Tag: writing

Anyone Have a Pen?

Truth be told, I am embarassed to tell you how many pens I have. They are an instrument of magic for me because of their grand potential to change, sadden, influence, create, spread joy, etc. As someone once said, the pen is mightier then the sword. (Edward Bulwer-Lytton). I do abide by this sentiment, though I fear it has been run off the road by all things digital.

I’m not saying that digital is bad, but when many young people today don’t appreciate the joy of a pen gliding across the page and discovering ideas and thoughts that awaken and surprise!

The fact today is that cell phones rule. When I was teaching at the college, I’d marvel at the number of students who’d walk across campus while on their cell phones. No human interactions, no enjoying the surroundings, no being in the moment, and amazingly, no falls!!

Consider:

Nearly every student clutches a phone in one hand as they traverse the University of Central Florida campus, even while walking in groups. Laptops and tablets are lunchtime companions, and earbuds and headphones are routine accessories. While waiting for class to start, many students sit in silence, drawn into their devices. (Courtesy New York Times — excellent article)

Alas, I have been on this pen crusade for more years than I care to share, but I think what it symbolizes is more important today than ever.

Here is the little post I wrote many years ago:

In Pursuit of the Perfect Pen

I was watching the TV show Hoarders last night, and as usual, horrified by the deplorable conditions of the featured homes. And while I watched, I sat there with a self-serving sense of satisfaction that I was NOT a hoarder, that I did NOT live in deplorable conditions, and that minus a few knick-knacks here and there, we lived in a rather neat and organized little home, albeit a bit dusty. (What’s a little dust?). As I gloated, and made some comment accordingly, my daughter dearest looked at me with her curled-lip smile, which is never a good sign, and said, “Pens?”

Gulp. Oh boy. That’s a “got ‘cha.” I never thought about my predilection for pens as anything more than an “I love pens” thing. Other people love pens. I’ve heard them say it. In fact, I’ve had conversations with people where we compare makes, models, and ink colors. But even in these conversations, I know I am a breed apart because in addition to these basic things, I concern myself as well with ink flow, how far out the writing tip extends from the pen, and what its weight is (the heftier, the better). I do not dare bring these things into these conversations as I suspect it would be stepping over the edge.

Man oh man, I guess the jig is up. I’m a hoarder. A pen hoarder. I have boxes of pens stored throughout the house. I keep my current favorites in front of me at all times, and if someone disturbs them, I know in a second. No casual pen-borrowing from this hoarder. Those poor souls who’ve most innocently tried will never do so again.

Indeed, I have tried and probably have just about every brand, make, model, out there. I have driven in blizzards to get a pen. I order pens online. I give pens as gifts. I am in ecstasy when I get a pen for a gift.

I have spent much of my adult life in a quest for the perfect pen. A perfect pen is like the Holy Grail for a writer. However, there exist two issues with this: it’s expensive and just as with us mere mortals, there is no such thing. So, I have a choice – continue my quest, go broke, and run out of pen storage places, or accept the inevitable and succumb to the all-electronic brigade. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

Well, see you later. I’m off to Staples!

Saga of a Doorknob

Yep, a doorknob.

When I was a child and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was: a doorknob.

That’s right. A doorknob.

It’s no surprise that me saying I wanted to be a doorknob worried my parents

However, it’s important to note that I had given this matter a great thought. It’s true that I wanted to be something that few, if any, people had thought about being. But I also wanted to be something meaningful. I thought that doorknobs provide entry into other rooms, other places, other worlds! And I wanted to be one of those things (a doorknob)  that did that.

So, I decided to see what Copilot (AI) has to say about my childhood predilection, and I was delighted with the answer.

I wrote:

What if a child wants to be a doorknob when they grow up?

Here is the AI response to my question:

That’s delightfully imaginative—and honestly, kind of brilliant. If a child says they want to be a doorknob when they grow up, it’s not about becoming a literal piece of hardware. It’s a window into their creativity, curiosity, or maybe even their sense of humor.

Here’s how you could interpret it:

  • 🌀 Symbolic thinking: Maybe they see the doorknob as something important—something that opens doors, connects spaces, or helps people move forward. That’s poetic!
  • 😂 Playful absurdity: Kids often say things to be silly or get a reaction. It could be their way of exploring language and logic.
  • 🧠 Exploring identity: They might be testing boundaries—what does it mean to “be” something? Can objects have roles like people do?
  • 🎨 Creative expression: This could be the start of a wild story, a drawing, or a game. Maybe they’re imagining a world where doorknobs have personalities and adventures.

Instead of correcting them, it’s a great moment to ask, “What kind of doorknob would you be?” You might get a story about a golden doorknob on a castle, or one that tells jokes every time someone turns it.

Want help turning that idea into a short story or a comic?

Now, I did not respond to the query to move on to a creative tract produced by AI – I’ll leave that to my own creative juices at another time in the future

It’s All in a Word: Context

Ever since the controversy surrounding colleges and universities in the US about verbiage used in some classrooms. Professors have been accused of prejudice, bias, and bigotry for the use of certain material, and even the use of certain words!

As a former college professor, I am keenly aware of and sensitive to how things have changed in my years in the classroom, and how the margin for “error” in all things communicative, has narrowed to a mere sliver.

The word that most describes the critical aspect of communication is context. As I humbly see it, the inclusion of clear context today rarely exists.

So, along with a little research I did on the word context, I poked around a reputable dictionary and compared its results with that of an AI tool. The results scared me.

What do you think?

Britannica Dictionary definition of CONTEXT

1 : the words that are used with a certain word or phrase and that help to explain its meaning

  • To really know a word, you must be able to use it in context. [=in a sentence with other words]

◊ If the words that someone has said are taken or quoted out of context, they are repeated without explaining the situation in which they were said so that their meaning is changed.

  • When taken out of context, his comments sound cruel, but he was really only joking.
  • The actor claimed he’d been quoted out of context.

2 : the situation in which something happens : the group of conditions that exist where and when something happens

  • We need to look at the event within the larger/broader context of world history.
  • The book puts these events in their proper historical and social contexts.
  • We need to consider these events in context.

The above, as noted, is from the Britannica Dictionary, and the formatting was exactly as shown here.

In contrast, here is the definition of context from the AI tool:

Context refers to the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, statement, or piece of information. It provides the framework or background that helps in understanding and interpreting the meaning of something. Context can include various elements such as the time, place, people involved, historical background, cultural nuances, and other relevant factors that contribute to the overall understanding of a situation.

In communication, understanding the context is crucial for accurately interpreting messages, as the meaning of words or actions can vary depending on the context in which they occur. Context helps to clarify ambiguity, resolve potential misunderstandings, and provide a more complete picture of the information being conveyed.

The Perfect Pen, Part 2 (3 or 4?)

Many moons ago, I wrote about my rabid quest to find the perfect pen. Not a surprising thing for a writer who grew up from a kid who luxuriated in books, notepads, and all things literary and written. Would you believe I still have 6 books from my 6th grade Scholastic Books summer reading list? I remember my anticipation of the arrival of my order, and how I would immediately set about smelling the pages to determine which book I would read first.

Yes, I still smell books, and am drawn to the thicker and smellier ones! And I write every day in my journal, and read, usually 2 or three books at a time. I have a house full of books (a bitch to dust), some of which I even use as side tables in my living room.

Back to pens. The quest has ended! Can you believe it?

First, about the future of pens. It is numbered. And this I lament for all the kids who will never have the luxury of feeling a pen on paper, smelling its ink, and trying to always improve their handwriting. (Handwriting? What’s that you say?) The world of AI and smart devices is, and probably mostly has, replaced the writing tools I grew up with. I feel truly sorry for them.

For me? Pens will never go away. Nor will my notepads or my paper books (Red faced and truth be told, I do succumb to reading on my Kindle when I’m on my elliptical machine).

And now, I feel like I need a drum-roll here: After years of searching, and buying fountain pens, gel pens, roller balls, markers, and even pencils, I have come back to the pen that gave me thrills and comfort when I was a grammar school kid: The BIC Crystal stick pen! How ironic is that?