Wrote a silly little essay about owning a typewriter.

You ought to have written it on a typewriter and posted pictures of the pages. And then typed it all out again on the computer for the alt text.

@Skep you act as if this idea had not crossed my mind. But I don't hate myself quiiiiite that much.

thanks for this essay, i know you said you don’t romanticise the typewriter yet it’s still so cozy to think about drafting at that pace. bouncing ball imagery makes me think of pianists, i’m sure an obvious comparison — they way they strike the keys so purposefully and precisely

ooh I've been pondering getting a typewriter recently, a decent one has popped up for sale near me. this isn't helping dissaude me 👀

@sorbier I was thinking about including the piano as a comparison because I imagine the mechanics are very similar to a typewriter. But I've never played piano so I didn't know if the feel would be similar.

@ghostscape I feel like I have been forthcoming as possible about how much of a pain in the butt typewriters are, so if this didn't dissuade you, nothing will.

i am really curious about it as a physical experience (among other things). i used to play piano and i assume i'll be needing to rebuild those finger muscles

You'll probably have a head start because you used to play piano, but yes, finger strength is definitely necessary!

This was fascinating. I understand to some extent the forearm pain. Using braille input on a normal qwerty keyboard involves pushing multiple keys down at the same time in a sort of rhythm and I get pain after doing it for awhile. A Perkins brailler is much like a typewriter in design - I've never used one but it's a fascinating piece of machinery if you want to look up about it.

I really enjoyed reading this one, thanks!

@pixelglade Wow, that's so interesting. My workplace has a braille printer, but I had no idea that a typewriter for braille existed!

New /now

I've always wanted to take a dance class! but I have such poor brain body coordination, like I know what I'm supposed to do and I know when the rhythm happens but my body just is not doing what I want it to do 🥲 I feel like dance class might help but also be very embarrassing at first! still. would be fun.

I also recommend On Being podcast if you can find episodes. it's not running anymore but the archives are incredibly beautiful. each episode goes over a topic and the host discusses with various folks their views on life and philosophy.

I am the same re: brain/body coordination. I don't have a strong sense of left or right. I'm not ambidextrous, but I'm neither truly left nor right-handed. I would not do well with partner or performance dance, but here I am not worried about doing steps a correct way, but exploring movement with my body as a whole. There's also a lot of value in learning things that we are not naturally talented at.

Yes, I love On Being. I haven't listened to it recently but have enjoyed many episodes.

I briefly mentioned last time I wrote you that I started taking a dance class. Still doing it! I still have no sense of rhythm but everybody has been very welcoming. Like it's just an excuse to get moving and laugh at ourselves.

@Skep Ooh yeah, I forgot to ask how the dance class was going. I'm glad it's working out. Laughing at oneself is key, I think.

On "On being a stranger on the internet" - I learned about the study on in and out groups during my undergraduate year of psychology. It took me arguing with strangers on a forum for maybe 6 months for me to realize it though. The energy is best spent elsewhere. It's more rewarding to put energy into the IRL relationships that you can influence, even if in a small way.

immediately adding "how minds change" to my reading list, thank you

Just adding more notebooks. What else?

I've got a couple of years before Lars of the Stars comes out, so might as well actually finish this site...