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Video Killed the Radio Star…

September 18, 2012 By Lena

… and the Keyboard Killed my Penmanship.

As I’ve been trying to show Ryder how to write his name, I can’t help but notice that my penmanship SUCKS. This morning, as I watched him struggle with loops and lines, I thought to myself – “I’ve written about my crappy writing before, haven’t I?”

And so I hunted up this post from over two years ago. Sadly, my writing has now progressed from kind-of-sucky to sucks eggs.

– July 2010 –

I used to have the most stylized, idyllic cursive handwriting. Even as a young one, adults marveled at my perfect 75° right tilt and fluid curves. Little girls passed notes to me and wanted to be my friend. Boys looked at me and thought… “what a nerd”. (Two out of three isn’t bad.)

But now, after countless years of MS Word, e-mailing, texting – even using apps to assemble my grocery list – my handwriting strongly resembles that of an eleventh grade quarterback. In fact, I sometimes wonder if it’s possible to lose a skill entirely from lack of use, because it’s PAINFUL to write. My hand forgets what to do with a pen. The first few lines are generally passable, with minimal flair. Yes, I can actually form legible words.

By the second paragraph it looks like I had a stroke. The letters all mesh together and run off the page in a sloping line. Painful. And so I’ve adjusted to the sloppiness by keeping all greeting cards to a two-line minimum; no soul-baring notes from moi. When asked to fill out forms, I counter with “do you have a writable PDF version?” And given the choice of hand writing in a journal, disclosing all my secret hopes and dreams – or blogging for the entire world to see… well, I guess we know how that turned out.

What about you? Has your penmanship suffered?

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: cursive writing, fun, Lena

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. ~she~

    September 18, 2012 at 2:18 am

    I didn't realize it until I read your post but the same exact thing has happened to me! I still break out my calligraphy pen from time to time, but it's more artistry than penmanship. To find the silver lining, my typing speed has definitely improved. :)

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 6:52 pm

      See? There’s always a silver lining!

  2. Josie.K.

    September 18, 2012 at 2:18 am

    YES!!!! I kid you not, Lena, some kids got the Math or Science awards in school…not I, I got the awards for Penmanship, I'm not even kidding…diploma type awards granted to me, for writing so neat!!! and then I got old-er…my writing looks hideous, and when I tell people I got awards for the neatest handwriting in school, I'm sure they thought I went to school with all boys! haha! :-PI blame it on, emailing and shortforms…and honestly lack of time or patience to write neatly, these days!

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 6:53 pm

      “diploma type awards granted to me, for writing so neat” – OMG rolling on the floor!

  3. chinwhat

    September 18, 2012 at 3:13 am

    and spelling to. auto spell check maik brain lazie

  4. Sharon Navarro

    September 18, 2012 at 3:14 am

    Hahahah! With everyone migrating to computers and text messages, I've lamented the loss of paper messages, letters and snail mail (not bills). I too have nice penmanship and was lauded as a child and still am. I do keep up with my practice though. I try to make handmade cards and send handwritten notes. To entice myself to do this, I often buy beautiful stationary. There is nothing nicer than receiving a hand written note in the mail.

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 6:53 pm

      I love that you buy beautiful stationary to entice you to write handwritten notes. Must do this!

  5. Miriam

    September 18, 2012 at 3:22 am

    oh yes!!! At work, I find myself taking notes on the computer "notepad" – much neater and quicker than handwriting on post-its.

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 6:54 pm

      Hahaha I used the virtual sticky pad all the time!

  6. Soulla

    September 18, 2012 at 4:09 am

    This post seriously made me laugh out loud. I was saying the same thing to my husband (who also happened to be a quarterback in grade 11 – bahaha) a few months ago when I was writing out thank you cards for gifts we received for the baby. The first few were so neat, and then it just became atrocious. I was so disappointed.

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 6:54 pm

      It’s always like that, isn’t it? My hand physically hurts when I write out a card.

  7. Tania Smith

    September 18, 2012 at 11:01 am

    Oh yes. It’s quite normal although sad. Everything is being done electronically. No need to pick up a pen.
    I am wondering though how long before children no longer use pens or paper….will it ever happen??

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 6:55 pm

      I dunno Tania… my 4 year old is learning how to print AND use an iPad… shakes head…

  8. Kat E.

    September 18, 2012 at 1:37 pm

    YES! My signature now looks like I’m writing with an injured hand! I actually practiced it for a while before renewing my driver’s license – LOL

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 6:55 pm

      Hahaha I can’t believe you practiced it – that is hilarious!!!

  9. Lisa H

    September 18, 2012 at 1:59 pm

    My penmenship always sucked. Was so happy when I finished school and didnt have to really ‘write’ anymore. My style is some weird write/print morph and I have had the same illegible scrawled signature for 20 years. It didnt even have to change when I married and changed names! lol!

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 6:59 pm

      I see where you’re coming from because I’ve always had the weird write/print morph too! And LOL that your siggy didn’t even change!

  10. Shirley

    September 18, 2012 at 9:15 pm

    It definitely did. I can’t even sign my name properly!

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 6:59 pm

      Hahaha join the club!

  11. Victoria Ess

    September 18, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    Oh no, I hadn’t realized this until I read your post. I have some old binders from when I was in school and took notes by hand, and my penmanship is a far cry from what it was then. I feel so nostalgic!

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 7:00 pm

      I know. Sometimes I look at past binders with nostalgia because I adored my handwriting! Now.. not so much :(

  12. stacey dempsey

    September 19, 2012 at 12:34 am

    I cant even read my own writing anymore , I used to have nice penmanship but now… terrible

  13. Denise

    September 19, 2012 at 1:19 am

    I always print I can’t remember the last time I hand wrote

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 7:01 pm

      Stacey and Denise – more members for our lost penmanship club!

  14. Teresa M.

    September 20, 2012 at 2:02 pm

    You make me laugh…you have a such a wonderful sense of humour. Sitting here thinking that my sisters have lovely handwritting. I always found mine to be on the messy side…my daughter’s writing looks better than mine too! Plus, I hold my pen weird!! When I used to work at the bank, I could feel clients looking at my hand while writing out forms (that they could have filled out for themselves). I thought they were admiring my nails ( filled every 4 weeks and painted tart red as my Mum would say)…until I heard these words, “You hold your pen funny!”.

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 7:02 pm

      Aw, thank you Teresa. Though there’s nothing funny about my awful writing!!! AND LMAO at your bank story! I can almost picture it!

  15. Anne Taylor

    September 20, 2012 at 3:45 pm

    I got extra marks for my penmanship and the overall organization of my notebooks in school! Now……..not so much!

    • Lena

      September 21, 2012 at 7:03 pm

      This all sounds familiar!! LOL

  16. Melanie S

    October 1, 2012 at 5:05 pm

    Haha, it’s true for me as well. I had the a very unique, heavy metal-esque style of handwriting as a teenager, and now the best I can do is print all caps. Sure, it’s legible, but it’s BORING!! = )

    • Lena

      October 2, 2012 at 7:44 am

      Ooooh… “heavy metal-esque” – I do love the sound of that! Alas, I too have resorted to printing in caps now. It’s very uninspiring.

  17. Insane Mamacita

    October 1, 2012 at 9:50 pm

    I was going to write a post about this very thing!

    My handwriting is awful. And when I take notes for the courses I am doing (ones that require me to read a textbook and not a screen) my hand hurts just after half a page! So out of practice.

    • Lena

      October 2, 2012 at 7:44 am

      My hand hurts just thinking about you writing notes! Hang in there! :)

  18. mommaTang

    October 2, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    I totally know what you mean, though my handwriting is actually neat and curly but the printing is attrocious especially if I write too fast.

    • Lena

      October 3, 2012 at 7:40 am

      It’s like we’ve all lost our skills :(

  19. Laurie B

    October 19, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    Hahaha !! You hit this one right on the nose! Had a good little chuckle at your ‘second paragraph’ comment because it is so true LOL My handwriting is AWFUL! lol I use to write and be able to read it. Since I broke my hand last year, I think my 8 year old daughter write better than I can.

  20. Emilia

    October 29, 2013 at 6:15 pm

    yeah, I can do better myself. I am going to practice up a bit. I will do this with my grand daughter

  21. Emilia

    January 22, 2015 at 3:11 pm

    I never mastered nice penmanship. Now my grandson is learning and is very frustrated at 8. I remember the teaching telling me “shake the hand & touch the tail. This is the advise I am telling him, he likes it

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Lena Almeida

Toronto Blogger, Social Media Strategist for Listen to Lena Inc. Television & Radio Personality, Columnist and Speaker. Family Travel Expert. Star Wars Fanatic. Perfecting the Art of Conversuasion. Read More…

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