It’s Labor Day here in the US, and with this federal holiday, I am taking a federally mandated day off from writing a review. Just kidding - at least about the mandate! I’ve just been super busy, so skipping review day needed to happen. What have I been working on instead? I’m so glad you asked!
— Retro 51 Celebration shipping: I’ve shipped through backer #500, which means I have about 300 more to go. Not bad! The big question remaining is will I have any left over to sell once I’m done. The best answer I can give right now is that I don’t know. It’s going to be close, but if I do, I’ll post here with the details on how I’ll be handling it.
— Pen Addict x Caran d’Ache 849 launch: I’ve been holding these until I get closer to finishing the Celebration shipping so as not to crush myself, but it is almost time. Pen Addict Members will be notified first, and will also receive 25% off. You should join!
— Nock Co. Waxed Canvas Brasstown and Sinclair Kickstarter: I’m not crazy, you are! Yes, another project on the plate, and one I am super excited about. I have most of the photography done for the launch, I just need to write it up and get it going. It could come as early as next week, so sign up for the Nock Co. Newsletter to be notified. Plus, there will be a business announcement in there that you don’t want to miss.
— Raffle for St. Jude: The annual Relay FM charity drive for St. Jude is underway, and I’ll be doing my part by raffling off the wonderful urushi Lamy Safari that Jonathan Brooks donated. I know how I am going to do it, but I need to finalize the details to launch it. Soon!
— Now Streaming at Studio PA: My home internet upgrade is complete, which means I’m streaming from home now. It’s a load off! There is a lot of work to be done on my stream setup, but that is taking a backset for now. That hasn’t stopped me from going live every Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. Eastern at Twitch.tv/PenAddict. Come hang out! And, if you can't join me live, you can catch all of the replays on YouTube.
— And finally: I wrote the below piece for Refill, the Pen Addict Members Newsletter, a few weeks ago. I mostly talk about stationery in those pages, but sometimes it gets personal. This was one of those times. I hope you enjoy it, and if so, please consider signing up. It’s the single biggest way to support me directly, and I’m forever grateful to everyone who has. Enjoy.
Refill #240
I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. And today, as I write this on my 49th birthday, not growing up has put me exactly where I want to be.
When I graduated high school (barely, as I mentioned last week,) I had no college plan. I went to a local college, because that’s what you are supposed to do, and dropped out of each of the first two semesters I attempted. I was lost.
I took a year off, worked at a golf course, and tried to figure out my next move.
The move involved getting a degree of some type just to say I had one, so I enrolled at the Art Institute of Atlanta in the Music Business program. It was a two-year associate degree program - not great, but hey, it checks a box I’m supposed to check. And almost immediately after graduation, I turned down an internship at a record company and moved to Chattanooga to take my first golf pro job. Those two years at school only brought me one thing: Debt. But that’s what I was supposed to do.
As I worked in Chattanooga, I fell out of love with the business side of golf, and fell in love with the woman who would become my wife. She was just starting her school journey, a six-year program that would lead to her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree. She knew what she wanted from the jump, went for it, and is still in the field today.
I shuffled from job to job during her six years of school, which included a move back to Atlanta. I was always searching for a career I could sink my teeth into and have it become part of me. I was always good with computers, so I started back to school once again. This time, in an IT program, while continuing to work a retail job. Because that’s what you are supposed to do.
My break into the IT field came when a friend told me about an entry level sys admin job at his company. I applied, got the job, and left school for good. I am not a school person, clearly.
That job began a 15 year career for the same company. I liked the work, and it was stable. I had health insurance, a 401k, and a good support network. My wife had the same. Because that is what we were supposed to do.
But I had a bug. I didn’t like school, but I liked discovering and sharing information. The internet made both of those things easier, so I started a baseball blog. And not just any baseball blog, a highly specific baseball blog that only covered the Atlanta Braves minor league system. That was my escape from the day job. I liked it, and gained a small following.
I eventually gave that up, but that idea stuck with me. The idea of exploring something small but important to me, learning more about it, and then sharing it with others.
Maybe I should start a pen blog? I wanted to find pens that worked better for me. They were out in the world, but there was almost no accessible information on them. I bought what I could, wrote about them, got some feedback, learned more, shared that information, and kept doing that over and over again.
Writing about stationery was my escape from my day job. I liked the job, but working at a 24/7 data center brings along certain stresses, and using stationery, and sharing what I discovered, helped me get away when I wasn’t working.
9 years after starting this strange little blog about pens as an escape, I left my 15 year IT career behind. It’s not what I was supposed to do. And I’m thankful every day that I did it.
I’m right where I was meant to be.
