I love it when other people have ideas I would never have!

[flexagon]

Went out to brunch this morning with a nice couple, basically work-friends who I wouldn't mind turning into "real friends" (I have six months in which to do it, if I'm doing it, and then they're having a baby... tick tock, tick tock). We were talking about different systems of handwriting, and how cursive isn't taught as much in schools anymore, and how my best friend say_shazam got to learn italics in school and I bet nobody does that anymore at all. It turns out the woman wasn't interested in handwriting very much at all until college -- there, she started entertaining herself in lectures by trying to take class notes in the professor's own handwriting style.

That's so freaking clever and fun!

It makes me wonder, how many formal systems of handwriting/calligraphy do you know?
I usually write in block all-caps because it's most legible, but I can also write in:

• mixed-case block letters
• cursive
• italics (I taught myself as an adult, just to satisfy that niggling childhood jealousy).

(I made an abortive attempt once in high school to learn Pitman shorthand, somewhat under the influence of one of my favorite books, and also because the picture on the front of the Pitman book showed an elegant hand with long, glossy black nails. But that balloon never really left the ground -- it was too hard for me to make distinguishable light strokes and heavy strokes using the same writing implement.)

Comments

[miyyu.livejournal.com]

My sister, who is extremely bright, was so bored in elementary school that she needed an outlet. She taught herself to write with her left hand (she is right handed) and is to this day still functionally ambidextrous when it comes to writing. I think that's both cool and sad.

[godream.livejournal.com]

I had to learn cursive in school, but I actually never knew italic meant anything more than, you know, what <i> produces. Ten seconds on image search have now educated me... very pretty. Tempts me to go buy fountain pens. ;)

[niralth.livejournal.com]

Do people stop making new friends after they have kids? I'm confused as to why you perceive a deadline.

Oh, and, my handwriting has always been so bad that in high school I was required to type my papers, unlike all of my classmates. :/