Books I have written

I have done two books for newcomers to graphology. The first The Trait Directory shows as many indicators as I could find for nearly 300 personality traits and has room for the reader to write them in as well. This allows the reader to fix the indicator more firmly in mind. The book is most useful when you have to decide among several traits which one fits the writer best.
My second book is The Alphabet Speaks and each letter is shown with the different stabs, loops, shapes associated with the letter with an explanation of what this indicates.
These books are available through me. I can mail a printed copy already bound for:
The Trait Directory........................$15 plus postage or as an e-book you can print for............$10
The Alphabet Speaks.....................$20 plus postage or as an e-book you can print for...........$15
I can accept payment thru PayPal or money order.

Handwriting Tips

Just read a blog on how to write with information on holding the pen and how to practice. It is so good I am adding a link so you can read it in its entirety.
http://aaarticles.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/handwriting-tips/

Fears, Defenses, Resistances, and Escapes

The fears that show in handwriting are mainly fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of success. There are nuances for each of these fears but they mostly boil down to these four.
Once you have found the fears in a writing you must try to identify why it exists. Then what are the defenses for this fear. What are the resistances and escapes. To give you an example I will use myself. My writing shows I have a fear of loss or rejection. My defense is to be a people pleaser. The resistance is to avoid conflict at all costs and my escape is to manipulate others to fight my battles.
I had a very happy childhood and found the fear of loss or rejection puzzleing. My teacher Ron told me it stemmed from very early childhood. I said my parents divorced when I was 3. Instead of being told about the divorce we were told our mother had died. I do remember the anger I felt when told my mother had died. I don't even remember how old I was when we learned the truth that she didn't die until I was nearly 7. In the last few years I have learned what I thought were recurring dreams were memories. One was of myself trying to reach a baby bottle under the bed while a baby cried. The other was of 2 women coming to the house and being turned away and one of the ladies crying. But I was about 25 when I learned I had a half sister. To make a long story short in todays world she would have been charged with child endangerment and it was one of the things that led to the divorce.
To go on my defense became to be a pleaser while my stubborn German background threw in some "silent rebellion" in the form of backwards formed capital I's and lower case f's. My avoidance of conflict has made it hard for me to say NO and even now that causes me to take on more than I should.
As for the escape I find I hint at what I want or need done and hope others will take care of it for me.
At least I am aware of these things and to know yourself so well is a valuable lesson. Through my studies of graphology and writing the Alphabet Speaks I have made some changes. Becoming a bit more analytical, a bit more reserved, and I can actually say NO now and mean it.
So look at your writing. Did you identify your fear? Do you understand what your defense is and the resistance and escape? If not lets get together.

To change or not to change

I have been thinking a lot about grapho-therapy lately. My original teacher did quite a bit of grapho-therapy and was especially successful with anorexics and bulimics who had no success with the traditional medical approach. He wanted to have one of his more promising students learn about medical signs in handwriting and to do grapho-therapy but she was too busy and then he became too ill.
First the writing has to be analyzed thoroughly. The analyst must decide what traits if any should be changed in the writing. Some people are happy as they are. Others don’t want to change because it would bring on too many changes in their lives. And remember a negative trait is not always a negative when it is tempering another trait.
Next does you client have things they want to change in their personality? Do you agree with the changes they think they want? You need to find out more about your client. What do they like and dislike about themselves. Not about their writing but themselves personally. It may be silly or trivial. the color of their eyes, length of their nose, they bite their nails, the shape of their ears who knows what they will some up with. You will be getting more of their writing to look at and may learn some fact that will help in the therapy.
Each trait has to be looked at to see if it is a fear, defense, resistance or escape or if it fits several of these categories. If it is a fear what is it’s defense? What are the resistances and escapes in play. What would be the first thing to change in the writing to cause the least damage? Once you have decided upon a change to recommend what do you expect to happen? Will this change be positive or negative? What about any peripheral changes? What might also change? Is this good or bad?
The first thing generally advised for grapho-therapy, and that is usually not one to cause problems, is to underline the name because things you underline are important. But what if your client is an adult with very high t and d stems (pride bordering on vanity)? To underline their name could make them obnoxious. Especially if they are aggressive and argumentative to begin or if their t and d stems are taller than the capitals (conceit).
Look at the t and d stems are they looped? Looped stems would mean a sensitivity to criticism. Is this acting like a brake on the aggressiveness? Then you don’t want to remove the sensitivity right away.
What about the e? Is it open or closed. If closed you could have them open the e so they are able to listen to others. To at least consider another’s ideas and opinions.
What if they have a looped t (fear of failure) and y that does not come back to the baseline (fear of success). Which should you change first? It depends up on the rest of the writing.
No matter what you decide is the change to make it is important to keep a close eye on what else is changing and if the changes are having any physical effect on the client. Headaches, tremors, nervousness etc. It may be necessary to stop or change the therapy in this case.

Teaching Cursive

I used to wonder why printing was taught in the first place. Children learn so quickly to make rounds and squiggles when playing with crayons and pencils. Through a Canadian graphologist I have learned about a French lady's teaching method. Her name is Danielle Dumont and I would love to have her books. The problem? Well as teaching manuals they are over $100 and in French which I do not read. The idea though is so simple it is refreshing. She used ribbon for rhythmic exercises making patterns in the air with the ribbon. Then they make the same strokes on a blackboard where they can see the patterns. From this they learn to make letters. After all a small loop is an e, a large loop is an l. Of course in French le is a word so when shown that by breaking the exercise into 2 strokes or letters they have written a word the children get really excited. Now the y and f can be added as they also are loops. The cup shaped stroke is a short point and a tall point then they are shown to add a dot to the short point and crossbar to the tall point and suddenly they are making i and t. Humps become m and n and my is a word, if is a word, me is a word etc. The exercises can also be used to sharpen focus by making strokes that change angles like a string of v or w or to relax and calm down by making the loops ely.

I do understand that they are taught to print so they can read books but it just seemes cursive is the easier to learn and as they can make words so easily it stirs the children to learn to write sooner. Unfortunately, in today's world I have even heard teachers say they can barely read cursive and never use it themselves and some of our local schools spend barely any time teaching it. I believe they are supposed to give it 6 weeks in second grade but one teacher said she did 2 weeks. Then they go back to printing. No wonder students hate written tests that require the use of cursive. I think it ought to be the required writing after they learn to read.

My speaking engagement

Recently I was asked to do a class for a group of singles. Of course, what they really wanted was to find out about themselves through their writing. This group was an older group with some widows and widowers and really balanced people. One had a learning disability which she shared with the group and when I mentioned having done the writing, on a cruise, of a man with essential tremors another lady said she suffered from them as well.
One of the men told us before his wife would date him she insisted on getting his handwriting. He laughed and said he must have passed because they had many happy years together before she died.
Only one person had a totally illegible signature and wanted to know what that indicated. I told her it could be that she signed a lot of papers so just didn't take the time to make it legible. But it can also mean not wanting to take responsibility for the work. The bad part about an illegible signature is that in a business it becomes recognized and everyone knows who it is anyway.
Luckily there was enough variety in this group to cover a lot of information. We did everything from thinking styles to the air strokes that lightly show on the paper. One person said she did the capital I Roman style and sometimes the air stroke squiggled across the I stem. I told her this is considered one (but more have to be present) sign of suicide. But that I have found it most often means at the time of the writing the writer was setting aside his or her desires for those of another. She agreed that was quite possible as she has many demands upon her time.
Since it was originally booked as a class I had done hand-outs on graphology that represented a crash course so I hope they are intrigued enough to ask me back again. One thing for sure a 1 and a 1/2 hr talk ended up being over 2 hrs with all the questions so I think they had a good time.

Impulse Control

Yesterday I watched some daytime TV and it all seemed to be on the violence of today's teens. I've heard all the arguments pro and con on the violence in the video games and if it has an effect on today's society and how anyone can say no is beyond me. I've heard that video games allow people to vent their frustrations in ways that don't harm anyone but does it? One group of boys said that actually doing what they had been doing on the games was so much more thrilling and an adrenalin rush can be as addicting as any drug. When the rush is obtained by skateboarding, bunge jumping, snowboarding or another sport that is ok but not when it involves damaging property or hurting another human being. Two girls were featured because of a fight at school each claiming the other started it. The mother of one was in the audience and very angry while the other didn't even show up because of her anger. The psychologist on the show talked to the girls and it turned out while they were mad at each other at the time of the incident it only escalated because the "friends" of one girl shoved her so she appeared to be attacking the other. The students wanted to see a fight.
Impulse control starts with good parenting and having consequences for our actions. Then there were the subliminal messages of handwriting along with the not so subliminal messages of Sunday School and church. We were taught to follow the 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule and say the Pledge of Allegiance in school. Now because it includes "under God" I'm not even sure they say it in school.
As for consequences in school it seems now the only consequence is suspension and it is used freely where I live. What ever happened to being sent to the principal and then facing the wrath of your parents when you got home? We were more afraid of them than the principal who gave us study hall detention where you did extra homework. At home it meant anything from loss of allowance to forced labor around the house or yard. Now kids don't even have chores in some homes or parents who care in others. As for school because they get paid per student in class if you miss roll-call you are in more trouble than if you ditch so guess what students choose. One boy I know quit school in 7th grade because he was in detention more than class and in their detention unlike study hall you were allowed no pencil, papers or books. You just spent the time learning what jail was like...boring. Now he is too old to go to a charter school and works in fast food barely making enough to live. He's been programmed by our school system to fail and is doing a good job of it.
I worked for a short time in a video store and was appalled at the games and videos parents allowed their children to check out. The same with movies. I have been to movies where the violence and sex let alone the language was so prevalent and seen children as young as 2 or 3. The parents if asked say they don't understand what's going on. Yeah, that's why they curse like sailors by the time they go to school. Even my 3 yr old great-grand-daughter the other day said "god, damn it" the other day when she dropped something. Her mother's favorite choice of word.
At her age they may not understand what they say but they know when to curse. As for the older one her father went for counseling when he realized her temper tantrums were a reflection of his actions. Children do what they see good or bad. Children need discipline and boundaries in their life and the hard part is not going too far or just as bad not going far enough.

I'm hoping until the school gets hold of my grand children to teach them to control those impulses that will get them into trouble and use the ones that make them happy, caring individuals who want to make a place for themselves in the world.

This again is where toxic words can come into play. Since I take care of my great-grand-daughters at least 4 days a week I am trying to not say don't but to use stop. Then rather than saying you can't do that. To say you will get hurt or you will hurt someone else by doing that. One grand-daughter pinches and the other one bites so these habits must be broken before school though I strongly suspect the one who pinches learned that in pre-school. Both girls go through periods when they want to be babied again because they have a new baby sister who seems to get all of the attention. When this happens I try to give them a kiss and a hug or a rock in the big chair. They are even satisfied if I bring the baby out so I can watch them on the swing or in the wading pool. At my age I an even happy to lay down with them and watch cartoons and they are willing to share me this way.
Both girls know their alphabet and the oldest can write hers. I was surprised at how well the younger one can follow the letters on a practice page. Though I don't know why because as a second child she has always thought she could do whatever big sister did and believing it does.

Penmanship

Back when our country was started and few people went to school for more than a few years it was important to learn to write. Gradually types of handwriting developed that actually could tell you what the writer's profession was,secretary, butcher, etc. I've no idea when penmanship started in school but well remember working to perfect those push and pulls and the running tunnel of circles. Then the letters of the alphabet themselves some loope and some retraced.
Actually like the letters themselves these exercises taught us restraint and control. It was much easier then to get the idea of writing when the desk was slightly angled. As long as you grasped the concept of left and right it followed that the front edge of the desk was the top. Now with flat desks and teachers who are likely to point to examples of the alphabet around the room and say your letters should look like these it can be hard for a child to learn to write. So many get little or no help at home from parents too busy or too tired to care.
If properly held the pen or pencil will not cause the hand or arm to become tired or cramped after just a few lines. And some exercises can not only be fun but help the child to learn better. Danielle DuMount in France teaches children with rhythm and fun and they quickly learn they can write after all. She has them hold a ribbon and make patterns such as a running line of small loops, next a running line of tall loops. Then make a short and a tall loop across. Next try this on a chalkboard or paper. Suddenly there is a line of letters which in French is le and a word. A set of short waves, a set of tall waves (or cups), a set of short and tall and suddenly another word, it.
Also this sort of exercise can be a big help in other ways. A series of e's and l's, becausethey are soft and rounded, is relaxing and calming while a series of connected w's (especially the pointed ones tho both work) sharpens the focus of the mind. Never overdo these exercises one line is enough and too much has the opposite effect.

Personality and handwriting

When does your personality develop? Believe it or not before we learn to talk. A baby makes demands according to their needs. How those needs are met, or not, start to set the personality. When a child's needs are met promptly and they are talked to in a pleasant manner the child will be more genial than one whose needs are not met. Or one who is badly treated by the parents or caregivers.

So by the time children start school they pretty much are on their way to their full personality. It is just reinforced or exacerbated by teachers and the other adults and children they meet.

One reason for sibling rivalry is because the younger children get compared to the older ones. Also the older ones suddenly are not only not the center of attention but anything they have outgrown, clothes and toys, go to the new arrival. So it is important the parents make them feel part of taking care of the baby. To make the child understand they are not replaced and that they don't really need or use the old stuff anyway. So why not give it to the baby. With a choice of something new in place of something they no longer need most children learn to be generous and giving.

Then there are the toxic words I have already discussed. We use them on ourselves, unknowingly to our detriment as well. But think how much worse they are to a child who thinks a parent raises the moon and stars. They can become angry, or fearful, rebellious toward authority and we are at fault aided by others such as teachers or relatives. Even strangers who do not like children and always find fault with them.

The driving force behind our personality is our fears. How we cope with those fears through defense mechanism's, resistances and escapes completes the rest of the personality. The myriad of fears, defenses, resistances and escapes are why we are as individual in personality as we are in our fingerprints.

More on Toxic Words

Toxic words cut into the ego even when we use them on ourselves so imagine how much worse it is on a child who looks up to you and wants to please you. I mentioned some of them in my last blog but there are others. Let me list the words and how they cut.
but - negates what you said before so even if it was praise you have just taken it back or worse
if - presupposes you may not succeed setting YOU up for failure be it a child or yourself
would have - draws attention to what didn't happen nullifying what did happen
should have - not only draws attention but implies guilt because it didn't happen
could have - tries to take credit for what didn't happen and ignore what did happen
try - not only presupposes failure it gives permission to fail!
might - leaves options for the listener not definitive answers
can't or don't - forces focus on the opposite of what you want
True story:
A boy and his cousin were playing in the yard and climbing trees when a storm blew in. The aunt called out to her son "Don't fall!" while the boy's father yelled "Hang on!" The boy hung on tightly to the limb and was ok but the cousin fell and broke his arm because the brain first has to figure what is supposed to be done before it can interpret not to do it.
On a little league team there was a pop ball to an area of the field with the weakest player. Dad yelled at him "Don't drop it!" but the coach yelled "Catch it!" What do you think happened? Well luckily the coach was louder and closer and the kid caught the ball. They didn't win the game but think how proud that boy was that he actually caught the ball.
If you get into the habit of watching what you say to yourself maybe you will be better about toxic words to your child so both of you will benefit. If you stop wondering what if or I should have after making decisions you will find you are less indecisive as well as that you have stopped tearing your ego down.

Tagging

I find facinating becausethe main thing you see in it is need. A need for attention, for affection, for family and for love and a gang is not the place to find any of that. Tagging also starts in the teen or even pre-teen years and again shows the need and vulnerability of the tagger. The kids take on a "tag" or nickname so you know who the tagging belongs to and one I found really vulnerable was named Devine. Big fluffy pillowy letters that leaned into each other for support but always surrounded in some way. The two most memorable...one surrounded by directional arrows pointed every which way, the other a bramble bush with long sharp thorns. So telling in its symbolism.

Every once in a while one of these artists will find a way to go to a graphic arts school and make something of their talent because there can be real artistic talent among taggers. But how much work is there if you only have 1 or 2 styles of graphics. The biggest problem would be to get the artist to study other ways or methods of art. To learn how to produce a saleable piece of work. Most of them do their kind of artwork because they are protesting something. They don't want to be tied down with rules and follow directions even though they would give everything if their art was recognized. They are so busy fighting for freedom they can't see how learning properly would free them. Would give them the tools for a better life, to possibly become a money making artist. But first they need to learn some discipline, to proportion their drawings properly, to work even when they may not want to because there is a deadline. Maybe even learn a new technique that would work better. Most of all they would have to be come accountable to someone else, to them a fate worse than death. Well kids, wait until you have a family to support or even just yourself. You can only go from friend to friend mooching or panhandling on the street which can be really dangerous. Then you have to grow up and why work at a low paying job you hate when with a little effort you may get a job you can enjoy using your talents.

Toxic words

Most of us perpetuate, without realizing it, thoughts and actions by treating our children and others as we were treated growing up. Not to say this is always a bad thing especially if we were raised in a nurturing family. We all have heard that abuse engenders abuse and how many of us as teens have said when I have children I will never do that to my kids. Only to find as a parent they do the same things mom and dad did. If this something is making them hold to a curfew, do chores, be responsible well great. These things need to be learned and followed. But the parent that uses toxic words or goes overboard on punishments, even if it is just timeouts, is fostering that use in their child and this we don't want to pass on to future generations.
Lets look at toxic words, just simple everyday words we all use but oh how they can poison a child's mind. Always...now stop and think about it, no one always anything. It's just, at that moment in time you think of how often they do something they were told not to do and forget how often they do right. Next is never...again no one never listens, never follows instructions, never does things right or whatever you are chastizing them for. Stop to think do you always or never do things?
How about but? Do you praise a child for something only to take it away by saying but? But why can't you do that all the time? But why didn't you do that the first time? Only a three letter word and it can do so much damage. And, yes, I nearly said but it can do so much damage.
And remember would'a, could'a, should'a, we often say these things about something we messed up and yes even then they are derogatory but to a child would, could and should can cut the self-esteem down so very badly.
Worst of all we don't mean to inflict damage to their ego but in frustration, anger or the heat of the moment it happens. We speak out without a thought of the message we are giving out to our children. And while we are on the subject think of your own ego. These same words are just as toxic to us and maybe if we learn to use other words in their place we won't be so quick to use them on the children.
When you want to say "You did great today but" why not say "I'm really proud of what you did today" and leave it at that. Or how about "that was great do you remember just how you did that?" This will tell them you are proud of them and reinforce to remember just what made it so great. As for yourself if you mess up and especially if its not the first time then tell yourself "I really need to slow down and do this the proper way next time because I really do know how to do it."

Fears & Defences

It is being much harder to write on the fears and defences found in handwriting than I expected. This is a very complex idea in the first place and each of us will react differently to the same situation based on our individual personalities. How we have learned to handle our fears, if we are insecure, if we are rebellious and enjoy challenging authority, if we are loners trusting few or none, and so many more factors.
I had hoped to find a way to use my trait directory's list of personality traits and then determined if each was a fear, defence, resistance, or escape. This idea won't work though because many can be placed in each category depending upon other factors in the writing.
So a fear of failure may make one person give up and do nothing much with their life, another turn to their mental abilities to hide themselves in work, while still another might fail at a half dozen things they try but put forth such energy they still find several to succeed at and become rich or famous. We are after all a mix of often conflicting traits and how we respond to them and the ones we use most distinguish just who and what we are.
While I won't give up on the idea of somehow trying to make this easier to understand it won't be any time soon.

Tombstone

Just came from the AHAF meeting where Lynn Monroy did another of her presentations on Tombstone, Az. So far she has introduced us to Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, Ike Clanton and Johnny Ringo. She has done a lot of research on each of them, gotten samples of their handwriting and thrown in the history of Tombstone making for some interesting meetings.
Tonight we learned much about Sheriff John Behan and some time later we will go over Virgil and his wife. Wyatt was married when the sheriff traveled to San Francisco to bring to Tombstone Josephine (Sadie) Marcus. However, when they arrived and she met Wyatt they fell in love. It wasn't long before Wyatt left his common-law wife Mattie and Wyatt and Josephine lived openly together.
What a blow this must have been to Behan who was already in competition with the Earps over control of Tombstone. The sheriff was an elected official but Wyatt was a marshall, an appointed position. So Behan sided with the "Cowboys" who's voting power could keep him in office. Now understand at this time the Cowboys were not just men who worked on the ranches but a fairly lawless bunch who would rustle cattle, raid into Mexico or come into town and shoot it up when they got drunk. In fact, the former sheriff was shot trying to take the gun from a cowboy who was "shooting at the moon" while drunk.
Someone asked how Wyatt came to be the most know of the Earps when actually Virgil was the elder of the two but we could see from his writing that Wyatt was a quick thinking man who had a "my way or the highway" attitude. The Earps, Doc Holiday and Sheriff Behan were educated men who were intelligent, analytical and fast thinking. There the resemblance takes a turn into other directions. Doc, maybe because of his pain and definitely because he had no fear of dying often provoked others just because he wanted to do so. Sheriff Behan misused his authority not only because he could but also because he did not know how to properly handle it. Each of the Earps also had divergent styles and opinions which show up in their writing but we have not finished looking at all of them as yet.
All I can say is , "Well done Lynn, we look forward to the rest."

The dumbing down of America

Nothing makes me madder than to hear people and especially educators say handwriting is obsolete because with technology we will all be using computers and won't need to write. This is just another cop-out because the teachers would rather have school work turned in that has been done on a computer than to spend the time to decipher everyones handwriting. We have whole generations who were not taught properly how to write and no, printing is not easier to read or faster! And surprise surprise not everyone can afford a computer or to spend time or get to the library to use their computers.

Also I was reading just a few days ago that the USA has dropped from being the best educated people in the world because places like China, India and Japan push their children so hard to excel in things besides sports, like in the sciences and technology.

Instead we let the school systems throughout the country lower test requirements so more of the students can pass. Arizona adopted the AIMS tests literally 6 years ago and still many of our students cannot pass it even though it is a requirement to graduate. In fact, our school system here is so bad we have as many if not more charter schools than public schools now. Enough at any rate that the public school system cannot support all of the schools because they no longer get enough state and federal funding.

We mistakenly thought schools would improve if the teacher pay raises were tied to the percentage of children doing well and graduating. Instead the number of children put on Ritalin for behavior problems went up, teens learned it was better to skip a class than show up late and suspensions were handed out for little reason. And remember study hall where you were expected to STUDY? A thing of the past! If you get sent to study hall, now called detention, you are allowed no books, paper or writing impliments it is literally confinement and nothing else. What a waste of time, a teacher or monitor and minds.
I myself had two grand children who started out well in school. The boy brought home papers with excellent marks until he reached third grade where he was put on Ritalin and labeled ADHD. After that everything that went wrong in class he was singled out even before the facts were known. His parents kept on him because he was in trouble at school so by the time he reached middle school he had given up and after a few months he dropped out. As for the girl she was on the honor roll and approached by colleges while still in middle school. Then between the AIMS test and a suspension for smoking (at a nearby shopping mall) quit high school and settled for a GED.

Scientist's writing

I was asked in 2007 to analyze the writing of several scientists with the purpose being to write an article for one of the scientific journals. The professor who asked for my help explained the people were all deceased but he knew of a colleague or family member who could comment on what I said about each. As it turned out he was running out of time for his article and had only heard from one person.
Now to me the comments verified all I said about the scientist who turned out to be Linus Pauling. But as the professor took pains to say: "Most scientists would probably dismiss it as a "pseudo-science" and catagorize it along with astrology and phrenology, claiming they have little or no basis in fact. Despite the lack of scientific proof on the value of handwriting analysis, the writings of well-known public figures have long been of interest and have often been studied as a means of inferring personality traits from the writer. And the article was turned down.
I said the writer had a great thirst for knowledge and was a collector though the writing would not show what he collected facts, ideas, friends, or material possessions. The comment was that Pauling had a large library of journals and books as well as a mineral collection given to him by Oppenheimer but he didn't know if that qualified him as a collector. Also that he certainly had an enormous number of friends, colleagues and facts.
I said the writer wrote with such enthuasium his brain got ahead of his hand causing him to make mistakes in him impatience. The comment was that Pauling seemed to be a most patient person although he expressed impatience in his writings of the reluctance of the medical authorities to accept his arguments for vitamin C.
I spoke of his great desire to acquire knowledge and to investigate the known and that the desire might make it hard for him to sleep as his brain would not switch off easily. The comment was that it was true about his desire to investigate and understand nature though he had no idea if Pauling had trouble sleeping. In fact he says Pauling himself wrote that he had a method of thinking about intractable problems before sleep and how an answer would occur spontaneously. He believed the unconscious mind worked on the problem during sleep. (My point exactly.)
My comment was that the writer could be moody and worked best alone or with machines. The response was that this was somewhat true as many papers were authored solely by Pauling and that he enjoyed using his calculator and solving equations.
Again I said the writer enjoyed intellectual or philosophical discussions but being opinionated and stubborn could not be easily swayed from his point of view. The response was that Pauling had well-deserved confidence in his own intellectual abilities and knowledge. Critics usually had a hard time debating him because of his often superior intellect or command of the facts. Also he rarely, if ever, backed down from a fight.
I commented that the writer could be sarcastic and critical of others and when considering his arguments might even talk to himself or hold complete conversations in his mind. His colleague said he did not know if he talked to himself and that Pauling seldom used sarcasm but he could be very critical if he thought someone was wrong. He especially liked to find errors in published papers.
As to my comment that the writer was proud, secretive about his personal life and sensitive to criticism of his work or person. The response was that this was somewhat true as Pauling was a proud but not prideful man. That he wasn't especially secretive about his personal life but he preferred to talk about science.
I said he enjoyed a challenge but would have issues with the opposite sex so a female working under him would have to endure his nit picking and criticism while the female who attracted him would be one who shows the least interest or challenges him. The response was that Pauling was old-fashioned being a product of the early 20th Century. He often said his wife should have shared his Nobel Peace Prize as she was smarter then he. During most of his career women were largely excluded from academia but he had an excellent relationship with his secretary and assistant of many years.
I said his sense of humor was of a wry witty type and that he showed will power, determination and a tendency to be abrupt. The only comment to this was true.
This is only part of my analysis and the comments but as scientists consider Graphology a pseudo-science it was turned down by the journal.
Only one other name was revealed to me...Rutherford but the one I really would like to know is the 5th scientist as that handwriting was not at all suited to the field. This writer had the soul of a poet and if they had to work daily in a career they were so ill suited for it must have been torture.

A Grandma Again

This is far off the track of handwriting but I am so excited. Kaitlyn Marie made her debut on Thurs April 10th 2008 weighing in at 6 lb, 9 oz, and measuring 19 inches.

I was asked who posed her hands and actually she did. Only a few hours old she is really beautiful and has hit several "poses" in her moving and stretching.

At the moment both big sisters Elizabeth and Annalise are wanting to hold her and take care of her. Not sure if its her size or what but actually Annalise who is the younger holds her best .

Presentations

I was explaining to someone how my teacher Ron Laufer went about the presentation to schools on career day. Each person was given a 5" by 8" card and told to write a silly sentence then sign and print their name. He went on to ask who knew what graphology was and we would get some wild responses. After explaining that graphology was also known as handwriting analysis he would ask if they had ever made decisions about a person based on their handwriting. Usually one or two people would remark on someones writing that they had seen.
Next he would bring several people to the front of class (to their embarassment) and just let them form a line. Based on the line formed he would point out how raggedy or straight it was and comment on the space between them. He would point out how alone each one seemed to be or if two or three were friends and clustered together how they seemed to be supporting each other even if they didn't actually touch. He would then have them hold hands and spread out evenly and comment on how much friendlier that looked. After dismissing them to their seats he would explain that printers will normally say they print because it is faster or because their cursive writing is so bad but that the starts and stops actually take longer. He also explained printing takes the emotion out of what is written as there is no flow to the writing. When a printer does sometimes connect letters this shows they want to be friendly but are afraid of being rebuffed. Printing where some of the letters lean against each other is an indication the writer feels the need for emotional support.
Back to basics he would tell them about the connectors between letters. Actually there are six in all but the ones usually seen are the garlands those little waves or cups between letters. The angle connector where there is an abrupt change of direction between the end of one letter and the start of the next. An arcade is the next common connector where the end of a letter goes up and over to the next letter. Garlands are friendly, angles analytical and arcades creative as well as self protective.
After asking for questions and answering them we would wander the room stopping to comment on different writings. He especially loved the really messy ones and the angles. Of the angle writer (usually a boy) he would say to the teacher "he always wants to know how and why something works doesn't he? If he picked up something that gave him a shock he will never-the-less do it over and over until he figures it out". Of the messy writer he would say "oh boy the hormones are raging". These kids need the most help but often rebuff it for fear of being let down so he would find something good to say about the writing and encourage them to accept help when offered or to ask for it when needed.
By the time we got out we had gone over everyone's writing, including the teacher, and sometimes we could tell the kids "to your teacher you are his or her kids so if you think she is hard on you it is because he or she knows you can do the job and wants you to prove it".
Forty-five minutes is not a lot of time to explain something as complex as graphology but the class was always full when we came and everyone had interesting questions or comments.

Graphology and the candidates

Our group the Tucson Chapter of The American Handwriting Analysts Foundation plans to look at the candidates signatures at the March meeting. When the candidates first started campaigning one of the Eastern newspaper reporters wondered in his column what graphologists would say about them. I sent him my comments on Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Mc Cain not knowing they would be the only ones campaigning before long. I missed seeing Mitt Romney's writing and do not remember if I said anything about Huckabee or Edwards writing. I really would like to have more than just a signature because there is some bearing on what was signed and how it is signed. For example, Mc Cain's signature was on two lines and both written uphill so it appeared to be an autograph rather than a normal signature while Hillary's was on a line as if it was a form being signed. This can also affect the signature to a small extent as she may have been trying to stay within a set space. While Obama's definitely showed his Arabic background unfortunately I have nothing else to compare to his signature. Some analyst's tell you the signature has the greatest importance as this is the face you present to the world but I still prefer to have both the signature and writing as well. When you have both then you know if the writer really is how they present themselves to the world. Some people are totally different from what their signature represents though the majority I have seen are the same. So far I have only seen one writing that was so large the writer only got three or four words across the page while the whole signature took up the space of one word. So he wanted to be seen as controlled, focused meek and analytical when he was ambitious, pushy and often rude to others.

The fun part of looking at politicians handwriting is how do you say what you see diplomaticly and do you go over everything you find. Maybe I did see Romney's signature because I remember two of the signatures were illegible and Huckabee's first name was so illegible I had to look up his name and then Huckabee became a mere thread. As we all understand the things that make a good diplomat and politian also make a good con-man.

Hillary very much wants to be known as a woman in her own right, capable, determined, and well qualified. While she would be happiest if she could run on her own without help or interferrence from her husband she realizes that is impossible so she will profit in any way possible from her experiences in the White House. She is determined and direct to the point of bluntness. Needs someone to handle the small details she finds iritating and keeps most people from getting too close.

Obama's signature definately shows he was Arabic taught. Not knowing the copybook form for Arabic I am somewhat at a disadvantage but again there is threading which slurs the forms. Any threading is an indication of not wanting to be pinned down, to escape responsibility when things go wrong, to hide the personal self, and of course speed of thought and action. He could be very creative in his dealings with others.

McCain's signature was an autograph so he may not be as up beat and optimistic as it appears. He, however, has great focus. With only eight letters of the alphabet to work with I can say he is able to keep secrets his own as well as our countries. He pays attention to details, has a lot of mental activity and a wry sense of humor.

Children's writing

I really like to do children's handwriting but it has to be looked at more forgivingly than an adults. They are facing hormonal changes, drugs, the cruelty of children one to another, often parents who are too tired or too busy to seem to care plus the pressures of school. Myself, I was glad it was my daughter who had to raise two children 20 years ago and now its my great-grandchildren and the pressures are even greater.
Children cannot be expected to have the maturity for long range plans but it is a good thing when I do a school presentation and can teach the kids how cursive is important. Not only is it actually faster to write but the connections between letters is important. Angle connections show logic and analytic ability, garlands show friendliness, and arcades are a form of self protection as well as of being creative. There are three more connection types but these are used by the majority of writers. Printing fosters a seperateness from others especially bad at a time of life when it is important to them to belong, to a family, a group, or unfortunately to a gang.
Also these occasions give me a chance to help explain to teachers why Tim or John or Judy are such a handful in class. Some are bored by the classes geared to the slower thinkers in class. They want hands on, how does it work, let me try learning. Then you have the cumulative thinkers who cannot skip steps but must write things down to remember them or do it as they learn. Ask them a question even a little differently than it was explained to them in class and their time is spent figuring out just what you want before they can answer. Their class work may earn them A's but test drop them to C's. Or you may have those in class who have such terrible home lives they don't turn in homework or can't stay awake in class, or who have learning disabilities that have not been diagnosed or addressed.
My grandson is one of those, he is the slowest reader I have ever seen though he tests as having good reading comprehension. He can only manage about one third of a timed test because he can't be hurried. Yet when in school he regularly tested two to four years higher than his grade. Or you get the girl who won't wear her glasses because her family can't afford contacts so homework is good but classwork is bad.

Fears

The fears found in the handwriting seem to fall into just a few catagories. Fear of ridicule, fear of failure, fear of rejection and self-consciousness which is basically a form of fear of ridicule. How these fears cause us to react though is many and varied.
Fear of ridicule may cause one person to be a loner and to focus on mental activity keeping others at a distance. While another person will channel their energy into ambition to be so successful no one would dare ridicule them. Another might be rude and nasty keeping others off balance so they don't have time to consider why they are being treated this way. Remember the addage "The best defense is a good offense." Still another might be self-deprecating in hopes you will leave them alone when you see they are tearing themselves down.
Also we may have a fear of loss of security or of rejection. The reaction here might be envy, jealousy, possessiveness, to be miserly or to try and acquire material possessions.

Margins

The space you do or do not leave on the left side of the page represents your past and your need for security. Is your left margin very tiny or about what it would be using notebook paper. A person writing with enthusiasm for their subject may make their margin wider and wider as they can't seem to pause long enough in their enthusiasm to go all the way back to the left margin. Each type of margin tells the graphologist something different about the writer.


The right side is the future so do you stop well away from it like you are afraid of what the future holds? Do you run crashing into the edge of the page and have to squeeze your letters together to complete the last word? Then you do not plan very well. Do you reach the edge and then turn up or down along the edge or do you place that last work under the line. In children learning to write and unsure of margins and word sizes this can be forgiven but in an adult they obviously have never learned from their mistakes.

The amount of space you leave at the top of the page tells how formally you feel toward the person to whom you are writing. The person who writes leaving a large margin at the top such as for a business letter has respect for the receiver of the missive. To a friend the margin may only be a couple of writing lines deep but the person who starts writing right at the top does not recognize bounderies or feels familiar enough to invade your space.

If there is a fairly large border all around the writing then the writer is one who can visualize and judge the amount of space their writing will take and adjust the margins accordingly.

My mind has switched on...

Once I am awake enough to start thinking about my day I might as well get up because I will not get back to sleep anyway. At least Idon't have to do the presentation for AHAF after all so that is one thing off my list.

Thought of doing something on baselines but I did do some on it before. Different teachers and different groups say to measure the baseline differently. One method is to put a ruler under the first and last letter of a sentence and draw a pencil line. Then you can easily see if the writing follows a straight, bouncy, concave or convex line. You also can see if it goes up or down across the page. Another method is to measure the baseline of each word in a sentence. Some teachers claim you should take 100 measurements of a handwriting between the slant, the margins and the baseline. I don't know that I ever took that many measurements of a writing but the more you take when you are new the better your eye will get at gauging the slant etc without measuring. This is especially helpful when doing quickies for an event when you don't have the luxury of measurements. Indeed at an event you barely have time to contemplate what to say let alone to take measurements and weigh traits against each other. However, if words start at the baseline and go up so it sort of looks like each word is a balloon about to fly off the page the writer is having a hard time keeping his or her feet on the ground. Another way of looking at the baseline is from the lower zone. Do the lower zone loops come back to the baseline?If not then the writer is frustrated by something and does not carry out projects. It is a form of procrastination. Does the lower loop come up and cross the baseline in such a way that it cuts into the middle zone of the letter? There is a trauma to the ego involved here. We can't tell what just that something has happened. Does the lower loop come back to the baseline go thru it and into the upper zone? This person wants attention and may do good or bad to get it. If the lower loop comes back to the baseline or just above but curves downward they are able to complete projects etc but something in their life is making them unhappy.

Can changing your handwriting change your personality?

A definate yes on being able to change your personality through handwriting but with a big caveate. Changes should be done one at a time for up to 30 days. As they say it takes at least 21 days to change a habit.
Did you know your personality is set before you even learn to write? I have a resentment stroke that shows in my writing and because of its size my teacher and I figured it came about age 3 or 4 and involved my parents divorce. Now he was a great grapho-therapist who specialized in anarexics, bulimics and suicides. It is best to work with someone who understands grapho-therapy before you try major changes to your personality and not just any handwriting analyst will do.
One recommendation is to underline your name every time you write it even if you use your nickname. Why? Well, what do we underline? Important things, and if you underline your name it will subconsciously tell your brain you are important. The next most usual thing to change is the t-bar. If you normally connect your t-bar to the next letter (th, to) this is not something I would change but if you do not connect the t-bar then yes raise it to between 3/4 and the top of the t. Do not go above it. The t-bar sets your goals so at the level of the mid zone letters you live day to day with no long range plans. Half way between mid zone and the top is reasonable and reachable but go too high and you are fooling yourself into daydreaming about the results instead of working on your goals. In fact 2 things you should never try to change is your slant and your Personal Pronoun I (PPI for short). If they change as a result of other changes in your writing or because of your personality changes that is fine but forcing changes can make you very irritable and hard to get along with and may sabatoge what you are trying to accomplish.

Was I right or wrong?

Recently heard from a blogger (Logtar) and analyzed his handwriting and his wife's. He and his fellow bloggers had an issue with my saying he needs space to unwind and regroup. They all say he is 24/7 into interaction and input. Well this is his way of going into his own "little world". He is actually alone but not disconnected. I bet he has trouble turning off his mind to sleep with all of that input. Now I am waiting to hear what his wife says about her analysis.
My son-in-law who never had much interest in video games has recently started playing on-line and he is running into this problem. He has met people of all ages and from many places but he is not getting his rest as needed. Had a 3 day weekend and by Mon when he had to go to work again looked like he had a bad hang-over when it was just lack of sleep. I know I have learned not to play on pogo just before bed or I even play in my sleep. My solution has become to watch a home improvement show just before switching off the lights. Nothing exciting and I learn something then switch off the light and watch my starry ceiling (my part-time business) and in minutes I am out for the night. Grapho-therapy would work but I prefer my stars.

Oh boy

Just looked at the calendar. I didn't stay for the whole party earlier this month that our handwriting group held. Not being there to object I was elected to do a presentation on my book "The Alphabet Speaks" on Feb 14th. Having had no intention of doing any presentations, now I have two weeks to find time to write up an hours worth of something. I did my first monograph on traits and the signs that indicate that trait. So I guess I can go into how I happened to finish that, then how our AHAf chapter worked on researching the beginnings of the alphabet just about the time I was finishing up on my second work "The Alphabet Speaks". Then I will do a plug for my next attempt at defining the fears, defenses, resistances and escapes found in writing. I have a short list in both books but I think this will take me a long time to do as thoroughly as I want. So I better get busy and work on that presentation. Maybe I can do a PowerPoint on some of the pages as a show and tell and hope some more people will buy the book.

My next book

As I mentioned in an earlier blog I have an idea for a new book but it is really turning out to be a hard one to write.When you start to study graphology or handwriting analysis you are given a list of traits and told all the positive and negatives for each trait. Then you are told to stack the traits to see how one will effect another. For example if a person has low self esteem and is timid will they be as likely to get violent as a person with a lot of determination and anger. Well this never helped me all that much because we all know that if a person feels trapped even a timid one can react strongly or even violently. Also if the person with determination has good self control they may not react with violence even though they will hang on to their anger for a long time.
But each trait can fall into the catagory of a fear, defense, resistance, or escape and I am examining each of these to how it would be manifested in each catagory. Not an easy job as I am quickly learning. Some traits easily can be fit into the catagory of a fear or defense or of a resistance or escape. Others not so easily I am starting to think I will have to show the reaction of the trait and how you will see that in the writing. A lot to think about and to work on so this will take me quite awhile. Graphology is such a learning experience.

National Handwriting Day

Today is National Handwriting Day so I am on my soapbox. Stationer's say that special stationary is making a come back as people do feel that a handwritten note or Thank You is much preferable to a e-card which fancy, animated or whatever is just deleted. In the handwriting the personality of the writer and their feeling comes through and it is more special. It means more to the recipient because the sender took the time and trouble to put their thoughts and feelings on paper, perhaps to be kept as a momento.

I am one who decries the lack of handwriting lessons in the schools. I understand that the attention span of children of all ages is short to zip because of the speed of information on the internet in particular. And that is my point. One of the few things educators agree upon is that people with good handwriting skills learn better and spell better than those whose skills are more limited.

One reason for the limited attention span is that so many children learn from videos and games with lots of animation and flickering screens giving information in shorts burst of movement. Then as teens and younger they get to playing games with split screens and fast movement that requires intense concentration and fast reaction. So to do anything in real time with no distracting movement and color is boring. They can't slow down to a reasonable level for the rest of the world and as for spelling. When texting costs by the byte they learn to use single letters for words and phrases or to cut out letters they consider unnecessay so who can blame them if they can't spell.

My grand-daughter is now in pre-school and often will say "pay attention to me" or "look at me" when I am busy and listening but not facing her. I think we all need to do this more frequently and at least try to teach children in the k-5 grades to write better because there were a lot of benefits educators do not realize on the subsconscious level about handwriting and penmanship. It does not have to take hours or even 30 minutes at a time. Daniel Dumont in France has a way of teaching students as early as kindergarten to not only write cursively but extremely well. For one thing she uses rhythmic movement which is then translated to the chalkboard and later to paper. Using circles, loops, and waves she teaches control and how by combining some of these movements the children can actually form words. That really sparks their interest. Another effect of her teaching is being able to properly hold a pen or pencil so they don't have the problem or excuse of sore fingers, bad wrists or cramped hands from writing.
When you slow down to hand write something be it a poem, letter or the worlds next best selling novel thoughts seem to flow easier because you are not moving so fast. It is easier to try a new turn of phrase on paper where you can see both and read through them deciding which is best. Mark Twain was an advocate for getting it all out on paper. "We write frankly and fearlessly, but then we 'modify' before we print," he wrote in his 1883 "Life on the Mississippi."

Loops again?

Yep, now we will look at loops in the lower zone. This is the unconscious, the physical, the sexual and material world. Letters going in the lower zone are supposed to have loops and these loops are supposed to be the same width as the area of the letter in the mid zone.
You guessed it, any difference between what should be and what is means a lot. For starters the lower loop should be the length of the upper loops showing a balance of zones or of the psyche. Extra long loops show a physical person who enjoys movement. They may participate in a sport, dance, cycle, or sometimes just fidget. When working or thinking they often pace the floor or doodle.
Can you guess what unfinished loops would indicate? That's right, they often do not carry through with ideas and projects. This makes them frustrated. A small tight circle on the lower zone belongs to the clannish person one who has few friends he trusts. They may not be anti-social but until they know you well you will not know them well.
As with the upper zone large loops show imagination until it becomes fantasy. A larger than average loop (the size of the mid zone) indicates a desire for creature comforts or worldly goods. There are other loops and missing loops but this is a general overview of the lower zone loops.

More on loops

Loops can be very informative. A large loop on a capital belongs to a person willing to take on responsibility. Indeed they may search out causes to embrace. If however, the loop does not close responsibility may have been forced upon them so while they may handle it well it is not willingly. Usually though, the loops we look for are found on the lower case letters.
When found on the left side of the oval letters (a, d, g, and o) graphologists call this intentional deceit because it is deceit of the self. These people do not relish facing things. Like Scarlet O'Hara they think they will take care of things tomorrow and we all know tomorrow never comes. Sometimes these loops get so big the oval part of the letter is or is nearly doubled. Writers who do this talk around their troubles or perceived troubles. They drop hints so obscure you might miss it entirely or tell their friends or family what is upsetting them in hopes whoever they tell will blab to the person they have a grievence against. This is very passive/agressive but they hate direct confrontation unless there is no other option.
Now there can also be a loop at the top of the o. If the o is closed by just one side touching the other it indicates a person who can hold their tongue and while they may talk can be selective about what they say. If the o is tied like a sack with a little loop the writer can really hang on to secrets.

Loops

Loops occur on upper and lower zone letters and the size of the loop shows the amount of thought or imagination that goes into that area. Loops out of place are an indication of anxiety. A loop on the small t which is supposed to be retraced is an indication of a fear of failure or anxiety that someone is critical of them. A loop on the d which is also supposed to be retraced is a fear of ridicule or anxiety of others criticizing their person in some way, looks, dress, actions etc. The loops on the l show the imagination of the writer. The larger the loop the more the imagination until it becomes fantasy. On the h which is the spiritual letter the size of the loop shows the writers openness to religion and philosophy. Once again the f because it fits into all zones is treated a little differently. If the upper loop is larger the writer is more of a planner the idea man. If the lower loop is larger the writer is the one who will see that jobs, projects etc are carried out.
In the lower zone loops should be the same width as the mid-zone of the letter. It may be missing which will tell us something we will discuss later but if it is larger, again, there is a lot of imagination that has to do with the physical, sexual and material side of life.
Loops found anywhere else are a form of anxiety. These people are the worriers and when you tell them they worry too much they will normally agree completely.

Zones

Well we have talked about the baseline or line of reality, the white spaces or margins so now we will talk about the zones. Remember the paper you learned to write on with three lines to mark the area to write. The lowercase letters a, c, e, i, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w and x were made to fit between the bottom line and the dotted line. This is the mid-zone which reflects the day to day world or the ego. The letters b, d, h, k, l, t have a stem that extends above the dotted line into the upper-zone and it represents the mental area or super id. That leaves us with the letters that go below the baseline. The g, j, p, y, and z. The area below the baseline is the physical and material world, the subconscious. Did you notice I left out the f? Well the f is the only letter that goes into all three zones so it will show the balance of the three zones.
It also is used to indicate how organized the writer is in their life. One woman whose writing I looked at had an f that was perfectly balanced with the top and bottom loop the same size and brought together at the baseline. I told her she was very organized and her friends laughed. One said her clothes are color coordinated in the closet, the shoes all in boxes and marked as to size and color and so are her kids closets and toys.

Baselines

The baseline or line of writing is the line of reality. If there is a little bounce in the writing it is ok. A writer who feels the need to use lined paper has a need of control of their environment. They are perfectionists who can be hard to live with if you don't follow their rules. "A place for everything and everything in it's place". Even if they used unlined paper, which will make them uncomfortable, their writing will look like it was done along a ruler.
Baselines can vary quite a bit, some people write uphill, especially if the paper is unlined. These are the optimistic people who see the glass as half full. If the writing goes downhill the writer may be tired or depressed. Go for tired unless there are other sign of depression. Children who write crashing into the right side of the page and finish their sentence writing along the edge of the page do not learn from their mistakes. Teachers sould tell the child to not write on the last inch of the paper using some grapho-therapy to teach them to plan ahead. But if an adult does this they have real problems. Writing that starts on the baseline and the end of words fly off the base shows the writer has trouble keeping their feet on the ground. I have seen some that each word has to be brought back to the baseline and it happens again. Maybe they are just excited about what they are expressing in the writing but it could be they are the person who cannot sit still, always fidgeting. When checking a baseline we draw a pencil line with a ruler using the first and last letter of the sentence. Some graphologists also check the baseline of each word but by using the first and last word you get the sentence baseline. If the line of writing goes over and under the line it is called a sinuous baseline and indicates a person who kind of snakes through life. These make good con men. If a baseline along with other factors indicate depression and then the writing starts to go uphill they are not necessarily getting better but have made their decision to end it all. If they are also giving away possessions and contacting old friends notify somebody, parents, spouse, or their doctor.

Will dishonesty show in writing?

Oooh yes, but unless the graphologist works with law enforcement in some way they generally don't see the really glaring stuff. But, we see the signs that show you deceive yourself and do not want to face things you find unpleasant. Or the person who talks around their issues. They drop hints that may be so broad you miss them and then get angry because you missed a birthday or occassion they felt was special. When I do a quickie and find this I tell the writer "You can't assume the people around you always know what you are upset about. They can't read your mind so you must learn to be more direct and talk to them. You can't tell your friends, family, neighbor, kids, you'd like to attend a concert, go to the movies, its your birthday and expect them to tell your spouse. You must do it and don't just leave notes or drop hints. Tell them and make plans together."
Then too we see the person who will lie by omission or never answer a question if they can help it. Their usual response is to answer with another question. "Why would you ask that?" " Do you need it now?" " What keys?" or just "Why?" You know those people I am sure. I always told my teacher he should have been a psychiatrist because he always asked "What do you think?" or "How do you feel about that?" It drove me crazy because I wouldn't ask if I didn't need an answer or at least a hint of where to look for an answer.
There are also the little white lies we have to tell on a job. "The boss isn't in just now." "Mr. xxx is in a meeting can he call you back?" "Oh, sorry I have an appointment on that day." We all do it at times so it will show up in the writing. Remember the secretary I mentioned. She said looking through her book she could see the times she had to give an evasive answer to a caller.

White space

The white space around your writing tells a graphologist several things. We check the margins or white space around the writing before we even look at the writing. Next we check the white space between the lines of writing. Most letters in copybook are made the width of the letter n so we look to see what the spacing is on the words. A final check for white space on the page is between words. Does this vary or is it fairly evenly done. Do some words seem to lean on each other or crowd one another? One thing we always look for is open spaces that are wider in some areas than in others. As with everything else in graphology anything different means something.

House, tree, water test

Have you ever done a house, tree, water test? Some testers also throw in a snake as an indicator for sexuality. Anyway the house and how it is done will show the friendliness of the artist, the water and the tree the thinking and emotionality of the artist.
It's a quick, easy, general test that can be used for children and adults alike so is often used by teachers and counselors. Drawing, particularly by children will reveal more of their emotional conflicts than years of talking. Its just that you have to be very good to decipher the ones beyond the house, tree and water.
If you would like to do the house, tree, water test contact me and send a scan of your drawing.

More on signatures

Signatures that match the rest of the writing show a what you see is what you get person. When analyzing the whole writing you may find bad things about them. To use an old-fashioned word they may be a scalawag be totally out for themselves but the point is they don't try to make you think they are something they are not by their signature.
When the signature is vastly different from the writing that is a big red flag to check the writing and learn why. An upright slant to the writing but a right slant to the signature shows the writer wants you to see him as friendly and outgoing but really all of his decisions and deals will be made to his benefit. His head rules not his emotions. Conversely a right slant of more than 15 degrees right in the writing and an upright signature indicates the writer wants you to see him as cool and judgemental but in truth they are more friendly and sympathetic. What about the person with very large capital letters? They want you to see them as confident and capable but if they are flourished as well they may be trying to bluff. As the saying goes "dazzle you with diamonds and baffle you with bullshit". The writer with one name larger than the other by which I mean the capital is just a bit larger or more elaborate in some way or both names have the same amount of letter but one is larger shows a preference for that name. This will show you if you should address them informally or as Mr XYZ.
This is why we try never to do just signatures. If pinned down and they don't like your analysis just tell them that to get a true analysis they need to hire you to do a complete analysis.

Signatures - Do you analyze them or not?

Normally we do not analyze just a signature without other writing because the signature is the way you want the world to see you and not necessarily how you really are. I know of a reporter who writes so large there are barely 3 or 4 words on each line used. Also it does not stay between the lines but is very large writing. The signature? So tiny and controlled the two don't look like they could belong to the same person.
Often people will give an analyst just a signature and want to know what it shows. Well surprise, surprise if it is more a scrawl than words then I tell then
1. You probably have to sign so many papers you just scribble.
2. Based on your signature you don't care if people can read your writing or not.
3. You do not want to take responsibility for anything that goes wrong.
They may be taken back by this so then I explain how the signature is the picture you present to the world.

Doodle tests

So late I wasn't going to write tonight but can't sleep so here goes. The tree, house, family drawing, a doodle test or a tree drawing are psychological tests that like a quickie give a quick insight into a person's personality. I told this to a secretary for the Postal Inspectors once and she went back through her shorthand books of notes she had taken on phone calls and she was amazed. She came back to say she could tell if she was secretive, angry, bored or whatever by the doodles she made while on the phone.
Teachers often do the tree, house, family for grade school children especially problem children. Those whose family life may not be all that good. And in a group the doodle test which consists of about 10 squares with some marks in them. You finish the drawing and then we give you the answers to the test. It's one of those we all hate where they tell you there is no wrong answer. But in a group who fairly well know each other it can be fun. Most people will have the same type of drawing but there is usually one or two who are more detailed or just different.
I once gave a group of five people a 4" by 4" post-it note and asked for a tree, house drawing and what fun. One had a plain tree with a puffy top that did not cut across the tree trunk and never did a house said there was no room. Two did puffy topped trees that did cut across the trunk and one put a bird nest in the top. One had a house that looked like the garage was half torn down and we just saw the top of the tree above the house. However, the last was amazing. This one had a mountain in the background with an eagle in the sky. In the foreground was a smaller mountain with a cabin and on the porch was a rocking chair. The steps of the cabin went down to a dock where a dog was barking at a man fishing in a boat. The tree was a fir tree. I could not believe this gal got all that on that little page, in such detail and she didn't take any longer that the rest of the group.
I don't often use doodle tests but this one was such a surprise. I'm glad I did it this time.

Too tired tonight to write

This was My Red Hat's day and then we had the grandchildren so my brain isn't in gear enough to write anything. Also I want to work on some signatures I obtained today. We usually only work on signatures in conjunction with the rest of the writing because the signature is what you want to world to see and not necessarily how you really are. But as in the case of the candidates signatures and one other I got today I will make an exception. Besides I can't resist analyzing every writing I receive.

What is a "Quickie"?

A "quickie" is the type of analysis done to intrigue someone, to entertain, or at a low price for a fund raiser. You are given a paper or large index card and asked to write a silly sentence which contains a variety of letters or whatever you want to write as long as it is 3 or 4 lines in length, which hopefully will give the same variety. Then I check the margins or where you started to write, the slant of the writing, if it is printed, cursive, or printscript which is a mixture. Next I check the line of writing or baseline to see if it rises, is rigidly straight, goes up or drops. While doing this I check for the connections between the letters. There are 6 types of connectors but mainly 3 are used by the majority of people. Also I feel the back of the paper or card to see how hard you pressed when doing the sentences. All of this before I even get to the writing! There is even more I would check if this were a full analysis. Are you getting a feel for why it takes so long to become a good graphologist?
Finally to the writing. I see how it compares to copybook or school form writing, I check the letters which pertain to the self, check the size of loops on the letters, look for loops where there should be none, the size and shape of the oval letters like the a,d, g, and o, I look at where the t is crossed, to see if one part of the writing is exaggerated, are i dots or punctuation missing. Out of all of this I quickly pick out three to five things I can tell you about yourself. Even if you think I might be wrong if you are with a friend or family they will tell you I am right.

Why are some analyses so general?

Most of the time we do not work with the writing of criminals so we keep our comments, especially doing a quickie, to general things. That is why so many people think handwriting analysis is a trick or like astrology too general to trust. In doing a quickie, which is what is done for entertainment at parties, for fund raisers, or maybe as a "filler" at an event, the 3 to 5 traits that stand out most or anything unusual are addressed.
Now especially in a room full of say doctors most of the traits will be alike because they are in the same profession. Once in awhile though that one person comes up whose writing is so different you ask "why are you in this profession". I recently was asked to analyze a scientists writing that was in that catagory. This man had the soul of a poet and from his writing it must have been an ordeal to work in his field.
My grandfather was so good at baseball he was asked to play in the major leagues when they were first being formed but his father insisted he aprentice to a machinest. He died a machinest and never forgave his father for taking away his dream. Maybe something like that had happened to this scientist. It was expected that he follow in his fathers footsteps so like it or not he did but it had to be a daily battle.

A Funny Thing Happened

In Ron's handwriting classes we were encouraged to bring samples, everyone would toss out their observations and opinions, then whoever brought the sample would tell us what they knew about the person. Having recently visited my brother who was an incomplete quad I submitted his writing. Right away he was identified as having a neurological as well as muscular problems. His writing otherwise was very well analyzed so I revealed his trouble. He fell and broke his neck at the C-4 vertebrae. It left him with no feeling from the neck down though he could walk with a walker to stabilize himself but his hands were almost claws with the use of one or two fingers and his thumbs. However, he could barely use his arms. The elbows remained bent and his arms could not be lifted even half way to shoulder level. I used his real name Alfred Kabisch and a couple in the class exclaimed "we know a Fritz Kabisch!" I said "yes that's how everyone knows him". Well, it turns out they had been friends with Fritz and his wife Vickie, in fact, I had actually met them about 15 years earlier at their wedding. Here we had been in class together for about 3 years and never knew we had a connection.

Not much to say

Been a busy day today and I did another page for my web site so nothing left in my brain for a blog. So if you want to learn about handwriting bop on over to my web pages.
www.handwritingexplained.com and I will try to come up with something for here tomorrow.

Web Site

I think I am finally getting somewhere with the web site. At least I can link to it from here and to here from the web site. So funny because we all three are trying to do web sites. Steve for his car sales business, my daughter for her poetry. And all three of us are using different programs to build our sites and facing some of the same problems.
My writing about handwriting is going on my web pages right now but they limit the number of pages so soon I will put all my thoughts here again.
Over the years I have done several presentations for the Tucson chapter of AHAF (the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation) so may present them here. Who knows. Since our teacher Ron Laufer died in 1999 we have gone from weekly classes to monthly AHAF meetings and the Chapter has gone down hill. Not sure why but the IGAS people dropped out and then many of the older members quit driving at night, and I admit it was a long drive home for some of them. Anyway we are down to around 16 members so if 8 to 10 make the meeting its a crowd. We worked on a project as a chapter last year that made no real sense but the research was fun. Only had 2 really interesting presentations all year and frankly I am ready to drop out myself. Been swearing for 3 years now this was my last and this time I think I mean it.
I truly miss the lessons because we were encouraged to give our input, we played silly games that related to graphology terms, did mock trials and of course tried our darndest to win that "hot shot award".
Some of our presentations were lessons in themselves. A former teacher challenged us to match her children with their handwriting. What made it such a challenge was we had info on more students than we had writings. So it wasn't as if we could get them right by sheer luck. To top this all of her students had problems ranging from tourettes to parents in jail for killing the other parent. She also had their tree, house, family drawings and these proved very interesting as well. No problem picking the prissy little southern belle's drawing as it showed a girl on a swing in the front yard in a long gown and crown of curls. Or the sadness of the little girl who drew herself and her teacher as family.
Another of our presentations has been on tree drawings obtained along with the handwritings from their collection of samples. Now I have to say, my drawing of a tree is very childish as I have trouble drawing a straight line with a ruler but some of theirs are so detailed! The wildest one of all was this small tree in the middle of a page with some squiggles or roots inside the top. Very strange tree...turns out the girl was pregnant, very immature and not sure who the father was.
But my very favorite presentation was in 3 parts and done on Tombstone Az. My friend Lynn Monroy did a very thorough job on the Earps, the Clantons and the gunfight at the OK Corral. She developed it for use on cruise ships so told us it was not really for graphologists but she had handwriting from Wyatt both at that time period and in later life. For Doc Holliday plus a lot of information on Doc. We found the county recorder did a lot of writing for the men who did not know how to write and learned at that time the territory of Arizona was mostly populated by the cowboys and the outlaws or rustlers though sometimes the differences were hard to tell. It's amazing how Hollywood changed the ages and images of the real people.

Web sites arggghhh

Trying to set up a web site and they don't make it easy. Like most instructions for anything computer related the powers that be seem to think you know something about what you are trying to do. As for me I need to be told where the on and off switch is to be found and maybe the plug. I took a computer class once and the first thing the teacher said was a computer is retarded. You not only have to tell it what to do but how to do it. So you wouldn't say walk 5 paces turn around and come back but have to tell it to lift the right foot, move it forward so many inches, put it down. Now shift your weight to the right foot, raise the left foot and move it so many inches, put it down etc etc until it completed the task. Well that is me trying to do a web page. Don't give me intuitive because that doesn't mean a thing give me explicit instructions. In fact if a program looks interesting and the designer claims it to be intuitive I probably won't buy it because I will have such a hard time figuring it out. Anyway bounce on over to www.handwritingexplained.com and check out what I have finally accomplished.

I'm wondering how long I will keep this up during the year. I once started a blog on yahoo 360 just for family but didn't keep it going. Then yahoo made changes so I'm not sure if it still exists. Guess I should try to find out and if so delete it.
I am passionate about my graphology which is a fancy way of saying handwriting analysis. I miss the weekly lessons we had when Ron Lauffer was alive. That Irish leprechaun made learning so much fun. I told him he needed to learn to ask questions so we knew just what he wanted. I also told him he must be a psychiatrist because he never answered a question but would ask "what do you think?". He wrote great lessons but if you think my sentences run on you should have seen his. Mary Love and I were the odd ones in class being cumulative thinkers with rounded handwriting. Everyone else had the angular writing of logical, questioning, analytical thinkers. But even they looked at each other when he would toss us a question. He spent a lot of time in the hospital and collected these tiny bottles of hot sauce which he gave out as "a hot shot award" when we answered a particularly tough question. After 5 years in his class I finally earned one. I was so proud I thought I'd never forget the question. Sad to say I have but it had to so with the space on the paper. The white space can sometimes be as telling as the writing to a graphologist. I do still have my "hot shot award" and am still proud that I finally made the grade.
As a cumulative thinker I learn things more slowly, cannot skip steps in a routine or pattern and learn faster by writing it out or actually doing what I am learning about. The upside is I retain it longer than the rest of you comprehensive or analytical thinkers. But if you ask a question I have to figure out exactly what is being asked before I get the answer. Kids who think like me can do good in school and bad on tests because it takes longer to do them. To do that extra step. That is one reason I so enjoy doing career day at school or the quickies like we do at the church fair because you give the teacher or parent some insight as to why the kids act like they do or have trouble with tests etc. More on this later when I intend to write about impulse control.