Lost art of proper relaxation

[fashion frank]

I can honestly say I can't recall the last actual letter I got from anyone...

That's because everybody either just calls the person or e mails them.

Can you remember when it was a big deal if someone called the house and it was a long distance call.

I can remember my mother shouting out " its so and so and their calling long distance " and then you would hear the rumble throughout the house as everybody would run downstairs and line up to talk to who ever it was.
Heck my cell phone has unlimited long distance calling so there you go ,its a shame I used to love to get letter when I was overseas in the Army the beautifullness of it is that you can read and reread a letter .

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

 

[swanson_eyes]

" its so and so and their calling long distance " and then you would hear the rumble throughout the house as everybody would run downstairs and line up to talk to who ever it was'

Just like Meet Me in St. Louis. I love that scene. "Well, I'll bet there isn't another girl in St. Louis who's had a Yale man call her long-distance just to inquire about her health!"

 

[p51]

Can you remember when it was a big deal if someone called the house and it was a long distance call.

I'm always reminded of a great quote from M*A*S*H (episode titled, "Hawk's Nightmare") that Klinger said:

People always talk about long distance phone calls like they had to walk all the way.

 

[Scottbrad94]

I sometimes wish my friends would send me letters because I rarely get to use my typewriter, I find it fun and relaxing using them I don't know why. I only use it when I'm required to hand write stuff for university, my teachers struggle to read my cursive hand writing so I just type stuff out on my typewriter, they only approve of it because they think it still speaks for my character. I used to send letters to my best friend he lived 4 hours, but he moved to the city for university. I was dreadful with replying and half the time would end up replying via internet and then replying to the letter a few weeks later haha. I think I was at the very tail end of the long distance phone call thing as I remember in my early childhood, which was late 90s/early 2000s that calling someone outside of our metropolitan area cost quite a bit more, but now it's all standard nationally I think. Now it only seems to be big if someone calls from overseas because that really is expensive and they have to go out of their way to call you!

I think I've only sent max 20 letters in my 20 something years. I also think perhaps there's an art to writing letters which I (and my generation) don't have. What on earth am I meant to put in them? I always felt silly putting arbitrary things in and I always felt silly writing something poetic so I was always in for a spot of bother.

Also just a note on the original topic, I am noted for always very well put together and the only time I wear something not that great is at night and when I'm in bed. I try to always be somewhat well composed but thats just me and I like to bring parts of how they used to act in into my everyday life. If there's going to be pictures I'll get changed or neaten myself up, or just avoid photos mostly because I don't want there to be any record of me appearing *slovenly* so I feel like people back then would have approached being photographed while relaxing in the same way, if there was going to be a chance that they would be caught in that moment for time immemorial, well they would damned well fix themselves up before they faced the camera. (sorry for rambling, I just had some thoughts I wanted to put out there!)

 

[filfoster]

I can't imagine anyone in The Golden Era, but the wealthiest plutocrats lounged around in silks like The Thin Man or the Duke of Windsor, swilling sherry and puffing a Pall Mall in an ebony holder. Maybe.

 

[Tiki Tom]

I can honestly say I can't recall the last actual letter I got from anyone...

I write a hand-written letter to my daughter who is away at University about once a month or so. Usually about 10-pages in length. She usually reciprocates with a short text-message. She does, however, say that she loves the feel of having an actual paper letter in hand.

 

[St. Louis]

I have some friends back in the Boston area who are so horrendously busy that they can't even return emails. The only way I can reach them reliably is to write them cards and letters. It's astonishing how quickly they'll call me back.

Good quality stationery is one of the very last luxuries I'd ever consider giving up.

 

[greatestescaper]

I figure largely this is all about the individual. One has to attach the meaning of relaxation to an activity for it to be so. Inspired by some of my Golden Era Heroes, as well as a few other role models, I make sure and set aside some relaxation time each and everyday. Even if it only amounts to five or ten minutes of winding down after the day. Each evening I end with some quiet music, a good book, tea, water, or something stronger. About once per week I'll allow myself to indulge in some pipe tobacco, and a bit of liquor. I feel it's good for the soul. As is a fire. Cooking over an open fire is another way I relax, and so I try and cook at least one meal per week in that fashion. My methods may not be particularly Golden Era in their nature, nor can I attest as to whether or not people of the past really knew better how to cut loose, but I do now what I enjoy, and also strive to encourage others to do the same. In my circles I'm known as a terrible enabler. Just last night we had a barbecue. Steaks were eaten, liquor consumed, and it was all my fault.

 

[newsman]

I can honestly say I can't recall the last actual letter I got from anyone...

Just two years ago the wife and I received a lovely gift from an elderly friend of the family. The woman is in her late 80s or 90s and is still a world traveler. An amazing person. She sends out 12 page typed letters about her adventures that we keep because she's like no one else we've ever known.

Anyway. The proper response to the gift was to write her a letter. It had been a while since anyone here had wrote a real letter. But she received one from us.

Asking around the office none of the guys there could remember the last time any of us received a real letter (cards, yes) but they couldn't remember the last time they hand wrote a letter.

It's really a lost art. Much like being able to write in a way that doesn't require the writer to decipher the code they thought was penmanship.

 

[2jakes]

Just two years ago the wife and I received a lovely gift from an elderly friend of the family. The woman is in her late 80s or 90s and is still a world traveler. An amazing person. She sends out 12 page typed letters about her adventures that we keep because she's like no one else we've ever known.

Anyway. The proper response to the gift was to write her a letter. It had been a while since anyone here had wrote a real letter. But she received one from us.

Asking around the office none of the guys there could remember the last time any of us received a real letter (cards, yes) but they couldn't remember the last time they hand wrote a letter.

It's really a lost art. Much like being able to write in a way that doesn't require the writer to decipher the code they thought was penmanship.

It’s been many years since I received written letters.
One in particular that I will always remember was from a woman who wrote in long-hand fountain pen & ink.
There were no lines on the fine paper yet the sentences were very straight .
The penmanship was beautiful & the phrases had a very calming effect.
You are so right.
It’s really a lost art.

 

[newsman]

.
The penmanship was beautiful & the phrases had a very calming effect.

A lot of schools are no longer teaching cursive. Sadly. Some people say it does not have a purpose any more. I disagree. I think it shows a level of class and education to be able to wright nicely.

The government giveth and the government taketh away...all the wonderful training I had in penmanship went to hell the day someone told me print block letters on these forms.

Then they taught me to type...and I could no longer wright.

 

[2jakes]

A lot of schools are no longer teaching cursive. Sadly. Some people say it does not have a purpose any more. I disagree. I think it shows a level of class and education to be able to wright nicely.

The government giveth and the government taketh away...all the wonderful training I had in penmanship went to hell the day someone told me print block letters on these forms.

Then they taught me to type...and I could no longer wright.

You are so wright!

 

[newsman]

Laugh. That was a good mistake on my part.

 

[p51]

A lot of schools are no longer teaching cursive. Sadly. Some people say it does not have a purpose any more. I disagree. I think it shows a level of class and education to be able to wright nicely.

I never saw any need for cursive. I always wrote in block style, which became quite popular many years later.
Frankly, cursive was a pain for me and it was a pain to be able to read it.
Frankly, I'm fine with driving a stake through the heart of the concept.
I've heard some kids can't read it at all now, but even when I was a kid, it was tough to read from some people.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I work with a bunch of enginerds...err..engineers, and those tight, crisp block letters are essential for that profession. You have to learn that in engineering school. In fact, it all looks the same, you can't tell one person's writing from another. I'm sure that's a good thing.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I always had lousy penmanship because I had trouble seeing the paper -- one of the clues that I needed glasses as an eight-year-old was that I printed in large letters so that I could see what I was writing.

My grandmother had perfect penmanship, but my grandfather's writing looked like a cockroach had crawled thru ink and performed a flamenco dance on the paper. Because of that, she always signed documents for him.

 

[Fading Fast]

My cursive is atrocious, so I gave up on it decades ago and focused on having legible (unfortunately, not pretty) printing as the first goal of it is communication.

I love the script writing in GE movies, be it in the credits, title, etc. or when a character writes a note, etc. - all of it (unless the story requires sloppiness) is some of the most beautiful script you'll ever see.

Away from the fantasy of having some skill to make you money, if I could have a skill that I don't today have just for its intrinsic pleasure it would be illustration (I'm assuming a good illustrator had or could have good penmanship) as I'd love to have the ability to capture moments in pictures and not just words. It just seems like a fun skill to have and use in a way to bring joy to others.

 

[sheeplady]

I always thought my cursive was horrible as a kid, my mother used to complain about it so much that in high school I started printing all the time.

In college, I simply couldn't print fast enough to take notes, so I wrote in cursive. One of my professors looked at one of my not books in class and said (I kid you not): "Is this your handwriting? You have very mature handwriting. You write as if you're twice your age."

I'd honestly never had anyone say *anything* nice about my handwriting and had heard nothing but how horrid it was since I was in 3rd grade. A few years later after my first handwriting compliment, my husband let me borrow a fountain pen to address some envelopes. I gave them to him to mail and he brought them back to me and he said, "these are amazing. It's like the writing in old wills and deeds."

So I have no idea where I'm going with this, except to say that I'm now pretty proud of my handwriting. But it might also be I'm one of the few people who still writes in cursive, so the bar is low.

 

[Fading Fast]

I always thought my cursive was horrible as a kid, my mother used to complain about it so much that in high school I started printing all the time.

In college, I simply couldn't print fast enough to take notes, so I wrote in cursive. One of my professors looked at one of my not books in class and said (I kid you not): "Is this your handwriting? You have very mature handwriting. You write as if you're twice your age."

I'd honestly never had anyone say *anything* nice about my handwriting and had heard nothing but how horrid it was since I was in 3rd grade. A few years later after my first handwriting compliment, my husband let me borrow a fountain pen to address some envelopes. I gave them to him to mail and he brought them back to me and he said, "these are amazing. It's like the writing in old wills and deeds."

So I have no idea where I'm going with this, except to say that I'm now pretty proud of my handwriting. But it might also be I'm one of the few people who still writes in cursive, so the bar is low.

I'm impressed, perhaps you could post a picture showing some of your cursive writing as I, and I'd bet others, would love to see it.

Do college kids today take notes on laptops, tablets, etc. / does any meaningful number hand write them? I'm a pretty good typer, but even when I go to conferences and need to take notes, I find I'm faster / more efficient writing them out than typing in real time. Sometimes I type them into the computer later, but at the "live" moment, I can hand write them easier.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I'm impressed, perhaps you could post a picture showing some of your cursive writing as I, and I'd bet others, would love to see it.

Do college kids today take notes on laptops, tablets, etc. / does any meaningful number hand write them? I'm a pretty good typer, but even when I go to conferences and need to take notes, I find I'm faster / more efficient writing them out than typing in real time. Sometimes I type them into the computer later, but at the "live" moment, I can hand write them easier.

I'm told I have nice handwriting. I don't think it's anything special, other than being legible, but it's probably rare that many of these folks see actual handwriting, so they think anything is good.

As for taking notes, I still use the ol' pad and pen, but most people around here have gone to taking notes on their laptop. They have special programs for taking and organizing notes, and while they're slick, I'm afraid I just can't seem to keep up, even though I type way faster than any of them. It does make me wonder how much they're actually getting down.