One of the nice things about losing my memory is that I'm not quite so interested in the truth any more. Having said that, I think that what follows is a pretty good approximation to this elusive truth.
Like many of my generation, I started off using a quill and an ink well. I suppose if I scouted around I could probably dredge up one of the weekly letters I was forced to write home to my mother from school, but I don't feel like doing that just at the moment, so my first surviving record of original writing is a diary I started keeping when I was fourteen. Analysis reveals the use of a fountain pen, possibly a Parker 51, given to me by my dear sister but unfortunately lost fairly quickly, and an obvious predilection for Waterman's blue washable ink. Looking back now, from a time when I can scarcely write a sentence without having to correct, adapt or rephrase something, I am astonished to see how few crossings-out there were. Most remarkable and alarming of all was the way my writing style changed COMPLETELY and almost beyond recognition from one week or month to the next. Indeed I think it was only when I got to university that I settled upon the handwriting which has been mine ever since.
Pencils: I was at one time very keen on propelling pencils but otherwise only took a limited interest until the day when I had to provide and impose pencils with the right graphite hardness for exam purposes. Should I issue HB or 2B pencils for the multiple choice part of the exam?
2B or not 2B, that was the question.
I remember the "no. 2 pencil" stipulation with standardized tests (the SATs, I guess) in high school. No. 2 = HB, but different manufacturers have different ideas about how soft and dark no. 2 lead is. I sometimes wondered what would happen if someone dared to fill in the circles with a 1 (B) or 2B. That might be a good subject for a Glen Baxter drawing.
ReplyDeleteIt probably was HB but I can’t allow that to stand in the way of a witticism. On the other hand if I I knew how to get rid of the Baxter, I would be much obliged!
ReplyDeleteAm I the "dear sister" who gave you that Parker pen? I remember bringing you back a fountain pen after my summer in Canada but had no idea it was such a good one
ReplyDelete