Dec 11, 2009

The letter S

The other day as I neared the end of my Christmas card addressing project, I was lumbering along through the Rs when I realized how close I was to the Ss. This was a subconscious point of stress for me, one that I think about every year as I write out the names of every person I know who has an S in his or her name.

For as I Tweeted later that day:
Just finished addressing Christmas cards. I have to find a new way to write the capital letter S. I do not like the way I write Ss.

I mentioned it on Facebook, too, and of course people responded with varying degrees of cynicism, kindness and I'm-unFriending-her-because-she-crazy. One friend, though, admitted to feeling the same way about her L, so I don't feel QUITE so alone. (Another friend called me Type A, then changed it to Type A+, if there is such a thing. That made me laugh.)

Anyway, I thought I'd show you a little bit of what my brain was doing while I was working my way through the Ss in my address book. My brain was clearly working overtime on The Crazy.

This is the way 90 percent of my capital cursive Ss looked on my cards, because this is the way I write Ss every day:




But as I got toward the end of the Ss and got more and more dissatisfied (as usual) with them, I switched it up a little bit. Here's my awkward attempt at a more traditional, "schoolhouse" S:



It felt totally disingenuous to me, because I haven't written one like that since probably 8th grade. Then I went for a little more ... flair? I introduced a loop. But since it's not my regular style, even though these two Ss are only a few letters apart, they don't match:



And honestly, I was so sick of the Ss at the very end of that section, I resorted to writing the recipients' first names only, leaving off the last name entirely:



Internet, it is EXHAUSTING to live in this brain.

7 comments:

Sewconsult said...

It looked fine to me. I am of the age that endured many hours of penmanship practice each & everyday. I enjoyed it since I knew my mother's handwriting was beautiful & I wanted to achieve that rhythmic motion that covered her stationery. While I have received many compliments on my handwriting, I never felt that it was as pretty as hers. With the use of computers & such, the art of penmanship will probably die out completely in another generation or two. The question "is it legible" is answered quickly upon viewing your writing. YES!
Beckie in Brentwood, TN

Sarah T. said...

You have perfect handwriting. Which, of course, is the only reason this is bugging you. If you wrote like Grayson, but wrote your "s" like you do, you'd be like, "the way I write 's' should be a font!"

RLR said...

I totally related to your tweet - I get stressed about matching the double letter in my little girl's name. And I hate writing 1s. And 7s. And 2s. I think I need to print labels this year....

Rachel said...

I liked all 3 Ss. lol. I write my As differently depending on where they are in a word. Some look like a lower case A like we were taught in school and some look like a typed A. And it's all purely subconscious. I have wondered about why I do that at times but never really worried about. I think it makes my handwriting unique. :)

CCB said...

Katherine, your posts ALWAYS make me laugh! I think the way your brain works is hilarious---- in a GOOD way! I have a billion blogs I love but there are about 5 I will take time out of a busy day to re ad every day, no matter what--- and yours is definitely one! lol... I completely understand your frets with your Ss...I just do and yes, they were beautiful to begin with! If you are a "handwriting" person, check out http://richinnerlife.typepad.com/dreamland/ - she's great!
have a great day!

CCB said...

somehow it eluded me you work full-time outside the home AND you have hilarious blogs almost daily....I am IMPESSED!!! I got that tshirt from walmart... they had red, green(not bright,not hunter) and I think navy? Garanimals? I have a friend who is a wiz with the embroidery machine & she made it for me...
So glad you know about Lettergirl, I want a stamp so badly, just haven't been able to justify--- have other RA stamps already... patience...patience... =)

Laura said...

I LOVE your blog! I wish we knew each other in real life; I feel sure we'd get along. It's nice to know someone else has some of my same neuroses. :) I grew up just north of Birmingham and lived in Alabaster for about a year so I enjoy reading from someone "back home."

For the record, I have a great deal of trouble with the number 5 ... and I'm a math teacher! It always comes out looking like an S. :) And you wouldn't believe how many times I wrote out possible names before we chose my daughter's name. (Well, maybe you would believe it!)

Anyway, thanks for always making me smile.

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