Merlins Tower

Free Handwriting Practice Paper

Posted on January 16th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Craft, Freeware, Hack, Journaling, Notetaking, Tutorial, Web Service.

Greetings Everyone - a loyal reader Dave was kind enough to send this tip for  to me to share with the rest of the readers. It is where to get a PDF of handwriting practice paper. It is designed for children but can be quite useful when you want to practice your new found love of cursive or italic handwriting. Note if your printer can do it print it 2 per sheet to allow you a smaller line for more adult sized writing ** Great Tip Dave  - THANKS**

The Paper is available here - just save out the PDF file to your computer and you will be good to go. (Sounds like a Taco Bell Commercial)

Now I didn't print this our for myself by upon inspection this paper is similar to that is included in the back of the write now book. I can see using this when I get a new fountain pen and just want to play with how the nib works and writes without scribbling in my journal.

Technorati Tags: Fountain+Pen, Fountain, pen, Ink, writing, free, worksheet, pdf, print, practice, help, guide, cursive, handwriting, writing

1 comment.

Fountain Pen Care and Feeding: Handwriting Improvement

Posted on December 26th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Craft, Hack, Journaling, Notetaking.

So, you received a fountain pen from Santa for Christmas and now you realize the reason you mostly use email for all of your communications as even you can not read your own handwriting even 5 mins after you wrote it down? Well in the continuation of the Fountain Pen Care and Feeding Series - Todays topic is how to use your fountain pen for the greater good or how to improve your handwriting. Bad Handwriting can be extremely bad for all (Check out this Article on how much damage bad handwriting does to the medical industry - Via CNN Or This article)

 I personally have used and like what I have learned from The Write-Now Course on Handwriting - Here is one of the many reviews on Amazon about this handwriting course:

It's Never Too Late to Change Your Handwriting,  Reviewer: A reader
Like so many others, I learned the standard "ball and stick" print style of handwriting and progressed to the "looped" cursive style when I was in grade school–and I got very high marks in penmanship. By high school I could write fastest in cursive, but I was taking notes so fast it became illegible. Somehow I made it through graduate school taking notes fast and figuring out what I wrote later. Ever since then, I've chosen the computer over handwriting as much as possible. (Not to mention the "looped" cursive isn't very masculine.)

Enter "Write Now". What a great book! "Write Now" teaches a style of handwriting called Italic (meaning "from Italy"). My first thought was that this was some "new" style and couldn't be as good as the "basics" I was taught. Turns out, what I was taught is the "new" style (19th century) and Italic is the more traditional (16th century). It is the style that was used by Leonardo Da Vinci and Michaelangelo.

Italic focuses on efficiency, ergonomics, legibility, and speed. It easily transitions from print to cursive to calligraphy with little change in the way you write the characters. "Write Now" is broken into three sections: 1) Basic Italic (print) 2) Cursive Italic and 3) Edged Pen Italic (calligraphy). With good explanations and illustrations, it is a pleasure to learn a new style of handwriting.

"Write Now" is geared towards adults (or teens) and presents a "cartoon's guide" to the history of handwriting throughout–a good reference even if you don't want to improve your handwriting. The author's are veteran educators and have produced an entire series of books on Italic handwriting to take kids from kindergarten through grade school. They are also in very high demand for in-house hospital seminars to those who most desparately need handwriting help–doctors. :-)

I recommend this book highly. My handwriting has already improved. I actually look for reasons throughout the day to use my new skills. If you're like me, don't pass this one up.

 But if you are not looking to purchase a book on how to improve your handwriting you can get some tips from the following websites such as the article "Handwriting Tips" on PaperPenalia.
Most of the other sites I found on Handwriting are usually geared towards youth such as "Draw Your World" Page on Handwriting. But still you can get some good information from it as well. 

But perhaps you thought a fountain pen was going to "Make you write Fancy" well that fancy handwriting has a name - Calligraphy - and actually requires a special nib or ink pen for Calligraphy Writing called an italic nib and comes in various styles. Yes, you can still use a regular pen or fountain pen and follow the instructions for italic handwriting (I again like the directions in the Write Now Book) But if you would like some additional instructions on Calligraphic Writing check out the PDF located at the bottom of Handwriting for Kids Page Or you can check out the Italic Handwriting Page from Studio Arts Page. But to learn more about Calligraphy and explore more web pages with Calligraphy (Which BTW Means Beautiful Handwriting) would be the 42 Explore Page.

TAGS: Handwriting Italic Penmanship calligraphy fountain pen fountain+pen writing free course info

3 comments.

Fountain Pen Use and Schools

Posted on December 13th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Notetaking.

Saw this story that I had to share about fountain pens. It seems there is a school located in Edinburgh Scottland that REQUIRES their students to use a fountain pen for their work. Yes, the Mary Erskine and Stewart's Melville Junior School in Scotland has returned to teaching students the neglected art of writing with a fountain pen, though the school does still teaches computer and other high tech skills the school teaches the use and handwriting skills. The schools principal stated that the 1200 students have better academic scores and more self-esteem - also stated was that the students concentration and handwriting skills have improved. 

Principal Bryan Lewis stated that "The pens improve the quality of work because they force the children to take care, and better work improves self-esteem, Proper handwriting is as relevant today as it ever has been." And the students seem to agree. And it is not just the students using the Fountain Pens all new teachers are required to take a handwriting and fountain pen usage class.

It was mentioned in the article that they teach a handwriting style that was developed to help prevent smudging for both left and right handed writers. I would really love to see a sample sheet or guide to this style of writing. Anyone have a link - I could not find one anywhere.

To Read the whole article just click your mouse button here. 

Link to Mary Erskine and Stewart School 

TAGS: Fountain Pens Fountain+Pens School Handwriting Required

0 comments.

Stikkit - A New Way to Organize Online

Posted on December 3rd, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Computing, Consulting, Email, Freeware, GTD, Hack, Notetaking, Web Service.

Stikkit.com - A new online organizer in Beta testing.

First a little Blurb from Stikkit:

Stikkit gives you the digital equivalent of a sticky note: the easiest thing you can grab to jot down an idea or reminder. As you type, Stikkit watches for appointments, to-dos, people, bookmarks and more, magically extracting and organizing the important details. It's like having a personal assistant following along after you.

What does this mean to you? Well after taking the 2 mins that it took to signup and activate your account you can start using it right away - Press the Shift-ALT-N and you get a nice blank note to type something in?

Meeting with Vet for Java for Shots on Jan 22 2007 3pm @VET @JAVA @APPOINTMENT

This created a Appointment (1-22-2007 @ 3pm) And Tagged the note with 3 different TAGS VET, JAVA, Appointment  

Whats nice it that it integrated the Notes with Appointments and  Tagging System

BOB SMITH 212-555-1212 bobsmith@yeahright.com 

This Created a Peep (Contact) with his contact info in there.

You can also visit the setting page for your Stikkit Account and they will give you a Secret Email address that you can add to your cellphone and then when out on the road you can Text an Apointment, Note, etc to your account.

Plus say you are visiting a webpage and wanted to jot a note about something you saw? Well if you already created a shortcut on your bookmark toolbar  you can press it and it will automatically note the page/time and Whatever notes you want to store on stikkit page.

Each Section of your stikkit has its own RSS feed. So you can read your contacts, appointments or general Notes in your RSS Reader.

Plus if you turned on the SMS feature of Stikkit it can sent you an SMS message when you have an appointment. 

TAGS: STIKKIT stickit note todo calendar organizer online sms email organization

0 comments.

New Levengers Product - Wallet Writers

Posted on November 19th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, GTD, Gadgets, Journaling, Leather, Notetaking.

They have done it again - Another innovative product from Levengers. The Wallet Writer - It gives your wallet a place for you to write on. Basically it look like it is a mini version of the International Shirt Pocket Briefcase that now fits in your back pocket.

I really like this idea as there are times I don't carry my International Shirt Pocket Briefcase with me. It is rare but there are times that it is just not necessary to have with me. But then I need to take a few notes - Too hard to do on a napkin and way too easy to loose, Can't write on my business card as they are double sided and full color glossy. Now this products comes to the rescue. You are now guaranteed a place and means to write down the notes you needed to remember - Such as a book you wanted to read, a persons name and email, a street address or what ever strikes you at the moment of revelation. I know I find it much easier to use this analog way - Pencil / Pen and paper then taking notes or tidbits of info and putting it into an electronic device.

From what I read the cards are the same stock as their cards for the Shirt Pocket Briefcase - Which in my humble opinion are really nice quality and I use them all the time. These cards have a grid design on one side and rule lines on the other. I would prefer they were grid design on both sides. - The wallet comes with 50 cards and the refills are 300 cards for $18 dollars - again not a bad price for the quality of the cards.

Levenger's makes the wallet in three different styles - Billfod style for men, a compact snap style for women, and a business card holder for unisex. Of course these are made of their high quality soft full-grain leather in a range of different colors (Black, Red and Toffee). The prices for these range from $42 to $58 - $42 for the Card Wallet Writer, and $58 for either of the men's or women's wallet version. The Photo above is of the Card Wallet Writer.

If anyone is using one of these please use the comment section as I would love to hear what you think of yours.  Or if you have any other suggestions or ideas on this let me know.

Merlin

Tags:  Levenger wallet briefcase business+card Index+Card index card business note notetaking portable analog

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