#3 of 52: Flickr, Handwriting and Lost Letters

Tags

canada post, flickr, goulet pens, kyo maclear, lamy 2000, national handwriting day, wonder pens

Hello there. Sorry this is late; after uploading last week’s post I got a message saying no more posts until I freed up some space. Hopefully this one will upload.

I am making headway on the space issue, and thanks are due for that to Paul Godden, who commented on last week’s post and pointed me in the direction of Flickr. I’m now hosting my photos there and linking to them from here. Genius! And they have a LOT of space at Flickr. Thanks again Paul. The photos are slowly being moved.

I wanted to write today because it is National Handwriting Day! Today we celebrate the practice of handwriting with a pen or pencil, on John Hancock’s birthday. And on the 41st anniversary it looks like the US congress is supporting their efforts. Let’s hope this signals a shift in thinking in regards to bringing back the teaching of cursive in schools. Goulet Pens is giving away a Lamy 2000 gift set to celebrate. Fun stuff!

More along the handwriting vein: a review of Kyo Maclear’s book The Letter Opener by Liz over at the Wonder Pens blog. My local library does not have a copy but I have flagged it on Goodreads as one I want to read. It is 1989 and Naiko is working in the Undeliverable Mail Office, looking through the contents of letters and parcels for clues as to the address to which the items belong. When her friend and coworker vanishes Naiko tries to piece together what might have happened. There actually is such an office at Canada Post; I was contacted by them many years ago when a box of personal items was undeliverable. When opened there were quite a few letters bearing my name and address. They belonged to a dear friend of mine. When they phoned I was deeply touched he had kept them and equally sorry I could not help them find him, as we had lost touch many years before. I offered to take the items off their hands and do further research but they, rightly, rejected that idea. The box was not mine to claim. I hope somehow the box found its way back to him, along with my letters.

I hope you wrote something by hand today, and that you enjoyed the pen, the paper and the fluid joy of it. I know I did.

Spencerian Penmanship and Pilot Frixion

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amazon, mott media, pentel slicci multipen, pilot frixion, spencerian penmanship

I’ve often admired other people’s handwriting. I’ve tried to make my own legible, and some have commented that they like it. But I’ve always thought it could be better. And I envy those who are able to add flourishes and loops that make their handwriting look SO COOL. To that end I recently ordered Mott Media’s Spencerian System of Practical Penmanship from Amazon. And they arrived on Friday.

The original edition of this system was published in 1874. In 1985 Mott Media reissued the original from their fragile state. The book is intended for children learning how to write, of course, but also for adults who want to improve their handwriting. I’m sure this is the system I learned in elementary school although I don’t think we used this book in particular.

The original text has been unchanged except where needed (changing the spelling of hight to height) and is quite serious about posture and sitting in a desk properly, as well as using your inkstand correctly. I’m really excited to start practicing my letters.

These 5 numbered books are the copy books, where the letters and numbers are practiced. Each book focuses on a different area: book 1 introduces the short letters, book 2 adds some of the tall letters (like t and d) and the numbers 1 to 9, book 3 completes the lower case alphabet and introduces most of the capitals, book 4 completes the capitals, and book 5 presents sentences and sayings for writing practice.

Truth be told I fell in love with the covers of these copy books. Look at that detail! Just breathtaking.

Here’s a shot of the inside of one of the practice books.  That’s a lot of practicing. But you would be an expert by the end of the book. Can’t wait to get started!

In addition to these books I ordered a set of 8 Pilot Frixion Ball Erasable Gel Roller pens, along with a set of 3 Erasable Highlighters.

I’m coming late to the party with these pens, as there have been a lot of reviews and talk about these pens/highlighters. They do the job as advertised and they are fun to use.

Here are the pens, in their various colours. Very smooth, nice writers. Bright colours.

And  here is the same writing with a few letters erased. In some instances you can still see the ghost of the letters but I think that was more a problem of me not applying the eraser long enough, rather than a failure of the ink to erase.

I really like these pens, especially for use in my planner, where space is limited and I like to be neat and tidy. My only complaint is that the eraser tip is covered by the pen cap when I post the cap, which I like to do when I write. I have to undo the posting in order to erase. A small complaint but I did find it annoying.

I also ordered three erasable highlighters, in pink, yellow and orange.

I was less impressed with these. In the writing sample above I made the mistake of using erasable pen underneath the erasable highlighter, so everything went when I applied the eraser tip! And you can still see the ghost of the word and highlighting that was erased. In the 4th example I used one of my Slicci multipens and probably applied the highlighter too early; the words smudged. And the smudging is revealed in all its glory when the highlighter is erased. But this system is good if you are a die hard devotee of colour coding and a mistake is discovered. I wanted to try them but I doubt I will erase any highlight I apply. I suppose it is nice to have the option, again to keep things nice and tidy in my planner. I could always apply highlight to those items on my To Do List that are not yet done, and remove the highlight when they are completed.

So there you have it – my latest order from Amazon. The shipping date was originally listed as mid-March; so nice to get things early. If you have any experience with any of these items please let me know in the comments.

Christmas Notebooks and Ink

Tags

janet conner, leuchtturm, peter pauper press, peterson field guide color-in book, waterman

Today I wanted to show you some notebooks and ink I received for Christmas from my husband’s side of the family.

Waterman ink, Peter Pauper Press bird journal, Leuchtturm 1917 pen loop, Birds adult colouring book, and The Lotus and the Lily book.

Let’s start with the bird journal. It’s from Peter Pauper Press. I love the bright colours and the birds of course.

I’m becoming quite the bird lover in my old age and I’ve wanted this one for a while.

Inside the front cover.

Here you can see the full colour birds are carried through onto the inside pages, which are cream coloured and lined. No idea yet what I will use this one for but it’s lovely. And I don’t know which journal will have the honour of receiving the purple Leuchtturm pen loop.

Next up is the Peterson Field Guide Color-In Book: Birds. I was thrilled to open this because I’ve seen other people relax while colouring in adult books and I earmarked a few on my Amazon wishlist. I thought this would be fun to do and maybe add some colour to my journal.

I’m so glad they included stickers of the actual birds; at least I have an idea of what the birds are supposed to look like.

In addition to colouring there is a ton of info about each bird so it’s educational too. I’m excited to start colouring!

I also got 3 bottles of Waterman ink. Well that’s like getting 3 bottles of perfume for me so you can imagine how amazed I was opening that present!

I didn’t ink up any pens with these inks but I took samples with cotton swabs to get an idea of the colour. I’ve heard so much about Serenity Blue and it really is beautiful.

And yummy Absolute Brown. Looks like chocolate!

And finally here is Tender Violet. I am truly blessed as I have enough ink to last the rest of my lifetime and beyond I think!

Last but not least I had been interested in The Lotus and The Lily ever since I started reading Writing Down Your Soul by the same author, Janet Conner. I enjoy her writing so now I’m anxious to finish her other books so I can get into this one.

I was very spoiled this Christmas; thank you to my amazing family!

Always Apprentices

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publishers weekly

From Publishers Weekly, Week of January 21, 2013

Always Apprentices: Twenty-Two Conversations Between Writers for the Believer Magazine

Edited by Vendela Vida, Sheila Heti and Ross Simonini

This enthralling collection contains 22 conversations between novelists, memoirists, poets, journalists, screenwriters, and combinations thereof about the craft of writing and the rewards (and torments) that it offers. The interviews, previously published in the Believer, tend to focus on idiosyncratic processes and each author’s career trajectory, as well as on how authors understand their work and its relationship to the world. The “conversations” here are more like interviews, with younger authors asking questions of established figures, including Mary Gaitskill, Michael Ondaatje, Victor LaValle, Pankaj Mishra, and Joan Didion. The book’s pieces de resistance include a muted exchange between Bret Easton Ellis and Don DeLillo about their respective careers, a high-minded discussion between Aleksander Hemon and Colum McCann on the ethics of novel writing, and a dialogue between Alain Mabanckou and Dany Laferriere on the emergence in literature of African and Caribbean voices. From the troubled state of literature and today’s narrowly commercial publishing world to the exasperation of working with Hollywood, the interviews both inspire and charm with their blend of urgency and irony.

Maya’s Notebook

Tags

isabel allende, publishers weekly

I’m a big fan of Isabel Allende, and I think her latest offering sounds very interesting, despite the review.

Maya’s Notebook

by Isabel Allende

From Publishers Weekly, week of February 4, 2013

Allende (The House of the Spirits) moves away from her usual magical realist historical fiction into a contemporary setting, and the result is a chaotic hodge-podge. The story, told through 19-year-old Maya Vidal’s journals, alternates between Maya’s dismal past and uncertain present, which finds her in hiding on an isolated island off Chile’s coast, where her grandmother, Nidia, has taken her. Maya’s diary relates a journey into self-destruction that begins, after her beloved step-grandfather Popi’s death, with dangerous forays into sex, drugs, and delinquency, but ends up in a darkly cartoonish crime caper, as she becomes involved with gangsters in Las Vegas. Maya describes her present surroundings, meanwhile, with a bland detachment that would be more believable coming from an anthropologist than a teenager. Allende’s trademark passion for Chile is as strong as ever, and her clever writing lends buoyancy to the narrative’s deadweight, but this novel is unlikely to entrance fans old or new.

Image from amazon.ca

Destiny, Rewritten

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kathryn fitzmaurice, publishers weekly

Destiny, Rewritten

by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

From Publishers Weekly, week of February 4, 2013

Fitzmaurice (A Diamond in the Desert) explores fate and destiny with a light yet thoughtful touch in this novel about sixth-grader Emily, named by her free-spirit mother after Emily Dickinson. Emily’s mother is sure that her daughter’s destiny is tied to the famous writer’s and that she will be a great poet (she even commemorates the important moments of Emily’s life in a first edition of Dickinson’s poetry). Emily, however, thrives on predictability and order, and has no feel for poetry – though she is obsessed with romantic novels’ happy endings, since she is searching for one: finding her unknown father, whose identity her mother has never disclosed. Just as Emily learns his name is hidden in the Dickinson book, it is accidentally taken and Emily sets out to find it, challenging her mother’s belief that things should “unfold in their natural course.” Aptly set amid the hippie ambiance of Berkeley, Calif., and peopled by offbeat, but believable characters, Fitzmaurice’s story deftly mingles Dickinson, Danielle Steel, a budding crush, and protesting tree sitters while maintaining suspense that leads to a satisfying ending. Ages 9-12.

Six Words

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ernest hemingway

I’ve just been reading about the phenomenon of six-word memoirs or short stories, the most famous one being Ernest Hemingway’s: “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” What a sentence – we immediately feel the emotion of the person who wrote those words.

Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs from Writers Famous and Obscure was released in 2008 by Larry Smith, who started Smith Magazine, a publication celebrating the six-word description of a given life. I thought how hard can it be? Turns out, very. Here are some good and not so good tries of my own.

I read for a living. Jealous?

No one prepared me for this.

Making sense with pens and paper.

Run; join the circus without regret.

How many can you come up with? Please share in the comments. Have fun!

Making sense with pens and paper.

Helen Keller’s Journal

Tags

helen keller, journal, new york times

The story of Helen Keller is amazing and inspirational. But the story of her teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy, and her companion, Polly Thomson, is equally as inspiring. The bond the three shared is testament to the indomitable spirit of Helen Keller and her determination to do what everyone else could do so effortlessly. After Anne’s death in October of 1936 Helen and Polly continued their work with the American Association for the Blind, and Helen’s journal from November 1936 to April 1937 chronicles her journey through grief to ultimate acceptance and resolution to continue the work they started.

Here is a review of Helen Keller’s Journal as it appeared in the New York Times in 1938. The book itself is out of print but according to Amazon is available second hand. You might also have some luck finding it in your local library.

Image from amazon.com

Green Notebook, Winter Road

Tags

books, jane cooper, publishers weekly

Came across this book review on Publishers Weekly. Great title. And I’m intrigued by the quote:

It seems I am on the edge

of discovering the green notebook containing all the poems of my life

I mean the ones I never wrote.

I will definitely have to look for this at the library or at my local bookstore. And if their of those efforts fail, amazon.com has it.

Image from amazon.com

Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets

Tags

evan roskos, publishers weekly

From Publishers Weekly, week of February 4, 2013

Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets

Evan Roskos

This sensitive first novel portrays the struggle of 16-year-old James Whit-man to overcome anxiety and depression. James blames himself for his older sister’s expulsion from their home and estrangement from their bullying parents. Roskos effectively sketches James as a boy who is far more comfortable inside his own head than in connecting with others (case in point, he hugs trees to make himself feel better and seeks advice from Dr. Bird, an imaginary pigeon therapist). Throughout, James takes comfort in the poetry of Walt Whitman, often co-opting the writer’s literary techniques in his narration (“I sound my morning yawp! I blast out my inner glow at the sunshine to try to shout it down. To have it lift me up. For someone, somewhere, to see me”). Friendships old and new, along with James’s growing interest in his own poetry and photography, help him gain confidence and understanding, especially as he discovers unsettling secrets about his sister. Bravely facing real sorrow, James confronts his problems with grace and courage. Ages 14-up.

Image from amazon.ca.