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Snipers Hide Penmanship Classroom

I can't compete with what ya'll are doing, as you're setting the bar very high. When I was in university, (as for everyone who's seriously there) the amount of notes to be taken/re-written/reviewed etc was incredible. From a young age, I had a 'heavy hand' (as titled from my Drafting instructor) I had to use the 4H pencils where everyone else was using 2H or softer. This all may make some sense to a few.

For all the notes I took, I used the Waterman fountain pen, simply to NOT PRESS SO HARD on the paper and it allowed me to get through each day and still have a hand left. This was purely out of necessity and pragmatism.

What ya'll are doing, and the gentleman's wife as well, is putting 'class' and 'integrity' back into communication. The likes of which are hugely missing in the everyday life of humans. Simply using cursive is tantamount to encryption nowadays.

Good on ya! Lead the charge, even. Thanks for showing the quality.
 
Kid sent a letter of appreciation to work last week.

Used the Parker to respond, sent him a shoulder patch, wrote in cursive........I hope he has surviving grandparents that can read my response to him.
 
My wife goes through a pen about every 400 invitations. She buys good pens, but not great pens because of the cost. She simply wears them out. When you get invitations printed, the return address is printed or pressed into the back. They use a very fine sand in this process, and also some linen paper has very fine sand in it. This abrasiveness wears down her nib, and will put a burr on the corner, and she will start cutting the invitations with the burr. You don’t have that problem when writing on regular paper or stationary, and a good pen will last a long time as long as you clean it good every so often.
 
My wife goes through a pen about every 400 invitations. She buys good pens, but not great pens because of the cost. She simply wears them out. When you get invitations printed, the return address is printed or pressed into the back. They use a very fine sand in this process, and also some linen paper has very fine sand in it. This abrasiveness wears down her nib, and will put a burr on the corner, and she will start cutting the invitations with the burr. You don’t have that problem when writing on regular paper or stationary, and a good pen will last a long time as long as you clean it good every so often.
Most modern pens have stainless nibs, which do not wear as well as the older nibs which have Iridium on the tip (which is amazingly wear resistant).
Most of the modern pens which have gold nibs are tipped with Iridium (or Osmium, Ruthenium, Rhenium), which take longer to wear out than steel.

I do daily carry a Graf Faber Castell pen which has a stainless nib. But periodically I have to re-contour the tip to keep the ideal shape. For those who do calligraphy, they often use the flexy Zebra nibs, as their cost is more manageable.

This is assuming she does not do stub-nib calligraphy, as versus Point Flex Nib nibs.
 
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I too prefer cursive writing over the thumbs and keyboard stuff. I look at it as an art form. Look at the constitution and the pen strokes in it. Pure artistic writing
 
Decided my heathen kids needed some stationary so I ordered them up some Norlu Press personalized stationary.....

image.jpg


Mr DiRisio hooked me up with a few test samples of a new type he has obtained...

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I like it! He thinks the Eagle type comes out better in blue and will probably use blue going forward.

Good stuff here....

image.jpg
 
I need to give him a call. I’d like to see his stuff in person, and get some stationery.
 
You are a paper snob....your review would be much more in depth than mine.

I've used a fountain pen on his cards and not had bleed or feathering but Im the guy that cant tell the difference between S&B or Tasco.

Mr. DiRisio has been fun to communicate with. Has a son in the USA and he was in USA at one time TDY to Fort Devens in my AO. Good guy his Dad was a WWII vet.

Story he related to me regards an ancestor I dont think he would mind my sharing......

I love American military history, and I thought a lot about my wife's
ancestors as I was deciding whether or not to get stuck. She had an
ancestor who volunteered and was commissioned an officer in various
Massachusetts militia organizations during the American Revolution. He
fought in numerous battles (despite having fulfilled his military
obligation) and, throughout the course of the war, lost his wife to
disease and his 16-year-old Soldier son to a British cannonball. After
the war, the government came down hard on farmers like him and
demanded more cash in taxes than they could pay. He became a leader in
the Regulators movement, led his friends in Shay's Rebellion and
eventually was convicted of treason. He received two stays of
execution--the second of which when he was on the gallows to be
hung--and when he was finally freed, he turned his back on everything
and joined a commune known as the Dorrelites. He died not as a war
hero, but in relative obscurity, estranged from his family and without
any land to pass down to his progeny.


He somehow dug up a story of a hawk I saved last winter and asked me about it....I thought that funny......he must have been stalking me or something....made me laugh.
 
Decided my heathen kids needed some stationary so I ordered them up some Norlu Press personalized stationary.....

View attachment 7704706

Mr DiRisio hooked me up with a few test samples of a new type he has obtained...

View attachment 7704707

I like it! He thinks the Eagle type comes out better in blue and will probably use blue going forward.

Good stuff here....

View attachment 7704708
Great gift idea. My mom, who is 79, is one of the last of the “letter writing” era. She still hand writes her high school girlfriend, who lives in Fl, bi-weekly, as she has done every since I can remember. She actually knows how long it typically takes for a letter to arrive and return. And, God forbid, it takes 2 days longer!! 😳
 
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HMMM after posting Mr DiRisios historical reference I had to research Dorrelites.

I found this....


A sectary, by the name of Dorrel, appeared in Leyden, Mass., about fifty years ago, and made some proselytes. The following are some of his leading sentiments: -- Jesus Christ is, as to substance, a spirit, and is God. He took a body, died, and never rose from the dead. None of the human race will ever rise from their graves. The resurrection, spoken of in Scripture, is only one from sin to spiritual life, which consists in perfect obedience to God. Written revelation is a type of the substance of the true revelation, which God makes to those whom he raises from spiritual death. The substance is God revealed in the soul. Those who have it are perfect, are incapable of sinning, and have nothing to do with the Bible. The eternal life, purchased by Christ, was an eternal succession of natural generation. Heaven is light, and hell is darkness. God has no wrath. There is no opposition between God and the devil, who have equal power in their respective worlds of light and darkness. Those who are raised are free from all civil laws; are not bound by the marriage covenant; and the perfect have a right to promiscuous intercourse. Neither prayer nor any other worship is necessary. There is no law but that of nature. There is no future judgment, nor any knowledge in the future state, of what is done in this world. God has no forethought, no knowledge of what passes in the dark world, which is hell, nor any knowledge of what has taken place, or will take place, in this world. Neither God nor the devil has any power to control man. There are two kinds of perfection -- that of the head, and that of the members. The leader is perfect as the head; but none of his followers can be so, in this sense, so long as the leader continues. All covenants which God has heretofore entered into with man, are at an end, and a new covenant made with the leader, (Dorrel,) in which he has all power to direct, and all the blessings of which must be looked for through him. Neither Moses nor Christ wrought any miracles. I (says Dorrel) stand the same as Jesus Christ in all respects. My disciples stand in the same relation to me, as the disciples of Christ did to him. I am to be worshipped in the same manner as Christ was to be worshipped, as God united to human flesh. This sect was broken up in the following manner: --

One of Dorrel's lectures was attended by Captain Ezekiel Foster, of Leyden, a man of good sense, of a strong, muscular frame, and a countenance which bespoke authority. When Dorrel came to the declaration of his extraordinary powers, he had no sooner uttered the words, "No arm can hurt my flesh," than Foster rose, indignant at the imposture he was practising on his deluded followers, and knocked down Dorrel with his fist. Dorrel, in great trepidation, and almost senseless, attempted to rise, when he received a second blow, at which he cried for mercy. Foster engaged to forbear, on condition that he would renounce his doctrines, but continued beating him. Soon a short parley ensued, when Dorrel consented, and did renounce his doctrines in the hearing of all his astonished followers. He further told them, that his object was to see what fools he could make of mankind. His followers, ashamed and chagrined at being made the dupes of such an unprincipled fellow, departed in peace to their homes. Dorrel promised his assailant, upon the penalty of his life never to attempt any similar imposition upon the people.
 
He’s not far from me so I’ll give him a ring and see if I can stop in with my pens and test paper for some stationery. The only inks I’m worried about are my document inks. Those are very wet, and feather on most papers. Clairefontaine and Rhoda handle them well though. I have to use a fine nib if signing poors paper.
 
a cross between a blind labrador retriever and a newly mostly fried chicken is a good description of my hand writing
but I could tap dance like Fred Astaire in my dreams . lol
 
He’s not far from me so I’ll give him a ring and see if I can stop in with my pens and test paper for some stationery. The only inks I’m worried about are my document inks. Those are very wet, and feather on most papers. Clairefontaine and Rhoda handle them well though. I have to use a fine nib if signing poors paper.

His shop appears to be old school judging by the limited things I can see in his pictures.

Things made of old oak, Linotype, probably a press you have to operate with human force.

Might be an interesting visit.
 
I can write all fancy dancy if I have to. But working flat rate means time is money. It needs to be written fast but still be just legible enough that the booker can read it and pay you for what you did. That was…until everything went digital. Thankfully I was decent enough in typing class that I could teach myself the rest of the way

Now the only thing I need to write is something nice on a birthday card for my wife. I can do that neatly enough
 
Looks like a nice pen but at this price I’m guessing Chyna….

 
Most excellent to see this resurrected because I need to work on my penmanship. I switched to block printing in the mid 80’s when I started engineering school and was doing drawing. (No cad back then!)

My penmanship wasn’t great then. Now is appalling.

I have a couple of nice spendy pens that I have been given over the years. And I sat down last month to write 20 Thank You cards to donors for a college fellowship I started. Typing and e-mails were not going to cut it.

Wish I could find an In-person class. Even retired teachers don’t know how to write good cursive any more.

So bring it on!!! I love the idea of this thread!!!

Sirhr

Even wondered if there is some kind of “week long penmanship boot camp” class out there… at an art colony or something. Would be a fun exercise!
 
Most excellent to see this resurrected because I need to work on my penmanship. I switched to block printing in the mid 80’s when I started engineering school and was doing drawing. (No cad back then!)

My penmanship wasn’t great then. Now is appalling.

I have a couple of nice spendy pens that I have been given over the years. And I sat down last month to write 20 Thank You cards to donors for a college fellowship I started. Typing and e-mails were not going to cut it.

Wish I could find an In-person class. Even retired teachers don’t know how to write good cursive any more.

So bring it on!!! I love the idea of this thread!!!

Sirhr

Even wondered if there is some kind of “week long penmanship boot camp” class out there… at an art colony or something. Would be a fun exercise!

I think part of the problem is you need to slow down to do it right.

You have to think about what you want to write before writing it.

No one does that anymore.
 
Most excellent to see this resurrected because I need to work on my penmanship. I switched to block printing in the mid 80’s when I started engineering school and was doing drawing. (No cad back then!)

My penmanship wasn’t great then. Now is appalling.

I have a couple of nice spendy pens that I have been given over the years. And I sat down last month to write 20 Thank You cards to donors for a college fellowship I started. Typing and e-mails were not going to cut it.

Wish I could find an In-person class. Even retired teachers don’t know how to write good cursive any more.

So bring it on!!! I love the idea of this thread!!!

Sirhr

Even wondered if there is some kind of “week long penmanship boot camp” class out there… at an art colony or something. Would be a fun exercise!
This is exatly me, I still block letter damn near everything
 
Most excellent to see this resurrected because I need to work on my penmanship. I switched to block printing in the mid 80’s when I started engineering school and was doing drawing. (No cad back then!)

My penmanship wasn’t great then. Now is appalling.

I have a couple of nice spendy pens that I have been given over the years. And I sat down last month to write 20 Thank You cards to donors for a college fellowship I started. Typing and e-mails were not going to cut it.

Wish I could find an In-person class. Even retired teachers don’t know how to write good cursive any more.

So bring it on!!! I love the idea of this thread!!!

Sirhr

Even wondered if there is some kind of “week long penmanship boot camp” class out there… at an art colony or something. Would be a fun exercise!
And, calligraphy is a lost art.
 
Looks like a nice pen but at this price I’m guessing Chyna….


Pilot explorers with a pump converter are my everyday throw about fountain pens.

Most excellent to see this resurrected because I need to work on my penmanship. I switched to block printing in the mid 80’s when I started engineering school and was doing drawing. (No cad back then!)

My penmanship wasn’t great then. Now is appalling.

I have a couple of nice spendy pens that I have been given over the years. And I sat down last month to write 20 Thank You cards to donors for a college fellowship I started. Typing and e-mails were not going to cut it.

Wish I could find an In-person class. Even retired teachers don’t know how to write good cursive any more.

So bring it on!!! I love the idea of this thread!!!

Sirhr

Even wondered if there is some kind of “week long penmanship boot camp” class out there… at an art colony or something. Would be a fun exercise!

Get one of those grade school cursive books from scamazon. I keep a couple around for practice when I realize I’m starting to write like shit again.
 
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