Handwriting...a Dying Art?

For our creative project we researched and put together a collection of handwriting samples. My partner and I passed out a quarter sized white piece of paper and directed students to write their names on the paper. We didn’t give any other instruction besides our desire for it to be done in ink as opposed to pencil. At the end of class students turned in their sheets of paper with their name on it and we went to work. For the in class presentation we showed a PowerPoint with the sheets of paper as slides to portray the different handwritings of our fellow classmates and we also put together a piece of art with all the names compiled onto each other.

The piece of art reflects an abstract expressionalist piece of work such as Jackson Pollock’s,  Autumn Rhythm. Although, at first glance the work may seem random but there is a certain pattern in his paintings. Abstract expressionalist pieces may appear meaningless, out of sorts, spontaneous, and automatic but they are not. They are just different from traditional art that provides the meaning of the work whereas this genre of paintings demands much more from the viewer. The viewer must contribute and participate in the work. The handwriting piece that we collaborated demanded direct participation from the viewers to make it possible. Writing one’s name may be spontaneous and automatic as it requires hardly any thinking.

Writing at first glance may appear meaningless, may even appear as chicken scratch but it has depth and personality to it that is unique to its owner. Handwriting is only meaningful when a person in educated in the corresponding language as the reader. Not only must the reader be educated but the piece must be legible to a degree of readability otherwise the purpose and meaning of the work is lost. As I began learning more about handwriting I came across a very interesting article put out by the BBC The Slow Death of Handwriting - BBC News which pointed out the dying and uselessness of handwriting. Registration Manager Ruth Hodson said, “If everything we do still had to be done by hand, there would not be enough hours in the day.” The age of technology in which we live, with cell phones, blackberry’s, computers, and laptops they have taken the place of the need to hand write things. The last holdout profession that still relies heavily on handwriting is clinical communication. Doctors claim taking notes is quicker to jot down ideas than to put up a record on a computer, but how significant are the notes when they are illegible?

At the bottom of the BBC article there are comments made by readers and most people seem to encourage the use of technology over handwriting things, that technology is much more convenient, faster, and breaks the barrier of illegible handwriting. After completing this project, reading the article and comments I have really thought about my own writing. Just this semester I have started taking notes on my computer but there is something about writing things down. I enjoy writing in a journal it is therapeutic for me to write feelings and goals down. I really enjoy going back to old journal entries and it is the handwriting, the emotion in the writing that is just as powerful as the content. I remember things much more when I write them down as opposed to typing them and I hope somehow through the surge of technology that handwriting is somehow preserved.

NPR Top 3

As I was scrolling down the list of the top 100 songs from NPR I immediately clicked on La Bamba by Richie Valens. I love that song and have great memories associated with it. Who doesn’t love that song and who can help but start to dance when it comes on? It is incredibly catchy and a fun, easy song to sing along to. Richie Valens was one of the first Latino rockers to hit the stage of Rock and Roll and his presence set the precedence for other cross over artists to perform as Valens did even though he was only on the music stage for nine months. Valens on route for his four state Midwest tour in the dead of winter died in a fatal plane crash in 1959. Although his presence as a musician was short lived his influence has not been cut short.

                                                                         Richie Valens

La Bamba was suppose to be the second track to what was assumed to be the hit record Donna but it was La Bamba that stole the show. Valens and the recording studio was shocked that a Latin based lyric song could be popular. Valens was an American Mexican who did not know Spanish and was incredibly hesitant to even perform La Bamba. La Bamba for him was a Mexican folk song that was well known in his parent culture with over 500 verses. The true roots probably go even further back to African cultures who interpreted La Bamba to be wood, the wood dance floor. In the Mexican tradition La Bamba is a dance performed by newlyweds by tying a ribbon with their feet to symbolize their love. Valens was very concerned that he would mock his culture and his roots but he worked on his accent and sang the song in Spanish and it was a smash hit. Valens was accompanied by great side musicians and ended up making a lot of TV appearances. He was a very talented performer who knew how to sell a song and that is exactly what he did. La Bamba is a fun loving song that can catch everyone’s attention. I thought it was very interesting to learn that La Bamba was one of the first Latin American songs to hit the stage in the music industry because to me Mexican roots have always been intertwined with American history. It is also very interesting to note that Valens was very concerned with performing the song correctly with the right Spanish accent he wanted to represent his culture correctly. The importance of being “politically” correct goes a long ways back.

                                                         "La Bamba"

                                                           Aretha Franklin

The second song that really caught my attention and that I have a lot of fond memories of is Respect by Aretha Franklin, the queen of music. Growing up in a household of all girls in a fairly conservative household as the oldest I took it upon myself to flex my feminism ideals and Respect became a theme song in our household. I often led dance rehearsals with my five younger sisters directing movements and costume designs. The song Respect was all about a call to action and has been for a very long time, not just for me as a young white American girl growing up in the Northwest in the 1990’s. Respect is women at all stages of life. Evelyn C. White made a direct connection with the song as a young thirteen year old girl growing up in the middle of the civil war movement.  Following the Birmingham church bombing White idolized Franklin as a black female singer who demanded action. She was a black woman who had a voice and gave a voice to women everywhere who were facing great turmoil. Women started demanding rights as the civil movement progressed. Franklin with her song became a leader.

                                                               "Respect"

Music has the power to become a face of a movement. The song has a raw energy to it with a twinge of triumphant elation that did not paint a dream-like life but a harsh reality that many women were facing at the time. The song makes women feel good about them, like they can conquer all of their troubles and worries to have hope. The song continues to be a powerhouse of motivation for women everywhere. It is a common topic in the Mormon community that women are under attack of degradation by the media and society but Respect is a landmark of a song that gives women power and confidence. I thought it was very interesting and motivating to learn that one of my favorite songs has such deep roots that have affected women over many centuries and was recorded during a very tumultuous time period in the civil rights movement.

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The third song that I chose to study was the musical Oklahoma by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Growing up my parents went on date nights so my sisters and I would cook up some pizza or fish sticks and pop in a movie. There was a period of time when we, mainly me as the oldest sister became fascinated with musicals and Oklahoma was one of the first to win over my heart. Since then my father has been a huge supporter of my musical love as we often get in the car together and he will start to sing the ever famous lines “Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I’ve got a wonderful feeling everything’s goin my way”. Curly the hunk cowboy star starts the show as he enters stage singing the docile, sweet, optimistic song. My first time of seeing the play I loved the opener it was an absolute hit as it was with other critics only after it was rigorously reworked. The docile opener is unique to Oklahoma as that was not a traditional way of opening a musical.

The play was done by Richard Rodgers without his previous lyricist Lorenzo Hart who became a nonfunctional alcoholic and so Rodgers pursued this opportunity to work with Oscar Hammerstein in 1943 to produce Oklahoma. The lyrics were written first and then the music was added later and because of that this was one of the first times that the plot and storyline became the leading characteristic in a play over music. Although Oklahoma had a very uncharacteristic opening song as mentioned previously in that it began with a sweet, docile opener it was a success because when it was first showed the song produced an overwhelming sigh from the audience in New Haven. The play was originally showed in New Haven under that name Away We Go instead of in New York to avoid the harsh critics that it was sure to follow but after a few alterations, particularly of adding the whole ensemble Oklahoma song the play moved to New York performing over 2000 times on Broadway. The story of two lovers was an instant success in a war torn America who fell in love with Curly and Lori.

                                                      "Oh What A Beautiful Morning"

Romeo and Juliet

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To my pleasant surprise one day in class a fellow BYU student announced the opening of Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. I was so excited for the performance I immediately went and bought my sister and I tickets for opening night.

Romeo and Juliet was the first Shakespeare play I read my freshman year in high school and ever since then I have taken every opportunity to read more of his plays. Going into the play I knew BYU had changed the setting to the Guilded Age in America but that did not affect my anticipation for the performance. Even though I knew the setting had been changed it was still shocking to see the actors dressed and act is a more familiar way. Even though Shakespeare composed his works far before the Guilded Age and in another country the same principles and themes affect life. The themes in Romeo and Juliet are very applicable to Shakespeare’s time, the Guilded Age time period, and even now.

When I got home from the play I quickly jotted down some of the lines exchanged between Romeo and the apocrypha. The two men exchanged poison something that I hadn’t noticed before but was greatly emphasized in this rendition of the play due to the setting. Romeo paid the apocrypha gold and received literal poison to intake. Money and gold as explained in the play is a poison and can have just as much control over a person’s life as drinking poison. In Romeo and Juliet for instance the Montague’s and Capulet’s were completely torn apart because of their lust for money. Amazingly, as I read through the pamphlet given out at the play the exact quote that I had unknowingly written down was emphasized.

            That Romeo’s money is “worse poison to men’s souls; doing more murders in this loathsome world that [the] poor compounds [the apothecary] sells”.
            Both money and poison were poisons that led to destruction. The Guilded Age embodies that destruction. This rendition of the play does a good job of pointing out that Romeo and Juliet is not solely about lovers’ suicides but about the role of money and society that they lived in. Their families were at war due to society, status, and wealth. Society had a huge impact on Romeo and Juliet’s lives which got me thinking about the society I live in today and how am I affected by it?
            One influence that I am facing as I am approaching my 21^st birthday is whether or not to go on a mission. As I turn 21 that becomes an option. The society in which I live I know a lot of girls my age that have chosen to go on a mission and if I do choose to go on a mission would be very supportive of me going on a mission. I honestly feel like most girls my age are going on mission and so I feel a lot of pressure from society to serve a mission but in reality I will not go on a mission simply because of societal pressures.