GreatRidge Station

Sometimes, I’m surprised by the most mundane things. Specifically, in this case, how my brain tends to fill in the blanks, and not always in the most helpful ways.

First, let me point out that I “grew up” in newsrooms. Sure, things were computerized, but there were always those people who kept the old Underwood nearby. I loved those old machines, and I wish I had one today. There was something organic about typing on them; something about their design that made it possible for the typist to become completely comfortable with the machine.

There was a unique, clicking sound that happened when you fed a sheet of paper into the platen and aligned it to receive those first, inspired, characters (I will not be speaking about writers’ block, though I could easily spin off into a tangent. I’ll restrain my ADD for the moment).
From time to time, I’ll call my LCW (Lovely and Charming Wife) at her work. She multi-tasks, so it is not uncommon for her to be working on something as we talk (no, I’m not offended, nor should you be, either). The biggest surprise, though, is when we are talking, and I hear the unmistakable sound of her, feeding paper into the Underwood typewriter at her desk.

Hey, wait a minute! My wife is no Luddite, so why is she feeding paper into a typewriter (and a manual one, at that)?

No, she explains to me, that’s just the scroll-wheel on her mouse.

Stupid brain.

I have a small handful of people who follow my work. (Hello, you two!) I suspect that these people have something to do with this.
When my recent article on Human Knowledge appeared online, I was a bit surprised by the response. I’ve heard from quite a number of people, including friends, colleagues, folks in far-flung places, and other (more widely published and read) authors. The feedback has been very positive, and very humbling.

So, I’m thinking that Tuesday must be the funniest day of the week.

For some reason, “Tuesday” often comes up as the punch line in “when something will happen” jokes. This goes all the way back to Wimpy’s famous line,  “I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

I’m not sure why this has become the case, and why Tuesday, of all days, has the most cultural gravity as chortle-worthy.

All I know is this: I should probably be having more fun on Tuesdays.