and there is a reason! at soon to be 47, i realized that i type more than i write. and my hand writing has gone to pots. so i have been doing some writing. no, not writing a book or anything. just drilling my penmanship so it will be legible. got me a fountain pen, and been practicing my hand writing. 

i started typing when i was in 7th grade, that's.. back in 81.. so.. 32 yrs. i've only wrote with my hand when it was necessary. my hand writing was at best chicken scratch. i figure, it's best that i learn how to write properly now then never learning a fine art of good penmanship. 

been all over the net figuring out how to improve it.. and it's rather fun. time away from computer.. the trees are fine and the figs are growing fat. few months and i'll be writing and eating at the same time :)

Do you need a pen pal?

nope. no pen pal needed :) no patience for the snail mail. beside, my wife would think it's weird i'm writing to people.. lol

Nice, Pete! It is a hobby to develop some patience.
You might be in an awkward situation when you are one a few who can read it though (forget about writing).
I was teaching a class to the recent high school graduates not long ago and discovered two things that was a shock to me. One, many couldn’t tell me the time looking at a clock with hands, no electronic digits, no time! And two, they couldn’t read my handwritten notes after I graded their homework. What is funny, I discovered that at the end of the quarter when it was too late to catch up :)

igor, yeah.. it shouldn't be funny.. but it is. lot of people can't read, nor can they tell where they are living off a map.. not to mention, can't tell time unless it's written down for them. we are conditioning our next generation to be total idiots. modern technologies is and has been turning the human advancement. at this point, human revolution has reached it's peak and it's degrading. it's a sad state that we are living in. i'm trying to teach my kids as much as i can so they can do things without looking at the touch screen devices. i want them to know how to write, read, and tell time.. i want them to  know how to cook without microwave, and know how to start a fire without a bic lighter. urgh.. too much convenience has made us forget how to do simple things that we should all know how to do. 

Hey Pete,
This is something I've been into for quite a while. Not improving my handwriting, but learning basic skills. I was a charter member of the Society of Primitive Technology, and, the idea that reading a non-digital clock might now be considered a primitive skill strikes me as hysterical.  If you really want to get back to basics I suggest you check out the Earthskills Gatherings.
Tom

Pete, you are hilarious! And you are right. I have a friend who lives a few hours away, and when she comes to visit she HAS to punch my address into her GPS, or she can't find my house. She's been here like 20 times! She blames it on her blondeness.

Apparently the school systems have decided teaching writing is just too much trouble and have decided cursive writing is to be taken out of the curriculum. OMG kids are all going to be screwed when trying to read the constitution or other historical documents.

First they let kids have calculators in kindergarten and now no cursive writing?

I know the Hawaiian school system has a lot of shortcomings, but can you believe that learning to write cursive is not part of the school syllabus in some of the public schools?  Incredible.  At least I still remember my daughter bringing home worksheets for time-telling.  You remember those with the movable hands on the sheet of paper with the clock face?  

Nate

[QUOTE=javajunkie]Apparently the school systems have decided teaching writing is just too much trouble and have decided cursive writing is to be taken out of the curriculum. OMG kids are all going to be screwed when trying to read the constitution or other historical documents.

First they let kids have calculators in kindergarten and now no cursive writing?[/QUOTE]

Soon they will have classes in texting and tweeting....

Pete I was just thinking today about when my figs start to ripen. I want to figure out how to put a watermark on my photos like you do. I figured that was your handwriting. Lol

dan.. lol 

there is this online tool called picmonkey.com . the thing works off the net, and it's rather a simple editing tool that will let you watermark the pix. i love that thing. picasa used to use this tool, but they got rid of it. was searching forever to find out what the tool was. now i found it again.. yeah.. pix have watermarks again.. tho, they don't have the font that i used to use. i would buy the software if they have offline version. 

I will check it out for sure. In the mean time keep working on that penmanship.

I learned how to write cursive, but absolutely refused. Starting in fourth grade whenever the teachers required an assignment be written in cursive, I would write in all caps without spaces or punctuation. It only took a few assignments at the beginning of the term for teachers to stop requiring cursive from me. Hopefully Jon will not requie us to type (or speak into our devices) in cursive.

I had my wisdom teeth out in high school and before the surgery I bought a calligraphy set so I would have something to distract me from the hamster look and pain.  It did wonders for my handwriting.  Funny thing was the teachers had told my parents that my handwriting was terrible but there was nothing they could do about it. 

Hi,
Knowing that only some privileged people could read and write in the thirties last century... And now, all that is almost lost to modern keyboard typing - At least we are all now easily readable and don't make stains on our sheets .
Thinking of that post yesterday, I remembered that my grandma could read and write ( or was my aunt writing the letters ? ) ... She's gone now, and I'll never know where she did learn.
She was from the poor class, working in the fields, so thinking of that yesterday ... I suddenly feel like I miss some information on the history of the family ... Will have to dig into that when I get the time...

in 1446, one of our king decided that everyone needs to learn how to read and write. even those who can not spend ton of time studying like the upper crust. so.. he came out with korean written language. before that time, and even until current time, chinese characters are widely used for "educated" people. but i'm sure most everyone will agree, chinese characters are not exactly easiest thing to memorize. too many strokes at too many unusual angle. of course, chinese have simplified chinese for new generations. and japanese use their own writing system along with some what simplified chinese of their own called "kanji". 

my father in law who barely graduated elementary school knows more chinese characters then most college graduates in korea. it's just takes little effort to learn things.. we all had to learn how to root cuttings.. it just takes little time and effort, if anyone wants to learn a new thing. 

Interesting article on this in the NY Times today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/science/whats-lost-as-handwriting-fades.html?_r=0

[QUOTE]

What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades

Does handwriting matter?

Not very much, according to many educators. The Common Core standards, which have been adopted in most states, call for teaching legible writing, but only in kindergarten and first grade. After that, the emphasis quickly shifts to proficiency on the keyboard.

But psychologists and neuroscientists say it is far too soon to declare handwriting a relic of the past. New evidence suggests that the links between handwriting and broader educational development run deep.

if you think about it.. most doctors have rather hard to read hand writing. but they are, most of them, very dedicated to their art. as time goes by, what we are looking for is a specialized field where one can devote their lives to. being a renascence man isn't exactly what is viewed as something that is important. some will even say having too many interests is a distraction to ones educational need. since i'm out of school and not specializing in anything, i decided i'm going to learn whatever i want to learn and die happy :)

Pete, I guess we have a lot in common, though i turned 47 late last year.  My hand writing is abysmal. Sometimes, I can't even read it..  I should have been a doctor.

Wait until you get arthritis!  Then watch your writing go downhill.  I got that stuff at 40. No pain anymore.  Used to throb, but I guess the nerves are dead.  Just can't write or draw or anything.  We all take time from the computer (I hope).  Family stuff is first, then business and the other plants in the yard.  We got issues with the vineyard, currently.  Some nutrient issue.  Trying to find a fertilizer low on nitrogen and high on phosphorous and potassium, and some minerals I never heard of.  Decomposing granite, which is what we have here, has some minerals, but nothing rich or fertile.  We have a compost pile going, but that takes time.......  Whine, whine, whine.........

Suzi