Does anyone else do this? I mean by using a proper fountain pen, decent quality paper etc?Yes, but not often.
My grand-daughter seems to have had a flash of enthusiasm which has waned rather - not especially surprising in a 10-year-old.I used to hate writing letters when I was that age – but once I'd got started on an individual letter and got beyond "Thank you for the xyz", I used to get really into making the letter as interesting, entertaining and news-filled (for a ten-year old's perspective) as I could. They went on for pages and pages! What my elderly aunts ect ect thought of them I'm not sure...
I always send handwritten letters to my spiritual director. He got a thingy from his wife, that enables him to hand write on his tablet. He sends the resulting letter to me - via email.Interesting idea. How does the experience for you as the recipient compare to receiving a letter on paper?
My grand-daughter seems to have had a flash of enthusiasm which has waned rather - not especially surprising in a 10-year-old.I used to hate writing letters when I was that age – but once I'd got started on an individual letter and got beyond "Thank you for the xyz", I used to get really into making the letter as interesting, entertaining and news-filled (for a ten-year old's perspective) as I could. They went on for pages and pages! What my elderly aunts ect ect thought of them I'm not sure...I always send handwritten letters to my spiritual director. He got a thingy from his wife, that enables him to hand write on his tablet. He sends the resulting letter to me - via email.Interesting idea. How does the experience for you as the recipient compare to receiving a letter on paper?
I marvel at photos of our town taken in the 50s. Quaint street signs, motor cars, clothing, civilisation.This just one of the reasons why I've become fascinated with analogue / film photography, and (according to Mrs M) wasting film on mundane street scenes. We don't know what our grandchildren will find fascinating, but we can be pretty sure that they can do something with that drawer full of 35mm negatives (if my son doesn't put them on the bonfire!)
I've taken photos like this over the last 20 years, but they won't be cherished in 50 years time because they will be lost.
But I'm wondering why you prefer a paper letter! My thoughts are that an email is almost entirely visual (some are occasionally aural too) whereas a paper letter is visual, tactile and olfactory. The paper has its own texture and smell, and as it ages they often increase (in a good way). OTOH an email can contain attachments and links, not only photos and documents but videos and links to websites and so on. Sure, it used to be common to include photos and cuttings with letters, but you can't include a movie, music or a website. Though if you want to send a hand drawing it's probably easier by letter.My grand-daughter seems to have had a flash of enthusiasm which has waned rather - not especially surprising in a 10-year-old.I used to hate writing letters when I was that age – but once I'd got started on an individual letter and got beyond "Thank you for the xyz", I used to get really into making the letter as interesting, entertaining and news-filled (for a ten-year old's perspective) as I could. They went on for pages and pages! What my elderly aunts ect ect thought of them I'm not sure...I always send handwritten letters to my spiritual director. He got a thingy from his wife, that enables him to hand write on his tablet. He sends the resulting letter to me - via email.Interesting idea. How does the experience for you as the recipient compare to receiving a letter on paper?
Well, it’s quicker. But I would much prefer a paper letter. You don’t accidentally come across an old email in the back of a drawer. Or a bundle of old emails tied together with ribbon. See also: paper photos.
After she died, the house lay unused for nine years, until I bought it. I found her old ration book and letters from her sweetheart, who died in the first world war, under the floorboards. The letters were quite upsetting to read, knowing how he died young.https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jan/12/modern-life-is-rubbish-the-people-whose-homes-are-portals-to-the-past
I don't entirely agree that printed photos have more staying power than digital ones though. They're less easy to ignore due to their physical presence but for the same reason it's easier to regard them as clutter, throw them away, then regret it decades later. But I expect Jaded has his all organised in albums. :)
Oh, and I have a filing system for my photos. At least, that's what I call it.This is what makes you a photographer. :)
There is an Essex County in Ontario. But not a Billericay, as far as I can find. I wonder if the Canadian equivalent of Billericay Dickie is Toronto Tonto?I believe there is a Billerica in the US of A.
Did it arrive in Toronto, Co Durham??
There is an Essex County in Ontario. But not a Billericay, as far as I can find. I wonder if the Canadian equivalent of Billericay Dickie is Toronto Tonto?I believe there is a Billerica in the US of A.Did it arrive in Toronto, Co Durham??
No, curiously: the Canadian one.
Edit: Billerica, Mass. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billerica,_Massachusetts
You don’t accidentally come across an old email in the back of a drawer. Or a bundle of old emails tied together with ribbon. See also: paper photos.
There used to be a special rate for postcards, less than a letter, provided the message was no more than "five conventional words of greeting".
So that was the message I wrote.
I think the Chancellor of the Exchequer would have been either Selwyn Lloyd or Reginald Maudlin.Nominative determinism? I mean, you can't have a cheerful Chancellor...
I dunno. The experience of setting things up to read some obsolete media or coaxing an old computer back to life and sifting through the filesystem just to see what's on it is pretty comparable. I don't think there's much difference between decoding handwritten letters from the back of a drawer, persuading the reel-to-reel tape recordings your granddad made before your were born to play, or scrolling through some of your childhood adventures in cargo-cult BASIC programming.
What's more useful but isn't anywhere near as satisfying is when it's all carefully archived on a live system, xkcd://1360 (https://xkcd.com/1360/)-style. No fun, maximum cringe.
PSA: Please to be removing the batteries from your old computers, so they don't leak and corrode the circuit board and ruin some future archaeologist's day.
I send a handwritten letter to two people at Christmas. A cousin in USA and a friend in Australia. I hope they can read them. My handwriting was never very good but it seems to get worse every year. Admittedly there must be an element of being out of practice but I suspect old age (68) with a slightly wobbly hand also plays a part. It may be that next year printing will be involved.I've found that writing most stuff that I need to write, using a keyboard, has turned my handwriting and signature to shite. Dealing with legal stuff recently, I've had a solicitor comment along the lines of 'These signatures of your's - where is the similarity between any of them?'.
I have just received a handwritten letter. Two pages of beautiful cursive script in black ink on crisp white, neatly folded paper. From a stranger.
Addressed to "The Householder", what could it be? A Christmas card from the neighbours? No, because it had come through the post (second class but hey). Handwritten envelope, so nothing official or even spam official. Open it and find out.
Good morning,
My name is Italo Albomo and I am one of the millions of Jehovah's Witness volunteers who carry out a Bible education work around the world. I am contacting you to share a thought that might be useful and comforting especially in these rough times the globe is facing.
And similar for another five paragraphs, including 2 Timothy 3:16 (which I will leave for you too look up). I've no idea how they got or chose our address but it's a form of spam which I find, irrationally, quite charming. Cold calling from an age before telephones. Though it does end with an email address we can contact "for any other query".
I got one a couple of days ago.I have just received a handwritten letter. Two pages of beautiful cursive script in black ink on crisp white, neatly folded paper. From a stranger.
Addressed to "The Householder", what could it be? A Christmas card from the neighbours? No, because it had come through the post (second class but hey). Handwritten envelope, so nothing official or even spam official. Open it and find out.
Good morning,
My name is Italo Albomo and I am one of the millions of Jehovah's Witness volunteers who carry out a Bible education work around the world. I am contacting you to share a thought that might be useful and comforting especially in these rough times the globe is facing.
And similar for another five paragraphs, including 2 Timothy 3:16 (which I will leave for you too look up). I've no idea how they got or chose our address but it's a form of spam which I find, irrationally, quite charming. Cold calling from an age before telephones. Though it does end with an email address we can contact "for any other query".
It seems to be a new tack they are trying. We had one a few weeks ago.
I have just received a handwritten letter. Two pages of beautiful cursive script in black ink on crisp white, neatly folded paper. From a stranger....Aye, we got one addressed to "My Neighbour" a week or so ago; written in a town 10 miles from here so "Neighbour" was a bit of a stretch. The temptation to write back inviting the sender to attend our next Black Mass asking them to bring any spare virgins for the sacrifice was very strong, but not even I could be quite that cruel.
There used to be a special rate for postcards, less than a letter, provided the message was no more than "five conventional words of greeting".
So that was the message I wrote.