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Stay And Sit
Winter Or Spring
Boring Shorthand
Afternoon At Hall Place
Stay And Sit (9 February 2014)
This article contains practice on
the commoner words with S plus T sounds. Even if you know the theory
perfectly, this is not going to help when taking live shorthand, as
there is no time to think of it. Practising the outlines is the only
answer so that they come instantly to mind. Being familiar with all the
derivatives as well will ensure that they do not trip you up when they
occur. Let’s* take a little train journey where we will meet a lot of
related words on the way, and hopefully you will be able to record the
imaginary happenings en route without any gaps or hesitations. The words
for practising are in capitals, so that you can give them extra
attention before taking down the whole passage – slowly at first* aiming
for accuracy and neatness. When writing this slowly, it is helpful to
put in more vowels than normal, as with S and T it is sometimes tempting
to put the vowel sign on the wrong side of the stroke. Writing them in
will consolidate your knowledge of them and when you take the passage
faster, more vowels can be left out.
* "Let's" Wavy underline to show it is the apostrophied version
* Omission phrase "at (fir)st
I arrived at the STATION where I found my train waiting at the platform.
STRAIGHTAWAY I SOUGHT out a carriage that was reasonably empty where I
could* SIT in peace and quiet. I was not wearing a SUIT but I was
SUITABLY dressed in my casual clothes. I SAT in a SEAT facing forwards,
so that I could enjoy the SIGHT of the countryside. This is easy if you
are long-SIGHTED but I needed my glasses as I am short-SIGHTED. I
remained SEATED as the train pulled out and we passed a building SITE
and the factory chimneys black with SOOT. We passed the old church which
had remained IN SITU for hundreds of years. The SEATING was very
comfortable, almost as soft as my SETTEE at home. At the next STATION,
as I was SITTING admiring the view, I caught SIGHT of a SUITED
gentleman*, with a SATIN bow tie, SITTING on the platform opposite on a
three-SEATER bench, with his red SETTER dog beside him. I STAYED SEATED
throughout the whole train journey and as we finally arrived at the town
of SITTINGBOURNE I just caught SIGHT of the SETTING sun STEADILY sinking
in the west.
* "I could" is not phrased, to prevent misreading as "I can". It is safe
to phrase "I could not" as that is different from "I cannot"
* "gentleman" above the line, "gentlemen" on the line, following the
second
vowel in order to distinguish
I made my way to the farmhouse where I had booked my STAY. I am glad to
say that* my room was far removed from the STY on the other side of the
farm. As I was STOWING* my gear in the wardrobe, I could smell the
wonderful aroma of dinner STEWING downstairs. I was glad I would be
STAYING* here all week, as I was going to enjoy the delicious vegetable
STEW as well as the custard and STEWED rhubarb. Mrs STEWART is a kind
but STAID farmer’s* wife, of a STOUT appearance. I STAYED there for
seven days. I complimented her on being such a good STEWER, and she
agreed that it matched her name quite well. Her son rides the farm horse
which he describes as a good STAYER, meaning it has great STAYING power,
or endurance. In the winter he works as a STOWER at the warehouse. He
also works as a STEWARD at the nearby big country house, and his sister
is an airline STEWARDESS. The area has many places of INTEREST, with a
lot of INTERESTING history, but I am not INTERESTED in living there.
However the people there seem rather UNINTERESTED in their home town.
They do not have the time to SIT and STARE but INSTEAD STAY at home or
work.
* Omission phrase "I am glad (to) s(ay) that"
* "stowing" "staying" do not need the diphone sign, as the I sound is
included in the Dot Ing
* "farmer" See
https://www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk/distinguishing-outlines-2-rule.htm
"former farmer"
During my STAY there, I visited the STORES on the high STREET and later
on the River STOUR. I STAYED out all day and returned under the STARS. I
climbed the STAIRS, avoiding the bemused STARES of Mrs STEWART, who
muttered that not everyone STAYS out that late as a rule*. I SAT
STRAIGHT down in the armchair and did not STIR for two hours. STIRRING
from the chair would have been just too much. I eventually STIRRED
myself, found where my pyjamas were STORED, and got into bed at last.
Next day I met my friend STAN STEIN and we went to the beach and SAT on
the warm STONES. STAN jokingly said that we would get "STONED" if we SAT
there too long, and I am sure he was referring to the STATE of our legs
rather than the STATE of being drunk.
* Omission phase "as (a) rule"
After lunch I was STUNNED to find that my coat was STAINED, especially
the white STUDS, and I should have known that blackberry pie was a
terrible STAINER. I went to the household STORE where the assistant, a
STUNNING young lady called Miss STONER, found the right STAIN remover
for me. She is quite a STUNNER and she is engaged to her SUITOR STEVEN
STONEHAM. However, the price of the item was unfortunately* a STINGER! I
did not act STUNNED by these facts, but STAYED calm and STEADY.
* "unfortunately" Optional contraction
On my last day, the rainy weather SET in. I decided to view my bank
STATEMENTS online, which listed all the STANDING orders* and the general
STATE of affairs of my finances*. Fortunately my STANDING with the bank
was STILL in good order. By now the STATE of the weather was worsening,
and the weatherman STATED that it would get much worse. They had
compared the STATS (that is, the STATISTICS or the STATISTICAL analysis)
and had issued a STATEMENT that a STORM was on its way and that we
should STAY at home and not travel. STAN thought this was STATING the
obvious, or even an OVERSTATEMENT, but I thought this might be rather
UNDERSTATED, and, not wishing to be caught out by any UNDERSTATEMENT, I
took the next train home. All the SEATS were taken so I STAYED at the
end of the carriage and STOOD for the whole journey. No-one STANDS when
they can SIT down, but at the time STANDING was the only choice, which I
UNDERSTAND is the STANDARD SITUATION on Fridays. Everyone is quite
UNDERSTANDING about this. My tired feet certainly UNDERSTOOD it very
well by the time I reached my destination, and I was glad to walk after
STAYING STATIC and STATIONARY for hours.
* Omission phrase "stand(ing) orders"
* "finances" Dictionary outline. Writing it above the line to follow the
alternative "fye-" pronunciation would make it too similar to "findings"
I arrived home and SET my bags down in the bedroom. After I had
unpacked, I decided to REINSTATE the layout of my wardrobe. I SET out
all the clothes, put them in SETS and SET to with enthusiasm. After the
REINSTATEMENT of the clothes STORAGE and STORING my souvenirs in the
STORE cupboard under the STAIRS, I SEATED myself on the SETTEE and SAT
for some time* remembering all my travels. Being so comfortably SEATED
in the warm, I took my STENO pad and decided to SET out* in great detail
everything that had happened during my eventful STAY at the farm over
the last week. My brief STINT of writing out my holiday memories only
took half an hour of my time. Longhand would always STUNT my writing
efforts but they are now no longer STUNTED. I am so glad of my STINT at
college where I STUDIED the subject of STENOGRAPHIC writing, because
with CONSTANT practising, without STINTING, my STUDIES were finished
quite quickly. I must mention that the STUDENTS who STINTED on
practising are now RESITTING some of their exams. I am glad to be able
to STATE that it is now my STANDARD way of writing my personal notes and
diary. (1266 words)
* "for some time" "set out" Halving to represent the T of "time"
and "out"
Uninspiring railway scenery - might as well practise our lines, loops
and curves
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Winter Or Spring (22 February
2014)
21 February - Today has been a beautiful sunny* and mild day,
with only a few clouds at intervals. It is far too early to be able to
say that* spring has arrived, but the spring bulbs seem to think
otherwise. On today's bus journey I enjoyed seeing the many displays of
thickly planted crocus on the grass verges and municipal green spaces.
They had all opened out in the sun making large yellow circles of
blooms, dotted with a scattering of purple and white flowers. In
southern England we have had very little really cold weather, and
certainly no periods of frost, snow or freezing daytime weather. The
only sub-zero temperatures seem to have occurred briefly at night. I
would expect to see crocus at this time of year but the daffodils that
are just starting to come out are at least* a month ahead of their usual
time. All our winter weather seems to have come in the form of* rain
that has produced the devastating flooding of the rivers, breaking
their* banks and filling the flood plains, many of which have been built
on, and also causing damage to property through rising groundwater
levels. It is not unusual for winter here to have long periods of quite
dry weather, but this year the rain has been almost continuous since
Christmas.
* "sunny" Always insert the vowel in sun, sunny, snow, snowy
* Omission phrases "to be able (to) s(ay) that" "in (the) form (of)"
* "At least" "at last" Always insert the vowel
* "breaking their" Doubling for "their"
Sometimes I enjoy the cold weather, but it is really a
game where I only win if I can return home having stayed as warm as when
I left the front door, well wrapped up and defying the finger-freezing
temperatures with my thickest gloves. I do the same with the snow, which
creates a more interesting battle, but if the snow or the cold go on for
too long, then it becomes tedious. I start looking forward to the time
when I can go out without quite so much defensive clothing and stride
out without the danger of slipping on the ice. This year I feel that* we
have not had any winter at all, due to the absence of any really cold
days. This is rather like staying up late, not getting much sleep and
realising that the next day has come around without a clear and definite
break with the one before. I have only done this once, at the age of
about twelve, when my family stayed at a Boxing Day party until about
four in the morning. The gain of about five eye-lid drooping hours at
the party was at the greater cost of the whole of the next day, which
was spent moping about with grey and tired eyes, and wasting good school
holiday hours.
*
Omission phrase "I fee(l) that"
If winter weather has to be something different and less comfortable in
order to* count as winter, then we have certainly had plenty of that with
the prolonged periods of heavy rain, gales and storms. Driving cold rain
in umbrella-destroying gusty winds does not provide any incentive to
"battle it out" merely for the satisfaction of a personal victory over
it, and so journeys were kept to the bare minimum, for essentials only,
in the brief* dry periods between the squalls. I was also hoping that
the limited exercise of going up and down the stairs at home would
somehow make up for the consumption of the extra calories that I felt
was necessary when the wind was howling and the rain blowing
horizontally. That reminds me, I think I will just have time to make one
more piece of buttered toast before the daffodils announce that, in
their opinion, winter is on its way out. (599 words)
* Omission phrase "in ord(er to)"
*
"brief" Always insert the vowel, to avoid being misread as "number of"
Top of page
Boring Shorthand (23 February
2014)
If you are reading this from the shorthand, then you can probably write
the following ten outlines without much hesitation:
THE IS TO OF AND A IN THAT HAVE I
What I really want to hear is that you are bored with them - not because
you have skimmed the instruction book and found nothing of interest
there, but because you know them so well that they are easy, normal,
ordinary and have become "part of the furniture". You can write them
instantly and they never cause any bother or hesitation. They occur all
the time, and are part of the padding in almost every practice sentence
where you are learning other new outlines. These are the ten commonest
words, in order of frequency, and account for a quarter* of all the
words used. If you hesitate over these outlines, you will have trouble
with a quarter of everything you write, on average! However, the good
news is that, because they occur so frequently, they end up getting
practised more than all the others. The list is taken from Oxford
Dictionaries website*, and the "is" and "have" actually include the other
forms - are, was, were, be, being, has, having, had. Here is a sentence
that contains all ten, and all are short forms and contractions:
"I have an interest in the subject and I think that to practise it is of
advantage."
* "quarter" Optional contraction
PDF downloads of common word shorthand lists at
https://www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk/vocabulary-word-lists.htm
Their frequency means that correcting any hesitation and gaining
complete familiarity will make a big difference to your shorthand
writing. It is easy to let the small ones slip and just concentrate on
learning longer words and technical terms. Any little common-word
escapees that have gone AWOL (Absent Without Leave) need to be
recaptured and retrained into better behaviour in future. Perusing the
common word list and noting those whose outlines do not spring to mind
instantly will enable you to draw up a list for your outline boot camp.
As it is a relatively small number of common words that make up such a
large percentage of speech, it might just be easier to practise them all
to make sure you have the whole lot at your command.
Here is one of the methods that I used during my study times, to gain
mastery over specific outlines. Completely new outlines would be drilled
singly to start with, but then they would be planted into simple
sentences which is much more* lifelike and the shorthand flows more
comfortably. Write each sample sentence at the top of the notepad page
and leave the rest of the page blank. To drill, fill in only a few lines
on each page, working through all the sentence pages, and then return to
the start again. I find that it is only*
when you come back to items that
you discover whether you have actually learned them or not*. This is not
speed practice, so the shorthand can be kept neat and smooth, but
without dawdling. Even better, say the sentences out loud at the same
time, to counteract any tendency for the mind to wander off. It is
perfectly possible to write reams of shorthand practice material without
giving it any real thought and this leaves out the most important
ingredient of matching the outlines to their words.
*
Omission phrase "much mo(re)"
* "that it is only" On its own,
"only" is written with full N and L strokes
*
"or not" Using N Hook and halving for "not"
Practising all these common short words may feel like being back in the
first lesson, but their frequency ensures that there is a huge advantage
to be gained in removing any lingering hesitations over them. Once they
get relegated to the "boring" category, I hope that this just means that
interest has moved on elsewhere - to acquiring more vocabulary, more
skilful phrasing, and in fact everything that will improve speed and
reliability, and take the tension and hesitation out of writing it on
real projects. When you are not getting bogged down with difficulties
over these basics, then it is easier to maintain the interest in further
shorthand improvement, which starts to become more within your reach and
worth pursuing.
Practising is the key
This is like getting a new piece of equipment. It starts as a toy, a
novelty, something special, and a delight that you were able to obtain
and own it. Some time later it becomes normal, then finally somewhat
uninteresting, appreciated for its usefulness, convenience and comfort,
but not the centre of attention any more. I did exactly this when I got
my first electric sewing machine. As soon as it was delivered, I wanted
to set to and make all sorts of clothes, but I did not know how to
operate the machine. It had a lot more controls and settings than I was
used to on my ancient but very serviceable treadle sewing machine.
Although the delay in starting on my projects was quite frustrating, I
knew that I would have to spend time reading the manual and practising
on scraps. This was impatience at its most unreasonable, as it only took
a few hours of playing around to master all the controls. It did take a
bit longer, though, to perfect the skill of hovering gently over the
foot pedal, so that the stitching happened at a safe and manageable
rate, not zooming along the seams at a high speed, swerving* to left and
right!
* "swerved" Special outline, See
www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk/distinguishing-outlines-2-rule.htm
"served swerved server swerver"
If you had a servant, butler, maid,
assistant, employee, adviser, volunteer or helper, they will hopefully
carry out their tasks efficiently, unobtrusively, quietly and without
drawing attention to themselves. They had to be "acquired" and then
trained, after which they will be able to relieve you of the minor tasks
so that you can concentrate on other things. Unlike staff or helpers,
with shorthand it is you who has to undergo the training, but on the
other hand*, once trained, your obedient shorthand-writing brain and
hand will get on with the job without any fuss. They do not need to be
given wages, they are never absent, unwilling or late, and they never
decide to go elsewhere to work. But you might well find them doodling in
shorthand at every odd moment, which I think as owner you should be
delighted about, as it proves that they are dedicated to their job and
are ever ready to jump at your command. Being commander of obedient
outlines sounds to me like a worthwhile* result from all that repetitive
practising.
* Omission phrase "on the oth(er h)and"
* "wor(th)while" Optional contraction
My aim is generally to make shorthand interesting, but the final aim is
that your interest will turn into proficiency, and then into a
benevolent* type of boredom, the sort where you are able to turn your
interest towards the job or project, and the shorthand is just the means
to attain the desired result - taking college notes, a reporting
assignment, keeping a diary or writing a book. Even when reasonably
proficient, there is still room for shorthand to retain its interest -
getting to the next speed target that once seemed impossible, maybe
hitting the magic 100 wpm mark and other speeds beyond that. Every
hesitation that you can chip away at and eventually remove is another
step nearer to the next shorthand victory. (1182 words)
* "benevolent" Optional contraction
Top of page
Afternoon At Hall Place (25
February 2014)
Yesterday I spent a very pleasant afternoon walking round the
gardens of Hall Place in Bexley, Kent. With the sun shining, it was
impossible to stay indoors and the computer projects would have to wait
until the evening. Although the trees are still bare, all the spring
flowers are now fully open, including many of the colourful shrubs, and
so there was plenty to enjoy, and no rain or wind to battle through. The
river was flowing vigorously over the main weir, with a huge tree trunk
wedged across one part of it, and the noise of the waterfall was very
much louder than normal. I was surprised to see the turf maze full of
rings of crocus flowers, planted on those parts that do not get walked
on, where the grass is allowed to grow much longer. The gardeners are as
usual on top of all their jobs, as every bed has been weeded, dug over
and prepared for the coming growing season. There was one tree down,
after the gales, and broken branches here and there* on the ground, but
I think that probably most of the debris from the storms has been
cleared away.
* Omission phrase "here (and) there"
Turf maze
The sunken garden in the far corner, usually damp and mossy, was
entirely underwater, looking like a large muddy swimming pool, and this
is definitely one place where the gardeners can do nothing in the way of
preparation and planting* for the spring and summer bedding. Near the
entrance, the Tudor* fruit garden and the cut flower beds are completely
bare, with new fruit canes planted and tied in, and everything looks
clean, tidy and organised. I shall enjoy comparing my photo of it with
one I shall take in summer, when it will be a glorious display of floral
magnificence and exuberance. Sometimes cut flower gardens can look
better than formal bedding, as with everything crammed* into a long
strip, they end up being more colourful and with greater variety. There
is also the advantage that you can get to both sides of the strips to
get a closer look at the blooms.
* "planting" keep the P short, as "planning" could also make sense here
* This is also the outline for "tutor". The plurals of both do not use
doubling, as the diphthong is no longer attached, but instead have
stroke with R hook.
* Compare this with "cramped" which omits the lightly-sounded P and uses
halved light M. The halved and thickened M stroke is always MD, and the
Imp stroke is only halved when it has an R Hook.
In the glasshouse
The big greenhouse is a real delight, absolutely packed with tropical
plants and with long benches on every side, full of pots of brilliant
coloured plants and flowers. Many of them we know as small exotic
houseplants but here they grow to their true size, becoming large shrubs
and tall trees. In the centre is a long goldfish pond with a waterfall
running into it. As all the top windows were open, a robin had come in
and was singing loudly from various high perches, proclaiming his
ownership of this very luxurious and spacious accommodation, where I am
sure he will be building his nest. With every sound reverberating around
the glasshouse, his song was loud and piercing, and no doubt* the echoes
of it that were escaping to the world outside did a good job of warning
off other robins from entering his territory.
* "no doubt" Helpful to insert the vowel after the N. "Any doubt" would be above the line.
Glasshouse residents
I was reminded of the robin that nested in my garden shed some years
ago, with plenty of space and shelter, and one hundred per cent safety.
This robin was obviously thinking along the same lines, but on a truly
palatial* scale and with much better scenery - palms and banana trees,
thick greenery for nesting in, an indoor water supply for drinking and
bathing, and heating pipes under the staging to keep it all cosy on a
chilly spring day. It almost makes me want to move in there as well!
Unfortunately*, by mid-afternoon I had to leave the agreeable
surroundings in the greenhouse and make my way home, where I hope to see
my own resident robin somewhere outside the kitchen window, waiting for
a free meal of pellets or spare crumbs. (630 words)
* "palatial" Shel always goes up and Sher always goes down
* "unfortunately" Optional
contraction
www.hallplace.org.uk
Can spot a carrier bag/sandwich/waving arm at 100 yards
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