May 23 - The quick brown fox

Tuesday, May 23, 1972 - Page 144
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

(3:30 PM 5/24/1972)
I went out paddling, sunning my bod for two or three hours. Tide got up extremely high so I checked out a few inlets, exploring tentatively. Got back atta bout 5:30. Mom and I made a turkey, after playing 4 games of Chess (she won three games). I think I'll make me a sandwich.

Boy, this is sloppy. I'm writing pretty fast -- you may think this is sloppy as I get, but I don't think so. I'm gonna try an experiment -- I'm gonna write as fast as I can, and see how messy I get. On my mark; get set; go --
(This results in a big illegible scrawl)
rats -- I just can't hold a thought. Lemme try that again:
The quick brown fox leaped
over the lazy dog's bark
one more time --
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back.
wow -- that really takes concentration, to write that fast. Okay! You try it! if you don't believe me. ----

[Historical note from 2013: I used a variation of the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" which has been utilized as a writing exercise since 1885 because it employs all the letters of the alphabet. You can see the interesting Wikipedia facts here: The quick brown fox ]