Handwriting in the news
In an attempted bank robbery in Colorado.
In an attempted bank robbery in Colorado
Goodbye, George Washington’s signature
Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland is changing its logo to something more readable. So it’s goodbye to George Washington’s signature.
Fran Lebowitz at the Morgan Library
“When you look at manuscripts or letters and they’re written in the hand of the writer, you are closer to that writer, you’re closer to the person”
Cursive Peanuts
Peppermint Patty snores in cursive.
Handwriting vs. typing
Old news by now, I’d say, but still news: “Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning” (NPR).
“Cursive Letters”
From xkcd.
“Writer-y”
From Zits.
Nerves, arms, hands
Three exercises to alleviate arm nerve pain (YouTube). On a related note, The Washington Post has an article about the effect of device use on fine motor skills, including handwriting (gift link).
A message on an egg
A handwritten message on an egg, and, seventy-two years later, a reply.
“My little right paw”
From E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr.
Dictée writ large
“In France, the time-honored tradition of the dictée — or dictation — is alive and well. Recently, 1,700 desks were set up on the Champs Élysées in Paris for the world’s largest dictée session.”
“Office fritters”?
There comes a time when one throws up one’s hands in the face of one’s handwriting.
Longhand and a Smith-Corona
Robert Caro slows down the work of writing.
“The power of good penmanship”
From Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer.
Handwriting, again
This article appears to be the one for which the Times solicited samples of bad handwriting last October.
Thank you
“Do thank-you notes still matter?” The New York Times says “Yes.”
Really bad handwriting
Mine.
Call for bad handwriting
The New York Times wants to see your bad handwriting, for possible use in an article about grown-ups whose handwriting has gone awry.
Cursive at Harvard
In The Atlantic, Drew Gilpin Faust says that her students can’t read or write cursive writing.
At the REC
At the last Remote Encoding Center: How the USPS reads terrible handwriting.
Can you read this handwriting?
What was my great-grandfather’s work?
National Handwriting Day
From Kiss of Death (dir. Henry Hathaway, 1947), fictional proof that handwriting opens doors.
The Grapes of Wrath, handwritten
The Guardian reports on the publication of John Steinbeck’s handwritten manuscript of The Grapes of Wrath.
Dr. Biden’s handwriting
It’s excellent.
Criminal handwriting
“Man’s handwriting was so bad Eastbourne bank staff didn’t know he was trying to rob them.”
Cursive in Maine
The New York Times reports on cursive handwriting in a Maine school.
A letter from Oliver Sacks
To Austin Kleon. And it’s handwritten. Bonuses: the note-taking effort that prompted the letter, and a tour of Sacks’s desk.
Write this down
“A study of Japanese university students and recent graduates has revealed that writing on physical paper can lead to more brain activity when remembering the information an hour later.”
Barack Obama, writing by hand
“I still like writing things out in longhand, finding that a computer gives even my roughest drafts too smooth a gloss and lends half-baked thoughts the mask of tidiness.”
Cursive is good for you
Psychology Today reports on new research suggesting that cursive is good for your brain.