Open Mike: Let's Dive Right In

I.

Is anyone else tiring of "let's get started!" (or some variant like "let's dive right in") at the beginning of every YouTube video?

II.

Observed in town: a Ford Superduty 250 (Google it if you don't know what it is) with no permit taking up a handicapped space.

III.

I got the link to the uni Jetstream Pink Gold Stylus Single Knock wrong in the pen post. This link should work. Don't miss the fact that the seller is "Fun Fun Hobby Japan!", note exclamation point. I'm getting rather fond of my little Single Knock.

IV.

My brother's best friend is a guy from Chicago named Bob who is a committed Catholic and a White Sox fan. And the new pope is...a guy from Chicago named Bob who is a committed Catholic and a White Sox fan.

And by the way, Robert Prevost not picking "Pope Bob I" as his official name seems like a missed opportunity. Does anyone imagine "Leo" being any more dignified than "Bob"? Nope, sorry, isn't. Could there be any more perfect name for the first American pope than "Pope Bob"?

V.

Saturday night free movie: I watched the Coen Brothers' version of True Grit again last night. Didn't mean to, just got into it. I skipped the snakepit scene—to my mind that scene tips too far into potboiler/melodrama territory. Just like every thriller novel, every Coen Brothers' movie jumps the shark at some point. Of course it's the girl who had true grit, not the marshal, or not just the marshal. Small World Dept.: the girl who played Mattie, Hailee Steinfeld, is a woman of 28 and is engaged to Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

VI.

Chaos has a lot of energy. (This is cool. And a little scary, if you look at it like a metaphor.)

VII.

Bad sign: selfie snap on the way back from the stationery supply store (it was right next to the grocery story, don't bust my chops).

VII.

Oh, and one more as an [UPDATE]: In learning about pens and ranging around the internet looking at pen sites, I've noticed that often, people who are into pens happen to have unusually poor handwriting. I don't know what to think or say about that. Maybe it's because when we're bad at something, we try to compensate with equipment? Like the weekend golfer who can't hit a 250-yard drive to save his life but has amassed a collection of the most expensive and exotic drivers. And I know some guitar collectors whose playing is.... ('Nuff said. Getting uncomfortably close to home here!)

VIII.

Another random thing I've noticed: younger generations are beginning to—well—more often pronounce the T in "often." Funny—they don't pronounce the silent T in soften, or in whistle, castle, bouquet or cachet, apostle or jostle, hustle, chestnut, moisten or listen. Why often as the exception?

- # - # - # -

Happy Sunday! It's 10:00 a.m. and I'm going back to bed—Butters and I got up at 4:00 a.m. After that, I have a date with a riding lawn mower.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2025 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Richard G: "I thought I’d jump on the web and circle back, past your let’s do this peeve (agreed, of course), to suggest that Bob would not work. Leo was a very considered decision on account of Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum. And Leo XIII is an American pope more for him being a South American priest from Peru, than for his being born in Chicago. One US cardinal interviewed nobly conceded that at one point after Francis’s death a group of US cardinals did not even include Prevost in their discussions of the forthcoming conclave and the prospect of any US cardinal being in the running. Red Sox or not, you won’t hear Pope Leo tell any journalist he had a really good conclave."

Comments

[Roger]

Item I. is worse when it's "Without further ado, let's get started". Even worse is when that's followed by some sort of musical intro--which means we're not actually getting started.

[Peter Williams]

I - Yes, "let's get into it", ad nauseum. And most of the "street photography pov" videos have the same weird and terrible music style. It's turning into a homogenous mush of sameness.

[Jeff]

Do stationary (sic) supply stores stay in place?

[Only if they don't go out of business. Curiously, I never knew there were two spellings till you mentioned it. --Mike

P.S. The stationEry store had cheaper prices than Amazon.]

[Robert Roaldi]

Or "let's do this". Almost as annoying as the expression "game changer".

[Jez Cunningham]

Oh - you cropped the bottom of the photo so we can’t see the ink stain in the pocket…. :-)

[Bob Rosinsky]

Stationery store.

[Daniel]

On snake pits. Used to catch & raise Rattlesnakes for zoos & Unversity studies. Try the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater, Texas.
Masses of them. Snake sandwiches & stews to try. You might enjoy it.
As for the bite. Normal adult in good health will seldom die from a Rattlesnake bite, even without anti-venom treatment.
If you go Poppy viewing in SoCal be aware of the Mojave Green Rattler. Its poison is a combintion Hemo-Neuro toxin. Like being bit by a rattler & a coral snake. Attacks the blood cells as well as the Central Nervous system. And yes, they are greenish in color.

Movies generally overplay the danger.

[Keith]

I rarely watch Youtube videos anymore, with the exception of a few channels tried and still true. So many are click bait designed to waste your time. Plus the exhortations to smash that like and subscribe button. Bah!

[Steve Greenwood]

Pet peeve. All brick and mortar stores are stationary. You patronized a stationery store. Apologies.

[Timothy Auger]

Ban 'without further ado' - from YouTube videos, introductions to lectures, whatever.

[Terry Letton]

Where is the pocket protector

[Speed]

The double pendulum is a new one for me which I first assumed to be, at most, a cute toy. However ... not so fast.

The lack of a natural excitation frequency has led to the use of double pendulum systems in seismic resistance designs in buildings, where the building itself is the primary inverted pendulum, and a secondary mass is connected to complete the double pendulum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_pendulum

I learned something today.

[Kye Wood]

I'm not a writer by any stretch. But even since childhood Stationery Stores had a magical appeal. Everything has such limitless possibilities of future utility and expressive opportunity.

[Kye Wood]

So... just how would sir like his videos to begin?
You're supposed to acknowledge your viewers while not wasting their time. Let's go, or something like it seems as short as you can get, surely?

[How about this guy's intros?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_UKobaEYh4

--Mike]

[Ian]

Pope Robert will henceforth be known as Bob Pope.

[Daniel]

Considering the new Pope is from the South Side of Chicago he could have chosen "Leroy Brown" - the Baddest Pope in the whole Damn Town?

[Dave]

"I've noticed that often, people who are into pens happen to have unusually poor handwriting."

Well, some are pretty good, such as Master Penman Jake Weidmann.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvSyQDu49pI

One drawing with a single stroke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXueff8_SVM

Regarding younger people pronouncing the "t" in often, it could be worse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nae9L4EdRs

[Ed Hawco]

Item IV: I fully agree that this is a missed opportunity. That said, I've been referring to him (with respect) as "Pope Bob" since day one.

Item VII: I have used Pilot G2 pens exclusively for about 20 years. I use the fancier ones (including a "special edition" that I had shipped from Japan) and replace the refills when needed. My handwriting is almost illegible, but in my case I can blame a relatively recent peripheral neuropathy combined with my communication over the past few decades being 99.9% typing and .1% handwriting. But I do fill a notebook sheet almost every day with hand-scratched work-related notes, and I'm happy to use my G2s for that (although I go through periods where I used a Blackwing pencil instead, because why not?).

[Sean]

My wife was an account manager for the UK arm of an Office Depot subsidiary called Viking Direct. She’s still in the same role at the company that bought them out. She’s brought home all manner of pens to help me with my poor handwriting, which I’ve had a costly insecurity about most of my adult life, even turned down a promotion because I’d be required to write reports. I’ve seen improvements, but I think my attitude towards my handwriting is pathological, given the outsized consequences. The pen is mightier than my confidence

[Nikhil Ramkarran]

Also "Let's get RIIIIGHT to it" 😩 I ain't as old as you, why does this old man sensivity bother me so much also???

Also, this (oh my goodness, so pretty and plentifully different that I MUST try) inks and fountain pens underuser/helpless collector has such band handwriting that he often has to consult his secretary for assistance on what HE wrote 🥺

[Kirk W.]

Hmmm, I’ve often (always) pronounced the “t” in “often”. Oops! The good news is that at age 56, I’m considered part of the younger generation by Mr. Johnston.

[Eh, what's that, Sonny? --Mike]

[Neven Jovanovic]

I Googled Ford Superduty 250. God save America.
(By the way, do all the cars advertisements nowadays use ultra wide lenses and frog's eye view?)

[Ed Kreminski]

"Oh, you're good" when you show deference and respect for other people by apologizing for awkward situational incursions generated by them.

Yes, I am good - well, okay at least. Thanks for noticing.

[Ed Kreminski]

Don't get me started on handicapped parking fails. I used to feel guilty taking up a handicapped parking space when I was healthier - even though I was medically entitled to the spot and needed it. I actually have a bunch of pics about handicapped parking fails. The sicker I get the more resentful I get of handicapped parking scofflaws. If you can climb in and out of something like that truck, you aren't that handicapped.

There's always this game of "are you handicapped enough" to use the limited number of badly striped and laid out handicapped parking spots. As the boomers age we need more handicapped parking spots. Some folks clearly abuse their access to these spots.

Rant over.

[Kent Wiley]

"Let's get started." All right, if we must.

Before that is the obligatory: "Hi guys!"

[There were car channels I had to stop watching because the host would address "you guys" so many times per video. What, do they think I and eight of my friends are clustered around my monitor? One thing that beginning magazine writers have to learn is that you're not addressing a crowd, as if giving a speech. You're addressing one reader reading his or her copy of the magazine in solitude. --Mike]

[Steve Bull]

Mike, you may already know about JetPens.com, but if you don't you should check them out. Excellent service with a huge selection of stationary not readily available here. Pens are a bit of an obsession of mine that I really have to keep in check (but not expensive ones, I actually use and carry mine). I use a lot of the Uni JetStream pens in the lab, a good-feeling and long-lasting pen. I'm really sorry Butters is so ill, I've had many companion dogs and cats over the years and it's never easy. Best wishes for him all around, he's a handsome boy.

[John Abee]

I've always been a pen geek and this post triggered a number of weird memories that I could easily have done without. Those of us with a certain military background know that pens do not belong in pockets but rather clipped to your shirt placket between the 2nd and 3rd button. It's a habit I picked up long long ago when our pockets were sewn shut to help us in our quest for proper military bearing.
PS Carrying 3 pens in your pocket is just begging for someone to inquire about your pocket protector.

[Moose]

A favorite stationery store is managing to hang on in Fort Bragg(CA).

Closed - OMG. Reopened as the back half of a toy store. Still there, last visit. Better location.

We always try to find something(s) interesting to buy.

[David Robinson]

re Youtube, I'm way over previews, they're a waste of space an anybody can drag their cursor along the timeline and create their own preview if they need one
YouTubers who spend minutes telling us what they're are going to show us instead of getting on with it
YouTubers who like the sound of their own voice and make vids longer than they need to be
More women need to realise men aren't watching them because they are good at arranging flowers or whatever, not suggesting they should act on this, just be aware

[Gerard Kingma]

I. What I find infinitely more annoying is people describing some sort of process or procedure and randomly insert 'I'm now going to go ahead and...' into every sentence. What's with the 'go ahead'? Also, and/or, invariably the same people insert 'my' before each part or step in the process or procedure, as in 'Then I'll go ahead and check my aperture, my ISO and my shutter speed settings on my camera to see that my exposure is the best way to go ahead and frame my subject.'

[ChrisC]

VIII.
Another random thing I've noticed: younger generations are beginning to—well—more often pronounce the T in "often." Funny—they don't pronounce the silent T in soften, or in whistle, castle, bouquet or cachet, apostle or jostle, hustle, chestnut, moisten or listen. Why often as the exception?

In (English) english, the T isn’t silent in often, moisten, chestnut or apostle. Whistle and hustle perhaps vary on local accents.

[Phil]

Re I: "The Wadsworth Constant says that you can safely skip the first 30% of anything you see online. (It was meant for YouTube videos, but it applies just as well to writing)."

https://www.tumblr.com/styledeficit/783320606654529536/skip-it

I definitely find with a lot of YouTube videos I automatically skip forward a bit to get to the actual start. And with non-news articles I skip over the chatty first couple of paragraphs that the author feels the need to write before they get to the actual content (present company excepted, of course!).

[Ed Hawco]

I am always annoyed by the pitch to "subscribe" at the start of so many YouTube videos. I brought this up with a friend who has an online business that she promotes by creating YouTube videos, and she told me that the data is very clear that pitching to subscribe actually drives subscription numbers up significantly. I was sad to learn this because it justifies something that bugs me and I wish would go away.

[Andrew B]

There is often: an exception that proves the rule!

[Michael]

Don‘t forget to fas(t)en your seat belt 😉

[David Lee]

I like pens and I have terrible handwriting! I also don’t like snakes and my favorite pen has one as a shirt clip…

[Craig Arnold]

Re VIII

Another thing the younger (American) generation are consolidating towards use of "on" as a preposition in idioms, most noteably "on accident" instead of "by accident" in standard and UK English, but I have seen and heard it being increasingly used in other phrases too!

[Damon]

With regards to “often”, it's funny you mention it, because I had just noticed that my son (early 30s) and a young woman I recently met (both Canadians) pronounce the T while I rhyme the word with “coffin”. Then I went to Forvo.com and found 23 recordings of “often”. among these, which were mainly a mix of UK and US English speakers, everyone pronounced it T-less apart from one British speaker who inserted a glottal stop, and one Canadian who really leaned into the T as though to make up for everyone else.