Ink Colour Etiquette

Black for business, Blue for social correspondence, Red for correcting errors, Green for stocktaking

Today, I wouldn't use anything but black, blue-black, or conservative dark blue for business, official, or formal writing. The sky's the limit for personal use.

In my previous life as a college instructor I used red and green to make corrections on student papers

A notary once asked me not to sign documents with black ink, because it looks very much like a photocopy. So I avoid signing things in black

Many licenses, etc. must be signed in a colour other than black for legal purposes.

More at http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/85447-ink-color-etiquette/

 

As an attorney I try to make sure to always sign in blue so that I can easily tell the difference between original documents and copies.

More at http://badgerandblade.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-186131.html

 

Why not black? The clerks have asked me to go to blue (as well as other attorneys) because copy machines are so good now that it is hard to tell the difference between original orders and copies that are to be attested

More at http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?115340-Fountain-pen-ink-color-choice

Famous First Initials

A. A. Milne

B. B. King

F. Scott Fitzgerald

H.G. Wells

J. Edgar Hoover

J. B. Priestley

H. Rider Haggard

See more at

http://mentalfloss.com/article/28788/real-names-18-authors-known-initials

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_literary_initials

Chclobirie

The practice of chclobirie (literally beating one's forehead on the ground) was adopted as part of Russian court etiquette ...

From Russia: A 1,000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East, By Martin Sixsmith

Deaver on outrunning a bear

"You know how fast you have to be to outrun a bear, Corte?"

"How fast?"

"Just a little faster than the guy with you."

From Edge, by Jeffery Deaver

Dash/Plus metadata markup system

Dash/Plus is a metadata markup system created for paper based notes to mark the status of action items on a todo list.

It quickly evolved to be equally well versed at marking up meeting notes for easy scanning and processing.

This is mainly designed for those who keep lists or take notes using pen or pencil and paper.

See the system at http://patrickrhone.com/2013/04/22/the-dash-plus-system/

Deaver on sand, gravel & silt

Sand, Lincoln Rhyme reflected, is a criminalist’s delight: bits of rock, sometimes mixed with other material, ranging from .05 to 2 millimeters (larger than that is gravel, smaller is silt).

From The Coffin Dancer, by Jeffery Deaver

Strike on Lies

Strike remembered Adler: “A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt as dangerous.”

From The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith

Deaver on trembling hand equilibrium

I doubted we'd find much about his immediate plans; he was too smart to leave obvious evidence but even a player as conscientious as he made mistakes sometimes.

Game theory takes this into account.

In a "trembling hand equilibrium," a player can accidentally pick an unintended strategy--say, when you reach for a queen's bishop's pawn and accidentally move the knight's in error. If you release the piece, you've made the move, even if the consequences are the opposite of what you'd intended and are disastrous.

From Edge, by Jeffery Deaver

Erdnase

S. W. Erdnase is a pseudonym used by the author of The Expert at the Card Table, a book detailing sleight of hand, cheating and legerdemain using playing cards.

Still considered essential reading for any card magician, the book, known also as either the Bible or, commonly, just Erdnase, has been in continual publication since 1902.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._W._Erdnase

Deaver on take or trash

He bent down and pocketed the man's phone and radio, after shutting them off, as well as his pistol, while I patted him down for other weapons.
Even though tactical ops aren't my specialty, I knew you never left weapons for the other side to pick up later.
Take or trash, the saying went.

From Edge, by Jeffery Deaver

Corte on trembling hand equilibrium

I doubted we'd find much about his immediate plans; he was too smart to leave obvious evidence but even a player as conscientious as he made mistakes sometimes.

Game theory takes this into account. In a "trembling hand equilibrium," a player can accidentally pick an unintended strategy--say, when you reach for a queen's bishop's pawn and accidentally move the knight's in error. If you release the piece, you've made the move, even if the consequences are the opposite of what you'd intended and are disastrous.

From Edge, by Jeffery Deaver

The handmaiden of Beelzebub

Some Criteria for Buying a Fountain Pen

So you have decided you want to buy a fountain pen because you are tired of ballpoint pens—the "handmaiden of Beelzebub," or other inferior products that put more strain on the environment because they need cartridges, etc.

What would be some of the criteria you should employ?

See full article at http://takingnotenow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/some-criteria-for-buying-fountain-pen.html

Langdon on inaction

The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.

For Langdon, the meaning of these words had never felt so clear: In dangerous times, there is no sin greater than inaction.

From Inferno, by Dan Brown

Top Works by Russian Authors

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1877).

2. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1869).

3. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955).

4. The stories of Anton Chekhov (1860–1904).

5. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866).

See more at http://www.toptenbooks.net/top-ten-works-russian-authors

Pulp Fiction – The Shadow, Doc Savage, …

Pulp fiction / magazines (often referred to as "the pulps") are inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s.

The typical pulp magazine was 7 inches (18 cm) wide by 10 inches (25 cm) high, 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) thick, and 128 pages long.

Pulps were printed on cheap paper with ragged, untrimmed edges.

The term pulp derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed.

Although many respected writers wrote for pulps, the magazines are best remembered for their lurid and exploitative stories and sensational cover art.

Modern superhero comic books are sometimes considered descendants of "hero pulps"; pulp magazines often featured illustrated novel-length stories of heroic characters, such as The Shadow, Doc Savage and The Phantom Detective.

See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_magazine

Thieves' cant

Thieves' cant or Rogues' cant was a secret language (a cant or cryptolect) which was formerly used by thieves, beggars and hustlers of various kinds in Great Britain and to a lesser extent in other English-speaking countries.

The classic, colourful argot is now mostly obsolete, and is largely relegated to the realm of literature and fantasy role-playing, although individual terms continue to be used in the criminal subcultures of both Britain and the U.S.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves%27_cant

See also the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence) by Francis Grose, ay the Project Gutenberg online digital library, http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5402

Diary that’s eight times size of War and Peace

Meet Mr. John Gadd, 83, of Fontmell Magna in Great Britain.

He keeps a diary. He keeps the most incredible diary I have ever heard of. It is huge,  as in 21,000 pages, filling 151 volumes, and also contains some 33,000 photos and ephemera.

The diary dates back 66 years to 1947 and contains some four million pages.

See full article at http://thatsnuckingfuts.com/2013/08/09/pig-expert-writes-four-million-word-diary-thats-eight-times-size-of-war-and-peace/

Nori - brick & dwarf

Accrington bricks, or NORIs were a type of iron hard engineering brick, produced near Accrington, Lancashire, England from 1887 to 2008.

They were famed for their strength, and were used for the foundations of the Blackpool Tower and the Empire State Building.

See full article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accrington_brick

 

In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Nori was a Dwarf of Durin's folk who lived in the northern Blue Mountains (Ered Luin) in Thorin's Halls and later the restored Lonely Mountain (Erebor). He had two brothers named Dori, and Ori, and was a remote kinsmen of Thorin Oakenshield. His hood was purple, he played the flute, and he was very fond of regular and plentiful meals like his hobbit friend, Bilbo Baggins.

See full article at http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Nori

Mad Hatter Day – 10/6

Mad Hatter Day is October 6th!

Celebrated by Disney fans across the world, this day is dedicated to the Mad Hatter from Alice In Wonderland.

Are you curious as to why October 6th was the chosen date?

10/6 are the numbers written on the card on the Mad Hatter’s hat. The card or label on the Hatter’s hat reads “In this style 10/6″, which refers to 10 shillings and six pence – the price of the hat in pre-decimalized British money. The figure acts as a visual indication of the hatter’s trade. In the UK, 10/6 would point to the tenth of June, but since the day was founded in America it is the 6th of October.

See full article at http://www.thehatblog.com/blog/2013/10/03/mad-hatter-day/

and see the Village Hat Shop at http://www.villagehatshop.com/

Enid Blyton

Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was a British children's writer also known as Mary Pollock.

She is noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups.

One of Blyton's most widely known characters is Noddy, intended for early years readers.

However, her main work is the genre of young readers' novels in which children have their own adventures with minimal adult help. Series of this type include

• the Famous Five (21 novels, 1942–1963, based on four children and their dog),
• the Five Find-Outers and Dog, (15 novels, 1943–1961, where five children regularly outwit the local police) as well as
• The Secret Seven (15 novels, 1949–1963, a society of seven children who solve various mysteries).

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton