[CITASA] Writer's Bump (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:01:59 -0400
From: Barry Wellman wellman@chass.utoronto.ca
Subject: Writer's Bump
With her permission, I thought super-undergrad Mirna Ghazarian's mini-essay on
"Writers Bump" was worth sharing. What's amazing is that she -- digital native
-- and I -- who started off with a Parker 61 fountain pen but has been
keyboarding since the 1980s -- still have one.
Indeed, I also have an editor's callus up on the second finger of my left hand,
from a bad habit since childhood while I edit.
Survey in NetLab found that all 8 people had Writers' Bump.
Nope, I don't want more data.
Wikipedia redirects to Callus when I search for Writer's Bump.
Not nearly as romantic or heroic.
"Many people develop calluses on the middle finger of their dominant hand due
to writing with a pen or pencil."
Barry Wellman
S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director
Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388
University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963
Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:41:11 -0400
Hi Prof. Wellman!
I just wrote this note on my Facebook page and thought I'd share. It seems
irrelevant, but I do believe I make a point at the end. I received some
interesting comments. Excuse the length, but it's a quick read!
This one has to do with writer's bumps (yes.. really..). I'll start from the
beginning.
I used to write a lot when I was little--school assignments, short stories,
poems... you name it. Besides the fact that I enjoyed getting creative and
whatnot, I actually loved writing on paper in and of itself. Until this day,
actually, I prefer to write on paper when I can. So anyway, I remember being
in grade 4 or 5 and asking my dad what the bump on my middle finger was. It
wasn't super large, but it definitely was noticable. He told me it was
because I wrote a lot--from the way I held my pencil.
Interestingly, the next day one of my friends at school asked me what the
bump on my finger was--to which I replied "It's from writing! :D" I
immediately received a "Ew... how come I don't have one? That looks so
weird." I looked at the bump and she was right. It DID look weird. It looked
like an ugly growth that made my finger look crooked.
I remember going home that day and asking my dad how I could get rid of it.
"You can't--it can only get smaller, but it will always be there." Needless
to say, I was sad to hear that.
So anyway, in the following years, I always tried to avoid doing things with
my right hand so people wouldn't notice the writer's bump. The bump got
larger during middle school and high school and I was really conscious of it
when playing the piano as well--hence why I never liked playing in front of
people.
Now to the point of this note. A couple of weeks ago, my cousin turned to me
and asked, "Mirna.. what's this bump?" pointing to a small callus on her
finger. I explained it's a writer's bump and that it's caused by the way she
holds her pen/pencil. Then I looked at mine and gasp it was practically
nonexistent!
I know that my writer's bump typically gets smaller over the summer months
(due to there being no school), but never has it been so small to the point
of being unnoticeable. So, now I feel weird. With fast-talking professors and
long assignments, I've become increasingly dependent on my computer to write
things down. I definitely write things down on paper less than I used to. So
I pose this question to anyone who reads this:
Are writer's bumps becoming extinct?
Dear. Dr. Wellman,
In addition to writer's bump I also have worn a furrow on the rear right
side of my head from scratching it with my Cross pen of 30 years (true
story). And, whoopee, my fingers are starting to tingle and wrist ache
from keyboarding. I suppose this means that I have successfully
transcended over to the information age. Somewhat older, hopefully
wiser.
Cheers, Dave Louden
-----Original Message-----
From: citasa-bounces@list.citasa.org
[mailto:citasa-bounces@list.citasa.org] On Behalf Of Barry Wellman
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2010 9:03 PM
To: communication and information technology section asa
Subject: [CITASA] Writer's Bump (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:01:59 -0400
From: Barry Wellman wellman@chass.utoronto.ca
Subject: Writer's Bump
With her permission, I thought super-undergrad Mirna Ghazarian's
mini-essay on
"Writers Bump" was worth sharing. What's amazing is that she -- digital
native
-- and I -- who started off with a Parker 61 fountain pen but has been
keyboarding since the 1980s -- still have one.
Indeed, I also have an editor's callus up on the second finger of my
left hand,
from a bad habit since childhood while I edit.
Survey in NetLab found that all 8 people had Writers' Bump.
Nope, I don't want more data.
Wikipedia redirects to Callus when I search for Writer's Bump.
Not nearly as romantic or heroic.
"Many people develop calluses on the middle finger of their dominant
hand due
to writing with a pen or pencil."
Barry Wellman
S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director
Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388
University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963
Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:41:11 -0400
Hi Prof. Wellman!
I just wrote this note on my Facebook page and thought I'd share. It
seems
irrelevant, but I do believe I make a point at the end. I received
some
interesting comments. Excuse the length, but it's a quick read!
This one has to do with writer's bumps (yes.. really..). I'll start
from the
beginning.
I used to write a lot when I was little--school assignments, short
stories,
poems... you name it. Besides the fact that I enjoyed getting creative
and
whatnot, I actually loved writing on paper in and of itself. Until
this day,
actually, I prefer to write on paper when I can. So anyway, I remember
being
in grade 4 or 5 and asking my dad what the bump on my middle finger
was. It
wasn't super large, but it definitely was noticable. He told me it was
because I wrote a lot--from the way I held my pencil.
Interestingly, the next day one of my friends at school asked me what
the
bump on my finger was--to which I replied "It's from writing! :D" I
immediately received a "Ew... how come I don't have one? That looks so
weird." I looked at the bump and she was right. It DID look weird. It
looked
like an ugly growth that made my finger look crooked.
I remember going home that day and asking my dad how I could get rid
of it.
"You can't--it can only get smaller, but it will always be there."
Needless
to say, I was sad to hear that.
So anyway, in the following years, I always tried to avoid doing
things with
my right hand so people wouldn't notice the writer's bump. The bump
got
larger during middle school and high school and I was really conscious
of it
when playing the piano as well--hence why I never liked playing in
front of
people.
Now to the point of this note. A couple of weeks ago, my cousin turned
to me
and asked, "Mirna.. what's this bump?" pointing to a small callus on
her
finger. I explained it's a writer's bump and that it's caused by the
way she
holds her pen/pencil. Then I looked at mine and gasp it was
practically
nonexistent!
I know that my writer's bump typically gets smaller over the summer
months
(due to there being no school), but never has it been so small to the
point
of being unnoticeable. So, now I feel weird. With fast-talking
professors and
long assignments, I've become increasingly dependent on my computer to
write
things down. I definitely write things down on paper less than I used
to. So
I pose this question to anyone who reads this:
Are writer's bumps becoming extinct?
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