JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

Everyone says cursive is doomed. Really? I use it all the time, especially when I want a piece of writing to meander and develop at its own pace instead of rushing to the conclusion. I love sending and receiving handwritten letters: they literally contain their author. You can tell a lot about the author from the way he crosses his t’s and dots his i’s (or draws a heart over them, in which case I stop reading).

I believe that there are messages that can only be conveyed in handwriting. For this and other reasons cursive will not die out entirely but become the province of a few—much like books printed on paper.

It is true that good stationery is now harder to find in Manila. There used to be a couple of shops selling Crane’s paper but they’ve closed. A few weeks ago I spent hours scouring the mall for heavy notepaper (the size you fold once and place in the matching envelope) and finally found a few forlorn (say that fast) boxes in a corner of Fully Booked. This is not right. There’s nothing like a letter dripping with vitriol that can also slice its recipient’s fingers open.

I took this up with Eman Pineda at Adora (at Greenbelt 5), which is exactly the kind of store that should have stationery and writing supplies. He assures me that starting next year, Adora will carry fine stationery. I will alert you when the papers arrive.

Florence and Venice seem to be the capitals of stationery and journals, although the paper sold in Venice often turns out to be from Florence. Pineider, stationers to Napoleon Bonaparte, still has a shop in Florence on the Piazza della Signoria. I made sure to buy something from the store patronized by Byron, Shelley, and Stendhal

even if it was just a sheaf of bookmarks.

No particular connection to post, just showing off handsome cat.