Remember the spinning girl?  If she spun one way, you were left-brained, if she spun the other way, she was right-brained.  I thought it was a trick because she kept changing directions.  A friend came over and actually watched it with me and he swore it kept going the same way all the time even when I called out the "switches."

Today yet another test shows that I’m right brained and left brained.  This test said that I’m a:

• 49% left brain thinker
• 51% right brain thinker

They even broke it down further:

• 38% logical / 39% intuitive
• 34% symbolic / 37% concrete
• etc

So I guess I’m a bit of everything – but not random!  (I’m only 17% random.)  And what is fantasy-oriented? 

Last week I decided to learn calligraphy.  Why?

• It looks cool.
• I like doing things with my hands.
• I like paper and notebooks.
• I wanted to revisit what it’s like to learn how to write as our seven year old is working on his writing.
• I love learning new things even if I don’t take them up as life long hobbies or careers.
• I was in the middle of reading The Privilege of the Sword and it seemed appropriate.

So here’s how I did it:

• I went to the library and checked out four books on calligraphy.
• I read the first couple of pages of each one to see what I needed.  Complete Idiot’s Guide to Calligraphy had a really good list with descriptions.
• I went to SuperWalmart and bought a 2mm calligraphy marker.  (They only had one calligraphy marker to choose from, it was 2mm on one end and 5mm on the other.  Luckily all the books said to use a 2mm one.)
• I bought some cool paper just because it was cool and writing beautiful letters on gorgeous paper sounded like fun.
• I taped a folder to a lap desk I had to create my writing surface.  (You are supposed to prop a writing board up on your lap and a table.  My lap desk was a bit too small of a surface and I soon migrated to my customary spot on the sofa instead.)
• I started practicing.  The book I liked best suggested 30 minutes a day will get you there.  It’s been about four days and I can write all the small (minuscule letters) ok but my capital letters need a lot of work.

So it’s been fun.  If you are interested in learning calligraphy, I recommend starting with a calligraphy marker and a book, Calligraphy (First Step Series) or Complete Idiot’s Guide to Calligraphy. Have fun!