signed sealed delivered

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
in continuing my "back in the day" themed post from yesterday, i laughed out loud today when my sissy reminded me of how i used to sign my name when i was in middle school/junior high - the height of my M.A.S.H days of course.

what can i say, i'm a romantic at heart.

so while i was replicating the girlie "alexa" today all over my notebook i couldn't do anything but laugh at it's ridiculousness. i can guarantee that that little wrap around "a" to cross the "x" into a heart didn't get me any A's on my 6th grade social studies test.

i got to thinking though (scary) about how much my signature has changed over the years.

below is how i neatly sign my first name now. emphasis on neatly because in all reality i have the worst chicken scratch. people tend to actually not to be able to read my handwriting unless i'm trying really hard to make it legible.

pretty standard i think - at least there isn't a heart at the end of the "x"

notice how my name is printed - does anyone still write in old school cursive anymore? like the cursive where the capital "T" and "F" look not like a "T" and "F" should ever look?

so while i'm at it i figure i might as well show my formal signature. the following is how i sign everything from my taxes, to my checks, and my bar tabs.

yeah, i can't read it either - and it's my signature.

my mom is always on my case about how much she hates my signature. how "weird and pointless it is". but i can't help how my signature has evolved. plus, who wants to actually spend the time to write out their full name?

i sure as hell don't.

i have better things to do - like drink wine till my teeth are purple.

53 comments:

Kristen said...

I wish wine didn't make my teeth and lips purple. When you turn the same color of the wine it's just another sign that a whole bottle is too much.

And I think your signature is adorable. You should re-adopt it.

Allison M. said...

my signature has also gone downhill. although I don't think I ever had a heart incorporated in my name. But I do remember sucking at drawing bubble letters.

Fizzgig said...

I take time to make my name neat. I du nno why. But i also use broken cursive. some connected, some not.

I use to turn the "A" at the end of my name into an "X" with the tail of the "A".

Kids..

bird said...

Adding hearts to your name in 6th grade must of been a "thing"! I remember dotting my i with a heart too!!

surviving myself said...

My signature is the same way. Who has time to make it legible? And who the fuck cares?

Ben said...

When I'm signing things I don't have the time for letters. I just mash a pen into a piece of paper and hope for the best.

Angela said...

I like the wrap-around A to cross the X! The heart is too much for NOW, but definitely cute when you were younger haha.

My signature, it hasn't changed since middle school, is as legible as can be. I'm one of THOSE people, lol

Maxie said...

you are too cute. I have a way of signing my name where the X looks like a little person. It's kind of ridiculous.

Arielle said...

When I was younger I used to sign stuff by writing this cool (read: dumb and lame) logo that I invented where my initials are intertwined. Also, sometimes when I'm bored I write in cursive only because it's so old school. My cursive looks the same as it did in 3rd grade when I first learned to write it. And finally, my signature is heinous. You definitely cannot tell what any of the letters in my name are let alone what my name actually is. My mom has also commented on how much it sucks. I think it looks adult and fancy.

E.Wiggle™ said...

Aw, cute! I like the old-school signature. I used to do similar things. My handwriting is forever changing. Nowadays, I write in a combination of mauscript and cursive, but more cursive. My signature keeps getting shorter and shorter. Now I usually just sign with an EW inside a circle... kinda like this: @.

andyhannon said...

I wish I had a signature like that when I was younger. Whenever I sign documents, its like A(scribbles) H(scribbles) I fear that employers/everyone is judging me based around that!

Marie said...

I thought signatures were suppose to be illegible, no?

Deutlich said...

Dude, that is EXACTLY how I sign my name. First initial, Last..scribble? Cuz it sure as shit ain't my full name.

Emily said...

"i have better things to do - like drink wine till my teeth are purple."

you are definitely a girl after my own heart!! amen sister! :]

LiLu said...

i have better things to do - like drink wine till my teeth are purple.

I would agree with you, except it takes approximately 75% of one sip of red wine to turn my teeth purple. It's okay, it's really sexy at office functions.

LBluca77 said...

I always scribble my signature. You can't even tell what letter my name starts with but I figure as long as my checks clear that is all they should worry about.

Matt said...

you totally started the whole @ sign.

Cara said...
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rs27 said...

My friend and I once spent an hour at a diner practicing our autograph.

that was last week.

Mandy said...

My everyday signature is practically illegible too.

I used to do all kinds of flourishy things on my name but none quite as creative as a heart. :-)

Cara said...

Speaking of MASH again...

http://www.espin.com/mash-game.php

SoMi's Nilsa said...

This post is so funny. Because being 35, I've had the same signature for about 20 years. Imagine, as a 30-something, being stuck with the same signature a 15 year old started. Ooooh, not cute. But, with my recent marriage and impending name change, I have an opportunity to reinvent myself all over again. Let's hope I don't cringe in another 20 years when I still have the same John Hancock!

Lacey Bean said...

Oh I can't even write in nice cursive if I tried. And I like the first name of my signature, but not how I write my last name. Weird.

Lacey Bean said...
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insomniaclolita said...

my old signature has a star around the i, hahaha thats just lame

Ashley said...

Oh. So the purple mouth thing happens to other people, too?

I always scribble when I have to sign for my credit card. It takes less time. :) (And it sort of combines my maiden name and married name. Because there sure is no "g" in my married name, but one appears in my scribble.)

brookem said...

and i mean, the wine can also double sometimes as some nice lip coloring. except that it's more of a mustache if you swig like this lush, which isn't so classy afterall really.

pistols at dawn said...

I still dot my i's with hearts and cross my t's with unicorn horns.

Elle Bee said...

Writing my name is a bastardization between cursive and printing.

I don't see the point your mother's making about your signature. The only thing that matters is that it's unique to you, it's a check that you are who you say you are (since it's on your credit cards, associated with your licence, your bank, etc.). The whole point is that it doesn't matter if it's pointless. It's just another identification tool. Making sure you are who you say you are.

I say, the less time it takes you to sign that bar tab, the more time you can spend drinking! ;)

Paula said...

I'm used to making my surname eligible these days . . . plus because my surname is eleven letters long, I always seem to lose about five letters in the middle of out laziness!

georgia peach said...

Now I can plagiarize your signature. Mwwaahahahah!!!

Jennifer said...

I've always thought that the messier your signature, the harder it would be for someone to steal! Laziness: the fight against identity theft! haha... maybe not.

bethis said...

hahaha that heart signature is priceless. I actually have a similar post coming up and I am going to link to this... because I had a symbol for myself for the entire sixth grade. Yes, a symbol. Can we say freeaakkk.

MAH said...

Yay for purple mouths!

Speaking of... I think I hear a bottle of red calling my name!

Jacqueline said...

I think your signature is actually very cute :) I used to sign my name with a little heart over the "i"

Always a Bridesmaid said...

The real question is... do you still doodle Alexa + (boy's name) like you used to back in the MASH days? And if you do... which signature do you use? ;)

susan said...

Your current signature kind of looks like a guys - just initials.

I don't think my signature has evolved much. When I was younger I liked my mother's, fancy cursive, and I adopted it and kept it.

Mom said...

When I was in school we took cursive writing until 8th grade. We tried to write well and took pride in it. Now it is a lost art. Everyone younger prints or a mix of the two....sooo sad.

Katelin said...

my handwriting has changed so much over the years too, however i was never victim to adding a heart to my name, haha.

Vanessa said...

Besides, you can always get a signature stamp and save even more time!

Bayjb said...

I love the first signature with the "a" wrapping into the "x" and heart. Very cute.

Lauren said...

My signature looks just like your last one! It's a capitol L...squiggle line and then a capital G...squiggle line with occasional bumps for the "b" and "l" and "d." Yeah, i'm awesome.

Melange said...

I totally dotted my i's with a heart. One time, I had a "boyfriend" break up with me and I wrote him a nasty letter and dotted my i with a broken heart. I was so cool and creative.

Tia Jo said...

In answer to your question 'does anyone still write in old school cursive anymore', the answer is "Yes!, you KNOW I do, Alexa!!!" And I agree with your mother, too.

Maris said...

you have such pretty handwriting! mine is usually illegible but lucky for me, i'm a speedy typer.

Alice said...

AAAHHAHAAHAHAAA omg i LOVE the "x" crossed with the heart!!

i was the opposite, back in middle school - i was super-conscious of not wanting to be "girly," and i thought my name was ALREADY girly, so there were DEFINITELY no hearts or pink anywhere near me :-)

ablogofherown.wordpress.com said...

Aww how cute is that heart?!
I had obnoxiously bad handwriting for a girl. Actually I'm still rather embarrassed about how bad I am.
The only time I like my handwriting is when I write my name, and even then it's not as bubbly and pretty as my girlfriends' writing.
Sigh.

Kyla Bea said...

Your printing is great! Can I out source mine to you?

TishTash said...

You have a lot of faith in the honesty of your readers and their ability to walk on the right side of the law. Because your current signature is awfully easy to forge...

Narm said...

Or chocolate cakes till your mind turns black.

Mike said...

You know, I catch shit all the time for my signature, too. I think you may have inspired me to do something similar on my blog.

Link love, coming right up!

Dolce said...

Ooh! Gerard Butler...Yum! And clive owen.

Your signature is a thousand times better than mine. It looks like a love struck 7th grader with loopy-loops. So stupid.

freefun0616 said...
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