Calligraphy

I started calligraphy some time when I was in high school, if I recall correctly. For some reason, I loved the complex fonts that I would find in old German books, I was just jazzed about the first edition Gutenberg Bible. (I got to see one with my own eyes, and it seriously looks handwritten; each letter is saturated with rich ink, nothing is is askew.)

A birthday gift from my best friend. (Hi, Britt!)

I wished I could write with the spellings that Chaucer, John Donne and John Milton used. (Little did I know they used different spellings than today because the English-speaking world hadn't decided on how every word should be spelled). So I settled for at least having old-fashioned handwriting.

My friend Nathan says "Hallo"!

I would use thick paper and close it with melted waxes and seals, in order to send letters to my best friends. I felt it was a manifestation of my naturally romantic heart. Also, I loved all the old fashioned props you would find in movies like "The Interview with the Vampire", as well as what I would read in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables.

After a while, I got busy with school and forgot about this aspect of my life.

Just last week my sister asked to photograph my work and some of my reference books of mine. She had to do a photo-journal for her typography class. As I opened my Prada perfume box, and took each item to explain it to her, I realized how long this hobby of mine has been neglected.

Fabulous photographer that she is, she made even my practice markers look fascinating and I realized: I must go back! This must be a part of my life again, even if I'm not as perfectionist as I used to be about it. Time to reclaim this part of me...

Much like Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, the books teach you one stroke of the pen at a time.