Gentlemen:
I love "penning" drafts in pencil. What pencils do you prefer? What are your thoughts about Pacific Music Writer's Magic Writer Pencil?
I "pen" much on the computer, but it is always refreshing and rewarding to sit down with a blank piece of paper before you and a good pencil in hand. The beauty of such an instrument is that an eraser is attached. Not just any old pencil will do though.
Happy Thoughts!
Trey
Pencils
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storeynicholas
Trey wrote:Gentlemen:
I love "penning" drafts in pencil. What pencils do you prefer? What are your thoughts about Pacific Music Writer's Magic Writer Pencil?
I "pen" much on the computer, but it is always refreshing and rewarding to sit down with a blank piece of paper before you and a good pencil in hand. The beauty of such an instrument is that an eraser is attached. Not just any old pencil will do though.
Happy Thoughts!
Trey
My favourite pencil is orange and trianglular. On one side it reads: The Cornish Mines Supplies Co Ltd and then Builders' Merchants, St Austell 2323 and then Penzance 3951, Plymouth 61149. It was given to me by an old man who worked there when I was around 5 years old and I still remember how pleased I was with this unexpected gift. It sits in a pencil box, which contains all sorts of things - including: a button hook, an American, silver, dip pen, small bull dog clips, picture hooks, paper clips, a pebble from a Cornish beach, a key to my parents' house, other pencils from around the same time and more recent ones - including one advertizing L'Hotel in Sao Paulo, a watch case, a horn suit button, a pair of nail clippers, two uncut Rowney pencils, a book mark, a plastic propelling pencil (advertizing the singular merits of some excellent banker), a book of matches from the Copacabana Palace Hotel, a PIA emergency sewing kit - and that dust which such collections always attract.
NJS.
I use any pencil, as long as it is short enough to fit in this old holder.
Incidently, Goethe found it more practical to write with a pencil rather than with a pen.
Incidently, Goethe found it more practical to write with a pencil rather than with a pen.
Gentlemen:
Whoa! Two unbelievable replies. I feel that I should snail mail my pencil written reply to you and await your pencil written snail mailed reply in a few weeks. It's good to see that, despite our modern conveniences, the pencil still lives!
Trey
Whoa! Two unbelievable replies. I feel that I should snail mail my pencil written reply to you and await your pencil written snail mailed reply in a few weeks. It's good to see that, despite our modern conveniences, the pencil still lives!
Trey
I confess I don't use pens much these days - I use a fountain pen to write and I hardly ever draw a sketch. But I remember that what I liked most in school years was sharpening my pencil (and the smell of fresh wood) before I set to write something. It was a moment of preparation that helped me concentrate - someting you don't have with a mechanical pen or roller ball. I used to prefer soft leads.
I too like pencil for most brainstorming, sketching, and daily record-keeping activities, and I've become quite accustomed to a good technical pencil with some heft. While a traditional drafting lead and leadholder are the most sensuous, they require sharpening too frequently for convenience, so now I carry a 0.5mm Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic in my planner/notebook. The weight and balance make it hard for me to go back to the old wooden style, nostalgic and fragrant as it is. But when I need to use the edge for shading a drawing, out it comes . . . .
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storeynicholas
I think that pencils and fountain or dip pens bring us into closer contact with what we are drawing or writing - far closer than felt tips and ballpoint/roller pens - echoing marcelo's other thread on letter writing - of course, the computer takes us furthest away from our creations - although it does bring us hours of pleasant conversation!
NJS
NJS
Yes, one can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead ["led"]...or something like that.
Yes, pencils are fine, whether wood or metal, draft or technical; biro, roller ball, fountain pens are all grand, too; mechanical keys and ink ribbons; LED, LCD, gas plasma screens and electronic keyboards - I use them all. What interests me is the way that people become slaves to one method of writing...and, hence, of thinking.
When I taught in the university I was often bemused when graduate students would say that they couldn't write on paper with a pencil or pen, but instead needed a computer keyboard. "I'm not used to thinking that way," they would say.
An illuminating answer, indeed...
Yes, pencils are fine, whether wood or metal, draft or technical; biro, roller ball, fountain pens are all grand, too; mechanical keys and ink ribbons; LED, LCD, gas plasma screens and electronic keyboards - I use them all. What interests me is the way that people become slaves to one method of writing...and, hence, of thinking.
When I taught in the university I was often bemused when graduate students would say that they couldn't write on paper with a pencil or pen, but instead needed a computer keyboard. "I'm not used to thinking that way," they would say.
An illuminating answer, indeed...
Gentlemen:
My Pacific Music Pagers "Magic Writer"'s arrived today. They are most excellent pencils. I highly recommend them.
They indeed bring back memories from a too long ago time. I miss the days of going to the pencil sharpener in the classroom and sharpening my pencil. I do not, however, miss all the standardized tests I had to take in which I had to always remember to "bring two number two pencils."
Trey
My Pacific Music Pagers "Magic Writer"'s arrived today. They are most excellent pencils. I highly recommend them.
They indeed bring back memories from a too long ago time. I miss the days of going to the pencil sharpener in the classroom and sharpening my pencil. I do not, however, miss all the standardized tests I had to take in which I had to always remember to "bring two number two pencils."
Trey
Dear Trey
Would you share with us some images of your Pacific Music Pagers "Magic Writer"'. I really cannot quite figure out how they look like.
Would you share with us some images of your Pacific Music Pagers "Magic Writer"'. I really cannot quite figure out how they look like.
Excellent point. This, along with the "check the right answer" system of examination instead of an essay written in 2 hours in the classroom, is the undoing of the modern system of education in my view. Putting pen to paper involves organizing one's ideas BEFORE writing them down.garu wrote:What interests me is the way that people become slaves to one method of writing...and, hence, of thinking.
When I taught in the university I was often bemused when graduate students would say that they couldn't write on paper with a pencil or pen, but instead needed a computer keyboard. "I'm not used to thinking that way," they would say.
An illuminating answer, indeed...
Imagine the student who can't write a page with a pen having to give a speech, a lecture, make a presentation or even narrate a simple story...
This is particularly true in mathematics. When we have seized the idea behind an answer, writing it down correctly is more than half the battle, and requires almost the greater training. Half the time spent with students on work is correcting arguments which conceal their own validity, and bottle up the clean line of thought struggling to get out.
The incision of mathematical notation, compacting powerful abstractions into single symbols, makes the exact ordering of thoughts double crucial, and harder than when writing in prose. I doubt that students at any time have been able to write good maths when arriving at university; rather, I suspect that the standard is rising, in contrast to the decline in essay standards I hear commented upon.
Incidentally, most mathematicians have at some time favoured the pencil, and are often quite picky on the brand, lead hardness, and so on. Certainly, we to some extent play up to the stereotype of being pencil-wielding, using it as possibly the most common implement for taking lecture notes. I myself am a 2H man, and work pencils down to the very end: the one I am holding now I used yesterday, and is just four centimetres long in total.
The incision of mathematical notation, compacting powerful abstractions into single symbols, makes the exact ordering of thoughts double crucial, and harder than when writing in prose. I doubt that students at any time have been able to write good maths when arriving at university; rather, I suspect that the standard is rising, in contrast to the decline in essay standards I hear commented upon.
Incidentally, most mathematicians have at some time favoured the pencil, and are often quite picky on the brand, lead hardness, and so on. Certainly, we to some extent play up to the stereotype of being pencil-wielding, using it as possibly the most common implement for taking lecture notes. I myself am a 2H man, and work pencils down to the very end: the one I am holding now I used yesterday, and is just four centimetres long in total.
With 4 cms of pen left you need to make sure your nails are freshly cut lest you might scratch the paper 
What matters in mathematics is the result AND the road to it. When I was in school the results were not taken into consideration even if they were correct if the way they were obtained was not on paper. Sometimes I would get half the points if my reasoning was correct, even if I had inverted a sign and the final result was wrong. We would also get extra points for deducing formulae in physics and mathematics rather than applying them directly from memory.
However, except geometry drawings, we were not allowed to write our examination papers in pencil and consequently I was used to writing everything in ink. If we made a mistake, it was part of our work: we would simply bar the faulty lines, put them between brackets and resume. If there was an early mistake, it was not acceptable to overwrite anything, as this increased the probability to make further mistakes. One thing I learned from my highschool math teacher, which also helped me in other situations life, is this: if you realize you've made a mistake at some point, don't hunt for it and try to modify what is already written: take a blank sheet of paper and start over. The same math teacher of whom we used to joke saying she was "convergent", according to a theorem which stated that in order for a series to be convergent it has to be bounded and monotonous...
What matters in mathematics is the result AND the road to it. When I was in school the results were not taken into consideration even if they were correct if the way they were obtained was not on paper. Sometimes I would get half the points if my reasoning was correct, even if I had inverted a sign and the final result was wrong. We would also get extra points for deducing formulae in physics and mathematics rather than applying them directly from memory.
However, except geometry drawings, we were not allowed to write our examination papers in pencil and consequently I was used to writing everything in ink. If we made a mistake, it was part of our work: we would simply bar the faulty lines, put them between brackets and resume. If there was an early mistake, it was not acceptable to overwrite anything, as this increased the probability to make further mistakes. One thing I learned from my highschool math teacher, which also helped me in other situations life, is this: if you realize you've made a mistake at some point, don't hunt for it and try to modify what is already written: take a blank sheet of paper and start over. The same math teacher of whom we used to joke saying she was "convergent", according to a theorem which stated that in order for a series to be convergent it has to be bounded and monotonous...
The "Perfect Pencil" from Graf von Faber-Castell. The pencil extender comes with an integrated sharpener. The eraser is placed on the opposite side. Maybe I should put it in my Christmas list...
And since we are talking about handwriting, what about LL’s own stationary?
And since we are talking about handwriting, what about LL’s own stationary?
I'll take that as a jumping-off point for discussing writing paper more generally (I have on rare occasion used club paper, but only when writing from the clubhouse -- why use paper not your own when on your own?).marcelo wrote:. . . . And since we are talking about handwriting, what about LL’s own stationary?
I presently use white paper headed by my name and address, engraved in black ink. On formal paper, also laid white, I have my monogram, also engraved in black ink. But I have seen handsome writing paper with the writer's arms embossed in blind or even in color. In general, simplicity is best, don't you think?
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