As many of you know, yesterday was the presidential inauguration in Washington DC.
What many of you may not know is that January 23rd is National Handwriting Day! What do these two events have in common? A couple of fun facts that I thought I would share with RLD readers…
Barack Obama is a left-hander, something that I (being a lefty myself) can appreciate. But have you ever considered the pens that the president uses to sign documents and grocery lists? Neither had I. But thanks to the wonder and beauty of the internet, I found this video from 2010. Lisa Brown, the White House’s Staff Secretary breaks it all down for us: what it takes to choose a pen, the careful consideration that goes into ink choice and (most important to a left-hander) how does the President work around the “smear problem”?
That being said, how will you celebrate National Handwriting Day? Send a postcard to Mom? Get a jump start on your valentines? Or maybe you’ll hand write love notes to your honey and leave them scattered about the house! However you decide to do it, remember that nothing can replace the look and feel of a handwritten missive.
–JH
PS: and guess what postal posse?! I’ll be the featured speaker at Foothill College this Friday, January 25th for their “Print and Book Arts Speaker” series. I’m honored to be invited to be a part of this fun series: there will be some show-n-tell, discussion of the latest RLD zines/artist book projects, and chatter about my working process in the studio.
This event is free and open to the public; everyone is encouraged to attend! Lecture starts at 2:00 pm in Studio 1801. I will have a few things for sale as well, after the lecture wraps up. Hope to see you there!
It sounds good about talking at the lecture series. I wish I could attend. : )
Well now you have done something today, and what a something that was…great post!
Miss Maureen —
But if I was a boss, I would’ve handwritten the whole blog post, scanned it in, AND THEN posted it.
Next year. 😉
–JH
That video was fascinating!! And I wish I could come to your talk, sounds like lots of fun! For National Handwriting Day I’m going to be catching up on some of my correspondence. =)
Ciara —
I’ve watched that video multiple times, and each time I wonder how one goes about getting a job like Staff Secretary at the White House? If Lisa Brown happens to read this blog post, I’d LOVE to know more!
Sorry you have to miss Friday; perhaps another time! Keep an eye on the “classes and sightings” page of the blog; I’ve got a handful of new teaching gigs on the horizon (locally AND nationally!)…
–JH
How awesome to be invited to speak at Foothill College. Great post, and yes, I’m sure I will be handwriting something and mailling it out today.
Miss Jarie —
If you do something special for National Handwriting Day, you have to be sure to share photos! 🙂
–JH
It amazes me that President Obama has such nice handwriting – most of the men in my life don’t. I find it interesting that he signs multiple copies of things with multiple pens as souvenirs for his closest staff members.
Miss Jennie —
His handwriting IS pretty nice — but I’m fairly certain there’s a lot of practice going on, what with all of the “have a good day at school” notes that he tucks into Mahalia and Sasha’s lunch boxes! 🙂
I loved hearing about all of those different pens in use; it was something that I’d never really thought about before. Do you think that would work if I went in and made a deposit at the bank?
–JH
You could try I guess;) Perhaps you should win the lottery first. That’s sweet about the lunch notes. Guess the leader of the free world should have at least somewhat legible handwriting:) I’ve been handwriting out a blog post off and on all day, but for me every day is handwriting day. Thanks for the post.
Did you know that President Clinton was our 1st left handed President to server 2 terms? Well now you do. Alas, the only thing I hand wrote today was our rent check but I am hoping it is one of the last and mortgage checks wont be to far behind.
This is a great post! That video is pretty cool, too. Thank you for taking the time to write this & share with us about National Handwriting Day!
Nothing beats writing by hand. I don’t know how people can go without writing things out longhand. I love how the President writes part of his last name in the middle of the “O”!
I got my package of goodies from you! Thanks so much! I showed them off on my blog today. You are sweet and generous to reward your blog readers. Your blog is always a treat in itself! 🙂
[…] Writers Alliance’s mail call in relation to Handwriting Month. Red Letter Day also did a nice post to honor January […]