California Typewriter

The other night I went to the screening of the movie “California Typewriter”. Remember how I fussed about being a little spooked about whether I be able to get there on time or home because I was doing everything on public transit and is worried that I might be stranded on the buses I needed stopped running on the various routes at various times. Needless to say I made it home okay. No problems whatsoever the biggest stress was really home from 5300 and Redwood Road to my apartment two 4800 South Redwood Rd. The sidewalks are poorly lit and I had to travel slower than I usually do.

“California Typewriter” is not a spectacular documentary but engaging enough to keep me there for most of the screening. I left early to make sure I could make all my transit points home. But I've been thinking about the documentary ever since. Because that's what makes a good piece of writing or film is that the piece sticks with you and makes you think.I really like the idea that many of the people interviewed talked about writing is a slow process which working with a word processor tends to take away from. I haven't really verbalize this much in my own thinking process but I find about the whole writing with the computer idea and more specifically the last couple years as I have began to really use the talk to text or TTT. I really like the ability to speak and have those utterances pop up his words on the screen in front of me. But somewhere in the back of my mind I remember that my thoughts seem to flow better in my writing would be better before the use of the word processor. I had time to think and create with keep up with my ability to write them down physically. I wonder how much I lose, thoughts that I lose, dictating to the computer. The thoughts might not be necessarily lost it may not even be there at all because I don't have time to consider ramifications of a particular thought filament. As I dictate I just dictate and go on… I don't know if this is really making much sense but that is that feeling I experienced as I watched this documentary.

For a very short time before my teens I used my moms manual typewriter. I don't remember what make it was. The typewriter could have been a Remington or whatever. It was small and of course had its own case and little green keys. I wrote a little bit on this typewriter but seem to make a bunch of mistakes I spent all my time trying to correct other than create. After my trauma the family invested in this monstrous old electric typewriter. It was an IBM with a huge tray must better like writing newspaper articles are something I don't know but it worked. With the strength I had left in my hands and with a peg on my right hand I could type pretty well fast enough that I could just about type as fast as I can think. I still have the issue of having to go back and correct problems, typos and editing's. It was still quite frustrating. I got a lot more than that I had with the manual typewriter. When I ran into my first Selectric I thought I was in heaven, the self correcting tape was wonderful. The only problem them was that it only right at the office. I certainly do not have the funding to have a Selectric of my own. I dreamt of the personal computer and later when I would finally get one I found I still didn't do the writing I thought that I would. Writing stills a lot of work even with the ability to almost instantly correct. What good was that function for thoughts never making it to the paper because they were lost in the speed of thought.

I liked the documentary California Typewriter. I kind of wished I finished watching the film but I knew where it was going to have you back on the road. There was a bus leaving.and that better be on it