A few interesting things I've read, December 9, 2011

For this week, the theme seems to be writing "the old fashioned way." Whether it be with a typewriter or just pen and paper, articles on those topics caught my eye for this week. For me, writing by hand is a very personal thing as it allows me to reflect and think in a way that a keyboard and a computer do not allow. There are less distractions when writing by hand. And who knew there were still typewriter repairmen out there? Read about that and more this week.

• An article from Wired with some neat photos on what may be the last generation of typewriter repairmen.One place where typewriters are still used? Prisons, where they use clear plastic models for the inmates, and one company still remains that makes them. And then there are some nostalgia enthusiasts, but are they enough to keep typewriters alive? A hat tip to The Well-Appointed Desk. 
• A guy in India collects pens as a hobby. Sounds pretty nice, right? Well, the guy has over 18,000 pens in his collection. And he gently reminds people who want to see them that "his is my personal collection, in my house, and not for public display!"Via The Hindu (India).  
• Here is an article about some people who still keep journals and the reasons why they do so. The article comes from the Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN). As for myself, I have been keeping a journal somewhat consistently since 1992 or so, the year I went to do my student teaching. I like blogging, but as I believe I have stated before elsewhere, there are things that are private, so I keep them in my journals.  Articles about writing and journaling always catch my eye. Back in the day when I did the National Writing Project, use of journals in teaching writing, both for the teacher and the student, was an important element. These days much of that has given way to things like blogging. And yet, there are certain things you can only really express when you put pen or pencil to paper. There is more of a reflective process going on. A hat tip to Notebook Stories.
• Lee Rourke at The Guardian argues "why creative writing is better with a pen." Like some of the famous writers mentioned in the article, I usually compose stuff on paper first, often in my journals, before I polish it to put it on the blog. I think that is applicable to things I wish to reflect upon. For quick things, I do go directly to the blog. A neat line from the article: "For me, writing longhand is an utterly personal task where the outer world is closed off, just my thoughts and the movement of my hand across the page to keep me company. The whole process keeps me in touch with the craft of writing." A hat tip to Notebook Stories.