Saturday, December 31, 2016

Adios, 2016

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - Logo


"You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today."



Time, Pink Floyd



Typecast269

Post-Script: Downer. Bummer. Sorry to p*ss in everyone's Cheerios. Reality.

I hadn't intended to write this sobering of a piece, especially for the New Year, when people are supposed to be celebrating Out With the Old, In With the New, and all that. But then I sat down at this pretty blue typewriter, expecting some flowery prose to emanate forth.

Imagine my surprise when, instead of pablum, this startling, apocalyptic-sounding screed finds itself printed to paper. Imagine my further surprise when I go ahead and scan & post it.

I'd like to blame the typewriter. I have this theory that's been percolating for a while on the back burner of my mind, which is that typewriters are cybernetic extensions of our mind, being directly, mechanically connected to our fingers, ligaments, tendons and nerves, providing feedback, back to our central cortex. Like Robot Cop. And thus, there's a bit of personality coloration that comes from this mechanical contrivance at the end of my fingertips. I would theorize that various machines might yield different affects upon our psyche and the resulting writings that emanate forth. I should be more careful, henceforth, when writing with this bright, cheery machine, whose bright colors might deceive one into the pretext of thinking the words spilling out the back of the platen are just as harmless as its appearance. A dangerous little vixen, that; the pen being mightier than the sword, supposedly.

Be safe, keep your peace and joy; love everyone. The future is ours to make.

Webster XL-747

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4 Comments:

Blogger teeritz said...

Geez, Joe! At New Year, too! But I understand where you're coming from. Tricky times indeed, and for most of us, we have not been tested by something like a World War. Unfortunately, any future wars will be very different in an age where all it would take is a code punched into a keypad.
The Doomsday Clock doesn't exactly fill me with hope either. Three mins to midnight is pretty scary, since it hasn't been that close since 1984.
It's up to us and our governments to deal with these pressing issues. The future is indeed ours to make, but that sentiment mirrors a line out of "The Terminator" and we all know how *that* scenario turned out.
Happy NewYear, sir.

P.S.- yes, typewriters are sneaky. You never know what they'll churn out until you're done. My typecasts are filled with poor sentence construction, half-baked ideas, long-winded musings, etc. Something that I plan on curbing this coming year, if possible.

1:05 AM  
Blogger DonN said...

another interesting reflection Joe - keep em coming!

1:39 PM  
Blogger Bill M said...

I look back on several years that were a bit of doom and gloom for me. I think often of the past 8, 16 or even more when I think U.S. Government and factions and special interests. Like 8 years ago though, I'm going to give the new fellow a chance.
Since I started blogging I found it difficult to stay off the things I dislike or promote certain things I like and only blog on typewriters. I can say 2016 did give me a bit of fun picking on politicians.

Have a great 2017 Joe!

2:50 PM  
Blogger Richard P said...

I share your gloom. So do my typewriters. Honestly, it's hard for me to imagine a bright future right now. But we will keep doing what we can, in our little locales.

On another note, I am very much enjoying "Better Call Saul." A pungent representation of your town.

5:16 PM  

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