Handwriting skills

Apparently not all children have been taught handwriting, particularly cursive writing (though Maeraed seems to be doing fine in that department). Many people seem to think that typing is the skill you need - otherwise, how are they going to text? Or blog? Or twitter? On the other hand, there are good reasons for requiring good old handwriting.

New research shows writing things out by hand not only increases brain activity, but also helps develop fine motor skills and can even predict how well a student will do in school, the Chicago Tribune reports.

So everyone should write something by hand this week.

preferably with a fountain pen.

What I want in a pen ... or anything else

Further proof that I am engaging in a salmon-like struggle against the flood of today's Zeitgeist, this description of a Waterman No 12 Eyedropper pen by Pier Gustafson precisely captures my ideal for any tool.

"Concise ... with the exception of the clip, it contains not one part that is not required for the function of the fountain pen."


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What if I'd been born a ...

That last post got me thinking (and you were wondering what it took?): what if I'd been born a female? Well,, uh, I'd have a different name. Probably something like 'Helen' or 'Elisabeth.' Or maybe even 'Virginia.' And I wouldn't look quite so much like Mark Twain, I wouldn't have to shave and I wouldn't have to worry about this problem.

Then I wondered ... what if I'd been born a fountain pen? What would I be? And the answer came to me from reading Pen World.

I'd be a Sheaffer Flat-Top.

Here's why:

"Like the Ford Model-T (except in more colors), the Sheaffer flat-top is solid, dependable, serviceable, about as exciting as cold toast and writes like a stick. What it lacks in flash it more than makes up for in steady dependability." Rob Astyk

"Built like a tank, it is the business symbol of the '20s and one of the most rugged if not the most rugged nib of all time. Not mere sheet gold, but military-style, armor-plated gold!" Nathan Tardiff

"As the name would suggest, the Sheaffer flat-top is a reliable, square, and predictably inflexible* pen well suited to our age." Jonathan Blumenfeld

"Unconcerned with vanity, the flat-top does its duty without drawing attention to itself." Betty LeBaux

And this one, which is a bit problematic for me, but is too good to pass up:

"Conservative. Had Otto von Bismark been reincarnated as a pen, the flat-top would be the model." Pier Gustafson [a flat-top with a pickelhaub?]

And this one, from a review of a specific pen, that I hope will be true:

"The main point is that this pen, as beat up and worn out as it is, still manages to do the same job today as it was designed and built to do seventy-some years ago!" - Mike Stevens

Now if I were an automobile, I think I would be a 1965 Volkswagon Beetle like my older brother Jesse owned.

* not to be confused with stubborn.


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Fountain pen snark

You would think that the world of fountain pen collectors would be a genteel world of tweedy types sipping cognac, comparing their latest acquisition with exquisite politeness.

Maybe not - check out these reviews from the 'Last Word' feature in Pen World concerning the Eversharp Fifth Avenue pen. These guys are a bit snarky about the poor Eversharp.

"Aptly named after a street, because it is so pedestrian. " --- Craig Robertson

"A poor and hurried copy of the Parker 51 with little or nothing to recommend it in comparison."
---- Frank Dubiel

"At least no collector specializing in these pens need buy theft insurance." --- "Bubba" Welton

"Sure it's a 51 rip-off. Sure it's an unworthy successor to the Doric. At least the cap posts!"
--- Rob Astyk

"The $64 question is 'What the heck were they thinking?'" --- Pierre Lescaux

"The smaller Stowaway version is by far the better as there is less of it to offend the eye."
--- Claude Gerrard

It's a tough crowd.


But 'Bubba'? For a fountain pen collector?


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An Astrophysicist on fountain pens

That would be Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson, our favorite.
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I still write most of my speeches with a [fountain] pen ... There's a certain peace and lucidity that comes with a pen - grace is probably the best word.

Remember ... the man's a scientist.

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