The Erasable Podcast

This is a fun episode, folks. We’re joined by Carol Beggy, a longtime listener, group member, newspaper journalist, and author of “Pencil”, one of the latest books in the Bloomsbury Object Lessons book series, joins us to talk about her book and the object of all of our affections. We chat about the wonders of the newspaper supply cabinet of the 1900s, Thoreau, collecting pencils, and much, much more. Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon Pencil (Object Lessons, by Carol Beggy) Object Lessons series John C. Burke Portage Reporter Notebooks China markers The Transcendentalists and Their World Our Guest Carol Beggy Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

It’s been ten years, folks. In this episode, we talk to some of our favorite recurring guests — Brad Dowdy, Caitlin Elgin, Les Herger, and Caroline Weaver — and reminisce about the last decade. We even have a cool swag bag that you can buy to help us celebrate! Plus, way more potato content than you probably wanted. Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon All About The Musette Bag Pen Addict Comfortable Shoe Studio Caitlin Elgin The Locavore (Caroline’s latest venture) Potato Pencil Lovin’ (a song about making a potato pencil written by AI, prompted by Tim) Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

Today’s episode is a short one — as we prepare for a bigger 10-year anniversary episode, we spent some time talking about our tools of the trade, and really focusing on the pencils and paper we’re using lately. A quick note: We’re getting ready to produce a gift for our Nubbin Stage Patreon supporters! We can’t reveal it yet, but it’s so cool. If you’re a current supporter at that level, please update your shipping address! And if you want to get in on it, please sign up for an annual plan at our Patreon before March 11, 2024! Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

Andy is back from the other side of the globe, where he visited Japan looking for adventures —and stationery! Tonight, Johnny and Tim team up to grill Andy about his trip, and best yet — they’re in the same room! If you’re a Patreon member at any level, you can watch video of this episode at patreon.com/erasable. Show Notes and Links Photos from Andy’s trip Erasable Patreon Pencil, by Carol Beggy Shift Happens by Marchin Wichary Blue Lights How to ADHD Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

Happy 2024, friends! We’re starting off with the first episode of the new year with a Fresh Points episode, talking about some of the cool new stuff to hit the market since we last recorded — Draplin’s Tactile Turn pen collab, Blackwing Volume 2, Studio Neat’s Keepbook, and more. Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon James, Be Opened by the Wonderful Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life Feel Something, Make Something Dr. Who Xmas Special A History of Wild Things Night After Night by Daniel Tashian Nahvalur Nautilus Blackwing Volume 2 Draplin pen! Zines! (andy.supply!) Star Trek playing cards! Keepbook by Studio Neat Stuff That Works Journal Musgrave Songwriter Set Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

As we wrap up 2023, Johny, Tim and Andy talked about tools that they used unexpectedly more than overs over the year. From Very Old Ticonderoga’s to dinosaur tape dispensers, there are some old reliables and some newcomers on this list. Happy holidays! This episode is available with video for active patrons supporting the show at any level over on Patreon. Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon Musgrave Songwriter Doctor Who Specials Three Body Problem Andy’s zine shop Whiskey Advent Calendar Jeff Tweedy World Within a Song Crossing To Safety Bodies (TV Series) How Not to Kill Yourself Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

It’s been a while, and a lot of stuff has come out since we last podcasted as our True Selves. We’re rectifying that tonight, as we check out the latest releases from Field Notes and Blackwing. Join us and find out what we’ve been up to! Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon BIRCH BARK Volume 17, the Gardening Pencil HEARTLAND Blackwing “Buy Our Trash” Labs Blackwing/Moleskine Collab Theory11 playing cards The Importance of Not Being Ernest by Mark Kurlansky Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

Presenting Part 3 of our Dungeons & Dragons campaign with Dungeon Master Monica Corwin! If you’d like to see a video of this adventure, episodes 200 201, 202, and our other D&D episodes, support us at any level on Patreon. Join our band of travelers — Ralph, Sam, and Andrøs — as they worm their way out of the wormling fight in the (literal) dungeon for the third and final installment of our D&D campaign! Who are the metal dragons? How do they defeat them? Will they save Graphia and their (quite literally) erasable world? Your Dungeon Master Monica Corwin Website | Amazon | Instagram Our Adventurers Ralph Rex as portrayed by Johnny Gamber Samik Stoneback as portrayed by Tim Wasem Andrøs Goldenbear as portrayed by Andy Welfle

Presenting the second part of our Dungeons & Dragons campaign with Dungeon Master Monica Corwin! If you’d like to see a video of this adventure, episodes 200 and 201, and our other D&D episodes, support us at any level on Patreon. Our intrepid heroes are back! Ralph Rex, Samik Stoneback, and Andrøs Goldenbear officially enter the mysterious forests of Graphia, and try to solve puzzles, fight golems, and understand which dice to roll, under the fearless tutelage of Dungeon Master Monica Corwin! Tune in for the second part of The Erasable Spellcast, our celebration of 200 episodes and more than 9 years of podcasting. Your Dungeon Master Monica Corwin Website | Amazon | Instagram Our Adventurers Ralph Rex as portrayed by Johnny Gamber Samik Stoneback as portrayed by Tim Wasem Andrøs Goldenbear as portrayed by Andy Welfle

The first part of our Dungeons & Dragons campaign with Dungeon Master Monica Corwin gets underway! If you’d like to see a video of this adventure, episode 200, and our other D&D episodes, support us at any level on Patreon. Embark on an epic journey in the enshrouded realm of Graphia, a land veiled in ancient curses and enigma. As darkness threatens to engulf this mystic plane, a brave band of adventurers rallies together, fueled by an unbreakable bond of friendship and a collective intellect that defies all odds. In a race against time, they forge ahead, relying on synergy and wit to navigate through veils of mystery and danger. Their ultimate quest: to unearth the legendary Eternal Quill and salvage not only the doomed land but their own fates as well. Will their camaraderie and ingenuity prevail, or will the shadows of Graphia consume all? Step into this thrilling saga and find out. And coffee. Your Dungeon Master Monica Corwin Website | Amazon | Instagram Our Adventurers Ralph Rex as portrayed by Johnny Gamber Samik Stoneback as portrayed by Tim Wasem Andrøs Goldenbear as portrayed by Andy Welfle

🪄 A D&D adventure, with Dungeon Master Monica Corwin 🐉 These guys are characters. For our two hundredth episode, we wax a bit nostalgic and also begin a new adventure: Along with a seasoned Dungeon Master Monica Corwin, we’re making D&D characters for a pencil themed campaign (which you’ll hear in our next couple of episodes)! A quick note: Patreon subscribers will be able to watch video of this episode and our further D&D episodes! Subscribe at any level and see our lovely faces. Our Guest Monica Corwin Website | Amazon | Instagram Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

In this episode, the penultimate of the first 200, we’re excited to have the impending Guiness World Record holder for the largest pencil collection, Aaron Bartholmey. Aaron is also the Secretary-Treasurer of one of our favorite organizations, the American Pencil Collector Society. He talks with us about his collection, counting it for the record, and of course, getting involved with the APCS. Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon American Pencil Collectors Society Interview with Aaron in the Associated Press Interview with Aaron in the Washington Post Guinness World Records Current Record Holder for Largest Collection of Pencils Our Guest Aaron Bartholmey PencilCollector.org Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

Much as with our retrospective on Blackwings Volumes editions last episode, today we’re taking a look back at the Field Notes releases we’ve gotten since around the beginning of the pandemic. Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon Le Voyageur from Write Notepads & Co. Mitsubishi Uni “hahatoco” cat themed pencils! Pencil penrose (aka our tattoos) pins from Tim Belonax Vignette Heavy Duty United States of Letterpress Snowy Evening Fifty Trailhead Harvest Ignition Signs of Spring Great Lakes Hatch Kraft Plus Streetscapes Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

We always offer hot takes on each Blackwing Volumes release. But how do things look when we step back a little and look again with some more context and perspective? Tune in as we talk about the last few years of Blackwing Volumes, give our spicy and mild takes, and give each volume a grade. Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon Blackwing Pencil Release Guide Basquiat on American Masters Adam Savage’s Indiana Jones notebook replica Volume 840: Surfer Dude and the Coast Volume 3: Ravi Shankar Volume XIX: The 19th Amendment Volume 6: Independent Businesses Volume 223: Woodie Guthrie Volume 64: Comics Volume 651: Bruce Lee Volume 93: Corita Kent Volume 200: Coffeehouses Volume 55: The Golden Ratio Volume 7: Animation Volume 192: The Lennon and McCartney Volume 20: Tabletop Games Volume 57: The Basquiat Pencil Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

Today, we have a full episode of just the Tools of the Trade. Skip this if you don’t want to hear about the 16 different albums Tim is listening too, what gritty British crime dramas Johnny’s watching, or what books Andy says he’s reading. Plus: the greatest concert film ever made, starring Seth Rogan. Show Notes and Links Boygenius New Jason Isbell album next week! Theo Katzman Be the Wheel Cocaine and Rhinestones George Michael Bush Steven Universe Ted Lasso Barry Guardians of the Galaxy 3 The Diplomat Transatlantic A Small Light The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers Hidden Systems by Dan Nott Promises Stronger Than Darkness by Charlie Jane Anders Don't Tell Anyone the Secrets I Told You by Lucinda Williams This Wheel's On Fire by Levon Helm Otherwise: New & Selected Poems by Jane Kenyon Beach Badge zine The Overstory Keith Smith books Bellroy tech Dopp kit Tom Bihn Side Hustle Platinum Plaisir Blackwing Eras 2022 Musgrave Pencil Knot notebook Levenger True Writer Kyoto Official LT1917 pen That Field Notes dad thing Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

We’re celebrating National Poetry Month a month too late, but we think it’s always time to celebrate poetry. To that end, we’ve invited Jay Newton, long-time listener and Erasable Poet Laureate, onto the show to talk about his new chapbook, Effigies, and how he thinks about and creates poetry. We also celebrate silly little limericks by pitting Jay against ChatGPT to write extremely specific pencil limericks. Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon New Zelda Game Field Notes Cityscapes Musgrave’s The Party Bugle New Musgrave Shorthand Notebook in BLUE Magic Ink markers Big ol’ pressed penny notebook Baronfig Venture Backpack 3.0 PennyCollector.org Limerick Showdown Here are the poems that we asked Jay and ChatGPT to write. Read them and judge them! Limerick about the struggle of using a pencil with an off-center core (from Donny Pearce) ChatGPT: With graphite askew, pencil's no fun, Off-center core makes writing undone. The lines dance in strife, Disrupting the life, Of precision, alas, it's all gone. Jay: If there’s one thing I simply abhor, It’s a stick with an off-center core. It may write as smoothly as Lapis Lazuli But some things I just can’t ignore. Limerick about how the Field Notes pencils should be better than they are (from Donny Pearce) Jay: The pencil from Draplin is lacking. Does he not have financial backing? It scratches the page Like a one-million H While Musgrave is counter-attacking. ChatGPT: Field Notes pencils, touted with cheer, But their performance fails, I do fear. Smoothness they lack, Graphite too slack, In need of improvement, that's clear. Limerick about how there are only so many words that actually rhyme with “pencil” (from Kathy Rogers) ChatGPT: "Pencil," a word we oft rhyme, Yet choices are limited, no time. Stenciled, essentials, Potential, credentials, Options are scarce, yet sublime. Jay: A brooding baboon with a pencil, Could trace, with his tail, a stencil. He found it intriguing That he was a Being Both prehensile and existential. Our Guest Jay Newton Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

We’re here, smack in the middle of National Poetry Month, to read and discuss a few of our favorite poems. We also rap about the latest Field Notes and Blackwing releases, and more! Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon Magic Wand Pencils Baron Fig Squire Oracle Baron Fig Squire Draft Blackwing Volume 20 Field Notes Streetscapes Poems of Healing Almost Cha-Cha (Brett Elizabeth Jenkins) The Changing Light (Lawrence Ferlinghetti) “The Cinnamon Peeler’s Wife” (Michael Ondaatje) “Having It Out with Melancholy” (Jane Kenyon) Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

Every once in a while, we like to update one of the most popular features on our website: Our personal Top Five Pencils list. As we stare down nine years on the airwaves, see how much — or how little — has changed. The Guys’ Top 5 Pencils Spring 2023 Andy Palomino Golden Bear Hi-Class Golden Sword 2B Forest Choice Blackwing 602 Musgrave Pencil King Tim Blackwing Natural Blackwing MMX Musgrave Tennessee Round Mitsubishi 9852EW Palomino HB Johnny Musgrave Tennessee Red General Pencil Co. Cedar Pointe California Republic Palomino (capped version) Eberhard Faber / FaberCastell American / American Naturals Whatever pencil I’m using Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon Shift Happens Palomino Golden Bear Hi-Class Golden Sword 2B Forest Choice Blackwing 602 Musgrave Pencil King Blackwing Natural Blackwing MMX Musgrave Tennessee Round Mitsubishi 9852EW/9852 Palomino HB Musgrave Tennessee Red General Pencil Co. Cedar Pointe California Republic Palomino (capped version) Eberhard Faber / FaberCastell American/American Naturals Top Dozen Pencils Zine Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

Join us as we discuss some truly cool things from Musgrave, a delightful weird two-color pen, Jimmy Smits’s rise to galactic political fame, and why the Bic Cristal doesn’t deserve the hate it’s been getting on the internet. Show Notes and Links Erasable Patreon The Creative Act Fragments: Time Out of Mind Sessions McCartney 3,2,1 All Creatures Great and Small The Handmade Book Club Minecraft Kiki’s Delivery Service Pencil King Musgrave Cloth Gift Bag Big Musgrave Notebook Musgrave Duet Pens Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem

Tonight, we’re recapping 2022 on a positive note. We’ll be talking about our favorite things about the year, both in the Pencil World and out. Show Notes & Links Venture Brothers The Orville: New Horizons) The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Naylor Irvine Welsh's Crime Roaring Spring composition notebook 33 1/3 John Prime Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road Pencil King by Musgrave Musgrave metal pencil sharpener Blackwing Eras 2022 Iroshuzuku "Fuyu-gaki" ink Draplin's Instagram post that mentions the Erasable Squire Diamine Wild Strawberry Uniball One Robert Oster Lake of Fire Field Notes Kraft Plus notebooks Field Notes quarterly subscriptions Pencil Revolution Press notebooks Leuchtturm hardback notebooks Tom Bihn medium Café bag Deep Space Nineties USPS stamps Keychron keyboards Fellow Stagg pour over coffee Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin Mr. Jiu's chili crisp Bluey Your Hosts Johnny Gamber Pencil Revolution @pencilution Andy Welfle Woodclinched @awelfle Tim Wasem @TimWasem