Penmanship!

[aliantha]

Sarge, IMHO I make the coolest-looking upper-case K. Of course there is not one in my own name.

I just sorted through a bunch of pens (and other stuff in various drawers) over the weekend. I save pens from everywhere. If there's a sentimental connection, I save 'em even after the ink has dried up. I have one that was my dad's (cheap clicker pen from some auto parts store), one from the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver, one from the Fine Arts Museum in Santa Fe, one from the British Museum, one from the Alhambra, one from our apartment complex management folks, and one that I wheedled out of one of the girls after an anime convention (don't look at me like that -- it was a cool pen and she had two!). Plus a bunch of cheap Bics. And two -- count 'em, two -- sets of colored markers, in case I ever have a yen to color something.

Here at work I've got another collection of cheap Bics -- sorry, Papermates -- plus a couple of Uniball Onyx pens and several freebie pencils from the IT Training folks.

i knew i was justified in liking you!!

And I knew I had a soul sister when I saw your post!

I just remembered about the Lexis-Nexis pen in the nightstand drawer.... See, I used to stash pens and pads of paper next to all the phone extensions in the house, so that no matter which phone I answered, I was ready to take down any info the caller cared to leave. That seems to have morphed, tho, into a habit of leaving one (at least) pen and some Post-its next to any place where I often sit. Which is kinda ridiculous as the apartment's not that big....

[lucimay]

dudlet. post-its. I CARRY THEM AROUND IN MY PURSE!!! hahaha!! use them for book marks and to write notes on books i'm reading and mark
special passages and spots. and they are on my desk at home, and on
the shelf i use to dump wallet, cell, and keys when i come in the apt.

pens and post-its rock!!!!!!

(edit: i'm hearing "hey sistah soul sistah.." hahaha!!)

[Auleliel]

I also have terrible penmanship, and a very large collection of pens, pencils, post-its, highlighters, notepads, etc. My handwriting is different every time I write. You can tell where I've stopped and resumed writing just by looking at the handwriting. My handwriting is best in other alphabets, and when I do calligraphy it is fabulous. I write almost everything on paper or on a typewriter before transferring it to the computer. I almost always write in pencil, except for class notes, which I write in black, non-erasable pen on a white or yellow legal pad. I have been known to use pencils long past the point where they are no longer sharpenable (no pun intended). Sometimes I can't read my own handwriting, usually because the pencil has smeared. I have tried several times to improve my handwriting, and have failed at each attempt. It's going to be tough when I start teaching elementary and middle schoolers and have to enforce rules about writing in cursive.

[aliantha]

Stick to kindergarten, then, Auleliel. Or the upper grades, after they've quit grading penmanship.

What does it say about us as a nation/culture that we are all butt-deep in writing implements and Post-It notes at the same time as we have pretty much quit writing longhand?

Post-Its *rock* as bookmarks! They stay put when you move them from page to page! And did I mention the highlighter I have that dispenses Post-It flags from the barrel? (I think there may be something wrong with me.... )

[Auleliel]

Stick to kindergarten, then, Auleliel.

I can't stand kindergarteners. From my past experiences with them, I can honestly tell you that I believe they are evil incarnate. And they are teaching printing in kindergarten now. My printing is worse than my cursive.

Or the upper grades, after they've quit grading penmanship.

If you mean high school, I'm not even going to go there. I was thinking of teaching somewhere between fourth and seventh grades, so I wouldn't necessarily have to teach it or grade it, but I would have to enforce it. Ugh.

What does it say about us as a nation/culture that we are all butt-deep in writing implements and Post-It notes at the same time as we have pretty much quit writing longhand?

That we really like shorthand?

Post-Its *rock* as bookmarks! They stay put when you move them from page to page!

True that! I love to use post-its as bookmarks. You can mark the exact word where you stop, without it sliding around. Great stuff.

And did I mention the highlighter I have that dispenses Post-It flags from the barrel? (I think there may be something wrong with me.... )

Pretty cool stuff. Don't tell me you mark up your books with highlighter, now! (Don't worry, there's something wrong with everybody.)

[sgt.null]

almost all of my writing is done in long-hand. i type it in then for spell check and re-writes. i write real small and with a wicked slant if i'm not paying attention.

[aliantha]

Don't tell me you mark up your books with highlighter, now! (Don't worry, there's something wrong with everybody.)

Actually, I hardly ever use a highlighter, which is what makes my ownership of that gizmo even odder. Odder still: Several years ago, Batty tried to get me to give it to her, and I bought her a new one rather than surrender mine.

Yeah, 4th through 7th grade sounds like the ticket for you, then. And my hat is off to you for even considering teaching middle schoolers. I like my young'uns either small enough to sit on, or big enough so that the hormones have sorta-kinda settled down a little...

[Auleliel]

I like my young'uns either small enough to sit on, or big enough so that the hormones have sorta-kinda settled down a little...

I like them old enough to tie their own shoes and understand real jokes, and young enough that I can still overpower them if one of them decides to go crazy and be violent.

[sgt.null]

children shouldnot be seen or heard...

[Auleliel]

children shouldnot be seen or heard...

They had better be seen and heard in my classroom! I like my students to participate in their own instruction.

[Wyldewode]

not to mention the pencil holder on my desk that has no pencils
in it. just highlighters, a tiffany's blue sharpie, a green uniball, a
black 2 headed sharpie, and various other pens, including the
j jill pen i scarfed at the j jill store in denver!

i love writing and i love pens.

I have the exact same sharpie at my desk.

I have good penmanship, and do some calligraphy from time to time. And I have a shameful addiction to pens, markers, and mechanical pencils. I keep a rainbow of colored pens to use on my non-official paperwork (I only use black when it will go in the client's chart). In general I have an affinity for all office supplies, including the specially shaped paper clips and super sticky post-it notes. I need to stay away from Staples. It's almost as bad as going to a craft store.

For those who have similar love of nicer office supplies, nice pens, and reading supplies, I recommend Levenger.

Post-Its *rock* as bookmarks! They stay put when you move them from page to page! And did I mention the highlighter I have that dispenses Post-It flags from the barrel? (I think there may be something wrong with me.... )

Check out the page point bookmarks from Levenger. . . they stay right where you put them and don't damage the spine or the page you put them on. I use them to mark the last sentence I read on a page (when I stop mid-page).


They really have the best stuff at Levenger's. . . if you can afford it.

[Auleliel]

For those who have similar love of nicer office supplies, nice pens, and reading supplies, I recommend Levenger.
... They really have the best stuff at Levenger's. . . if you can afford it.

Oh the temptation! Must... not... click... the... link...

[Wyldewode]

Yep. It's addictive. The only saving grace is that most things I want from there are terribly out of my budget.

[Auleliel]

That would not stop me. I am not yet capable of sticking to a budget. My only barrier to buying such things is ignorance of their existence.

[aliantha]

oooooooh, Levenger.... I got their catalog once. Eventually you couldn't tell what they were selling, for all the drool marks on every page....

There's a Levenger's store at Tysons Corner Center; MagickMaker and I passed it a couple of weeks ago while looking at that mall for khakis for her to wear to work. She wouldn't let me go in. Smart girl!

[Wyldewode]

Oh wow. . . a real brick and mortar store! I wouldn't have been able to pss it up, just so I could touch all the nice things. I have a leather book weight (a gift from my ex) from there. It's the highest quality leather, and it is the softest and smoothest leather I've ever felt. It's even labeled in latin (aper librus, I believe). Unfortunately I never use it. . . *shrug*

Should I even mention Paperworld?

[CovenantJr]

Oh wow. . . a real brick and mortar store! I wouldn't have been able to pss it up, just so I could touch all the nice things. I have a leather book weight (a gift from my ex) from there. It's the highest quality leather, and it is the softest and smoothest leather I've ever felt. It's even labeled in latin (aper librus, I believe). Unfortunately I never use it. . . *shrug*

Should I even mention Paperworld?

As a matter of curiosity, what's a book weight? Aren't books heavy enough?

[aliantha]

A bookweight is a longish thingum (perhaps 6 inches, dunno what that is in metric, sorry) with weights on either end. You place it across your open book to keep it from flipping shut, thereby enabling hands-free reading.

[Auleliel]

A bookweight is a longish thingum (perhaps 6 inches, dunno what that is in metric, sorry) with weights on either end. You place it across your open book to keep it from flipping shut, thereby enabling hands-free reading.

That sounds incredibly useful. I wish I had one.
I think 6 inches is about 15 cm.

[CovenantJr]

A bookweight is a longish thingum (perhaps 6 inches, dunno what that is in metric, sorry) with weights on either end. You place it across your open book to keep it from flipping shut, thereby enabling hands-free reading.

Ah, I've got something that serves the same purpose, but it clips onto the cover to hold the book open.