How's Your Day? Archives

Some times you do not throw grenades.. you deliver them:signs136

 

well, if you can get my favorite postman to deliver them....<insert eviler laugh here...>

 

BULLY!!!!

 

:happy102

 

Don't worry, Jen. I understood most of it.

However, the thought of being pistol-whipped by a gunmage now makes me giggle. :happy102

 

I have everything from prior to 1920 through to the present pink Breast Cancer Jotter. I continued to add new pens as they became available. All are in original packaging (if they came in packages/boxes) and never opened or used. The only likely rare ones are the 3 prototype pens that were never marketed. My Uncle worked for Parker and so did one of my Aunts on the other side of the family. Both relatives gave me the pens they had. I use modern Parkers nearly exclusively. The cartidge fountain is one of my fav pens and I own more pens than I can ever write with. But then again....I own more razors than I can shave with too

 

BULLY...

 

Very cool, Pam. Heirloom pens are even better (IMHO) than heirloom razors because they can be used more frequently and more than one at a time is useful. I guess this isn't quite so true of mint, boxed, unused pens, nor or prototypes.

I'd still love to see pictures sometime, if you ever feel like it. I'm a big Parker fan, especially of the early (pre-Duofold) button fillers and eyedroppers. Vacs and "51" pens are great too, and some of the 1920'splastic is spectacular. Your jotter collection sounds like a ton of fun.

I certainly have more pens than I can possible use (maybe ~300 or so at last count). I believe I can now say I have almost more razors than I can use too. That doesn't keep me from hunting for more though


Really going in to shave now... report forthcoming before too long.

 

Drive that razor careful!

With the computer/printer, writing anything by hand has become obsolete. Schools rarely even teach handwriting anymore. Keyboarding is what the kids learn now. I'll get some pen porn pics up one day soon. The proto pens are cool! Parker employees were also given pens never mass produced for the public, IE: Xmas editions - usually in different colors and/or with a different style nib/point than those available to the public. I was given 74 Parker pens (I'm the family pack-rat) and have added many more. I also have some boxed pen/pencil sets, boxed caligraphy sets, etc. I have never counted all of them. I should do that some rainy afternoon! I would guess that some of the seals in the older pens have deteriorated over the years. I don't consider myself an actual "collector", as I don't seek "new" old Parkers to add. I find the pens from the 20's the most distinctive. Parker went from a quiet, stylish pen to bold and loud. Matched the times very well. It's interesting to note that once again, Parker has gone bold and loud with the lime green and hot pink Vector and Jotter editions.

 

Good Sunday to you peeps. Today is shaping up to be a better day. Plus I've got the next two off so that helps. Gotta take the missus to get her G.I. scoped on Tues though. She's having lots of stomach difficulties lately. The procedure doesn't sound like much fun, but loyal hubby will be there to comfort.

So I was watching a Fatboy on Ebay. That place really is a joke now you know. There is no sense even placing bids until the last 60 secs. and then it's just a flurry of activity as everyone rapid fires bids, everyone hoping they will be the last bid before it closes. If your computer screen doesn't refresh quickly enough you're toast. I suppose for some people it's a thrill, but it's just a giant PITA to me. I'm gonna start checking the BST.

 

I almost forgot... the freaking town had a zoo so my druid could have seen some new animals but the pirate destroyed everything and the army is coming so it's a little late now

 

Hey Shep,

Know what you mean about ebay. I haven't tried buying a razor there yet (but will someday). The only way to go is with a sniping program. There are a bunch out there. Just put in your top end bid and let it go. Either you get it or you don't. It can be frustrating sometimes. I don't know how many times I've set the price point on a pen when being out-sniped by one bidder. It's probably still better pickin's than hunting antique stores, but not nearly as much fun. I'm in the market for an E2 Fatboy in nice shape (my birth quarter) and will probably try a WTB on the forums when I'm ready.

Glad you're having a better day today. Hope Mrs. Shep has an easy time of it on Tuesday and that whatever's going on is simple to correct. Sometimes it sucks not being twentysomething anymore. Good for you for hanging out with her while she goes through it.

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Pam,

You've piqued my interest now for sure. What a fun family treasure you inherited! It's really great that they went to someone that appreciates them and gives them the gentle care they deserve. A lot of folks would have thrown them to the wolves on ebay or just tossed them. Looking forward to the pen porn. BTW, I'm carrying an Azure Blue Q3'45 Vacumatic Major today, filled with Omas Blue. :happy005

It's a crying shame that handwriting is so neglected in schools these days (I'll bet that's not so in your classroom though). I've always been able to tell the age of most people by looking at their handwriting, but it's becoming more difficult now as the hand of most twentysomethings looks a bit worse than that of most third graders. My folks both had a very neat hand and my grandparents' writing was even more practiced and flowing. I've worked on mine all my life (grade school in the 60's - we learned cursive, but were told to 'just do whatever I can read' by 6th grade or so. My wife, who's 9 years younger than me has handwriting that looks like (her words, not mine) it belongs to a serial killer.

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Okay - the Micromatic Shave:

Bullet Tip Micromatic (PIF'd from Pam)
Pal Super Single blade (also PIF'd from Pam)
T&H East Indian LIme with Conk's Lime and Glycerine in an Uberlather
Cold splash and Plain'ol' Witch Hazel to close and cool
AQUA VELVA ICE BLUE (yeah, baby) to finish it off

I got a very nice shave with this. Yes, it's aggressive and the blade wasn't as sharp as the Feathers and 7 O'Clock Blacks I usually use, but all in all it came out great. It's of easy to use to much pressure (had to concentrate), but it was comfortable and close. Used the Palmolive stick before the last pass to lube things up nicely - that helped a bunch. I couldn't do enough passes to get BBS, but I think that as my technique improves that won't be the case.

Could definitely feel the 'power of the Velva' :scared002 at the end, but no nicks or razor burn. Nice shave - I like it! This makes me want to try other SE's. I know there's a lather catcher in one of the local shops - will have to hunt it down one of these weekends.

 

I checked, but I've got two E4 and not an E2 - Sorry. Condition isn't the best on one of them as well.

My handwriting has always been terrible and I don't think it has anything to do with my teachers in elementary school and junior high. However, I had classes in high school that I failed due only to handwriting. My French & world history teacher (It was a small school and the only language in the school was French and world history was required to graduate) was very particular on handwriting. Every answer must be written in cursive. If a single letter was made incorrectly the word was spelled wrong. If one word was spelled wrong the entire answer was wrong. If the answer was wrong, the entire paper was wrong. My parents didn't believe me and when they called to confirm my story, she told my mother that she was only wasting time on me. Being from KY, I had no chance to succeed in her class. As a result, my cursive didn't improve, but I developed a hatred of French, history, and cursive writing that lasted for many years.

 

Thanks for looking , Justin - that was very kind of you!

Sad story about handwriting. Reminds me of friends with swollen knuckles in datholic schools that were forced to learn cursive.

<rant>

I think the decline of handwriting is more of a cultural/time anomaly than anything (like a computer related thing, as many would call it). A long time ago, a person's handwriting represented their character (say in the 1880's through the 1950's). My grandparents didn't have much in the way of material possessions, but they could read and write and their handwriting was beautiful. It was a matter of pride for them. Much like keeping a clean house or paying the bills on time - it's just what folks did.

Now though, it's much different and teachers have a hard time finding ways to encourage students to learn to develop a decent hand. The teacher you describe should have been taken out and horsewhipped. If it's not fun or meaningful, who's ever going to put in the effort to practice and learn it well? You're sure not to blame for the latent French History and Cursive Writing PTSD. Did you ever consider sending her a a letter composed with cut-out letters from a magazine? :happy102​

</rant>

 

Well, I grew up in the pre-computer keyboard world and had cursive writing classes in grade school. I never was good at it. Couldn't draw my letters pretty then and still can't. When forced to write today I generally print letters. Even those look pretty bad. When I remember back to b-day cards and whatnot from my paternal grandmother her writing was pretty bad too. I think it's a left brain/right brain kind of thing. Thank God for typing and keyboards I say!

 

Now that you mention it, reading my grandmothers writing was a struggle and a half.

Some of my students have beautiful handwriting, others are just as sloppy as mine, some are worse. In my opinion it depends as much as the kid as anything else. I have also ready research that suggests that we we have students learn a second model of handwriting too soon after introducing print and that possibly we introduce print too soon for many students. But then again, brain research states a lot of things that are completely contradictory to the national pressures on education.

 

back from fishing and have the grill going....of course, we didn't catch anything, we're grilling burgers.... did find a baby snake, though...got pics, will post later...I believe it to be in the pine snake family, although it could be in the garter snake family, too, although we found a garter snake looking snake, too, and the markings on the baby resemble more of the pine snake family of snakes ....:happy088

my handwriting seems to be worsening over the years.... it's a bit of a hybrid between cursive and print, depending on the letters, words, and my mood. I have the type of handwriting that changes as I write....one page can look like 3 or 4 different people wrote it.....heck, sometimes even one paragraph!

 

Yeah, my handwriting resembles that of a serial killer too. Just NOT good.

 

So in other words... we have a bunch of razor crazy people with the hand writing of serial killers! Woo Hoo.. Then there are a few of the HYD crew with perfect handwriting. They must be overcompensating.

 

Is there somebody/anybody in here with perfect handwriting?

Mine's a cross between cursive and printing and is neither perfect nor even very good looking. It is legible. I've studied Chancery Cursive using an edged nib, and have done a little bit of OP (ornamental penmanship) practice. My dailiy handwriting is fairly inconsistent, like many folks my age. It changes based on how much practice I'm getting and I'm not always true to any set of letterforms, but rather mix them. When I journal every day it improves. When I slow down just a bit and think, it improves. My wife thinks I've got great handwriting, but it's probalby only because she can read it 5 minutes after it hits the paper. My son, who's almost 21, has kind of shaky, uneven printing (doesn't use cursive, although he knows how) but it's improving over the last couple of years to the point where it's at least readable.

One thing I know for sure about handwriting is that it takes dedicated practice to improve. It's just not important enough to most folks to do that, although I think if people knew how little it really took, most would give it a shot.