Response to my Previous Invitation

Got a great response to my previous invitation for a letter.

A quote from the character Cardinal Richelieu in the 1839 play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. One of my favorite quotes, the full context of the quote is:

True, This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,


The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold


The arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! —


But taking sorcery from the master-hand


To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike


The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —


States can be saved without it!

My favorite part is that it is thru words that great things can happen, not by violence. 9 years before this play was written, Joseph Smith Jr. commented to EB Grandin : "the word had a greater tendency to lead the people to do that which was just; yea, it had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword.” Obviously, Bulwer-Lytton was paraphrasing the Prophet, but I digress...

Well done to the mischievous reader who sent in this letter. They have left it up to me to guess who they are. From my review of the delivery, here is what I know...

1) The Democrat and Chronicle was used in the making of this letter. The particular one they used was from Sunday, April 19, 2009

2) They live on the East Side, most likely East Rochester.

3) They are right handed.

4) They used a black ink, Bic pen. Probably a click style since the writing was smoother than the classic crystal style.

5) No animals were harmed in the making of this letter.

So, that's what I know about this letter I received. After careful review and thought on the matter, I have decided I think I know who the magic sender was...

But, would it be better for me to reveal him/her here? No...

I'll leave it up to imagination... till next week!

Revolutionary Post

I am doing something now, I have not done... ever... I'm blogging from my Macbook!

Usually, I blog from my Blackberry... thus the name for the blog.... and yes, we all know where I find the time to do it...

But today, I'm on my laptop, so I thought I'd drop a line!

Today, I want to talk about something different: pens.

Have you noticed we are living in the disappearance of the main choice of communication for the last trillion years, or something like that? Written thought is going the way of media. This was opened up to me recently in two ways.

First, in my last semester of school, my professor refused my first homework and told me to redo it because it was done in pen. She insisted it be typed. It was an investments course, and most of the homework was math. I've never done math in Word! But, surprise! I was the only one who didn't! Of course, I had to succumb...

Second, did you know that virtually nobody writes in cursive script anymore? I think I'm the last one! For the record, I never have, nor never will write in print, block letters or semi-cursive (common among women - my wife does it). In my training a couple of weeks ago at work, I was to be the scribe on the white board for some ideas we were all throwing out. After a few lines, the instructor commented: "Nice penmanship. I've been doing this for 9 years, you're the first to do it in cursive..." Really?!

So, here's my proposition. Sometime this week, just for the heck of it... get a nice sheet of paper (whatever moves you), sit down and write that email you were going to send. Put it in an envelope and mail it. Use cursive, print, block, semi-cursive or even hieroglyphics.

And just since I never seem to check my comments as much as I should (thanks to all who read and comment, I do see them eventually!), feel free to send me handwritten letters in lieu of comments! (316 Norwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14606) I'd be happy to respond in like manner!

Enjoy my vacation week!

I'm still alive

Hey all!

Up, I'm still alive! Sorry I haven't written in a while!

Not much news... Finishing my BS in Accounting this week and getting ready for MBA this fall.

Had some Paychex internal trainings, and vacation next week, yea!

That's the news, hope all is well with everyone!