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Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"
- Thread starter B-string
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He shouldn't otter've been there.One of life's little necessities - body disposal. Yeah, meek old me has to do it occasionally.Okay, it wasn't human, so technically, it was a carcass. I noticed upon my return from a grocery run, one of the local fox had expired overnight. I'm getting over a cold and not in a mood to deal with it, but it's relocated to another bit of unused real estate where the carrion eaters can feast on it. The last disposal was a few years ago. I never did figure out why that river otter was so far from the river...
- Oct 22, 2015
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- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
The steel nib is another one of those "sliced bread" things. A scrivener's day is a dreary one as it is.
Command of the pen [quill, dip pen, whatever ... reliable fountain pens only became available circa 1900] meant a good living for some. Ordinary people hired them to prepare documents they could not produce themselves. Typically those were legal documents.
Education reform meant more or less everybody learned basic penmanship. The Palmer Method was one of those trends. Earlier generations learned hand like Spencerian for everyday use. These days Spencerian is limited to hobbyists. And it's a steel nib whut gets the job done.
When I was in school, they taught penmanship. First pencil, but then a nib pen. Desks were slanted, we were taught how to form a letter, down strokes, never up. Once you could letter, you were taught to write. It had to look proper. To this day, I print more than write and numbers are always properly scrolled. Several years later, the instruction was repeated in drafting class. Some special steel nibs were used there to ink lines.
I've tried quill feather pens but it's been many years. The video brought back some memories of carving the pen.
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Anyone wants exotic quills, let me know. I have more than a few feathers. Btw...a friend brought me a pen made from a feather from one of the ravens at the Tower of London....kinda cool.
It is cool. Those ravens draw visitors from far and wide.....
Legend says that the kingdom and the Tower will fall if the six resident ravens ever leave the fortress. It was Charles II, according to the stories, who first insisted that the ravens of the Tower should be protected.
Legend says that the kingdom and the Tower will fall if the six resident ravens ever leave the fortress. It was Charles II, according to the stories, who first insisted that the ravens of the Tower should be protected.
...and I note that they are taking no chances with that. The feather I have is a primary flight from a right wing (no Tory jokes, please), and is clipped.
Sad that they made the pen a ballpoint, but, what can you do? Pace, Morrighan.
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- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,170
- 257,159
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
While I feel writing with a ball point to be an unsatisfactory experience, the public at large is largely grateful for a relatively hassle-free analog wand. We certainly had kids in my class for whom handwriting class was - shall we say? - not to their taste. Slanted wooden desks, holes for inkwells used within living memory of my primary school teachers .... We took our blue desk pens from a box, and returned them at lesson's end.
Boys who took drafting learned to letter precisely.
The steel quill nib is difficult for me to control. The nib can pick up cotton fiber from the paper, too. Mostly when I see a quill pen in a shop (like a bookseller), it's a ballpoint with a feather.
Boys who took drafting learned to letter precisely.
The steel quill nib is difficult for me to control. The nib can pick up cotton fiber from the paper, too. Mostly when I see a quill pen in a shop (like a bookseller), it's a ballpoint with a feather.
Writing is not one of my favourite things to do. My hands shake so much what I have written becomes hard to read. Signing my name is something I have to think about while writing. 
We were taught one font for consistency on blueprints, very plain, clear, sans serif.
Architects tend to limit their fonts, some are associated with their work, like a fingerprint.
Architects tend to limit their fonts, some are associated with their work, like a fingerprint.
Hmmm. That's my 5th grade experience, precisely. Each slanted top attached to the back of the seat in front of it. Someone had started making a "fountain pen" that used an ink cartridge, but Mrs. Ryan forbade them. Understand, this was a one room country school with kerosene lights, oil heater, outhouses, and a big stoneware container for drinking water. Date was 1958. Building dated from the Civil War, and was pressed into service again when the baby boomers hit school. It's a museum exhibit now.
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When discussing those vernerable, slanted top school desks, keep in mind their vast utility - they also served as bomb and nuclear disater shelters, too.
Bend over at the waist, cover your head, and kiss your keester goodbye.
Those typists all look alike.
We had a school with three classrooms for grades 1-8. I recall practicing duck and cover when the air raid siren up on the tower was tested. You'd whack your head on the bottom of the desk when getting up.
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