Letter Writing Club and a CBC Interview

Our Letter Writing Club is happening this week (Thursday, August 9th), and the timing couldn't be better as the CBC just released a three part series on a "Return to Analog," featuring film photography, pen and paper, and typewriters. Of course we were thrilled to be a part of the pen and paper segment, where they came to the shop to talk with Jon.   You can read the online article here, which talks about what most of us already know: that the tangible feeling of writing with a pen on paper touches a different part of your brain, one that makes things slow down and resonate a bit more. Letter writing and journaling are often discussed as outdated, but there are often deeper connections made - memory, stories, care, details, visual layouts, recall, depth of understanding - when we write by hand, whether it's notes in a boardroom or classroom, or a shopping list for a dinner party. Alas, we are not, in fact, all robots. But I'm preaching to the choir.* I'm terrifically embarrassed when I'm forced to be a part of these sorts of interviews - I manage to mumble and stutter through it, making it awkward for both the interviewer and everyone watching - so I'm always glad when Jon is around to handle them. In case you wanted a trip down memory lane, check out a few times we visited CBC in person for interviews, once for Fresh Air, and once for the Candy Palmater Show. It's funny to think that our tiny shop is such a novelty that we've making "the news" for five years now. In any case, our Letter Writing Club is on for Thursday evening (it's always the second Thursday of the month), from 7-9 pm. Free, supplies provided, treats and coffee, good company. Alas, no shop cat (he'll be at the new studio shop), but it's probably for the best, as he usually spends these evenings sniffing around in people's bags and generally getting underfoot. Just this past week I received a letter from a pen pal I was worried I'd never hear from again - I thought perhaps she'd moved since I last wrote, and of course we had also moved. It turns out there were a few letters turned back for both of us, but we've found each other again at last (or she found me). I wonder sometimes about the wisdom of not exchanging an email or a social media contact in case of circumstances like these, but I suppose it takes a bit of the fun out of it. As always, there are seasons where I find myself filling my spare evening hours with letter writing, and seasons where weeks go by with the pile growing higher and heavier, but it's wonderful to think of the years I've had writing back and forth with some of my favourite people in the world.  

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  Currently reading: Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier Currently drinking: Ginger + chamomile tea Current analogue project: consumed with planning for our upcoming 4-week journaling course Currently writing with: Edison Beaumont with Kobe No. 21, Parker Sonnet with Vert de gris, Life Steno pad Latest heard from the mouths of babes: Caleb, coming down the stairs, completely naked except for his helmet and watch: "I'm all ready to go for a bike ride!" Mama: "Hmmmm...something is not right." Caleb: "Okay, FINE! Can you help me take off my helmet?"     *The essence of this blog.