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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
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Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
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Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
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Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
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Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
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John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
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Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
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January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
July 12, 2006
/ 16 Tamuz, 5766
Scribbling rivalry
By
Dan Neil
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I am writing this at a cafe table on the city square in Strasbourg, France, literally in the shadow of the city's infamously tall Gothic cathedral. Somewhere in the course of this trip my laptop has gone hors de combat, and so I've brought pen and notepad to the table, pulled up a cafe au lait and started writing out a story in longhand, which I haven't done in about 20 years. This bit of process would be unremarkable except for the fact that I just noticed there is a large and rather unflattering bronze of Johann Gutenberg directly ahead. Strasbourg claims the inventor of movable type as its own, though the residents of Mainz, Germany, have something to say about that.
I suppose I could lay it at the pigeon-soiled feet of Gutenberg, or Christopher Latham Sholes, the inventor of the typewriter, or Bill Gates, the man who killed the typewriter, but somewhere along the way my handwriting has gone from merely awful to just plain pathetic, a half-seized scribble and jot that appears to have been written in the back of a speeding buckboard. This is the handwriting of the criminally insane.
No master of the Palmer method was I, but in college I could write legibly for hours on end. I remember that my writing hand, my left, was more thoroughly muscled, and I had a nice, thick callus on my middle finger. Today, thanks to keystroking, I am so estranged from the manual process of writing that it takes several trial runs and many minutes of tongue-biting concentration to complete a postcard.
How odd it is to sit here and watch my hand twitching and itching across the paper, leaving a broken wake of demi-words behind. The only weak consolation is that my handwriting, like da Vinci's, could thwart those who would try to learn my secrets. A room full of Robert Langdons and the NSA wouldn't stand a chance.
The decline of handwriting associated with electronic text word processing, e-mail, instant messaging is well documented, as are its costs. Back in the '90s there was a spate of patient deaths associated with doctors' scrawl, prompting the American Medical Association to make changes in the way prescriptions and medical charts are recorded. Handwriting is apparently destiny. According to graphologists, it's nearly impossible for educators and employers to separate bad handwriting from larger, grosser forms of incompetence that's not good news for high school students facing the new essay portion of the SATs.
Mahatma Gandhi himself said that bad handwriting should be regarded "as a sign of an imperfect education." And he didn't even have to take the SATs.
The sociology of clumsy cursive doesn't bother me half so much as my own decline. I'm feeling a real loss here, as if I've forgotten how to play the violin. As an experiment, I write out the old practice sentence: "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party." I study the paper. It says: "Naw, is thistime for all good mento come tis aid f thur party." It looks like I've been eating flaking paint.
I don't want to get carried away here. I mean, I can get along without longhand. Good penmanship can also be read as a sign of a repressive perfectionism. No kid ever says, "When I grow up, I want to be a penman!"
But something is definitely missing. Back when I could write in longhand, I read an essay by the poet Louis Simpson, who said that poetry should never be written on a word processor because its environment of endless and effortless revisability dulls the keenness of poetic thought. It's like rhetorical T-ball, where you have endless swings of the bat until you connect. Simpson argued there was a concentration, and consecration, of verse that happened while the poet considered the commitment of pen to paper.
The same must be true of personal communication. Why is a word-processed love letter problematic? Beyond lacking the warmth and intimacy of script, it is inevitably calculated, the product of careful revision and perfecting polish. As we struggle to get it right, we dissemble, trading sincerity for legibility.
I'm sorry to say that the last love letter I wrote was channeled through Microsoft Word.
Oddly, just as handwriting is heading for the door, it has become an immensely powerful means of communication. College football recruiters now make it a point to send handwritten letters to the most desirable prospects. Think of the thunderclap of excitement, the sense of occasion, when you last received a handwritten letter or even a thank-you note.
Which brings me to the collection of postcards on the table. I'll have to write very slowly, and may even resort to block printing, architect-style. I may waste a few cards, and I probably won't get the words exactly right, and yet every one will say: "Wish you were here."
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
Previously:
05/06/06: Fashion victim
03/01/06: TALK ABOUT A JOB!
02/21/06: Cowboy down
02/07/06: Superman, we need you now more than ever
01/11/06: All that sass
01/06/05: Is debonair even possible in 2006?
12/26/05: Be careful what you ask for
12/20/05: Monster's Ball: Reconsidering Beowulf
© 2006, Tribune Media Services, INC.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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