anti-prose. random matter.
Published on April 9, 2006 By crimson In Writing
random, useless, and totally uncited "facts"...

I recently read, somewhere, that 22 percent the American population are offline. I think it also implied that these 22 percent of a large population were going to remain that way, by choice. It also acknowledged that people who resist the lures of the Internet do so, typically because they cannot be bothered to learn how to use it.

Not surprisingly, many of these people also fell into the 'mature' age category.

It's strange. So much of my life is spent online. The internet is one of my primary tools at work, and in leisure, I can be found spending hours reading, writing, and randomly surfing my time away. In another unrelated article that I read, it stated that objects like typewriters and vinyl will never really die out. There are the hardened owners that covet these so-called outdated things, which also include Atari and Commodore lovers, 8 track tapes, Beta videocassettes and those big-ass record-like discs made for movie viewing.

It is the love for things that are considered dead, that keeps it all going.

I was given a notebook today. It is a very old Grand & Toy Glare book, especially designed to be easy on the eyes. Its pages are yellowing, and it is so old, yet in such good condition, that it seems spanking new.

I don't know what the hell to do with it.

I am of the keyboarding/computer age. (Not typewriters, although there is something pleasing about returning the carriage by hand after the ding of a bell.) My stories are writing on a computer, saved by floppies, and soon to be discs. I carry around odd scraps of paper when I leave the home, but if I've written something neato, it usually gets rewritten online, backed up, and a hard copy printed.

I like poetry though, and a poem written by pen on paper just looks and feels better to me. There's something about the promise of a fresh and clean notework that offers a multitude of options...


Comments
on Apr 09, 2006
I like poetry though, and a poem written by pen on paper just looks and feels better to me. There's something about the promise of a fresh and clean notework that offers a multitude of options...


I agree wholeheartedly. As a musician and lyricist, I can't type my lyrics - they seem less organic, less important, less . . . lyrical.
I have an old composition book that I've been working on filling up for years. I'm not a prolific poet, who chokes out dozens of poems a week, or even dozens a month, but I do get my fair share of (I think, at least, as do my listeners) pretty kick-ass songs. But the fact remains - they've got to be on pape or I'm not as inspired.
on Apr 10, 2006
Like San Chonino, I write my lyrics on paper but I don't have a problem transferring them to my PC and printing them out, once I've completed them. Often times, it is the flow of the pen on paper that helps inspire me. But for the stories I write, I prefer typing them straight onto my PC.

I have a friend who doesn't have a PC at home, has never seen Ebay, Amazon or any of the myriad wonderful information sites available. We have these conversations when we see him that begin 'I saw on the ...' before he stops us to ask what the site is. This of course leads to circular conversations about things he has never seen on the internet. After one such conversation recently, he added "Well, I don't need to get the internet, I just need to see you guys more regularly." While I like the sentiment, I would rather better conversations.
on Apr 10, 2006
I do not like composing at the computer. It looks too neat, too perfect the first time out. If I write by hand then I know it won't be perfect the first time - I know I'll have to edit it and rewrite it at least once, which improves my writing.

However, the idea of trying to decipher my own handwriting gives me a headache, so that's a strike against handwriting.
on Apr 10, 2006
However, the idea of trying to decipher my own handwriting gives me a headache, so that's a strike against handwriting.


hehe, I have a hard time deciphering my own, too. There's something sort of romantic in seeing a writer with ink stains on his hands, though.

While I like the sentiment, I would rather better conversations.


I am amazed at those who are not online. Sure, I can see the reasoning behind those who haven't grown up with computers and the internet, but nowadays, it's hard to believe that there are people under 40 who haven't or have no plans on touching one. I find it kind of sad, really.

I can't type my lyrics - they seem less organic, less important, less . . . lyrical.


There's something about designing the structure of a poem on paper that can't match a computer. I love seeing pictures of other people's notebooks, too. Often, at the coffee shops I try to sit near other writers to see not just what they're writing, but the type of notebook they're writing in and their own particular handwriting style. It intrigues me.

thx
on Apr 10, 2006
I find it kind of sad, really


So do I. My parents, who are considerably over-40 are more computer-literate than a some of my friends, including a friend who is a tech-journalist. He can write about computers but has confessed many times he has very little understanding of how they work.