Handwriting: Val's Shorthand Suggestions

Thu Jan 1 19:57:43 UTC 2009

SignWriting List
January 1, 2009

Hello Jonathan!
Thank you for this message...My answers are in-between yours, below ;-)

On Dec 29, 2008, at 10:50 AM, Jonathan wrote:
>>  Hi Val,
>        I think that it's a great idea.  I was about to volunteer to  
> offer to clean up and put the scanned pages together into a PDF for  
> you so that you can post it on your web site. I am still offering.    
> Then we would have the old Shorthand book for historical and  
> inspirational reasons.  That's if you could scan it all and send it  
> to me.  Even if you don't have time to scan it all at once, it would  
> be ok.  Does the handbook have many pages?

Jonathan - this is sooo nice of you...the book has around 200 pages  
and since I am here and you are in Honduras, I guess the only one who  
can scan the pages is me...and really they don't need to be cleaned  
up, if they are just an historical scan...

Thank you, though, for offering to help me...I really appreciate it  
very much...

You have already contributed much to SignWriting..working on new  
software called the SignWriter Studio...is that right? and also  
transcribing videos of ASL into written literature in SignPuddle in  
2008 is really great...I will have more to tell you about that  
later...Adam is helping me place the video on SignPuddle coordinating  
with your writing...

Anyway...in regards to the scanning of the 200 page old Shorthand  
book, I do not know when I can get to that...I will try soon, although  
I suspect most people will want to write the way they are writing  
right now and the historic shorthand book will be just  
that...historic...

>
>
>     I am game to help with the shorthand.  1 a page or 2 a week  
> should be fine.  Slow and steady wins the race !!! :-)

Oh that is so nice of you....well the truth is that I want to finish  
other projects that you and I already started...such as editing the  
ASL transcription which you did for us in 2008...if you have the time,  
perhaps you and Adam can compare your writing and discuss different  
writing issues together? once we have the videos up near the writing  
it will be easier to have the editing discussions...

meanwhile, back to the shorthand, let me do the scan of the book...and  
then the point I was trying to make before is that the shorthand could  
possibly be adapted for daily use, but it would have to be adapted and  
the old shorthand book is truly for shorthand and not the same  
thing...so scanning the book is not the real answer to solving  
everyone's handwriting needs...

>
>
>     For the last year, I have been drawing and signwriting most of  
> my sign related notes.  But recently, I´ve caught myself glossing  
> instead because it is so much faster for me.  I strongly agree withe  
> others on the list that is is important to be able to write  
> signwriting at a decent pace.  This would make it so much more  
> useful than it already is.

This is great to know, Jonathan...and I agree.

You see, for my personal notes I really do use the old Shorthand, but  
that is only when I am writing for myself...if I want others to read  
my handwritten notes in SignWriting, I choose to write like I was  
teaching in that Handwriting course 2 years ago on the web, because  
then I know people will probably be able to read my writing:

SW Handwriting Course
http://www.signwriting.org/lessons/cursive/handwriting/

>
>     I mentioned the Shorthand to my wife.  She didn't know what it  
> was about, then when I explained it to her, she said that would be  
> happy that I learn. :-)
>     I guess she finds I take a lot of time when I do my  
> signwriting!!! :-)
>
>     Of course, I wouldn't need true Shorthand, what Dr. Karen van  
> Hoek suggested sounds like a very good idea to me.   To use  
> Shorthand like writing to improve the speed of writing.
>
>     When do we start?

When time permits, we will start! Thank you so much for your interest  
and encouragement!

What are some of my 2009 projects?

1. finding more sources of income for our non-profit organization
2. documenting the ISWA 2008, which I have not completed yet ;-)
3. writing the 2008 SignWriting Year-End Report
4. end of the year bookkeeping, accounting and tax-preparation ;-)
5. establishing more software downloads on our web sites...including  
new developments
6. starting the official site for the SignWriting Literature Project  
archives, which will someday include a search engine for every  
document ever written in SignWriting
7. improving our Lessons in SignWriting, including editing and  
creating the third Lessons in SignWriting video, which Adam and  
Lucinda created in 2008, but the video footage never got put  
together...you can view some of it on this web page already:

Third Video for Lesson in SignWriting Video Series
Video Three: Movement Symbols
http://www.signwriting.org/video/lessons/movement/

8. and of course the Advanced Handwriting...or Handwriting-Shorthand,  
which we have been discussing...
9. and then there is the Wikipedia in American Sign Language...

Big smile ;-))

10...and getting the whole ISWA into SignBank...the symbols were  
automatically installed but the name of each symbol has to be put in  
manually and I am only around half way through...we need the ISWA in  
SignBank so it can coordinate with SignPuddle...smile...

Anyway...2009 will be a great year and I am so happy to be able to  
work with you -

Val ;-)

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