Monday Miscellany

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alan turing, benedict cumberbatch, guardian, incowrimo 2015, olga mclaren, sharing our notebooks, the imitation game, winnie's inky fingers

The lovely Winnie at Winnie’s Inky Fingers wrote this post about her InCoWriMo experience this year. Imagine – 55 letters written in a month! Puts my measly 14 to shame. I was the lucky recipient of one of those 55. Yours is coming soon Winnie!

Alan Turing, whom Benedict Cumberbatch played in the hugely successful Imitation Game, apparently kept a journal and it’s going up for auction next month. I find it especially touching that his friend recorded his own thoughts on dreams in the pages of Turing’s math notes.  Read this Guardian article to see if you can afford a bid!

Gosh I love this website. I really should contact them and submit some of my own pages. I loved reading Olga McLaren’s post about her Grandmother Journals. A long-time journaler, she maintains journals on each of her grandchildren, intending them to receive them on her death. A different point of view from the parent, the journals bring a unique, grandmotherly perspective to events in the children’s lives.

 

Monday Miscellany

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a way with words, glenns pens, incowrimo 2015, letter writing

I am listening to this podcast right now: A Way With Words. Many thanks to Mark, one of my penpals, who turned me on to this site. Very entertaining. And there’s nothing better than public radio.

This is a great web site: Glenn’s Pens. Glenn Marcus has put together a very informative site full of his passions: ink, fountain pens and notebooks. Check out his Stores of Note; a great way to research stores before you visit. And his pictures of his fountain pens are just amazing.

And finally I want to include a beautiful envelope and letter I received today from one of my penpals, Marie, who lives in the Czech Republic. I know I published my final InCoWriMo Update for 2015 yesterday, but I just wanted to share this stunning example of Marie’s work. If I had received this last week it would have been included as a highlight. Thank you so much Marie!

Apologies for the sticky notes but I wanted to cover my address.

This intricate homemade envelope was inside the blue envelope. Marie wove the elastic blue string through the grey lattice. What an innovative way to use wax seals; guaranteed to survive the postal machines.

And this is the breathtaking salutation on her letter. Thanks again Marie. Every letter you send is a gift.

InCoWriMo 2015: Final Update

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incowrimo 2015

InCoWriMo 2015 ended last week. I did not do as well this year; I sent a total of 14 letters and received 7. But the whole exercise has ignited my love of letter writing once again, much to the delight of my Reply To pile (can a stack of letters feel delight? I like to think so).

All of the letters I received were lovely but a few stood out.

At top left the long yellow envelope was very interesting, and was from a brand new pen pal. Actually all of these were from brand new pen pals. I love the gold wax seal and the InCoWriMo stationery is great. I should print those out for myself next year. But the beautiful art card was the gem of the month. Isn’t it gorgeous? I can’t wait to get through my Reply To pile to these folks. I’ve written three letters this weekend so I’ll get there soon.

I hope everyone who participated in InCoWriMo this year had a blast, as I certainly did. I apologize in general to those pen pals who are waiting on a letter from me; and to the new pen pals thank you so much and I will answer your good letters just as soon as I can.

Happy writing.

Journal Writing Wednesday: 12 pages

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fountain pen revolution, guru, incowrimo 2015, reid's stationers, winnable executive journal

What I’m currently using: the Paperblanks Blue Filigree journal, Winnable Leather Journal, Winnable Executive Journal and the Believe In Yourself journal

Total pages written since last JWW post (Feb 25): 12

Total pages to date since project inception (Dec 11/13): 827

Total pages written in 2015: 87

Purchases:

I wrote about my latest shopping trip to Reid’s Stationers in this post, and I liked the Winnable Executive Journal so much I put it into the rotation. Four journals on the go isn’t too many, is it? Nah.

I purchased a Fountain Pen Revolution Guru pen from Deb at Goodwriters. It was put in the post earlier this week (it’s coming from Scotland) and I will review it as soon as I get it. I’m thinking of using my World Mail Panel money to purchase a vintage Waterman from her as well. Stay tuned!

Some points covered this week in my journals:

• Final update on InCoWriMo 2015: As suspected I did not reach 28 by the 28th. I sent 14 and received 7. It has kickstarted my letter writing again so that’s a good thing. I am tackling my Reply To pile with ferocity!
• We got a new sectional sofa! New to us that is. My very generous co-worker gave us a terrific deal, and moving it was not the nightmare I feared it might be. Although David was injured during said moving of said sofa, he grunted and heaved like a trooper and set it up that same night. It looks wonderful and so comfy! Even the cats approve.
• Our poor kitty cat is still sick and no one seems to know why. Tonight she is in the hospital receiving fluids and medication, in the hopes she will use the litter box on her own. Fingers crossed.

Until next week, happy writing!

Journal Writing Wednesday: 2 pages

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incowrimo, incowrimo 2015, uni kuru toga, vinyl pen case

What I’m currently using: the Paperblanks Blue Filigree journal, Winnable Leather Journal and the Believe In Yourself journal

Total pages written since last JWW post (Jan 28): 2

Total pages to date since project inception (Dec 11/13): 793

Total pages written in 2015: 53

I have not purchased anything this week.

In case you missed it, here is the post discussing my latest ebay purchases, a Kuru Toga mechanical pencil and a fountain pen case.

I only wrote two pages, because I’m writing letters! Yes it’s that time of year again – InCoWriMo. Journal writing could suffer this month, just warning you.

As always, happy writing!

InCoWriMo 2015

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incowrimo, incowrimo 2015

Well it’s that time of year again. International Correspondence Writing Month (InCoWriMo) is a celebration of the hand-written letter, card, note, or postcard during the month of February. The idea is to write and send something hand-written every day. So 28 pieces of hand-written goodness. Check out the website incowrimo.org (which has been revamped and is super swanky!) and participate in the contests. You can also add your location (I have) and check out the participant map. They’ve also added an interesting tracking feature this year.

Some of the tools I’ll be using for InCoWriMo.

I participated last year; I sent 34 items and received 27. I continued writing throughout the year and still have a sizable reply-to pile which needs to be tackled first. Along with those contest entries!

Maybe I can squeeze in a few letters tonight. Join us and write a card or two. 🙂