Hey I'm a teacher! I teach middle school, so kids mostly use pencils if they're writing at all. The students often use an online program to fill in digital scans of papers and if I get a kid who uses lots of different colors of fonts, it makes me happy. Oddly enough, that is about the point where I start to figure out if they are a student that might be interested in a starter fountain pen. Similar to the last question previous. The same thing with any paper, I don't care if they use a gel pen or flare tip, or any particular color. Even if I might be grading with it. I always have a bunch of fountain pens lined up and can easily swap from one color to another. I just want them to be creative
That's great hear that you use fountain pens. Just make sure that ink don't freeze in the pen if you leave it in a frozen car during the winter season. 👍
Drew, I really appreciate your new hairstyle! First I was drawn to the pencast by Brian Goulet. But I stayed because of your kind and enthusiastic personality Drew. The interaction between you two is so human, calming and activating! Happy birthday Drew! 🧁 Gabrielle from Hamburg Germany!
Oh my goodness! This pencast! The accents were amazing! Loved both of them. And Brian the beaver with cargo shorts…the image immediately popped up in my mind. Sticker is a must! Thank you, gentlemen, for the laughs this morning!
I’m an engineer too and the nightmares are accurate. We lose so many potential engineers bc they don’t warn students that the humbling is part of process. It’s designed to make you feel stupid, question everything, and doubt yourself. It’s seems harsh, but it’s necessary. Everyone sees the end product, but no sees the scraped designs, failed prototypes, and never ending errors codes. The work isn’t much different from school, except no one has the answer sheet to tell you where you went wrong. You have to be able just to pick yourself up and try again. It’s better to learn 1st of semester school than after 5+ years of school at your first job.
You both totally killed it with the voice acting and either of those intros should be the special one for episode 100! I couldn’t stop laughing and felt like I should’ve applauded at the end.
Here we are 81 episodes in and I am still looking forward to each and every one of them. I love the feel of community here. You two are AMAZING!!!! Thanks for keeping me informed and entertained! I would have to say your content here keeps me getting further into the ‘rabbit hole’, as were it not for your education content on these beautiful writing pieces, I would have given up shortly after starting…. So from someone who started following you 4 years ago… from a handful of vintage pens handed down from my grandmother to (embarrassed cough) almost 200 pens now! OMG!!!! I love them all😂
I haven't started my Friday with the Pencast in a few weeks. I've been feeling less mindful, in more of a hurry, taking things more seriously than I prefer, and feeling like I'm stagnating...all at the same time. It's so good to be here again
4 mins into the pencast and right from the start I'm happy and laughing at your alternative introductions. I'm sorry, but no one can do a weekly pen review anywhere near as amusing as you both from Goulet Pens. So so happy you are back this week. There is definitely a hole in my week when I don't have Saturday brekky (breakfast) with you both.Thankyou for the hilariousness each week. Cheers from Down Unda🇦🇺
1:48:53 - "My Mom still signs all her texts..." MINE TOO! My 84 year old mother ends all of her texts with "Love Mom". If she could text with a fountain pen... she would. I've loved Brian's videos for years (Goulet Pen Co was my gateway into fountain pens) but this is the first Pencast I've watched. Now I can binge the prior 80 and look forward to more. THANK YOU!
First off: Happiest of Happy Birthdays, Drew! Hope you have a total blast. And keep it going; I'm a great believer in a rolling programme of birthday celebrations! 🎂🥳🎉 Secondly: A huge Thank You to you both for wonderful, life-enhancing videos. I laugh out loud, I go 'Awwwww', I get better-informed about all things Fountain Pen-and best of all I feel enfolded in your lovely community. I've been a fountain pen enthusiast since before y'all were born (!), and you are unique! Even though I'm a Brit living in the UK, with a number of delightful fountain pen retailers here whom it's a pleasure to support, I'm tempted to make a purchase from Goulet Pens because of who you guys are, your values, and the excellent service you offer in information and education as well as sales. Thank you and hugs all round!
@@Gouletpens Aaaaaand I'm excited to've just placed my first order with Goulet Pens from across the Pond!! Obviously it included some Turkey Hammock stickers in among the pens! 🦃 😊
I’m a digital native (I think so anyway, born in 2003) and I love fountain pens! Nothing can beat sitting down, filling up a fountain pen, and writing away!
@@Hexsyn yes! It’s really something else. And sometimes you’re writing and a word that you’ve written down comes out beautiful and you get to look at it and think “wow I just made those beautiful letters on the page”
I love our diverse community. Merrill the cowboy sounds like a fascinating person. Imagine sitting around the campfire hearing his real life stories. I hope he journals about his life they will be a treasure with his way of words!
For the cowboy, the first pen that came to mind was the Monteverde tool pen and then the Kaweco brass sport. Though I’ve never tried any of the two personally. By the way, I agree his writing is very expressive. Awesome.
Hurray for the Pencast! So glad to see you back! Intros are hilarious! Did I blink and miss the photo of Merrill the cowboy? Love his story and his writing. My favorite Lamy Safari will always be my Dark Lilac. I agree the Black-Purple Al Star is really burgundy, so absolutely YES to an Atomic Purple Al Star! I enjoyed Brian's Fun Fact. I watched a documentary called Brainman about an autistic young man named Daniel Tammet who experiences numbers as having color, texture, and size. He recited Pi for hours because for him it's a soothing landscape. My son experiences color and some texture with numbers and letters, so I get a close view of it in action even though numbers are not my native language.
With houseguests here, I split watching this week’s pencast into 2 viewings. Too bad for me, I watched the 2nd half on Monday afternoon and thus missed out on the ‘give away’. Oh well, since I live in San Diego, I was so happy to see Brian talk about his visit to the Torrey Pines State Reserve that I got over it quickly! It is our favorite place to take new visitors to our City. Magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean and easy walking trails - so glad Brian discovered a real treasure of our City. When I moved to San Diego 15 years ago, I learned that there was only one pen shop … and that’s a Montblanc shop. A few years later, the Goulet Company came to my rescue!!! I needed fountain pen ink and good paper. I thought I had enough fountain pens … but, your website, emails and videos have consistently let me know that there were many other pens I absolutely needed! Btw, I happen to really like Montblanc’s Irish Green ink in their iconic shoe bottle. I have that ink, but I bought Noodler’s Green Marine ink through Goulet and it is almost a dupe for the Irish Green color - even better for addressing envelopes because the Noodler’s is partially water resistant. Thanks for all you do for the fountain pen community!
52:47 as a teacher, I had a student hand me homework written in bright red ink (not fountain pen ink though). It actually was a pleasant change for me! I just used black for the corrections and comments. Other teachers might be more strick about color designation, but I think, If there is contrast, it works. Plus, red text with black corrections looked awsome imo.
Love watching the pencast, find myself having to pace myself to not binge the whole episode in one day but make it last until the following weeks release. Keep doing what you guys do for the community it’s appreciated.
I'm a teacher, and I used to actually give out disposable fountain pens as rewards for a particularly well-written essay or an exemplar paper. My students knew I exclusively used fountain pens and I found that they do not walk away, mostly because the original owner was so obvious and because I was generally liked. Never ever ever cared about the inks my students used as long as it was readable--anything formal was printed, so it mattered more to me that they cared about the process... and I've always found that people who care about process end up with better results. As always, great pencast. :)
Teacher here. I let my students use any ink colour except purple and red because those are my grading ink(s) 😊. When I get students who are FP users (only 2 so far in my 15 years), I'd give them a candy, and then remind them to use waterproof ink, in case one of us get into any inkcidents 😂😂.
I laughed out loud at the chapstick drama, I'm from San Diego County and have moved to Flagstaff. Whenever I visit California I'm constantly saying "it's so humid! Was it always this humid here?" Single digit humitity isn't rare here. Great pencast, welcome back!
I love that you don't introduce your job as "I sell stationery", but specifically fountain pens. The passion other people have really does fan my individual passion, even if it's more for collecting than using.
The intro to the pencast was excellent! Loved both the Shakesperean and Caribbean Pirate accents. You guys were hilarious. The PI fun fact broke Drew's brain and mine as I listened. Loved the Fountain Pen and Ballpoint pen story at the end. Perfect turkey hammock territory!
I see Sir Ian Mckellen has announced his retirement after witnessing Brian's Shakespearean intro. Can't take the competition from the new kid on the block apparently. And to be sure, Drew's Irish Caribbean Pirate was also very entertaining. Great entertaining episode chaps.
As a teacher, I keep a few colors of the Platinum Preppy and Pilot Varsity on hand for grading. I also purchased a few packs of the Thornton's "Novice" to try this year and they are a perfect school pen. I keep a variety of them at my desk. I use them for grading often, and I give them to students who are curious about fountain pens.
Happy Birthday fellow March born! Just celebrated mine on a girls trip to Europe and spent my birthday in Brussels - ooo la la!! Lots of amazingly good food and drink (oh also bought my first Sailor pen on this trip in Amsterdam - sooooo exciting to see all the pens I’ve seen virtually in real life) - Next stop on my fountain pen journey: attending an actual pen show! Also, pooh, cause I’ve missed the Turkey Hammock special!! Man! Guess I’ll just have to be happy that I was in Europe and that’s why I missed it 😢
These alternative intro's are fabulous! Am very impressed with Drew reading it so well while it was totally new. And Brian does well as a Shakespeare reader. Hope you will use these more often.
I just placed my 4th order with you guys for the TWSBI ECO-T Fountain Pen - Saffron and the Ferris Wheel Press Buttered Popcorn ink..... I can't wait to try the ink out
@@Gouletpens thanks, you are afterall the reason I picked the butterd popcorn ink. Well you and the fact that my favorite junk food of all time is in fact popcorn
I just wanted to say. I purchased Robert Oster Coffee Crema and it is a decent light brown, but when I put it in a flex nib something magical happens try it out. You get light brown thin lines with very contrasting dark brown thick lines.
The story at the end brought back a 30 year old memory for me. When I was a young teenager, I attempted to write a play. The characters were all pens in a student's pen case. It didn't go well, however, because it didn't have a plot. Thanks for resurrecting this memory!
12:08 : a dream tip here : before falling asleep, tell yourself (tell your brain) that you are going to dream and that you are going to remember the dreams . It programs your brain to do just that. Then, have a notebook and pen ready on your bedside table, and as soon as possible after waking up, jott down the essentials of your dreams. You can always come back later to the notebook in order to redact the notes and write the dream in more details. Excellent way to remember one's dreams, and excellent way to use pens and notebooks on a daily basis.
Friday (17th) there was a work event, asking for examples of "green" (environmental) practice. Mine was using piston-filling fountain pens, so only glass waste (when you eventually empty the bottle). This won a can of Guinness. I took my TWSBI ECO with me, so the organisers could try it out, they were both "ooh, this is nice"! (It's currently filled with Diamine Happy Holidays shimmer/sheen ink too, to add to the fun).
Brian I totally agree on a matte orange with matching clip Safari! They could add mustard yellow, and chartreuse all with the same design of matching clip for a nod to the 70's appliance colors. I'd LOVE that.
I expected the Romeo and Juliette story to end tragically as they both continued to write messages to each other, unanswered because of the evil shopkeepers interference, until they both ran out of ink, like life blood.
When it comes to giving fountain pens to kids my first thought is usually a TWSBi Go!, but my imagination sends me so many images of "ink battles in the classroom" that I change my mind at once ^^
I beg to differ about Tomoe River. Although the "Sanzen" (lastest version of Tomoe River) as a lot of similarities with the "Original" , I woulnd't say they are _that_ similar. The new "Sanzen" Tome River has more drag, indeed it has less-show through, colors shade a differently and the sheets are stiffer (less wrinkly). I'm not saying it is worse, nor better. But I think there's a difference between the two, not huge, but noticeable.
This might have been the best Pencast yet! Great job and a 10 gallon hat tip to cowboy Merrill. He needs to be a regular! I venture to say that none of the plastic pens recommended are going to work for Merrill. I've had yearlings (one-year-old horses) playfully headbutt me and break a pen in my pocket. My recommendation for Merrill would be the inexpensive Jinhao x750 or x450 (with or without a Goulet nib, a great upgrade) - very durable metal, easy access with snap cap, multiple colors and very affordable if lost or stomped on. Great job guys! Turkey hammock and Rubik's Beaver forever!
I wonder why the Platinum Plasir gets no love? The price is so good and I've been so happy using mine since day 1. (03 nib, matte black) I'd add this to the school/work list.
One Pi day my sister had some 5th grade assignment where it was like 3 pages of Pi. Shortly after that I was home sick and my mom's rule was no computer or games when you're home sick. This was in the days of limited data on phones and when the pre-school programming came on I was bored out of my mind. My sister's Pi printout was on our desk and I decided to make a game of memorizing Pi. I made a little tune and memorized the first 50 or so numbers that day to the beat. Even now, 16 years later, I still can recite Pi to the 30th place from memory from just one afternoon when I was 13. Too bad that level of memorization never transferred to other areas.
@@Gouletpens Good to know. But I promise I won't say anything if I sit next to you on a plane. Nah, actually I'd bombard you with reasons why vacuum fillers are the one and only true filling mechanism, superior to all others. 😂
I'm in college and we still use scantrons all the time. I write a lot of my notes in fountain pen, even though most of my classes are engineering classes with a lot of math. My pen usage has become a joke with my friends. Somehow I have yet to stain my uniform with ink (knocking on wood)
I let someone else use my fountain pen for a while and after i got it back i had to write at a different angle to get it smooth. Can the way someone writes influence the nib? also thanks love the show
If Visconti is also using Schmidt nibs, does that mean you will start carrying replacement nibs? I’m a BENU fan and often have trouble finding those nibs, since the places that do carry them sell out quickly.
First off, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I have to say I was a little disappointed that you forgot about it! I even broke out my Benu Talisman Four-leaf Clover (bought from Goulet Pens of course) for the occasion! Secondly- Please make both the Cargo-Beaver and the Kaiju-Corgi! I need one of each of them. Finally, as a degreed mechanical engineer (no professional license yet), I totally understand nightmares about school… I get sweaty palms every time I think about taking the professional engineering licensure exam..
Regarding the use of fountain pens during exams: I started using fountain pens (first was a Parker Fusion) in high school in the late 80s. I continued as a English major in college. At first, I was using cartridges but by the end I was using converters and would take a bottle of ink to my 3hr finals to make sure I didn’t run out in the middle of the test. Don’t remember for sure but I probably got some weird looks.
Happy birthday next week, Drew! And not at all close to 40. Just get 39 again next year 😂 Really enjoyed your pencast today, you 2 are so funny together!
I'm fairly new to using Tomoe River Paper. I bought the 52 gsm and 68 gsm Goulet Notebooks in the Traveler's Regular form factor. Which one is the new one (52 gsm?) and which is the old one (68 gsm?)?
I was looking for an orange Lamy when I first got into fountion pens, and then I looked at the orange custom heritage 92 but they don’t even sell that anymore???
Two questions: Where did you get that shirt, Drew? It's amazing! I love blue inks, and I love sheening inks. However, I'd like to branch out. Aside from reds and pastel/light colors, what sheening ink recommendations do you have?
College professor here....and some of us still use Scantrons. In fact, giving a test next week using Scantron bubble forms and #2 pencils. The grading machine may be from 1998, but it still runs the forms:)
I recently purchased one of the Herbin Round Glass Dip Pens...once you find its "sweet" spot, it writes extremely well, very smooth writing experience on the Rhodia No.18 lined notebook. I picked up the dip pen exactly for the use you mentioned, for testing ink samples...its extremely easy to clean, simply run water over the nib and you are ready for the next writing sample.
The Pilot Metropolitan is actually very susceptible to ink spilling when jostled, so I would NOT recommend that one for the horseback situation. Another downside to the Kaweco: having to post it is another step that interferes with convenience. The Kaweco Perkeo would be a more convenient choice!
Happy upcoming birthday Drew. Brian, could the beetles be gaining access through the window weeps? Question for you two. What are the wettest inks. I have several ef nibs that I would like a wetter look.
As an art teacher (high school and college), my students use a variety of writing utensils, ink color I don't care. I care more about trying to read their hand writing. The schools are pushing technology more and more, wanting them to do everything on their chromebooks. They are very skilled at typing but the fine motor skill are now lagging which is event in they writing and art making. My students are craving working with their hands and getting a break from doing school work digitally when they get to my room. For student and school friendly pens, I think the jinhao shark is also a good choice (one of my college students had them). If it gets lost, stolen, and or broken it is not the end of the world. As a teacher I never take something to work that I would be devastated if it goes missing.
When two people ask the same question, Drew is more likely to include it in the pencast. Maybe if two of us PNW-ers ask them to come to the Portland pen show, we can get that to happen! Please?
I don’t know if you guys really take ideas or anything from this, but I would like to see a video/s covering all of pilot and platinums pens. They seem to have so many, and I am struggling to keep them all straight from different videos, or whose is whose. Maybe even a comparison video like of the kakuno vs the preppy (that plus the metropolitan are the only ones I remember)
General advice is that, the broader the nib, the more ink gets put down, and the more the shimmer will show. I'm partial to a stub or a nice wet-flowing medium nib myself.
Same here. Medium, broad or stub. My most used pen is a pilot fine, and most often when I try a shimmer ink in it, it just doesn't show off, or clog up
I tell my students to treat everything they turn in as though it were a job application: thus ordinary blue or black. Fun colors are fine for things like one-pagers or other artsy stuff. We use many different colors for grading, so it is best not to have a color that it will be hard to make out our feedback from other writing. When peer-editing they can break out the red.
I'm normally listening while driving, but sat down to watch a little tonight. I love how when Drew is reading the letter from Merill, he gradually slides into the drawl and it keeps coming out more. I use a fountain pen all the time, even at work. I'm in charge of the Quality Control department and a production crew at a factory making compostable plastic film for packaging. Everyone else looks at me funny when I share a new pen. My main working pen is a Majohn A1, as I prefer to have a cap-less pen for work and it is cheaper than a Vanishing Point, so not worried if something happens to it. I plan to get a Vanishing Point in the future now that I know I love the feel of that style. My main pen for everyday use is a vintage Pilot Elite, nice compact, smooth writer. My favourite pen, was the Elite, is the Jinhao x750 with the very juicy, Goulet Flex nib in fine. Keep up the great work.
i'm a college student and my "school pen" is a pilot prera in fine with de atramentis doc ink black. have never had a problem with it; it's only ever feathered on REALLY bad paper. and for my own notes i use either my eco or my vac mini, occasionally my vanishing point. it's not overly flashy even for its price and i love it. also we definitely still use scantrons lmao
Merrill the Cowboy needs to be a special guest on the Pencast.
Special guest episode with Merrill!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Yes, please!
Absolutely.
Hey I'm a teacher! I teach middle school, so kids mostly use pencils if they're writing at all. The students often use an online program to fill in digital scans of papers and if I get a kid who uses lots of different colors of fonts, it makes me happy. Oddly enough, that is about the point where I start to figure out if they are a student that might be interested in a starter fountain pen. Similar to the last question previous.
The same thing with any paper, I don't care if they use a gel pen or flare tip, or any particular color. Even if I might be grading with it. I always have a bunch of fountain pens lined up and can easily swap from one color to another. I just want them to be creative
Hahahaha Drew sounded like an Irish pirate and Brian like a Brit who ate too much chocolate. 😂 love it you guys! ❤
Hahahaaa! I'll take it! - Drew
@@Gouletpens Brian and Drew were excellent LOL
I’m a truck driver and I use my fountain pens ✒️ daily!
That's so cool to hear! - Drew
That's great hear that you use fountain pens.
Just make sure that ink don't freeze in the pen if you leave it in a frozen car during the winter season. 👍
What pen or pens are your Go To’s?
@@kapirk2244 my pilot vanishing point and twsbi diamond 580 alr are my most used! Pilot custom 823 in a broad nib is the best writer!
Invite Merrill onto the Pencast! We have gotta hear from him in person. :)
Turkey, indeed, hammock!
Omg I’d love to see that.
Drew, I really appreciate your new hairstyle! First I was drawn to the pencast by Brian Goulet. But I stayed because of your kind and enthusiastic personality Drew. The interaction between you two is so human, calming and activating!
Happy birthday Drew! 🧁
Gabrielle from Hamburg Germany!
That's nice of you to say! We appreciate you joining us! - Drew
Oh my goodness! This pencast! The accents were amazing! Loved both of them. And Brian the beaver with cargo shorts…the image immediately popped up in my mind. Sticker is a must! Thank you, gentlemen, for the laughs this morning!
I’m an engineer too and the nightmares are accurate. We lose so many potential engineers bc they don’t warn students that the humbling is part of process. It’s designed to make you feel stupid, question everything, and doubt yourself. It’s seems harsh, but it’s necessary.
Everyone sees the end product, but no sees the scraped designs, failed prototypes, and never ending errors codes. The work isn’t much different from school, except no one has the answer sheet to tell you where you went wrong. You have to be able just to pick yourself up and try again.
It’s better to learn 1st of semester school than after 5+ years of school at your first job.
You both totally killed it with the voice acting and either of those intros should be the special one for episode 100! I couldn’t stop laughing and felt like I should’ve applauded at the end.
Here we are 81 episodes in and I am still looking forward to each and every one of them. I love the feel of community here. You two are AMAZING!!!! Thanks for keeping me informed and entertained! I would have to say your content here keeps me getting further into the ‘rabbit hole’, as were it not for your education content on these beautiful writing pieces, I would have given up shortly after starting…. So from someone who started following you 4 years ago… from a handful of vintage pens handed down from my grandmother to (embarrassed cough) almost 200 pens now! OMG!!!! I love them all😂
I haven't started my Friday with the Pencast in a few weeks. I've been feeling less mindful, in more of a hurry, taking things more seriously than I prefer, and feeling like I'm stagnating...all at the same time.
It's so good to be here again
We're here for you! - Drew
4 mins into the pencast and right from the start I'm happy and laughing at your alternative introductions. I'm sorry, but no one can do a weekly pen review anywhere near as amusing as you both from Goulet Pens. So so happy you are back this week. There is definitely a hole in my week when I don't have Saturday brekky (breakfast) with you both.Thankyou for the hilariousness each week. Cheers from Down Unda🇦🇺
Hey there! Thanks so much for the kind words, and for being a long-time supporter! It's noticed! - Drew
Glad to hear Goulet Nation getting a shout out on the pencast
I love the alternate intros! Drew is definitely now an official voice actor.
Not even five minutes in and YOU HAVE KILLED ME SIRS. Both alternates are excellent.
OMG! All i have got to say is: Merill! Merrill!!!! what a guy! also both your accents were really top notch, bravo gentlemen! excellent podcast!
1:48:53 - "My Mom still signs all her texts..." MINE TOO! My 84 year old mother ends all of her texts with "Love Mom". If she could text with a fountain pen... she would. I've loved Brian's videos for years (Goulet Pen Co was my gateway into fountain pens) but this is the first Pencast I've watched. Now I can binge the prior 80 and look forward to more. THANK YOU!
First off: Happiest of Happy Birthdays, Drew! Hope you have a total blast. And keep it going; I'm a great believer in a rolling programme of birthday celebrations! 🎂🥳🎉
Secondly: A huge Thank You to you both for wonderful, life-enhancing videos. I laugh out loud, I go 'Awwwww', I get better-informed about all things Fountain Pen-and best of all I feel enfolded in your lovely community. I've been a fountain pen enthusiast since before y'all were born (!), and you are unique! Even though I'm a Brit living in the UK, with a number of delightful fountain pen retailers here whom it's a pleasure to support, I'm tempted to make a purchase from Goulet Pens because of who you guys are, your values, and the excellent service you offer in information and education as well as sales. Thank you and hugs all round!
Thank you! For all of this! - Drew
@@Gouletpens Aaaaaand I'm excited to've just placed my first order with Goulet Pens from across the Pond!! Obviously it included some Turkey Hammock stickers in among the pens! 🦃 😊
Happy birthday Drew! Grattis from Sweden! It was great having you lads back as my lunch date❤
I’m a digital native (I think so anyway, born in 2003) and I love fountain pens! Nothing can beat sitting down, filling up a fountain pen, and writing away!
Something about the intentionality of physical writing, especially with a fountain pen, really is special, isn't it?
@@Hexsyn yes! It’s really something else. And sometimes you’re writing and a word that you’ve written down comes out beautiful and you get to look at it and think “wow I just made those beautiful letters on the page”
I love our diverse community. Merrill the cowboy sounds like a fascinating person. Imagine sitting around the campfire hearing his real life stories. I hope he journals about his life they will be a treasure with his way of words!
I encouraged him to do the same! - Drew
Being from Alaska, I would love to see Lamy do a Salmon colored Safari!
For the cowboy, the first pen that came to mind was the Monteverde tool pen and then the Kaweco brass sport. Though I’ve never tried any of the two personally. By the way, I agree his writing is very expressive. Awesome.
Hurray for the Pencast! So glad to see you back! Intros are hilarious!
Did I blink and miss the photo of Merrill the cowboy? Love his story and his writing.
My favorite Lamy Safari will always be my Dark Lilac. I agree the Black-Purple Al Star is really burgundy, so absolutely YES to an Atomic Purple Al Star!
I enjoyed Brian's Fun Fact. I watched a documentary called Brainman about an autistic young man named Daniel Tammet who experiences numbers as having color, texture, and size. He recited Pi for hours because for him it's a soothing landscape. My son experiences color and some texture with numbers and letters, so I get a close view of it in action even though numbers are not my native language.
With houseguests here, I split watching this week’s pencast into 2 viewings. Too bad for me, I watched the 2nd half on Monday afternoon and thus missed out on the ‘give away’. Oh well, since I live in San Diego, I was so happy to see Brian talk about his visit to the Torrey Pines State Reserve that I got over it quickly! It is our favorite place to take new visitors to our City. Magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean and easy walking trails - so glad Brian discovered a real treasure of our City.
When I moved to San Diego 15 years ago, I learned that there was only one pen shop … and that’s a Montblanc shop. A few years later, the Goulet Company came to my rescue!!! I needed fountain pen ink and good paper. I thought I had enough fountain pens … but, your website, emails and videos have consistently let me know that there were many other pens I absolutely needed! Btw, I happen to really like Montblanc’s Irish Green ink in their iconic shoe bottle. I have that ink, but I bought Noodler’s Green Marine ink through Goulet and it is almost a dupe for the Irish Green color - even better for addressing envelopes because the Noodler’s is partially water resistant.
Thanks for all you do for the fountain pen community!
52:47 as a teacher, I had a student hand me homework written in bright red ink (not fountain pen ink though). It actually was a pleasant change for me!
I just used black for the corrections and comments. Other teachers might be more strick about color designation, but I think, If there is contrast, it works. Plus, red text with black corrections looked awsome imo.
Love watching the pencast, find myself having to pace myself to not binge the whole episode in one day but make it last until the following weeks release. Keep doing what you guys do for the community it’s appreciated.
Drew, regarding the "stone grey Lamy Safari"....Itoya has an exclusive gray Safari...it's gorgeous just as you imagine it would be
I'm a teacher, and I used to actually give out disposable fountain pens as rewards for a particularly well-written essay or an exemplar paper. My students knew I exclusively used fountain pens and I found that they do not walk away, mostly because the original owner was so obvious and because I was generally liked. Never ever ever cared about the inks my students used as long as it was readable--anything formal was printed, so it mattered more to me that they cared about the process... and I've always found that people who care about process end up with better results. As always, great pencast. :)
Teacher here. I let my students use any ink colour except purple and red because those are my grading ink(s) 😊. When I get students who are FP users (only 2 so far in my 15 years), I'd give them a candy, and then remind them to use waterproof ink, in case one of us get into any inkcidents 😂😂.
I just graduated high school a year ago but I never found any teachers caring much for my fountain pen use. I should have had you as a teacher! 😂
That is so awesome!
I had that myself! If my pen or ink was the same as my teacher or professor, they'd ask me to use something else.
I laughed out loud at the chapstick drama, I'm from San Diego County and have moved to Flagstaff. Whenever I visit California I'm constantly saying "it's so humid! Was it always this humid here?" Single digit humitity isn't rare here. Great pencast, welcome back!
So worth it to hang on to the end to see Drew's mind completely blown!
Still recovering. - Drew
I love that you don't introduce your job as "I sell stationery", but specifically fountain pens. The passion other people have really does fan my individual passion, even if it's more for collecting than using.
The intro to the pencast was excellent! Loved both the Shakesperean and Caribbean Pirate accents. You guys were hilarious. The PI fun fact broke Drew's brain and mine as I listened. Loved the Fountain Pen and Ballpoint pen story at the end. Perfect turkey hammock territory!
Drew! You HAVE to start the Yellowstone series for your love of horses and the cowboy way. Bring popcorn.
I see Sir Ian Mckellen has announced his retirement after witnessing Brian's Shakespearean intro. Can't take the competition from the new kid on the block apparently. And to be sure, Drew's Irish Caribbean Pirate was also very entertaining. Great entertaining episode chaps.
As a teacher, I keep a few colors of the Platinum Preppy and Pilot Varsity on hand for grading. I also purchased a few packs of the Thornton's "Novice" to try this year and they are a perfect school pen. I keep a variety of them at my desk. I use them for grading often, and I give them to students who are curious about fountain pens.
Happy Birthday fellow March born! Just celebrated mine on a girls trip to Europe and spent my birthday in Brussels - ooo la la!! Lots of amazingly good food and drink (oh also bought my first Sailor pen on this trip in Amsterdam - sooooo exciting to see all the pens I’ve seen virtually in real life) - Next stop on my fountain pen journey: attending an actual pen show!
Also, pooh, cause I’ve missed the Turkey Hammock special!! Man! Guess I’ll just have to be happy that I was in Europe and that’s why I missed it 😢
These alternative intro's are fabulous! Am very impressed with Drew reading it so well while it was totally new. And Brian does well as a Shakespeare reader. Hope you will use these more often.
I just placed my 4th order with you guys for the TWSBI ECO-T Fountain Pen - Saffron and the Ferris Wheel Press Buttered Popcorn ink..... I can't wait to try the ink out
Amazing combination! - Drew
@@Gouletpens thanks, you are afterall the reason I picked the butterd popcorn ink. Well you and the fact that my favorite junk food of all time is in fact popcorn
Happy Birthday Drew! May the upcoming year be satisfying and fulfilling and bring lots of happiness 🎉
I just wanted to say. I purchased Robert Oster Coffee Crema and it is a decent light brown, but when I put it in a flex nib something magical happens try it out. You get light brown thin lines with very contrasting dark brown thick lines.
That IS SUCH A GREAT INK! - Drew
Yes!!! Grey concrete Safari sounds awesome too Drew!
The story at the end brought back a 30 year old memory for me. When I was a young teenager, I attempted to write a play. The characters were all pens in a student's pen case. It didn't go well, however, because it didn't have a plot. Thanks for resurrecting this memory!
It's Friday yay thoks you guys for making my lunch break better
12:08 : a dream tip here : before falling asleep, tell yourself (tell your brain) that you are going to dream and that you are going to remember the dreams . It programs your brain to do just that. Then, have a notebook and pen ready on your bedside table, and as soon as possible after waking up, jott down the essentials of your dreams. You can always come back later to the notebook in order to redact the notes and write the dream in more details.
Excellent way to remember one's dreams, and excellent way to use pens and notebooks on a daily basis.
Friday (17th) there was a work event, asking for examples of "green" (environmental) practice. Mine was using piston-filling fountain pens, so only glass waste (when you eventually empty the bottle). This won a can of Guinness. I took my TWSBI ECO with me, so the organisers could try it out, they were both "ooh, this is nice"! (It's currently filled with Diamine Happy Holidays shimmer/sheen ink too, to add to the fun).
Brian I totally agree on a matte orange with matching clip Safari! They could add mustard yellow, and chartreuse all with the same design of matching clip for a nod to the 70's appliance colors. I'd LOVE that.
I expected the Romeo and Juliette story to end tragically as they both continued to write messages to each other, unanswered because of the evil shopkeepers interference, until they both ran out of ink, like life blood.
...did I miss where Meryl the Cowboy's photo was on screen? I tried to go back to find it, but no luck so far. I wanna see the photo(s)!
Same here. I was looking for the pboto, but never saw one.
I totally want Goulet pen pal community to be a thing ❤ and maybe write to Merrill about his day on horseback
Drew runs home and starts his IMDb page ❤ voice actor drew 🎉
Listening to you two makes me feel like I’ve found my people, the land of fellow introverts.
Chat GPT was so fun! The Romeo and Juliet story cracked me up haha!
When it comes to giving fountain pens to kids my first thought is usually a TWSBi Go!, but my imagination sends me so many images of "ink battles in the classroom" that I change my mind at once ^^
How was Brian just sitting there stuffing his face while Drew read the pirate intro?!! I was cracking up!
Scantron 5000!! Oh my goodness. I choked on my coffee, scaring my dog Otis. Thanks Brian
I beg to differ about Tomoe River.
Although the "Sanzen" (lastest version of Tomoe River) as a lot of similarities with the "Original" , I woulnd't say they are _that_ similar. The new "Sanzen" Tome River has more drag, indeed it has less-show through, colors shade a differently and the sheets are stiffer (less wrinkly).
I'm not saying it is worse, nor better. But I think there's a difference between the two, not huge, but noticeable.
I'm really excited to see the new stuff, though in an ideal world, both would be constantly available side-by-side
This might have been the best Pencast yet! Great job and a 10 gallon hat tip to cowboy Merrill. He needs to be a regular!
I venture to say that none of the plastic pens recommended are going to work for Merrill. I've had yearlings (one-year-old horses) playfully headbutt me and break a pen in my pocket. My recommendation for Merrill would be the inexpensive Jinhao x750 or x450 (with or without a Goulet nib, a great upgrade) - very durable metal, easy access with snap cap, multiple colors and very affordable if lost or stomped on.
Great job guys! Turkey hammock and Rubik's Beaver forever!
I wonder why the Platinum Plasir gets no love? The price is so good and I've been so happy using mine since day 1. (03 nib, matte black) I'd add this to the school/work list.
Drew's intro is AMAZING! 😂 Brian's is pretty dang good too 👌
You guys rocked the intros🤣
One Pi day my sister had some 5th grade assignment where it was like 3 pages of Pi. Shortly after that I was home sick and my mom's rule was no computer or games when you're home sick. This was in the days of limited data on phones and when the pre-school programming came on I was bored out of my mind. My sister's Pi printout was on our desk and I decided to make a game of memorizing Pi. I made a little tune and memorized the first 50 or so numbers that day to the beat. Even now, 16 years later, I still can recite Pi to the 30th place from memory from just one afternoon when I was 13. Too bad that level of memorization never transferred to other areas.
Drew, I saw you on Sunday at BWIPS but spared you from a selfie request. Glad you made it to the show.
I seriously don't mind at all! - Drew
@@Gouletpens Good to know. But I promise I won't say anything if I sit next to you on a plane. Nah, actually I'd bombard you with reasons why vacuum fillers are the one and only true filling mechanism, superior to all others. 😂
You guys are wonderful. Happiest of birthdays to Drew!!
Thanks, Mark! - Drew
I'm in college and we still use scantrons all the time. I write a lot of my notes in fountain pen, even though most of my classes are engineering classes with a lot of math. My pen usage has become a joke with my friends. Somehow I have yet to stain my uniform with ink (knocking on wood)
That Benu!!!! Seriously is gorgeous!!!!!
Yes to both the sticker options 🎉🎉🎉
Hi, What pin are you using in the show with the purple hue twist to it? ;)
I let someone else use my fountain pen for a while and after i got it back i had to write at a different angle to get it smooth. Can the way someone writes influence the nib? also thanks love the show
If Visconti is also using Schmidt nibs, does that mean you will start carrying replacement nibs? I’m a BENU fan and often have trouble finding those nibs, since the places that do carry them sell out quickly.
First off, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I have to say I was a little disappointed that you forgot about it! I even broke out my Benu Talisman Four-leaf Clover (bought from Goulet Pens of course) for the occasion! Secondly- Please make both the Cargo-Beaver and the Kaiju-Corgi! I need one of each of them.
Finally, as a degreed mechanical engineer (no professional license yet), I totally understand nightmares about school… I get sweaty palms every time I think about taking the professional engineering licensure exam..
Regarding the use of fountain pens during exams: I started using fountain pens (first was a Parker Fusion) in high school in the late 80s. I continued as a English major in college. At first, I was using cartridges but by the end I was using converters and would take a bottle of ink to my 3hr finals to make sure I didn’t run out in the middle of the test. Don’t remember for sure but I probably got some weird looks.
Happy birthday next week, Drew! And not at all close to 40. Just get 39 again next year 😂
Really enjoyed your pencast today, you 2 are so funny together!
I'm fairly new to using Tomoe River Paper. I bought the 52 gsm and 68 gsm Goulet Notebooks in the Traveler's Regular form factor. Which one is the new one (52 gsm?) and which is the old one (68 gsm?)?
I was looking for an orange Lamy when I first got into fountion pens, and then I looked at the orange custom heritage 92 but they don’t even sell that anymore???
An artist named Naomi Romero has an adorable Kaiju Corgi character, stuffed animals and all, if you'd like to see some Kaiju Corgi merch!
Two questions:
Where did you get that shirt, Drew? It's amazing!
I love blue inks, and I love sheening inks. However, I'd like to branch out. Aside from reds and pastel/light colors, what sheening ink recommendations do you have?
For students, waterproof/resistant inks might be smart in case you spill your coffee while studying.
College professor here....and some of us still use Scantrons. In fact, giving a test next week using Scantron bubble forms and #2 pencils. The grading machine may be from 1998, but it still runs the forms:)
Oh wow! I had no idea! - Drew
I recently purchased one of the Herbin Round Glass Dip Pens...once you find its "sweet" spot, it writes extremely well, very smooth writing experience on the Rhodia No.18 lined notebook. I picked up the dip pen exactly for the use you mentioned, for testing ink samples...its extremely easy to clean, simply run water over the nib and you are ready for the next writing sample.
I loved the reference to Red Dead Redemption. My cousin played Arthur Morgan in RDR2 and it holds a special place in my heart. Love the podcasts.
I follow Roger on Instagram! Seems like a great guy! - Drew
@@Gouletpens He is! And just an FYI, it took 5 years of live motion capture to make that game.
The Pilot Metropolitan is actually very susceptible to ink spilling when jostled, so I would NOT recommend that one for the horseback situation. Another downside to the Kaweco: having to post it is another step that interferes with convenience. The Kaweco Perkeo would be a more convenient choice!
Happy upcoming birthday Drew. Brian, could the beetles be gaining access through the window weeps? Question for you two. What are the wettest inks. I have several ef nibs that I would like a wetter look.
Yeah Gameboy pocket! Wish i had my set and all them games. Great throwback topic Drew!
Love you two.❤. You are entertaining.
Thanks for watching! - Drew
“I’m pro fun”
Haha sticker of that please 😂
As an art teacher (high school and college), my students use a variety of writing utensils, ink color I don't care. I care more about trying to read their hand writing. The schools are pushing technology more and more, wanting them to do everything on their chromebooks. They are very skilled at typing but the fine motor skill are now lagging which is event in they writing and art making. My students are craving working with their hands and getting a break from doing school work digitally when they get to my room.
For student and school friendly pens, I think the jinhao shark is also a good choice (one of my college students had them). If it gets lost, stolen, and or broken it is not the end of the world. As a teacher I never take something to work that I would be devastated if it goes missing.
The intros today were a hoot!! Speaking of pen conventions... are you coming to the one in Portland, Oregon in July? Please?!?!
When two people ask the same question, Drew is more likely to include it in the pencast. Maybe if two of us PNW-ers ask them to come to the Portland pen show, we can get that to happen! Please?
I would like to, but I'm already planning on San Francisco. If this Portland show goes well, I might be able to do 2024! - Drew
Those were awesome renderings of the ChapGPT intros from both Brian and Drew. I thoroughly enjoyed that.
I don’t know if you guys really take ideas or anything from this, but I would like to see a video/s covering all of pilot and platinums pens. They seem to have so many, and I am struggling to keep them all straight from different videos, or whose is whose. Maybe even a comparison video like of the kakuno vs the preppy (that plus the metropolitan are the only ones I remember)
Great idea! - Drew
Why karass custom is not listed for horseback riding?
Omg! Those intros were gold!!
What are your preferred nib sizes for shimmer inks? Do some work better than others?
General advice is that, the broader the nib, the more ink gets put down, and the more the shimmer will show. I'm partial to a stub or a nice wet-flowing medium nib myself.
Same here. Medium, broad or stub. My most used pen is a pilot fine, and most often when I try a shimmer ink in it, it just doesn't show off, or clog up
The intros are pure gold, great job guys!
Omg, Drew's pirate was AMAZING!
I tell my students to treat everything they turn in as though it were a job application: thus ordinary blue or black. Fun colors are fine for things like one-pagers or other artsy stuff. We use many different colors for grading, so it is best not to have a color that it will be hard to make out our feedback from other writing. When peer-editing they can break out the red.
Happy Birthday Drew!
I'm normally listening while driving, but sat down to watch a little tonight. I love how when Drew is reading the letter from Merill, he gradually slides into the drawl and it keeps coming out more.
I use a fountain pen all the time, even at work. I'm in charge of the Quality Control department and a production crew at a factory making compostable plastic film for packaging. Everyone else looks at me funny when I share a new pen. My main working pen is a Majohn A1, as I prefer to have a cap-less pen for work and it is cheaper than a Vanishing Point, so not worried if something happens to it. I plan to get a Vanishing Point in the future now that I know I love the feel of that style. My main pen for everyday use is a vintage Pilot Elite, nice compact, smooth writer. My favourite pen, was the Elite, is the Jinhao x750 with the very juicy, Goulet Flex nib in fine.
Keep up the great work.
i'm a college student and my "school pen" is a pilot prera in fine with de atramentis doc ink black. have never had a problem with it; it's only ever feathered on REALLY bad paper. and for my own notes i use either my eco or my vac mini, occasionally my vanishing point. it's not overly flashy even for its price and i love it.
also we definitely still use scantrons lmao