I went on Craigslist looking for a used IBM Selectric. I learned to type on a Selectric. I was nostalgic about what it felt like to push each key. The sound and the feel was very satisfying. Each stroke would activate the little metal font ball that would strike the ribbon to leave the letter of your choice on a nice, sturdy piece of paper. It wasn't like now, when we're all basically typing into the ether. You were making something, building a document that could potentially outlast you like a painting or a sculpture.
Yeah, I'm over romanticizing, but I did like that feeling. That's why I was going to buy an old typewriter. Then I remembered that my writing style requires that I erase entire sentences just to correct a lowercase letter I accidentally left at the start of it. The typewriter would never tolerate that kind of frivolity. If you were going to use it you'd better have your shit together, usually in the form of a handwritten outline scrawled on a yellow legal pad.
I'm not too keen on the idea of doubling my effort when I write so I bought a gaming keyboard instead of a typewriter. The new keyboard features:
Mechanical keys that deliver gaming-grade responsiveness and tactile feedback superior to rubber-domed keys. With an actuation force and distance of 50 g and 2.2 mm, respectively, the keys are optimized for rapid command entry. Plus, the keys have been tested for durability to a 50 million cycle life.
In the biz, I think these type of keys are referred to as "Cherry MX Switches". I'm typing on them and while they do deliver some of the experience I was after, I'm still typing into the ether. I'm not striking and chiseling a flat, paper sculpture that will be found by an archeological dig a few thousands years from now. The clicks and clacks are just leaving marks on some pixels. And, in a few minutes, when I'm done those same pixels will probably be flashing cat videos or items on Amazon that I don't need.
Later this week Julia is going to have her eyes checked. Glasses betray our weakness. If she has to get them she will be ostracized by the pack. She will be the decoy that is left behind to distract predators from the more viable members of the group. If she wears glasses, eventually she will be eaten.
Later this month, Allie is going to take her driver's test. She's ready but doesn't know it. I think this is the case for a lot of things. Some things I will try to let her know about, other things I will keep to myself. . . at least for a little while longer. Otherwise she will wander from the pack and eventually she will be eaten.
I'm wondering what to do with my wife for Mother's Day. I've always maintained that she's not my mother so it's not really my responsibility to remind her that she's a good mom. But that's not how it works, at least no in our house. And if I forget Mother's day I have a feeling that I will put myself in danger. I could, potentially be forced out of the pack and eventually I will be eaten.
