I Want A PenPal

Published on August 30, 2006 By Sally jacobs In Misc

I love writing. When I say writing, I mean actually writing. Seeing my scruffy handwriting working its way down the page. Actually physically doing it, and feeling it. I can't explain it. These days I type everything, and it somehow takes the romance away from it. The only thing I actually write is my diary. I could start doing it on my PC, but I really don't want to. I love curling up somewhere....anywhere, and writing. I don't think that I will ever beat that feeling.

Many years ago I had a few penpals. I have to admit that I liked the idea of penpals, but when it actually came to it, I was just really lazy, and lost interest pretty soon into it. I really regret that. I think it would be nice to write letters and have that feeling of something personal. I have met many people online, and I write regular e-mails to some people. Some people I talk to on messenger, and I really like it. I enjoy communicating with different people, from all around the world, and the internet has made it easier and faster than I ever imagined it could be.

Still I am not satisfied. I really want a penpal. I know this is rather sad of me. I just feel like people never write letters anymore, and it is something that I would really like to do. I realise that it is going to be impossible to find anyone who is actually willing to be a penpal, not with the technology we have at our fingertips these days. I just think it would be nice. To physically write a letter to someone, and send it, and wait for a response, and have it feel much more personal. I am sick of seeing text talk, that lacks so much personality.

Technology has done wonderful things for us, that I can't deny. However, it has taken away some really important things. We make less effort these days, because we prefer the easier way of doing things. We seem to forget that easier, doesn't always mean better. Not that I am ungrateful what I have at a press of a button. I just feel that some things are nice to do, and shouldn't be forgotten. My kids won't have a clue what the post, and letter writing actually is. They will laugh in my face at the thought of having to wait a few days for a letter to arrive....by hand. What the hell?

Comments

cutepablo

on Aug 30, 2006

Good penpal
here i am!
my name is pratanu
my email is pratanu16@indiatimes.com

Share your thoughts!

EmperorofIceCream

on Aug 30, 2006

I agree that something in the ways we used to communicate has been lost. When I was courting my first wife (she lived in Nottinghamshire and I, at that time, lived in what was then known as Humberside, on the south side of the River Humber and almost opposite Hull) I would begin a new letter to her immediately after I'd received one from her. I wrote, off and on, for three or four days at a time (so each letter was a mini-diary) - if I was working on a poem for her, which I did a lot of the time, it might be as long as a week. And then I'd send it to her, wait for her reply, and begin again.

Like you I enjoy the physical act of writing - I use an ink pen, actually it's a special edition Harley Davidson Anniversay Ink Pen with a gold nib and silver wire over an ebony barrel. That was a gift from Jenny, late in our marriage. At the time I courted her I used to use biros, and then the advanced ball-pens that let you draw a vey fine line. And I looked forward with real anticipation both to her replies, and the new opportunity I had to write again.

But now you can hit the delete key and destroy your words completely at a stroke, the people who will eventually become writers of stature and significance won't leave behind them paper-trails of multiple drafts that show the writer working. Tolkien for example, whose writings have made an impact of some sort in the lives of millions around the globe, whose fictional creations are now icons of popular culture, left countless documents revealing the development and history of those creations. His son makes a handsome living out of the business of cataloging and criticizing his father's work. Tolkien has now become a figure in his own oeuvre - at least in the story of the creation of that work.

And none of that would be possible in the age of the delete key. The only reason Tolkien or anyone else left such a paper trail is that they could write only so many times on one sheet of paper. Then they had to use another. Not any more.

The only equivalent to that kind of record in the age of the PC is the palimpsest left on a computer's hard drive of all the zeros and ones ever written to it. I might be mistaken in thinking that there are presently forensic techniques that can unearth a list of keystokes from even the deadest of hard drives: but if there aren't such techniques now there will be in the future. And serious literary critics are going to have to become specialists in forensic computing.

But even if they do, you'll still be right. Something will have been lost. The Arial typeface never varies no matter who is hitting the keys. The personal presence of the author in his or her handwriting, in the scribbled notes and crossings-out and the record of all the alternatives he or she tried, that's gone. After Jenny bought me the first ink pen she gave me, I never wrote to her using anything else - until she gave me the Harley Davidson pen.

There was an intimacy and personal connection (I could often read the state of her mind from the state of her hand-writing, just as she could read the state of my mind from mine) to it all that no email or instant message will ever match.

SanChonino

on Aug 30, 2006

Hey babes, I'm great about writing . . . and I miss it as well. Drop me a letter, or send me your address via "that dern internet thing" and I'll write you something. Promise.

193 E 1350 N
Bountiful, UT 84010

I'd love to hear from ya, hon!

Sally jacobs

on Aug 31, 2006

my name is pratanu
my email is pratanu16@indiatimes.com[/quote]

Umm maybe you missed the point of this article. I actually want to write to someone, and send a letter the good old fashioned way! Thanks for the sentiment though.

I would begin a new letter to her immediately after I'd received one from her. I wrote, off and on, for three or four days at a time (so each letter was a mini-diary) - if I was working on a poem for her, which I did a lot of the time, it might be as long as a week. And then I'd send it to her, wait for her reply, and begin again.

You see that is so romantic to me. That's like keeping someone far away as a really important part of your life, and sharing your inner most thoughts with them, even if you can't be there. I love the idea of that.

Like you I enjoy the physical act of writing - I use an ink pen, actually it's a special edition Harley Davidson Anniversay Ink Pen with a gold nib and silver wire over an ebony barrel.

Hehe you know this made me think, and though it sounds silly...I have diaries that I have kept for years, and I have always loved stationary...I just can't get enough of it. Anyway, I was looking at some diaries I wrote when I was in high school, when I was about 14, and I wrote them in these pink and purple pens, the thing is, the ink smells of sweets. I found myself sniffing the page (strange I know!) and you can still smell them, that brought back loads of memories, I can tell ya!

But now you can hit the delete key and destroy your words completely at a stroke, the people who will eventually become writers of stature and significance won't leave behind them paper-trails of multiple drafts that show the writer working.

I have hundreds and hundreds pieces of paper lying about the place. I just can't have the same creativity sitting at my pc, I don't know why that is. I love it though. Just having loads of notes, and ideas about the place. You can't beat that, and I hope I never lose it!

There was an intimacy and personal connection (I could often read the state of her mind from the state of her hand-writing, just as she could read the state of my mind from mine) to it all that no email or instant message will ever match.

*sigh* You see this is what I miss! I couldn't of put it more perfectly than that.

Hey babes, I'm great about writing . . . and I miss it as well. Drop me a letter, or send me your address via "that dern internet thing" and I'll write you something. Promise.

OMG You are wicked! I will be emailing you at weekend to sort that! You're so going to regret saying that to me, hehe. Thanks Babes xxxx

Thanks for the comments xxx

Harumph

on Aug 31, 2006

When I was a kid, I kept trying to join those pen pal programs that the school offers. Sometimes, I'd get an actual letter, though most of the time was spent just waiting for something to come that would never come.
I always looked upon letter writing as one of those lost art forms. It's not just the content of the letter, but the stationary, the ink you choose.. those say as much about a person as the letter itself does. I always wanted a mysterious penpal.. but in the end, I found a very good friend, though not so mysterious. It took 20 years of trying, but at the age of 34, I have a very good friend in England now who writes me regularly. She's quite a bit older than me, but we have a lot to talk about, and while she just uses the regular airmail envelope, she comments so much on how much she enjoys getting my letters. Because I choose strange stationary, I use different inks, and I seal all my letters with wax (yes, it sounds strange.. but it looks so much prettier).
I completely agree with you, and I wish you the best of luck in finding a good penpal.

dynamaso

on Aug 31, 2006

I had a few penpals when I was a kid but to be quite honest with you, I prefer electronic communication. Sure, it is nice to recieve a personal letter but I do like the almost-instant communication methods of these days. I wish you luck and hope you find a pen pal worthy of your attention.

SanChonino

on Aug 31, 2006

I wish you luck and hope you find a pen pal worthy of your attention.

I'm worthy, aren't I, Maso? Aren't I?

Jerk! Is this because I haven't sent you anything for awhile? Sorry! I'll send you an email this weekend, with some tunes from my band. Don't hate me, Maso!

crimson

on Sep 01, 2006

Locamama

on Sep 01, 2006

me too. my email is loca dot mama at yahoo dot com. Email me your addy and I'll make you a pretty card. I might even mail it too.

I have such good intentions. I still feel bad that I never sent Dharma her birthday card and before you know it, it will be her next birthday or LW her be happy package. Maybe I'll get motivated to mail now. At least a card.

My hubby always said my family kept hallmark in business but now I make my own.

Sally jacobs

on Sep 04, 2006

Nic and Loca thanks both! I shall email you both and send you my address. I'm sorry I haven't done it sooner, I have just been really busy. Thanks all for the comments x

Zoologist03

on Sep 04, 2006

Just write a letter, scan it and then email it.

~Zoo

dynamaso

on Sep 04, 2006

some tunes from my band. Don't hate me, Maso!

I don't hate anyone mate. You, in fact, I like quite a lot. I just have to resign myself to the fact that you don't want me to hear your music *sob*

SanChonino

on Sep 04, 2006

I just have to resign myself to the fact that you don't want me to hear your music *sob*

This week, I promise, mate, I promise . . .

KellyW0498

on Sep 04, 2006

I wrote you a note with my e-mail, but I am not great with writing. I want to be, but sometimes I am not. Just ask Nicky G and Tonya.

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