Self-Improvement Goal 1: Improve My Handwriting

I've had shit handwriting all my life. In fact, my penmenship prevented me in learning calligraphy in the fifth grade. One of our teachers was a "calligrapher" and was offering lessons in the ancient craft. In order to receive the extra lessons, you had to have good handwriting. I didn't. It was the first time I was excluded from an extra curriculuar exercise for lack of talent.

My problem is: I don't have time to slow down and write neatly. If I do that, then I forget what I was trying to say. Mind like a sieve, you see. But, if you give me something to copy, I can do OK. I struggled along until high school, when I learned how to type. I have since left the pen in the dust. However, a lot of what I have to do on the job requires that I use a pen. I can't believe it! In this day and age I still have to submit things in writing. I guess I could ask the boss for a typewriter so I can complete the multitude of 3-part forms. It seems kind of frivolous, although I do like the quaint sound of an IBM Selectric snapping away industriously.

So, in the spirit of self-improvement and thrift, I plan to take my time and write more legibly. I'm not going to remove my characteristic stylizations in my handwriting, but I will slow down and press hard. Afterall, it's just work. I don't have to worry about forgetting what I was trying to say when completing purchase requisitions. It's copyist work. Too bad I never had that calligraphy class. I could sit at my desk in a hair shirt and robe and pretend I was copying sacred text. The text usually is sacred at work. I use it to back my word. Maybe if I could calligraphize my documentation it would be more intimidating and less questionable.