>
> > So then it was Mandatory Cursive Writing for several years, until we were finally judged adult enough to choose ourselves. At which point I immediately went back to printing, mostly out of spite. I don't think I've written anything in cursive for about 5 or 6 years. I try not to print anything either--that's why I learned to TYPE, so I wouldn't *have* to write things out long-hand.
> >
> > -- Dave
>
> I hear ya' Dave. Since middle school, if I had homework besides math I typed it up. History questions, essays, any thing like that was typed. My reasons were a) My spelling, spell check could catch some, then I would give it to my parnets for another go over and b) both my printing (which I use when I can't type) and my cursive (which I use basically to sign my name) are really hard to read.
>
> I hold my pencil funny, or at least other people think I do. I spent most of elementary school with one of those plastic things on the pencil to try to force my grip to change. I got sore hands. People seemed to think my bad handwriting (and printing) was from how I held my pencil. The fact that it got worse when ever I held my pencil the way they said I should didn't bother them, nor the fact that I'm a tolerably good at drawing.
>
> My handwriting really bothered my parents, they even had parnet teacher confrences about it, trying to get some extra worksheets for me to work on.
>
> If I spend a lot of time on it my hand writing and priniting become much better, but it takes me so much longer.
>
> I never use a pen if I can help it. I write better with pencil and I can erase.
>
> When I write I print, most of my letters are not conectted, and if they are it occures at random. I cross my 't's and 'f's and dot my 'i's right after I finish the letter, before I finish the word. If there are two letters that get crossed in a word, (ex. letter, off, written) I cross them both with the same line. The letter than most often is connected to my other letters would be lower case 'e'.
> I ussually stick to the rules for upper and lower case, but sometimes an upper case letter will show up at random.
>
> My lower case 'a's have a tendency to look like 'u's.
>
> My Mother is an Elementary school teacher, and when I was in 8th grade she was still bothered by my handwriting. The school she was teaching at got this new kind of writing to teach the kids. It was semi-cursive but still manly printing. The letters don't connect but the pen doesn't leave the paper in the middle of a letter, except maybe for dotting 'i'. She actually brought the stuff home with her and tried to teach it to me. By 8th grade it is a little late to change your handwriting, especailly if the student is sick to death of people trying to get him to change it.
>
> I was using the computer most of the time by then anyway. I don't even write stuff out long hand first at all if I can help it. I'm actually suprised when I hear people talking about transfering there essays from writing to the computer. I also don't understand how people can write essays in pen, even first drafts. If I have to write something long hand I need to have an eraser, not just to fix mistakes but sometimes, half way though a sentice I'll think of a better way to phrase something.
>
> Ah well, enough babbling from me.
>
> Speed'Idon'ttypetheywaytheytaughtmeeither'ball

When I was in elementary school, I had read a bunch of stuff on how to write in cursive and I knew how to do it by the time first grade started. I was mad when I found we wouldn't learn it until third.

Instead, they taught us the semi-cursive printing Speedy was talking about. It's called DeNealean, except that I can't spell that word. Since that's how they taught me how to write, that's how I do my printing. Thing is, I've changed the way I do my capital E's (I changed it in second grade, and I can't do standard anymore). Think of the sign for the Euro unit of currency, take out one of the middle lines, shave off the stuff that sticks out on the left, and you've got it.

Thing is, I had already taught myself out of books how to do cursive, so I used that a lot. Now, when I write, it's usually cursive. Sometimes I'll do printing, but when I do, every letter is a capital letter. The ONLY time I do a lowercase letter in printing is when I'm doing chemistry and I have to write down an element that has two letters in its symbol name instead of one (Au, for example). In fact, it has been so long since I have had to print with lowercase letters that I almost can't. I often forget how to make a lowercase letter.

All my handwriting can be hard to read if I'm taking notes. When I take notes I move my entire arm to the right, which stretches out my letters sometimes, makes it harder to dot the i's and cross the t's, and makes it almost impossible to tell the difference between an r, an m, an n, and a w, or between a g, a z, and a y. I love to write cursive, and, even when speed is a very serious issue, I stop and, very gracefully, create a capital cursive D or L to make a wonderful, beautiful work of art. The word Lenin, when I'm taking notes, looks like L______ with a dot over it somewhere.

As for pen vs. pencil, it depends. I have a certain journal for a certain topic and I only write in it with pen. I prefer to use pencil, though, since it can be erased easier. And I like mechanical pencils vs. regular ones, although if I get a regular pencil it must be a Dixon Ticonderoga number 2 pencil.

Pen and paper vs. computer: it depends on where I am. When I write on paper, though, it's a bit more easily accessible and not prone to viri. I do a lot of writing, and much of it is late at night when I should be asleep, and so I have to use a notebook, and that's fine with me. Using a computer can help me with my spelling mistakes, although most of my spelling mistakes come from typing the wrong key and usually not from ignorance on word spelling.

Perhaps I'll post a copy of my handwriting on the Internet somewhere.

-eric "can make an eszett in the middle of a word and can CONNECT IT TO BOTH TOUCHING LETTERS" sleator
Wed 24 May A.D. 2000