Just go ahead, now, spin doctor!

See what happens, what's to lose?

Hello you fountain pen owners and by-hand-writers,

many years ago at day job I stared at a note I had written and was unable to decipher it. I mean, really, I could not read what I had written down myself. Too many years of ruining my hand writing with cheap ball points and worse. That happened in 2004, iirc.

So I dug out my fountain pen from school times, cleaned it and started using it. And with a good pen and a bit of patience, my writing improved a lot. Then one day the pen fell on the floor, head first, of course. And of course there was no way to get a replacement tip. So I bought a new pen. And that was an insightful experience. I tried maybe two dozen pens of a given price range. The lady then said something like, "ok, you should try this one, but mind you, that is the next price segment up!". I tried it. I bought it. I never looked back. Never! This pen (by Cross) is just amazing.

Now, the funny part is this: coworkers watched me and were surprised to find, that I was faster taking notes with pen on paper than all their high speed typing :) I have produced at least one convert, who got himself an excellent pen as well.

I have mostly done away with ball points since. And "Analog rulez!"

I've discovered that handwriting makes a lot of stuff easier for me - it eliminates the fear of the clean sheet for me, while in Word I can be stuck on what to write for hours. Guess the thought flows more effortlessly that way. Although my hand does start hurting, being used to typing for so long. I guess I make it kinda easier on myself by drawing on a tablet frequently, but a digital pencil and a real one are two different things still for sure.

Sort of like cheating death - cheating Murphy!

I did an impromptu issue of the zine I maintain sometimes (The Zine Around The Corner) which I called "the lo-fi issue" (issue. 6? 7?) and I did something similar - I had a flash card sized notebook and wrote out large text paragraphs across 10+ pages, photographed each one, and then ordered them on Google Drive, and then downloaded it as a PDF, and then uploaded it to my Ghost blog as one of the issues for "the zine".

Fun, amusing stuff - for sure.

Handwriting can be fun, my palm cramps after a while, though. Not everyone is like that, so more rewarding for some. But, like you, I am a typist first. The spells of wordsmithing together a blog post/journal entry, and being as fast as I can, sort of like HST's "Mescalito" where he tried to document all of his thoughts the first time he took mescaline, and soon realized the thoughts were faster than his hands could keep up on his Corona typewriter.

Which brings to mind the first time using (a banned substance) before going to school in Junior year of high school, not dissimilar to what HST took that day, and attending Homeroom (the ONE class that was mandatory to attend school-wide) and sitting not but several desk distances from the teacher, and trying not to make a scene of myself, and wrote in a 3-subject notebook (feverishly, quickly, sloppily - with total disregard for hand cramps) for probably the ENTIRETY of the 50 minute class. Who knows what I wrote, I just knew that I couldn't be "witnessed" in the state I was in, and was paranoid that I would end up in an insane asylum if they found out what I had taken. Haha.

Fun times, indeed.

I'll read the flashcard journals, if you decide to make then, Inquiry. And look forward to the artwork therein, as well.

Talk later

Noswaith dda, inquiry, sut wyt ti heno?

That Murphy, he's a sly one, I'll give you that :)

Anyway, I also have an appreciation for good handwriting and fine writing implements (aka fountain pens). I find that there is a distinct pleasure in writing things out longhand -- it taps into muscle memory and creativity and the joy of doodling as you said. I also enjoy practicing writing in different scripts.