In her post .. I’m not Blogging You Are .. Davina from Shades of Crimson threw out a challenge to write a story in a 100 words using the nine words she gave us: Fly, Magnitude, Timothy, Typography, Death, Closet, Swell, Rena and Jerome ..... a fine mix! Daunted me .. after a little thought I did write the story as a ‘Who Dunn It’ in the comments – others rose to the Challenge and, as asked, sent theirs in.Davina then in the comments kept asking Who Dunn It? ... and thereby hangs the tale! She’s publishing all the stories .. they’re all brilliant .. different takes on those nine words – who’d heard of Timothy grass .. not me!
Murder: 19th century John Wilkes Booth wanted the poster printed with both wood and metal types - it shows doesn 't it?
I did satisfy her question with a much longer answer .. the type just tapped, the words came out, the method oozed from one of my leaden posts, the typographical mentions too came from posts and comments .. and I weaved a murder that was solved: 'A certain "Type" of Mystery'.
I did satisfy her question with a much longer answer .. the type just tapped, the words came out, the method oozed from one of my leaden posts, the typographical mentions too came from posts and comments .. and I weaved a murder that was solved: 'A certain "Type" of Mystery'.
I hope you’ll pop over and read the stories .. Davina has a way with words, and her proof reading skills came to the fore in her Post title and in the Heading she gave my reply ..
To tie this in .. recently there’ve been articles about Qwerty .. for us typists .. it’s fine .. for the younger generation ... would ‘abcdef’ be better ... in fact if technology had changed to this format 10 years ago .. would it be better now? It’s rather like changing from driving on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side .. possible ... but I still struggle with decimalisation , many years later – nearly two generations .. and the 12 system is way more useful! Another day ...
So typographical challenges abound for the young .. Sholes, the American layout designer of the keyboard, in 1873 on the Sholes and Gidden typewriter, sold to Remington shortly after, became the industry standard until today. If two neighbouring type bars are hit at the same time, a jam may result; avoiding this was the basis of the QWERTY layout.
The keys don’t jam together any more .. they certainly did on the old thumpy keys, (strong fingers were required) and you need a sense of rhythm .. something I don’t possess .. still I can type! Text – another matter .. especially as you need a bishop’s moving slant as you hit each key –then you probably get the right one .. well I find that with my iphone! The knack I’m told ...
The keys don’t jam together any more .. they certainly did on the old thumpy keys, (strong fingers were required) and you need a sense of rhythm .. something I don’t possess .. still I can type! Text – another matter .. especially as you need a bishop’s moving slant as you hit each key –then you probably get the right one .. well I find that with my iphone! The knack I’m told ...
Smart phones are changing their keyboards bringing in symbols, putting the keyboard into three layers .. ABCs, 123s, and #+=s ... while on the web connection the .com appeared, I thought – but I can’t seem to make it happen – shows my technology levels!
There is so much going on .. Seth Godin – I see is getting out of publishing actual books, the debate on eReaders ..which are best? ... and will we have keyboards in 20 + years? I’d say yes – because it’ll take at least two generations for the filtering to occur – won’t it?
Just as a”by-the-by”.. for us keyboard users .. if we don’t know how to put in accents into our French words, or diaeresis into our German words .. Wikipedia sets it out clearly .. it also introduced me to a new word ‘diacritical marks’ ...which now I look it up .. is an ancillary glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. I suspect (not as in murder) that another post is here somewhere ... Movable type sorted in a letter case and loaded in a composing stick on top
So please "mind your Ps and Qs" ... this stems from children playing with their letters and learning to distinguish the P and Q letters, or to printers’ apprentices in handling and sorting type.
Perhaps more fancifully .. it is suggested that in the pubs .. the customers’ accounts were kept in Ps and Qs .. for Pints and Quarts .. and that a customer needed to mind his Ps and Qs when the reckoning came.
Or another diacritical move .. was that in the France of Louis XlV, when huge wigs were fashionable, the dancing masters would warn their pupils to mind their Ps and Qs .. their ‘pieds’ (feet) and ‘queues’ (wigs) .. lest the latter fall off when bending low to make a formal bow.
So how in ten thousand years will this time be recorded .. we can see the ancients’ geoglyphs the drawings on the ground .. the Nazca Lines in Peru .. hill figures .. but will our typography be here, will the folio method of putting together books still be here .. will they remember or find us and our Ps and Qs, our ABCs, 123s and #+=s .. will our voices, even, be heard? The geoglyph of Cuzco, map E G Squier c. 1860. The fortification Sacsahuman (north of the town) represents the head of an animal (El Puma Yacente, puma lying down), the back, legs and tail of the animal are recognizable in the patterns of the town, the backshape follows a mountainriver, the feet are standing on the shore of the river Sapi
Will Murder still be happening ....? Enjoy the stories .. and thanks so much for visiting here and there, if you have a few minutes to enjoy a light read ...
Dear Mr Postman .. I haven’t seen my mother for a few days – but I’ll see her tomorrow and will be back on my daily visits .. no news – so I guess all is well. Lovely sunny day again today, though we’ve had much needed rain ...
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories
Dear Mr Postman .. I haven’t seen my mother for a few days – but I’ll see her tomorrow and will be back on my daily visits .. no news – so I guess all is well. Lovely sunny day again today, though we’ve had much needed rain ...
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories
52 comments:
Oh my how the world is changing in technology and social graces. Such is life.
I will pop over to read.
I still have in the attic my manual typewriter and in a closet my electric. I can't seem to get rid of them. I don't want to forget.
:)
Hi Teresa .. appropriate for us .. and yes isn't the world changing so quickly .. do we still mind Ps & Qs .. we say it - but I hadn't known what it referred to ..
It'll be good to see you over at Shades of Crimson.
I have to say my typewriters various did go the way of all things at some stage in my life .. if I hadn't moved they'd probably still be in my attic or closet .. can't say closet any more - Timothy's there ...
Your children will love you in due course .. if the machines are still around then?!
Excellent to see you here .. Hilary
I had no idea that our keyboard-layout was meant to feep hammers from jamming! I've often wondered what we'd leave for the future, when all our digital communication gets wiped-out by a solar flare!
Hi Hilary - I just love the way your brain works, so similar to mine.
I did know about the minding P's and Q's but not to the extent of shoes and wigs. And yes, it's interesting to see keyboards evolve - the one on my Droid phone has the layering you mention, but I specifically chose a model that had a slide out QWERTY that I could actually feel by touch.
I can remember when the IBM Selectric (now anachronized into the TV show Mad Men by several years too early) revolutionized typing. Prior, I went off to university in 1971 with an electric typewriter that had the traditional key/arm structure. It made the keys easier to press but still jammed up when you got on a real roll, speed-wise. With the Selectric, you could really motor! What fun to take the little ball off and put it on differently so someone would touch-type gobbledy-gook before they noticed.
And, not being the most accurate, all the correction methods were necessary for me to become intimately acquainted with. I prayed thanks to God for self-correcting, which seemed to have its advent along with copy machines, dispensing with the dreaded carbons once and for all. We used carbons as late as 1982 in a law firm I worked - at which I had bluffed my way into a position of database administrator and fledgling word processor by lying about my proficiency with computers. I worked on a Radio Schack TRS-80 using a program called Magic Wand, with honest to goodness floppy vinyl discs.
It's wonderful that we can all share with each other these exercises and our research. I really enjoyed your submission to Davina's challenge. Funny how things just flow when they're meant to. Quite the little community we have back and forth, too, isn't it?
Hi Will .. thanks – surprising isn’t it --- but they did so often jam – really irritating – them days!
You’re probably more like to be right .. solar flare seems a likely option .. will humans be here? And so the unanswerable questions go on .. I’d love to know! Sad really .. I never will find out – well not here anyway. Thanks for coming by – have a good week .. Hilary
Hi Betsy .. well a big thank you – and it’s good to know my brain is appreciated by someone other than me! It certainly seems to map its own path through life.
Ps & Qs .. but I’d forgotten the connection with queues .. as French wigs .. I was going to put in a Chinese telephone with a different layout as a picture .. but decided enough was enough!
Similarly about the golf-ball .. did you call it that? Like us in the UK – or South Africa as I was .. I loved varying the type by taking the ball off and putting on another with a different typeface .. but I’m not sure I swapped it round .. that sounds like a lot of fun!
It sounds as though you mastered the art of deception then .. rising to the heady heights of administrator .. I was just basic .. and not very good either .. it was a struggle to be accurate, so self-correcting was a godsend. Did you use those wax Roneo sheets .. at least you could paint over the errors .. and retype – wasn’t brilliant, but it did work. Then there was the telex .. I loved that .. because at least you could correct it .. and it just blanked through for a while and then picked up the message again ... I was very happy when I had telexes to send – especially to Eastern Europe – continual dialling and lots of cups of coffee!
Oh yes – floppies .. had those in the 80s .. and then the hard ones .. and then just an inbuilt one, and now external ones again .. life is full of changes.
It is fun that we can interact with each other .. and I just loved Davina’s stories .. as I do Sara with her photo connections .. it’s tying it in. Once I’d got my head round the challenge .. it was relatively easy and took my mind off other matters for a change ...
Excellent comment – thank you so much for tip tapping away at our favourite keyboard – one we can correct and correct and correct ... and then answer! Enjoy your return .. and have a good week... Hilary
In eighth-grade typing class, we used electric computers. But there weren't enough for everyone, so I had to use a manual one sometimes. Not easy! I own a "T" typing key pendant. It reminds me of the class and that I'm a writer.
Hi Theresa .. actually what you say is true ... there never seemed to be enough equipment to go round – so to get continuity was tricky! Ah – a letter “T “ key fob .. that’s fun .. and you are a writer, will be successful .. and all will be well in Milstein land! Enjoy it all though – you never know where the opportunities will come from .. have a good week .. Hilary
stridsh
I LOVE this!!! My daughter is ten and has been learning on a “keyboard” since first grade. I can’t imagine the keyboard changing to be in another form as it works; in other words, it is what I know! (I use a wave keyboard though and can’t imagine how others use the standard… and they can’t imagine how I use this curving thing!)
They spoke on the radio this morning about the movement toward text and language in that form One woman, with an eighth grade son, echoed my feelings exactly – her son needed to learn to write – really write. We are entering a generation that has shortened language to a basic form – and will likely continue to do so at what cost? The language, all of them, are beautiful. The way they are written, the pros, the flow of words and ideas and images painted by the words. There is something wonderful about receiving a hand written note over a text or e-mail – just as I love the feel of a book over riding a screen. How much of communication and the art of written expression is or is potentially lost as we change form script to type to computer to digital to text to symbol?
And the idea of the post you mentioned – I would love that post and especially the way you write!!
Hi TE .. thank you! Amazing exclamation of a comment! Mighty grateful!
Good for you – helping your daughter get the best use out of a keyboard .. I can’t use the laptop keyboard .. all the wrong angles! .. I have to have my keyboard and mouse attached separately .. I haven’t used a wave keyboard .. one day I’ll get a try somewhere.
The radio has good programmes .. highlighting ideas to us .. and I agree: who on earth is going to write our law, our regulation, our contracts .. or will they too be bygones?
Exactly as you say .. all languages are beautiful .. I visit Cornwall often and so Cornish words slip in and out .. but the old words ring true too ..
I do a lot of hand written letters accompanying a general letter, which evokes where Mum and I are at .., everyone loves the information .. far too much for individual letters – but then I can individualise each card to each person .. as they’ve helped Mum and I through these last three years. Mum loves getting her letters and cards .. even though I read them to her – now a little more difficult as she can’t hear ... but we go on ...
Where is communication going – you’ll have your daughter to tell you .. her stories will be as interesting, or more interesting than ours....?
I do hope you’ll get over to Davina’s blog .. my story is there ..
http://www.shadesofcrimson.com/2010/08/22/a-certain-type-of-mystery/
It’s brilliant to have such a lovely comment .. I am so appreciative .. great to see you here for your first visit .. and may there be many more .. thank you! Hilary
This story idea is wonderful! Glad you shared it with us. I will have to check out the links, thank you. Thanks also for the info about P's and Q's! I had heard one of those, but not the rest.
Blessings for your week,
Karen
Oh my. My first typewriter was one of those ones that the keys would always get jammed. I had a really bad habit of hitting more than one key at a time! It was attached to the base and had a green box lid that snapped over the typewriter and the base. What memories from my teen years!
Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. ~Ron
Hi Hilary.
I remember those old typewriters very well. My mother had an Underwriter Typewriter and my sisters and I used to play with it. You're right, you did have to use a lot of force to make the keys type and I recall a number of times when the type bars got jammed. It was a treat when we got our first electric typewriter. Lol, I used to sit at it, typing, pretending I was a famous author. :-)
It will be nice to see your mom again. You must be looking forward to it, as is she. I hope you have a nice visit.
You did a wonderful job with your story. As Betsy says, it's really neat when these stories just seem to flow. True magic. Thank you again for going the extra distance and turning your 100-word story into that who dunnit mystery. It was a delight to read; everyone enjoyed it immensely.
Hi Karen .. Thank you .. Davina explains what she’s been doing with her own writing challenge – but throwing her idea out as a tempter .. seems to have resonated with some commenting bloggers .. I was just really replying & then got thrown in the mix .. in a slightly different way – ‘having to solve my own who dunn it?’!
The rest of the items just seemed to fit and so I thought .. I’d tie them in and do a post – I learnt some things (as I normally teach myself too) .. I’d forgotten about the queues .. another use of the word .. as a wig, rather than hanging around waiting my turn!
Enjoy your week too ... and hope you can get over to Davina’s site for a brief visit .. Hilary
Hi Susanne .. yes we struggled with those uneasy levers .. the keys constantly jamming. I remember typewriters like that attached to a green base with the snap-over lid .. what memories of our starting off days as typists or writers .. the machine could be tidied up and put away at the end of the day, or session of typing!
Good to see you .. and thanks for visiting .. Hilary
Hi Ron .. thanks for calling in .. you’re a real blogger - visiting lots of sites .. and enjoying the interaction ... good to see you and have a good week .. Hilary
Hi Davina .. good to see you .. and even then you were writing stories .. pretending and dreaming as kids with adults’ household machinery will do about the things we could create when we grew up .. I got an electric one as soon as I could!
Yes – it’ll be good to see my mother again and be able to spend some time with her and see how she is. She’d love this interaction and I hope I can share what we’re doing with her somehow ..
This post was an easy follow-up or tie with your wonderful idea .. and another story on your blog comes out today .. such different takes we all have using those nine words ..
Thanks for everything and all the links etc .. have a great week ... Hilary
Hilary,
I haven't hopped over to Davina's site, but plan to!
I loved your stories about where "mind your 'Ps' and 'Qs'" came from. I like the pub one...that's funny.
I enjoyed how you wove the information together in this post.
You sound upbeat and that makes me happy:~)
p.s. The Exception is doing a guest post at my site tomorrow (Thursday). Pop by for a visit if you can:~)
Hi Sara .. good .. it’ll be interesting to hear your comments on the various stories.
Excellent .. that you loved the Ps & Qs .. interesting where words and phrases come from .. and how they’re kept over time ..
Thanks about the weaving .. and yes things are on the up thank you!
I will be visiting .. and it’ll be good to see what TE has to say .. I’ve just subscribed to her posts .. see you soon .. happy days .. Hilary
Word processors and word programs are some of the greatest inventions ever for writers. I never cared much for manual typewriters and the electrics were not much better when you were a bad typist like me.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Hi Lee .. yes – typing is a skill .. which people who don’t type .. can’t seem to grasp .. a quick 3 month, 30 minutes, 5 days a week practice .. and everyone could type: thus making their lives easier.
At least machinery has moved on .. and now computers ? make life easier – but through the machine every one can connect to the net .. and through one of our major communication channels – writing – we can make comments .. and enter any discussion we wish.
I hope the computer has made your typing easier? You’re here – and that’s so good to see – thank you .. Hilary
As always, so informative. I get a real education every time I visit you, Hilary. For that I thank you. :D
We learned how to type on manual typewriters during high school. I had a hellish time of it because my fingers simply weren't strong enough for them! They eventually had to put me on the electric typewriter instead. Phew!
Hi Tony .. thank you for coming over and commenting .. glad you appreciate it.
Sounds like my secretarial school – I too started on the thumping keys .. but was extremely grateful when electric ones came in .. I didn’t have to do too much work with manual ones – though they actually got easier and the levers were lighter to use ..
Interesting to know that you had typing in school .. were they educating both boys and girls the same way .. and what work did they think you might do with typing .. or were computers coming in with a vengeance?
As you say phew! To the electric and now pc keyboards .. so much easier on my ‘delicate’ fingers! Have a great weekend with Cassy .. Hilary
The publishing world is changing so much these days! We live in exciting time!
Re: your question on my blog about people contacting authors, yes - they do! I've only written a few travel guides so far but even so I got people emailing me! :) It was lovely.
Hi Talli .. it sure is - isn’t it . and thanks so much for coming by ..
Also for my query – that’s interesting .. and good to hear .. as I guess that will be an ongoing route for more and more people .. and fun for you to communicate with readers .. I hadn’t realised you’ve written travel guides .. but I’ve been rather tied up .. are they on your blog? Or accessible from there? More questions! Thanks for replying and good to see you from our wet and damp country! Have a good bank holiday weekend .. Hilary
Hilary, in reponse to a couple of your questions...
Yeah, I was a teen in the 80s, so computers had just barely hit the scene here in Oz, hence why we had to learn to type on manual typewriters (how I hated those immoveable slabs of stubborness with their stubborn, immoveable keys!). And yes, girls and boys were taught this equally. As to what we were supposed to do with this knowledge, your guess is as good as mine! :P
Hi Tony .. thanks for coming back to me .. ah .. now I understand - I missed out on typing at school .. let alone mixed classes! But your description of those great slabs of metal stubbornness – that were so heavy .. tank like structures .. & ah I see you too wondered what to do with it. Now .. those that learnt might be quite grateful?! Have a good weekend ... Hilary
This was a wonderful post Hilary and you wrote a wonderful story on Davina's blog too - I love your mastery of words and information.
I learned to type on my Dad's manual typewriter, then an electric typewriter and I made sure all of my children could type for the computer - they are way ahead of me on all things computer and phone...I have an iphone because it was so helpful in getting my youngest child through school and college...I called my early cell " my leash"
It made me laugh because one character in the movie "You've got Mail" collected manual typewriters!
I so enjoy how you tie things together....and yes! I do think you and Betsy have a similar style of integration....not like my offensive emotional -casual conversational style...
Oh the diversity of each of us...it makes for a wonder full world.
No rain here - just wind - we seem to be in a pocket of dry, cloudy but dry....all around us rain, which we could use - it was in the upper 80s now has dropped to 60s.
The rain is coming.
I have to say I'll go with the pints and quarts version of P's and Q's :) Whenever a chance of ale is possible, it MUST be the answer.
Really? Seth Godin is getting out of publishing hard copy books.
And I actually did NOT know how to get my accent graves, aigues and circonflexes going correctly! Thank you, Hilary!
You did a stellar job here!! And on such short and inspired notice.
xoxo
deerist hilree.
gues wot?
i falled out of a tree tryeing to get my jannies glas of wine up to she.
butt i not hert!! i landed on jazmeene. she just a littel sore, but no brokin bones or koncussins.
wit loves, me
BB
xo
I don't think keyboards should be redesigned. The Qwerty format works well.
Of course, I heard it was laid out this way at first so that the word "typewriter" could be spelled out quickly using only the top row of letters. This way, salesman could demonstrate the product, impress buyers, and drum up business.
I don't think we need emoticon keys either.
What does this really say? :)
I'm happy. I'm smiling. It seems pointless most of the time.
Anyway, that's my take.
The image of a huge wig falling off during dancing is hilarious. :)
Hi Patricia .. thank you! Glad you liked the story too ..
Gosh – did your Dad have a manual typewriter .. what was he using it for? Sounds like my father’s brother and sister .. they had typewriters ... and my cousin wanted his son to learn to type .. and I’m amazed at who encourages their children to type, and who doesn’t – even typist friends of mine .. didn’t get their children typing .. will they regret it or not – I don’t know!
Ah .. I haven’t seen ‘You’ve Got Mail’ .. now I must see it! .. collecting manual typewriters – a different way to recycle!
Thanks Patricia .. Betsy and I must obviously do more communicating .. but we each have our styles .. and you bring out your thoughts and tell us things we perhaps didn’t know about .. which is so interesting .. and then bring in your challenges with things happening around you – while leading your own life .. it certainly is a diverse world – thank goodness for that.
No rain – oh I’m sorry .. perhaps it’s arrived by now? These temperature drops are quite extraordinary aren’t they .. 20 degrees .. it’s wonderful (sometimes) when the cool comes ..
Have a great weekend .. with some welcome rains ... at least you have kids (1), who are techie (2) .. still I’m learning slowly .. another phase ahead .. Hilary
Hi Jannie .. great to see you .. thought you’d love the pub Ps and Qs! They probably do serve up trees .. did you see the post I did about the pub in a tree in South Africa?
http://positiveletters.blogspot.com/2009/07/is-this-petrified-octopus-with.html
Yes - I read it somewhere this week .. on a blog – sorry not sure where! Just googled .. this is a post from Seth on his beginnings and his next move .. have a read:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/08/moving-on.html
Thanks Jannie .. glad the diacritical marks .. can now be found .. I think I’ll have trouble remembering that word! But sometimes I’d like to get my typing right when I use a foreign word .. now I can I hope ...
The post seemed to fit with my story .. delighted you enjoyed it .. thanks .. Hilary
Hi BB .. how wonderful to see you back ..safely from findings your escaping horsie ..
I hate to tink gues wot? in Funsterland ... yore Jannie expected u to clambers up de trees wiv a glas of vino for herself .. wot next?!!
Tank gudness dat u’re not hert .. Poor Jazmeen .. squash flattened .. just glads to here she is up and about squirrelling again ..
Wit loves to you all .. from us all .. Mum, Hardwick and me .. Happies weekends .. pls rassuns de vino fur Jannie herself .. and luks after U .. no climbing trees specially with glas in hand. Xoxo Hilree
Hi Chase .. you’re obviously used to the Qwerty format – as I am .. I’d hate to lose my keyboard .. I could do with a typing keyboard for my mobile phone!
Now I hadn’t heard that explanation .. and what absolute sense that makes too!! I’m sure that owners would have been duly impressed and bought this new-fangled machine for their business .. having seen that demo.
Re “emoticons” .. I agree that would just add an extra keyboard learning dimension .. emoticons are a different subject altogether ...
Actually – I don’t know! :) Gosh I got a smiley face I think .. but then deleted and got the emoticon .. learning all the time!
Glad to hear you’re happy and smiling .. and I don’t need to use keystrokes I don’t understand .. to express that I’m feeling the same way: happy and smiley on a bright sunny morning!
Appreciate your take .. good to hear from you .. and see you soon ... Have a good weekend .. Hilary
Hi Vered .. it would have been a bit embarrassing and a huge effort to get it replaced .. and as you say the image of wigs falling off left, right and centre as the men twirled and strutted their stuff on the ballroom floor .. is an Alice in Wonderland visionary scenario .. I can see that happening .. the kids would guffaw in delight, or roll in the aisles! ..
Wonderful comment – thanks Vered .. enjoy the weekend .. Hilary
Hilary: Another really interesting post with great facts. I literally didn't know any of these little tidbits of information ... pretty fascinating. Things really are changing so quickly. Great post.
Yes, Davina does have a way with words, and you have a way with connecting the dots and painting the bigger picture, along with the historical perspective ;)
Hi Sibyl .. thanks .. some of it I’d heard about – I’d forgotten wigs were called Queues! We certainly are in a fast changing world .. but glad you enjoyed it and learnt something .. Enjoy today .. Hilary
Hi JD .. thanks – yes Davina certainly give us some wonderful posts taking creativity to a different level.
Thanks too for your thoughts – my type of posts seem to fall into place when I was keeping my mother interested and stimulated .. and the gentle tie ins seemed to do the trick – and she is interested in all things (fortunately!) .. so moving along the historical lines was a logical next step.
Great to see you – I had to look up ;) being completely ‘dumb’ about these .. so a wink back in my language! Cheers – have a good Sunday .. Hilary
Hi Hilary, thank you for dropping by my blog always. It is a great joy to have you around. Thank you for the kind comment and well wish. I wish for goodness in all areas of your life too. And wish that your mother is well too.
Hi BK .. glad you dropped by - pleasure to see you .. all's well here .. Mum seems to be ok, but can't hear .. so we go on doing the best that we can ..
All the best & have a good Sunday .. Hilary
I love old typewriters! There's a kind of mystique about them... they sem less clinical than computers these days.
Hi Talli .. thanks for coming by - old typewriters are certainly less clinical than computers .. but an awful lot harder to use & then .. practically no corrections possible etc .. I certainly couldn't cope!
Thanks - hope you're enjoying some of the last of the summer sun .. Hilary
Hi Hilary - This post was simply masterful! I so enjoyed the p's and q's explanations - will it ever be one Real answer? Doesn't really matter I suppose because everyone knows the underlying message of it! :)
Oh mercy don't mess with the keyboard! I'm at loss for technical things altogether and the keyboard I at least feel a sense of familiarity. I know the young text only with their thumbs! And here I suffered with Mrs. Wheeler in typing class for a solid year!
Will pop over to read the stories at Davina's!
hugs
suZen
Hi SuZen .. thank you! Language constantly changes doesn’t it .. so I doubt all those explanations will be around in 50 years .. but as you say we know what we should be doing .. as kids and as adults.
I agree .. don’t mess with the keyboard .. who knows what will come out – will ‘talking text’ take on? .. and as you say the thumbs are the main instrument for the young – but that’s altering their physiology .. for good? We just don’t know how our brains are being rewired, or what’s happening to our hands for those who didn’t learn to type (if learning to type is the best method .. it’s stood the test of time, though).
I hated typing .. just somehow got on with it .. wasn’t particularly good .. and certainly didn’t improve once I hit the job market! Still I’m pleased I can type now .. Your Mrs Wheeler sounds a taskmaster, who succeeded in getting her pupils through their exam!
Hope you enjoy the stories over at Davina’s .. certainly the writers enjoyed the process – to my surprise I did .. Have a good week - with a hug or two .. Hilary
Interesting question. I like that show Life Without People
http://www.history.com/shows/life-after-people
If this were to happen, eventually all recorded human life would disappear due to tectonic plate movement recycling the earth's crust over and over.
http://www.history.com/shows/life-after-people
Hi Stephen .. how right you are .. and my next post - with you featured .. will soon be totally irrelevant washed over by the mantle of the earth!
Sad to think .. let's enjoy the now! .. I'll have to have a look at your link .. at some stage - I'm still trying to catch my tail ..
Thanks for coming by .. when you're so busy with your publishing thoughts .. it's so interesting to read ...
Have a good busy! week .. Hilary
Hi Hilary
That was a great read... interesting and with lots of humour.
Don't know if I would have got very far with Davina's challenge, sounds pretty formidable.
Not sure if my daughter knows what QWERTY is but I did ask her the other day to pass me a pencil and she replied... what's a pencil? LOL
Hi Keith .. thank you! Davina’s challenge with your speaking skills .. I’m sure would have been a piece of cake .. everyone entered into the spirit of the story with such different approaches and ideas .. and I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it a few years ago – but I enjoyed the process.
I wonder how many youngsters know ‘Qwerty’ .. and I laughed at the ‘what’s a pencil, Dad?’ ... those fine writing instruments .. I use a pencil all the time!
Thanks good to see you – have a good weekend .. Hilary
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