100 bold. But I. I did pick one. Well, I cheated a little bit. I picked two. But I think in the process. Process of explaining the two, I think I've probably ended up on the one. So I was thinking of it if I wanted to grab my notebook and write and, like, grab, like, a cool pencil, something I really enjoy, something I love. And, you know, there's so many, like, I don't have to tell you guys, but there's. There's so many, like, tactile awesomeness with, like, wooden Pencils, like, you get the right one, and it fits just the style and the feel and the esthetic and the way it writes on page. If I was picking, like, the special pencil to write the book. The Blackwing eras, 10th anniversary edition. So this was the first eras that came out. And I think the idea or the conceit was that this would mostly mimic some of the classic ones in color and style, if I'm not mistaken. Right. And the way they pulled this off, this is one of the coolest looking pencils. And it's got the extra firm core, which is also my favorite Blackwing core. I can't. This is one of those pencils, like, I just can't stop looking at. Aside from it being just, like, awesome to use. Right. So then I was thinking about when I was answering this question, I was like, yeah, like, that's probably if I'm gonna pick up this to write. Like. Like, if I was gonna journal at night or whatever, something like that, this is the one I'd pick. But I had a different answer. I was like, well, if I was going to the store or shopping online and I want to buy a dozen pencils, what dozen pencils? Would I want to, like, be in the pen, pencil cup on my desk and live there? And I have to go with the Mitsubishi 9850. Yeah, I think that's the one. I would just grab like a dozen of these pencils and just go to town and just be freaking thrilled. I think it's that good of a pencil.

Yeah. I don't know what it is about them.

You actually got me. You actually got me on that. And I did buy a dozen of those as well.

So I could. I could, like. I enjoy using all kinds of other pencils, but, like, when I see those, like, I'm just drawn to. To both of those pencils for anything I need.

I have learned a lot from working with kids and kids who don't.

Like.

I work in an underprivileged neighborhood where kids don't have a lot. And if I hand a kid a pencil, they don't care what the pencil is. Like, they will. They're just. Some of them are discerning and they're like, no, I don't like that pencil. I want this one out of your. Out of your pencil cup. So. But I have brought in, like, a lot of, like, my previously used pencils. I've purged a ton of my collection, and I throw them into the pencil cups. And I like to see which kids are, like, going for which pencils. I have, like, a fist full of Baron fig archers in there, and I've got a few kids that will seek out the Baron Fig pencil because they just like how that one feels on the paper that we use. But for me, whatever I have in hand, as long as it's soft and dark, I've been using a lot of Musgrave pencils. The Tennessee Reds are still at hand all of the time. And lately I've been doing a lot of comics stuff with the kids. And so I've been using a ton of Non photo blue pencils. And for that, like, I ordered for work a bunch of the Statler Non Photo Blue and a couple of the Caran d'. Ache. And I ordered the same thing for myself at home. And I really like the Caran d' Ache Non photo blue pencil because it. They both erase pretty well. But the Caran d' Ache is. Has that soft, creamy texture that you always get with a Caran d' Ache pencil. Yeah, I'm. I really try now to not get so caught up in the preciousness of my materials. I used to get so caught up in it, it would really stifle my art making. Now I'm really just trying to grab whatever is around. I still order too many cheap pens on Amazon and AliExpress and eBay. And I've been doing this flex nib and fude nib thing for sketching, which, if you are into sketching, a fude nib is like magic. Um, you get so much line variation out of one nib that it's just awesome.

It's been a while since I've, like, written so much with pencil that I have, like, a huge preference. But let me tell you this. I didn't used to feel this way. But I have really, really come around to Swisswood pencils. And the number one reason is how little you have to Sharpen them and how well they travel. Like that pencil holds the F up.

Sorry.

If you have to censor that,

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that one's one I always actually, like, carry around with me.

That is. That's the one.

Yeah.

It's still. It's still so weird to me after all this time that it smells like that. Because that's natural, right? Like, they sent the wood.

I don't remember.

Like, they do have the perfumed one

Yeah.

Yeah. No, those are all very strange.

Yeah, I keep coming back to that one, probably because that's just one that's out more than anything. But also I don't have to, like, dig around for the right sharpener to use for it because it's always sharp.

Sure.

I would. I would love to hear more art making, but that's, you know, that's. That's my focus. Like, I'd like to. I'd like to hear y' all interview more artists that make art, whether it's with pencils or pencil adjacent things. How do people. How do people use their pencils? Like, what kind of paper did they like? Just, you know, that art is my obsession. And I'd love to, like, hear you.

I.

Cause I love how you all interview people and how you keep the conversation flowing, and I think that's, like, the way you all do this, I think just is wonderful. And I think I just look forward to hearing more from you. Whether it's, you know, my hyper focus of art and art making and all of that, or whatever you choose to do.

I'd say not. Not specifically. Like, you should keep doing exactly what you're doing. But I will say what I like the most about you and the show is the personalities that come out. Right. We just don't get a news feed of items. We get Tim and Andy and Johnny. Right. Like, I get to hear from y'.

And even though, like, I'm lucky enough to. To know all y' all personally, and we've gotten together in person several times, it's when you have, like, that type of feeling from a podcast that you. You get to know the hosts, even though they may be talking about, like, a specific topic. Like, you understand where Tim's coming from or where Andy's coming from or where Johnny's coming from.

So.

So you should keep doing that. You should keep being you on the podcast. And I think that's the most important thing. I wouldn't change a thing.

I mean, there's. There's just a, like, breadth of analog things you could. And directions you could take it in. Right? Like, when are you guys going on a road show and going around to stationary stores and, like, trying them all around the world? Maybe you're going to factories. Maybe. I don't know.

Oh, yeah. One day I want to do that.

Yeah. Wow. That's. This. When I read your questions ahead of time, this was the one that really stumped me because I feel like you've talked about literally everything. Um, have you. Have you ever done an episode where you guys, like, try to make a pencil? No, because I think that would be really, really fun where you try to make a pencil or you just, like, gather all the materials and I mean, of course, as we. As we know from the very famous essay eye pencil, it's like impossible to make a pencil. But I. I've done a couple of workshops in the past year or so where that's about. About how pencils. The history of how pencils are made and what. And I can't believe I never thought of this when I had a shop and a place to host something like this. But we did a lot of work in a lot of workshops with making the guts of a pencil by using that V arco art graph, just like powdered graphite that's also water soluble, so it's a lot easier to clean up. And just powdered clay and water and you can make really. You could just like roll your own pencil cores. You could make just like graphite shapes that you can actually write and draw with. You could play with the ratios. It's a really fun exercise and really understanding how different ratios of clay and graphite create a different type of pencil. I think you should have like a make your own pencil contest and have the audience vote on who made the best pencil. You could wrap them in string like, like 17th century style. You could roll them in paper. Like the. I mean, the many forms of pencil that are rolled on paper, you could do so many things with it that could be really weird and fun.

Do that.

Um, yeah, it's really. It's also just like, for people who have kids, it's just like a fun thing to know that you can do. It's like, it's. It's educational. It's pretty easy to clean up. It's super fun to just like, mess with pencil guts. It just makes this like, pencil clay. It's so fun. I did it with my. My friend's eighth grade art class.

I went for A whole day at. At middle school art, and with every class we did this, and it was so fun.

Ooh, you know what? I don't. I've not tried to bake it. But you. You could bake it, but it just air dries. Like, it also just air dries and it's really firm and actually, like, surprisingly strong. It's pretty amazing what you can do if you just mix clay. Like, I literally just bought the clay from my, like, international grocery store that has in there. I mean, it's. It's. I think it's. It's Bangladeshi owned. So it has like a section that has a lot of, like, henna and powdered clays. And I just. I forget which one I picked. I think I did pick kaolin clay, which is one of the correct clays to use for pencil making, and just bought it in a. In a bag. Use that b. ARCO art graph powdered graphite, and just went to town. It's super fun. And it just air dries pretty quickly, too.

Thank you for having me.

Hey, no worries. I always enjoy chatting with you and Andy and Tim, even though they're not here right now. It's, you know, I enjoy having these conversations.

Absolutely, absolutely. And hopefully we get to see you and the other two guys in person here sometime soon.

Erasable is my most favorite pencil podcast in the whole entire world because I just adore the three hosts.

In the wee small hours under dim lit lights I sit at my desk with dreams in my sights I take my pencil, my pride and my joy Crafting cores with love just like a little boy I sharpen the legs smooth as a caress with skill and precision I make my heart express Hot potato weights soft and golden brown I slip in the core in my heart never found oh, I make my own pencils Believe what I say Stick them in a potato It's a work of art they say with every stroke the dreams come to life A potato pencil amused to my stride. In the wee small hours under dim lit lights I sit at my desk with dreams in my sights I take my pencil, my pride and my joy Crafty co With love just like a little boy.