Penmanshape

My name is Cap’n Killivine, and you guessed it — I’m getting into good penmanshape. After years of doing nothing but texting, I’m back to what I do best — handwritten letters. | Before Phones Movement | Our supporters | Our adversaries | Main campfire

Intro - Good penmanshape

Time for a Handwriting Workout!

By Campfire Park

Welcome fellow writers!

My name is Cap'n Killivine and you guessed it:

Loneliest pen makes his case

I'm getting into good penmanshape. After years (actually, close to a decade) of doing nothing but hen pecking at a keyboard and texting with my thumbs, I'm back to what I do best -- handwritten letters. Not that I'm where I want to be yet. Getting into good penmanshape takes work!

So what do you say:

Let’s both be writing together friends, me and you.

Recent Posts

Freeing your hands
And your mind

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I‘m not saying you can’t have great ideas …

with your phone in hand.

But how would you know?

The truth is the phone is always with us, either in our pocket or in our hand and always (or too often) in our mind. The expectation of our availability to the phone and the phones availability to us is beyond anything we could have ever contemplated, say, prior to 1999.

The result?

I feel like the phone controls me now more than my wrist watch. Texts, emails and calls require, if not immediate responses — they infiltrate into your mind and erase your entry into deeper more groundbreaking thoughts.

Perhaps my greatest regret in life is that I didn’t find an avocation (and skillset) that required me to work with my hands. As much as I depend on my phone, I’d like to depend on my hands more and just put the phone down.

Medical diagnosis: Using a phone for hours on end can lead to conditions such as a repetitive stress injury known as stenosing tenosynovitis or trigger thumb. 

Try not to overthink a song. Go with what pops in your head, run with it, and don’t stop until you cross the finish line.

— Bobby Angel

In search of (a pen)
The lost art of letter writing

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One of my favorite shows as a kid …

Was the Leonard Nemoy hosted In Search Of.

Has letter writing gone the way of Bigfoot?

What attracted me to it was a couple of things. First were the topics. Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Holy Grail … what was not to like. They fired my imagination as a kid as much as I look back on them and laugh a little today. There was also the documentary style. For the times, it blended truth with fiction and speculation and a willingness to believe that the world held secrets that, if only we searched harder, we might yet find. Or maybe it was they mystery most of all. How the legend was born, why it lived on, and what the future might hold. Other reasons I liked the show? There was the opening music, Leonard Nemoy’s trusted voice, and how it presented just enough to leave you wanting to explore more. No, I’ve never seen Bigfoot, but during my visit to Northern California, I wasn’t so much looking for the creature as I was thinking about the show.

Which brings me to a new idea if the the series ever gets renewed: I would like to introduce the concept of the Lost Art of Letter Writing as a topic worthy of being told. Does anybody remember the halcyon days of writing handwritten notes to family and friends? It was a completely organic and original form of communication that we unwittingly left behind. Why? Email was touted as being the technology that would take letter writing to the next level. Thirty years later, I’m not convinced that email wasn’t the death knell for the golden age of the epistle.

And by epistle, I mean the real handwritten thing. Not the typed version that ends up unread and unanswered in an email box. Okay, I’ll admit – I’m probably sounding like a Luddite. But can we all just agree to give good old fashioned letter writing another chance?

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Factoid: László Bíró invented the first ballpoint pen in 1938. His invention coupled ink-viscosity with a ball-socket mechanism which acted compatibly to prevent ink from drying inside the reservoir while allowing controlled flow.

The campfire is always crackling and visitors are always welcome at Campfire Park

— Cowboy at the Campfire

Note to Self
A How To Guide

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Why write a letter to yourself?

For one you can save on the stamp.

Most importantly, it’s good practice for writing to a friend. Alternately, you could write the practice letter to your friend and send a follow-up second version, but this time with different information, to another friend. Granted, that’s probably a second letter. But you get my point. Just like an appetite comes with eating, writing begets more writing and before you know it you have a pencil that’s worn down to a nub. Unless you’re using a pen, then it’ll eventually run out of ink. “There’s a lot of ink in that well,” as they say. Actually no one says that. But you know what I mean.

I don’t know much, but I’m inclined to spill whatever I do out at the campfire

— Old Miner

Handwriting workshop

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I’ll be the first to admit …

That this isn’t the best handwritten note.

But the truth is you’ve got to start somewhere. And in retrospect, it’s not all that bad, even though it started poorly and really didn’t have a strong finish. The secret? When in doubt go for the margin to write a good P.S.. In this case, actually, the P.S. wasn’t all that good. What it did show was extra effort, and when it comes to letter writing, effort counts.

What really makes this letter stand out is the play by play analysis.

Well howdy folks, and I’m completely freaked out. And you know why. The fringe middle. The silent majority. Why are they so quiet?

— Buck Buckner

Return of the Lone Pencil
Cap'n Killivine Rides Again!

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It’s not easy being a pencil …

In a smart phone dominated world.

Cap’n K discusses the lost art of writing

Such is the plight of Cap’n Killivine in his quest to be the hero of the day. Or is he just trying to get by? Really, when it comes to letter, writing — it’s a little of both. You write a letter as much for yourself as the person you send it to. That being said, of all the letters I’ve ever written, I’ve never made a copy. I just send them and forget about them other then what conversation or follow up dialog they may generate. I remember as a kid my grandfather using a sheet of carbon to make a copy of everything he wrote. And by carbon copy, it was a sheet of just that — carbon paper — that he dutifully put underneath the sheet of paper he was writing on.

Listen folks, if I’m hearing Cap’n Killivine correctly, we don’t have to revert back to those days. Texting still has its place. But good old-fashioned letter writing (to anyone, or no one in particular) will never be replaced.

It’s a new dawn with Candidate Burt Silver, but only because he stayed up all night to see it

— Burt Silver

How To: Write a letter
And save the stamp

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Sick of searching for a pen pal?

Write a letter to yourself.

Firelight Radio is available on Apple Podcasts and Podbean

Cap’n Killivine is filling in for Guitar (who is out with a broken spring) to describe the inner dynamics of using a pencil and paper to communicate your thoughts. And the truth is, it doesn’t depend what type of pencil or pen you use.

Remember the Rule of the Ninja: Never fear, never doubt, and never over think.

— Ranger Rudi