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MLT Handwritten lyrics and uniqueness of handwriting
I’ve always been fascinated with handwriting and the uniqueness of your scribble, and artistic writing implements. 🖋 There is something really unique and special in a person’s handwriting. A person’s signature has been used through the ages as your unique indentification, and even today in the digital age, signatures are still used as an official form of identifying you on legal documents. A person’s handwritten scribble is so personal too, which is why I love having the MLT Signed Studio Scribble Art Prints, and the fact they are numbered and limited to 100 is so special. And my “The Wide, Wide, Land” handwritten lyrics is one of my most prized possessions! I love listening to that song with their original handwritten lyrics in my hand, there is something so uniquely special about that, and the Signed Studio Scribbles too.
I remember at a previous years Advent, and on their birthday, Mona and Lisa received handwritten notes and autograph of Paul McCartney, and other Beatles, which is so special.
Does anyone here own any autograph(s) of a celebrity or famous person (other than MLT)? Love all my MLT autographed MLT merch, perks of being an MLT Clubber!
I like how Wikipedia explains the uniqueness of a person’s handwriting:
Each person has their own unique style of handwriting, whether it is everyday handwriting or their personal signature. Cultural environment and the characteristics of the written form of the first language that one learns to write are the primary influences on the development of one’s own unique handwriting style.[2] Even identical twins who share appearance and genetics do not have the same handwriting
When I look at my MLT Signed Studio Scribble, I often wonder whether it is Mona or Lisa’s scribbles I am looking at. I love their autographs, with Mona’s “o” and “a” in the autograph with the curved line underneath forming a clever smiley face, and Lisa’s signature is so symmetric with the big “L” and small “a” connecting underneath the “is” in the middle. Very artistic and clever autographs.
A signature (“to sign”) is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone’s name, nickname, or even a simple “X” or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a signature is a signatory or signer. Similar to a handwritten signature, a signature work describes the work as readily identifying its creator. A signature may be confused with an autograph, which is chiefly an artistic signature. This can lead to confusion when people have both an autograph and signature and as such some people in the public eye keep their signatures private whilst fully publishing their autograph.
I found an interesting article on “Graphology”, the science behind handwriting, and what your handwriting says about you. Just for fun, here are some interesting excerpts from the article that you can use to see what your unique handwriting says about you:
1..Rounded style letter may mean that you are “artistic and creative.” Pointy, sharp-edged letters can mean that you’re aggressive, but intelligent and curious. Some people have a joint style with both sharp-edged letters and rounded letters which means you are practical, like systems in your life, and think a lot about your decisions.
2..If the dot of the “i” is higher above the stick of the “i,” you are thought to have an abundant imagination, while a lower dot would mean you are organized and pay attention to detail. Bubble dots on an “i” suggest that you have a child-like curiosity about the world, and may be a visionary. Dots that are more of a slash on the “i” mean you’re impatient and have “no time for people who make mistakes.”
3..Space between letters can also determine characteristics. Spaced out letters suggest that you don’t like to be crowded and like your space. Close letters can mean you get lonely easily and enjoy being around people most of the time – you might also fail to give others enough space.
4..People who write with big loops when joining their “L” to another letter are thought to be relaxed and spontaneous, whereas a loop-less L means the opposite – you’re seen as tense. The same is said for the eye of the letter “e” -the bigger the loop, the more open you are.
5..Some graphologists believe that a right slant in your writing could mean you are outgoing and open to new things, but a left slant could mean the opposite – that you are reserved and like to be alone. Writing with no slant can mean that you’re a logical, practical person, who’s not outwardly emotional.
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45 Replies
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Jung, you’re an endless fountain (pen) of interesting discussion topics!
My grade school teachers drilled the importance of good handwriting into me so deeply that the only change I’ve ever made since I learned cursive is to write much smaller, and hence faster. However, that leaves a lesser margin for error, so I end up going back over what I’ve written to close up small gaps that shouldn’t be there, widen loops that are too narrow, etc.
It never even occurred to me to come up with a stylized signature that was any different from my normal handwriting. I’ve always assumed it was especially important for a signature to be legible, but now that I think about it, it just needs to be unique.
I looked at that graphology article, and I have to agree with the skeptics who say it’s pseudoscience. There’s no evidence that any statistical correlation was attempted between people’s handwriting characteristics and their self-reported personality traits, and without at least that you’re in the realm of pure speculation.
It’s also suspicious that most of the qualities given were positive ones. This suggests it was published mainly for people to get a dopamine rush from self-affirmation. If you want to see a more even-handed approach to this sort of thing, check out Weird Al’s song “Your Horoscope for Today”.
As far as my personal collection of celebrity autographs, it’s pretty small, as just the memory of the experience of seeing someone famous means much more to me. The only autographs I can think of that I’ve obtained are Pat Morita (when I was a kid) and Micky Dolenz (after a concert). And honestly, in both cases my real goal was just to see them up close.
However, my brother has been going to comic cons for the last several years and having people sign things for me, usually presenting them to me as birthday or Christmas presents. That list includes Michael Nesmith, Henry Winkler, Lee Majors, William Shatner, Walter Koenig, Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow, Dirk Benedict, Roger Bumpass (the voice of Squidward), and Geri Reishl (“fake Jan” from the Brady Bunch variety show).
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Let’s not get started with fountain pens!! I use to have a rather large collection of writing instruments (mostly fountain pens) which I have whittled down to a managable number as collecting them but not using them all seemed pointless after a while. I was taught to write with a fountain pen while my dad was stationed in Japan in the mid to late 50’s. I remember being thrilled to carry my pen and pencils in a pencil box!! Still use them today on a daily basis mostly jotting notes or writing in a diary of sorts.
Signatures are fascinating but I never really had the itch to collect them. I had a few and they were mostly Baseball players (Willie Mays/YAZ/Ernie Banks). I gave them away years ago. I did have the experience in my early days working in the Retail Book industry to come across celebrity signatures. I was a reginal manager for the mid-Atlantic area and was responsible for book signings. Often I would find myself next to the celebrity handing him/her a book to sign for a customer. I never really kept any for myself (except for Willie Mays) but did get to meet a handful of people. Jimmy Carter (post-president), Dr Seuss, Garrison Keillor, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Danielle Steel and Barry Manilow! Jimmy was one of the most humble people I have ever meet.
Below are 2 fountain pens I use on a dialy basis.
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Hi David
Wow you have an autograph of Mickey Dolenz, that must be special, though of course nothing could compare to seeing or meeting him, but a nice personal memento of something of him. Yeah graphology isn’t something I would bet my life on for sure. Can you imagine a “Questionable” scenario, where you ask someone for their handwriting to see if they are a potential eligible partner! That would be funny. I haven’t done enough research or careful scrutiny of graphology to say how much faith I would put into it, but it is interesting though, there must be some psychological correlation with how one’s handwriting might reflect some traits, but who knows, but the signature and autograph and how unique it is to a person is fascinating.
Hi Dave,
Awesome to meet another fountain pen user. Yeah I have acquire some 50 fountain pens over the 15 years or so I got into them. It was my wife MJ who got me into fountain pens, as being a graduate studies student for years, she used fountain pens, so when she saw me freak out one day when I misplaced my very sentiment gold Cross ball point pen, she suggested I try a fountain pen, and I haven’t looked back. Those are a couple of clear demonstrator fountain pens. What brand are they, Delta? I have a clear demonstrator TWSBI ECO with a stub nib I like to use. My main fountain pen these days is a Montblanc with a calligraphy flex nib, that I went on a one year waiting list at the Montblanc boutique to get, but found one on sale unexpectedly at another Ma Pa pen shop a few hours after I put my name on the Montblanc waiting list.
I really find the aspect of forming ideas literally by hand with the ink and nib on the paper very fascinating. it’s like you are forming your ideas into physical form on paper. There are volumes written about the benefits of handwriting with pen and paper over typing something on the computer. Handwriting something on paper with pen I feel connects me to my intuition better to find my own answers to things on my mind, that I otherwise might not.
Here is a fun and interesting video about the origins of handwriting, writing instruments and fountain pens by the Sheaffer Pen Company in 1947.
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What a great post!
The only autograph I have that might mean anything to anyone else is from Alison Sudol’s early days as A Fine Frenzy. Now of course, she’s better known as Queenie in the Fantastic Beast films and other things. I had a couple pics of us as well, but they’ve somehow vanished into digital oblivion.
I agree with David on the meaning of handwriting. That would mean my whole personality has changed drastically over the years, as I have constantly reinvented various aspects of it, either to make it more legible, more efficient, or just do something different. I now actually have 3 different styles I use regularly: an almost fully print mode, a complete cursive style, and my usual writing, when journaling and such, is a hybrid of the two. So I guess I’m really a schizophrenic! I rarely dot my i at all, so what does that mean? LOL
Jung is gunning for some kind of award from the International Fountain Pen Society for promoting the cause, because he’s now sent several of us down the path of bottled lunacy. ROFL. So far I only have 5, but I’m sure I’ll have more pens than fingers and toes before long.
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Hi Roger,
May your flock of pens multiply, and may you enjoy them in good health and happiness. 👍😜 If something happens and the global industry shuts down, I think I have enough ink to last me a couple of life times and then some. I think just like in music and art, if having numerous nice pens get you to write and express yourself more, it’s all good. And I really like how your handwritten script in journals, notes, and letters to someone is uniquely of you like no one else, it is your signature. There seems to be a quality to it perhaps different or better than typing. Anyway, some notable writers do their rough draft by hand first. Old school writing will boost your creativity.
Lots of renowned writers avoid computers when they are first working on a story, and sometimes they avoid them altogether. J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, and Danielle Steel are among the super-successful scribes who draft by hand.
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“But there’s research that suggests writing by hand improves thinking. Brain scans during the two activities—typing on a keyboard and handwriting—show that forming words by hand as opposed to on a keyboard leads to increased cognitive activity (pdf). Scientific studies of children and adults show that wielding a pen when taking notes, rather than typing, is associated with improved long-term information retention (pdf), better thought organization, and increased ability to generate ideas.”
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Oh boy Jung….lol…you started something within particular post topic …. let me say my 2 cents worth…
First off.. I’ve always had a hand/brain/eye co-ordination issues and so printing/penmanship during all through my school years was a constant isdue/frustration, though in my 2nd year of Grade 7…or was it Grade 8 ?!… Anyhow… I , along with a few others got put into a Penmanship Class either before school officially started in the morning or was it at lunchtime…,!… it went on for a few months… It sort of improved but not fully my printing/penmanship, and kind of worse now that we text/type moreso than actually print/write…lol… got away from actually using pens/pens…although you did inspire me to buy a Purple Fountain pen awhile back/purple ink ….😉🙃🖋✒️🎨
Now , as far as autographs go…I have acquired many musicians , whom I’ve seen in concert and met at malls, author book signings from authors I like, I did lose a few autographs as a kid, as I didn’t know better to keep better care compared to when I got to be older and did … does having an actual Add On note from one of The Ladies-In-Waiting of the Late Queen from a an official Thankyou Reply Letter from Buckingham Palace count … ?! …. It was in reference to what was said when I met QEII for the 2nd time and my guess this LIW was present when I met the Q for 2nd time ….
But I cherish my Glass Tiger/MLT’S autographs dearly 💜🤘😊
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Hi Jacki
I think you should write more with your fountain pen, just writing or drawing with purple ink sounds pretty groovy. Purple letters and notes can be your signature. Who around you do you know who use purple ink? I bet hardly no one, it would be pretty unique these days. My handwriting has always been messy, could never do the pretty writing some of the other kids in class could do.
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I do, actually. My current favorite is my Private Reserve Ebony Purple!
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Jung, Roger and Jackie….below see the bottle of Sheaffer’s Skrip #82 Washable Purple ink that I found hiding in a cabinet in my basemant!! It’s still full but not to confident it would be healthy for a pen being as old as it is. Must admit I haven’t used purple ink for quite some time but maybe it is time I did. And Jung, both of those pens in the previous message are relatively cheap demonstrators. I have a Twsbi demonstrator as well though I can’t seem to find it at this moment so not sure what model it is. The Delta pen and ink holder in the previous pic is from a pen I bought decades ago and am not really sure what it was (might have been a Dolcevita fountain pen). Didn’t keep the pen but kept the holder.
I don’t know how much a persons writing style can actually tell us about an individual but do believe it might provide a few clues. My Dad had perfect block handwriting and my Dad was all about perfection!! My Grandmothers hand writing was so frilly it was hard to read…not sure that was her intent but maybe she just wanted us to work harder at reading it.
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Purple ink! Reminds me of those dittos that we received in school as kids. They had to crank them out. My Mom, who was a Home Economics teacher, once made for me hundreds of baseball score sheets since I enjoyed keeping score when I watched ballgames. Thank you Mom!
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Jung, you have outdone yourself. This is a fascinating post!
The whole concept of handwriting and signatures is so cool. The only thing that I write in cursive these days is my signature…but it is a good signature. I followed in my Dad’s footsteps and became a Business Education Teacher after spending five years as an Accountant. Back in the day, Penmanship was a course that was taught by Business Educators and Dad was very proud of his handwriting. He insisted that I learned a proper, readable signature. As he would say, “who is going to hire you if you cannot even write your name properly?” I agreed with him 100%…still do. It is a constant battle with today’s high school students when we go over Cover Letters in my Careers and Financial Management (CFM) course.
Over the years, I have both seen and received autographs from Big League baseball/hockey players and some authors. It is not a big thing for me, because I would rather just say “hello” and congratulate them on their accomplishments, but an autograph on a book or on a game-worn piece of equipment is nice. Some are clean signatures (Dick Beddoes and Wayne Gretzky…greatest hockey player ever; some are clean with perhaps a drawing (Dirk Hayhurst always draws a “Garfoose” next to his name); and others are merely abbreviations (Bo Bichette uses a stylized “BB”). Some want to make them unique to prevent forgeries (Pete Rose, at one time, had a group of employees who had his signature down pat).
Going to read the analysis material in earnest…it will be interesting to see what I can figure out about some of those signatures.
Thanks again for the great post!
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This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by Christopher Oliver.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by
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Dave, Roger, Jacki
Purple ink is cool indeed. I got a bottle of Montblanc “Beatles Psychedelic Purple” that came out as a special edition a few years ago that I use sparingly. It looks psychedelic. Now they came out with a Jimi Hendricks special edition purple ink. A few years ago I had a bottle of MB grey “Albert Einstein” ink that wrote like liquid lead that I used up. I kick myself I did not buy more when they were in production, as they are rare and hard to come by. Saw someone selling a bottle on ebay for a couple hundred dollars.
Dave, that vintage old bottle of Sheaffer Skrip purple could be a gem if it hasn’t been contaminated or gone moldy. I think antique inks are OK and safe to use, as long as you don’t see hardened sediments floating around in it. Perhaps use it in a less expensive pen, just in case. Is it safe to use old fountain pen inks?, the consensus is yes. Some of those old inks can give a nice antiquated look and feel to your script.
Christopher, I use to write cursive in school, but it was always dreadfully messy like a chicken scratch compared to my other classmates. By senior high school year, I dropped cursive for print only. It was slower, but my printing looked a lot neater than my cursive. About 10 years ago when I used fountain pens, I picked up cursive. It took me a while to be able to write cursive naturally again. I usually print in my work notebook, and write in cursive in my journals. For detailed notes and illustrations or technical drawings, it’s always printing, but for leisurely long writing sessions, cursive feels more satisfying.
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I remember as a young child seeing my parents bottle of Sheaffer Skrip blue and black ink. The ink bottle had two reservoirs in it, one compartment to collect ink so the nib get get a full fill. So I always have a bottle of Sheaffer Skrip laying around, just for nostalgia.
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First Beatles, then Hendrix? I can’t wait for the Prince Purple Rain ink!!! LOL
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And while we’re at it, how about a Donnie Osmond “This Ink Socks?” ROFL
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Christopher…I vaguely remember those dittos. I’m a baseball fan and would often try to keep score while at a ballgame. That’s where neat handwriting was a challenge for me…also found myself so wrapped up in the score keeping that I would miss other action on the field. I do love finding game programs that have the score sheets filled in. Talk about the wide variety of handwriting styles used in that activity !!!
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Roger et al. How about a special edition bottle from the MLT’s called “Splashy Orange”!
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Yes…I love Purple Ink…. I’ve been busy recently…. will have to see if I can recall the “safe place ” where I put the fountain pen marker/ink…. if I can’t find them in a few months Time…lol …. Good excuse to safe up when I can afford to, buy new Purple one/Purple Ink….😉🙃🖋✒️💜🤘
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What I’m finding is handwriting is getting to be a lost art as we are all typing into computers these days. On the plus side, I am now able to type with two fingers on a computer now so that’s an improvement
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Hi Sara
I struggle typing text into my phone. My young nieces can do amazing texting with two thumbs on the phone like they can speed type on a full size keyboard. It’s like they were born with smartphone thumbs. I was born with two left thumbs in comparison.
I shouldn’t get too far off topic, but thought I’d share my little world with this short fun video in case you are curious, why people like me are into handwriting with fountain pens with so much passion.
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I have an autographed photo of Don Henley which I treasure.
I used to have a souvenir t-shirt from Colin James <font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>/National Steel which he was also kind enough to sign for me at the ’93 Grey Cup where he was playing (that is another story for another time) outside the stadium. But some fool wore it too often and the felt pen signature faded out…really stupid on my part.</font>
<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>Any of you Canadians out there may recall a certain place kicker for the Edmonton Eskimos football team, Dave Cutler. He is an outstanding cartoonist, and he and I played a few charity golf tournaments together some years back. He was kind enough to draw </font>caricatures<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> of us on our team photo one night after the banquet and signed them. Still have that.</font><font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>And of course a certain pair of Twins that signed their Scribbles, cards, and calendars!😍</font>
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Em, anybody know where that gibberish and weird characters comes from in my posts?
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Daryl, I think you can turn that gibberish on and off by clicking on the “Aa” icon at the lower left of your message before you submit it.
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Thanks for that. I’ll try I on the ‘puter. Never happens on my phone
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Hi Daryl
It looks like you have some very nice signed mementos like that Don Henley autographed photo, and the caricature from the Edmonton Eskimos player. Yeah, those MLT scribbles are awesome. Love their autograph in red ink done with flair.
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Hi Jung;
Interesting post. I have a few signatures of celebrities on my signature guitar (1978 Fender F-35 acoustic). It has signatures from the individuals in Poco, Pure Prairie League, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and even Peter Asher and Jeremy Clyde. I have a few more signatures I want to get including Mona and Lisa….so it is still a work in progress.
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Wow Michael, that is one impressive guitar with all those famous signatures. It will look even better with a Mona and Lisa signature on it indeed. 👍🙂
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That is incredible Michael! I couldn’t tell if Timothy Schmidt was one of the Poco sigs you got?
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Hi Daryl;
No TBS is not one of the signatures. I am missing him and Jim Messina from the Poco signers. I believe Jimmy is going to be playing near me in March but TBS is mostly with the Eagles now and it would be more difficult to get him to sign it. I would also like to get James Taylor to sign it, but his shows are so big that he rarely does a “meet and greet”.
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Yes, that would be a hurdle. After Heley’s comment in September at the last Edmonton show, I think the Eagles’ touring days are coming to a close now. Just a feeling I got from the way he said it.
Bonus though, lots of these guys head to Nashville and just drop around clubs and studios to sit in or do sessions on recordings. TBS has done that before, Knopfler has, and many more.
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Jung et al. Just thought I’d post this corner of our living room where my wife occassionally practices Chinese Calligraphy. She’s originally from Shanghai but came to the States and stayed to advance her education. I’ll see if my wife can write something MLT related (no promises!).
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Hi Dave!
That Chinese Calligraphy there looks awesome. Would love to see any MLT related calligraphy from her! My wife has also done some Korean Calligraphy with a writing brush like I see there in your picture. They can get some nice line variation and looks super elegant script with those brushes.
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Calligraphy is so incredibly cool! I can write my name in phonetic Kanji (Japanese) but that is about it. It(calligraphy) is a very difficult art/skill to learn. Masters/adepts can see flaws in the brush strokes that us mere mortals cannot even comprehend.
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