As far as international days go, International Handwriting Day is a nice reminder of a fading art. Generally, I mean. I know there must be other people who enjoy writing with a pen on a piece or paper and telling others about it, but I don’t think we’re generating numbers for that crowd.
I can’t remember the last time someone asked me “Can I borrow a pen?”. And I have a lot of pens too. In fact I was given another as recently as Christmas. I’m probably the ideal person to ask that.
I’m writing this on a keyboard, it’s a more direct route to the computer, but I could have written it longhand too. You may have been more keen to look at the handwritten page for an aesthetic scrutiny of the squiggles and shapes. You wouldn’t even need to read the text. You can’t say that about typewritten text.
Actually, you can.
Visitors’ Book entries for book cover design exhibition c1992. I have published these already, but I enjoy seeing them. Most of these entries are from school groups who visited the exhibition and the pages reflect the chaos that often accompanies enthusiastic groups of kids on a school excursion. I’ve said it before, but if I ever run into you in the street, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, you better be prepared to defend yourself.