Dot Grid is a podcast that explores the intersection between the digital and analog ecosystems. Hosted by a teacher and a tech worker who are passionate about the tools they use — be it a Markdown editor or a fountain pen — this show is a resource for those who still hold the analog in high esteem
Friend of the site, Andy Welfle of Woodclinched, has a new podcast project. I just listened to the first episode and it’s great. Check it out.
“Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up in your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than memory.” — Jack London
The Itinerant Printer Project on Vimeo.
The Itinerant Printer will visit letterpress printshops across America throughout 2015, producing unique prints at each venue culled from their idiosyncratic collections of wood type, metal type, cuts, ornaments, and polymer plates. These prints will be mailed back to followers and supporters of the project as postcards (and care packages) from the road.
This is a really cool project. Chris Fritton (The Itinerant Printer) has already more than met the funding for the project and the Indegogo funding campaign is now over. That said, it is not too late to throw some money his way and get in on the fun. Chris has rebooted the Indiegogo campaign with a new feature they’ve added, it’s called InDemand. Basically, it’s an ongoing fundraiser that becomes a marketplace for successful projects. As it stands right now, people can go to the exact same Indiegogo page, pick a perk, and contribute. So people can still get prints, postcards, and the eventual book. I plan on jumping in and supporting this project in whatever way I can. Great stuff.
You can learn even more about it with proposed itinerary, a blog, etc. on the official website.
5by5 | Home Work #145: The One About Notebooks
Dave and Aaron discuss their personal systems for note-taking, their preferred daily-carry setup, and other resources for using notebooks and pens.
Some podcast listening for your weekend.
A Story Of Office Subterfuge — The Pen Addict
I decided to make a contribution to the supply cabinet. I knew the Pilot Varsity was a great entry-level fountain pen, and they’re inexpensive. I bought about two dozen in blue and black from JetPens, and snuck into the supply cabinet with them on a Tuesday afternoon. I carefully reshuffled the Bics and the Flairs to make a space. Luckily, JetPens had included a Varsity box, so once I was done it looked as if the interloping pens belonged there… Two weeks later, they were gone.
Such a fantastic and inspiring story. Seriously, go read the whole thing.
“I won’t say it’s a church. I won’t say it’s a sacred place. But it certainly is special.”
Portrait of a Letterpress Printer from • of two lands • on Vimeo.
via Coudal.
by Dwayne Lively
A lot of fountain pen users lament that many notebooks, even some expensive ones, allow enough bleedthrough and ghosting to render the backside of a page unusable. To them, an ordinary 48 page Field Notes notebook is actually a 24 page notebook.
I’ve personally embraced bleedthrough. Dozens of years ago I toured Charles Dickens house in London and one of the displays featured a letter written in crosshatch. This was a way to save paper by writing in one direction on the page, then turning the page and writing across what you’d just written.
I was fascinated enough by this way of writing that I experimented with it by writing in my journal in crosshatch. At first it was strange, but I soon learned to read it.
Reading crosshatch is interesting. After a few moments, the vertical lines fade into gray and you find yourself focusing on the horizontal lines. After you turn the page, there’s a moment of adjustment, but then you are able to see the new lines and keep reading.
A modern example of cross hatch written quickly on copy paper.
The same example turned sideways.
Embracing bleedthrough and ghosting is like that. The spots become background to the writing. They are a different color, or at least a lighter one, even if you haven’t changed inks.
Granted, too much bleedthrough is bad, but most of the time it’s not worth wasting an entire page.
Handwriting on the back of particularly bad bleedthrough and ghosting.
I don’t write crosshatch anymore. My handwriting is bad enough that I often have trouble reading it myself and don’t need to add extra complications. I don’t need to try to turn a 48 page notebook into a semi-legible 96 page notebook.
However, other than that, I’ve fully embraced the bleedthrough and the ghosting. It adds character to a notebook and it means a 48 page notebook is always 48 pages.
Fountain pen bleedthrough and ghosting on a Field Notes notebook.
Dwayne Lively is a writer and English teacher living in Japan. At his blog Mere Blather he writes about life, Japan, Albania and pens and paper. You can follow him @DwayneLively on Twitter and @blatherama on Instagram
Noteworthy Authors Writing Longhand :: Rhodia Drive
Just a couple, and the post is mostly pull quotes, but of interest all the same. I won’t spoil it by telling you which two.
How And Why To Keep A “Commonplace Book” | Thought Catalog
A commonplace book is a central resource or depository for ideas, quotes, anecdotes, observations and information you come across during your life and didactic pursuits. The purpose of the book is to record and organize these gems for later use in your life, in your business, in your writing, speaking or whatever it is that you do.
Some good history, tips, and ideas here.
Learning Cursive Handwriting All Over Again | Write Analog
I had no idea of the “rabbit hole” I would enter when I decided to research learning cursive handwriting. For something that many people think is “dying” or “non-essential”, there are a bunch of resources out there for someone interested in learning cursive and/or improving their handwriting. I had no idea what I was getting into, but it’s been a rewarding education.
Chock full of history and resources, this post is a great place to start for anyone interested in (re)developing the practice of cursive writing.