Writing by Hand is Good for your Brain – Here’s how to do it — Neal Stephenson
Because I am known to write using a fountain pen on paper, a number of people have pointed me to this post and its underlying research. I won’t rehash what is said in those sources, but the gist of it is that when you write things down by hand you’re recruiting more of your brain, which is a good thing.
An idea: buy one good wooden pencil and one metal sharpener that fits the palm.
Source: The Pencil | Hunter Gatherer 21C
A couple weeks ago, I decided I wanted to start keeping a film journal to track my increasingly frequent movie watching. Previously, I’d just been keeping a running list of the films I’d watched, but a log, I figured, would give this pursuit a greater sense of intentionality and focus. Searches for “fountain pen–friendly film journals” and similar terms turned up little in the way of results. Removing the fountain pen qualification, of course, drastically broadened the scope, and there’s no end of movie logs to choose from.
I liked the look and features of this A24 Movie Log, but nowhere on the website was there any information about the type or quality of the interior paper, nor could I find any reviews from other fountain pen users. So I took a chance and purchased the log, and I’m happy to report that the paper is indeed quite fountain pen friendly. There’s a fair amount of ghosting, but zero bleed and only the tiniest bit of feathering. Sheen and shimmer show up just fine.
Now if someone has the same questions I did about this notebook’s paper quality, hopefully they’ll be able to find this post.
College instructor turns to typewriters to curb AI-written work | AP News
“Everything slows down. It’s like back in the old days when you really did one thing at a time. And there was joy in doing it,” said Phelps, who brings in her two children, aged 7 and 9, to serve as “tech support” and ensure no one has their phones out.
More of this please. What we believe in.
Today, I’m launching a new line of business: Penumbra Print Shop, a manufacturer of stationery with interesting capabilities. Why stationery? Because I find myself compelled by print products that are not just “for one thing”, but open to many surprising uses. Because stationery can be so clever, so beautiful. Because last year I read The Notebook by Roland Allen, and it blew my mind!
A new line of stationary products in a way only Robin Sloan could dream up. Charming and delightful. The whole darn thing. An act of love to everything we believe in here.
At my demo, Google told me the idea was to make journaling easier — much in the way that Gemini simplifies other writing tasks, like emails and document summaries. Sometimes, I was told, it can be hard to know what you should journal about. Looking back can also be difficult. The point of Gemini in this instance was to make life a little more convenient and helpful.
That’s nice, except journaling isn’t supposed to be easy or convenient.
Ask any writer: a blank page is meant to be wrestled with. And in journaling, the only prompt you ever need is “What happened today and how do I feel about that?”
What we believe in.
An advertisement for Royal Typewriters from Life Magazine, January 6, 1941.
In Praise of Pencils – MacSparky
Overall, there’s an appealing simplicity to pencils. There’s no cables or batteries or sync issues—you just pick it up and write.
For the sake of clarity, I’ll be addressing the majority of the typewriter sales in the secondary market which are broadly the most common typewriters made for the commercial market after about 1925. Most of these were manufactured in the realm of hundreds of thousands to several millions each and are thus decidedly not rare.
In celebration of International Typewriter Day (which is today), Chris has put together this very useful guide and consideration for anyone interested in purchasing, repairing, and maintaining one.