Even as an adult I think daft things. Soon after we graduated from type writers to word processors I used to try and not delete too much. So that when I made a typo, I would try and re-use part of the wrongly typed word in the new word, or the next word, thereby saving on the letters that had been typed. Sometimes it would involve more effort re-jigging and using the arrow cursors but it seemed worthwhile.
It was like every letter was sacred and worth preserving. As if it was an entity in its own right and I'd be saving on the Tippex by not erasing it. But more than that, as if ink and energy had been used in its creation and it had a life of its own so to delete it was cruel and unnecessary.
It is amazing to think the quantity of characters that have had the opportunity to be read instead of being deleted. In any case, where do those deleted letters go..... do they go back into some sort of reservoir or to some sort of trash can in the back of our computer? Or does there come a point when we have used up all those letters or maybe we might run out of one letter before the others?
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Original Comments:
Where do non verbalised thoughts go?
I see the draft as an extension of me, a sort of front front-brain, full of tum-ti-tums and tiddly-poms. I guess functions like save/send/upload relate, in my mind, to opening my mouth.
I guess it all depends where you stop and the world begins?
Love this post, btw.
Monday, September 05, 2005 9:01:00 PM
"Where do non verbalised thoughts go?" Absolutely! And that would explain why my mind is full to brimming with all those thoughts un-said and not acted upon. All that procrastination on top and I reckon I need some of those herbal laxatives... or maybe just blogging much more so more can come out. And maybe I could sit here, stopping only for sleep until all my thoughts are output and my brain is emptied. Will I be then full of energy ready to start again or will I have died because perhaps it is the thoughts which hold us together. And now I have more thoughts of thoughts...
Loved your comment, btw. >grin<
Monday, September 05, 2005 9:52:00 PM
I guess you won't be trying Julia Cameron's Morning Pages then! Or perhaps you could give them a go - to 'wash those words right outta your hair' :-)
I love re-crafting and re-reading the words I write - I find it very soothing and meditative. As if I could re-craft my life as well as my words by presenting it perfectly.
I find it much more difficult to throw away whole chunks of 'meaning' so I squirrel away those multiple drafts, even tho they are unlikely ever to be found again or read or used!
Sacred - that's a good word for words (and meaning). And you made me smile. :-)
Monday, September 05, 2005 11:09:00 PM
Doris what a wonderful way of thinking about 'experienced' letters and thoughts that are no longer needed!
I must say I don't have that problem as my mind has so many memory problems that I can conveniently forget about the letters and thoughts I no longer need.
Perhaps I need to go get another memory card for my brain! But then I'd have to worry about the 'pre-used' thoughts and letters that I had hitherto forgotten and therefore I might even need yet ANOTHER memory card!
NO ... I think I'll leave my poor, forgetful brain just as it is.
Though I am very sorry for thoughts and words and letters that must be languishing within it waitng for the rescue that never comes!
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 4:33:00 AM
Lovely - that's why I enjoy blogs, reading something like this gives you a little glimpse of another persons idiosyncracies (sp!! - can't work out how to spell check this morning!) and charming ideas. I too try not to rub out a whole word - I also once decided on a font for my thoughts and now imagine my head full of Trebuchet. Umm - I'm not sure I should have admitted that!
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 5:51:00 AM
gosh doris, that almost seems like an odd sort of obsession. i've never worried about where used letters go. but now, since i'm a worrier, i'm sure i'll add this to my collection, lol. verbalised thoughts? herbal laxatives? and more blogging will help? roflmao...you 2!!
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 6:40:00 AM
LOL I am so enjoying these comments with their extensions of thoughts that I reckon I will have to blog them at some point ;-)
As for Le Laquet Trebuchet?! You have a font for your thoughts!! That one beats me hands down on anything wierd I think about! And Trebuchet .... it is funny but I have a lot to do with Trebuchet at the moment. I just don't get it at as font and maybe I need to study some bigger versions of it but it is so subtle! Now I have something more to worry about and will need to think of some suitable font for my thoughts! Cheryl - what have you started?!
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 9:27:00 AM
Well I'm glad it's not just me who thinks the energy expended typing a needed letter must be saved at all costs ;)
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 2:42:00 PM
What can I say? I knew I was going to regret admitting that! :o)
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 6:07:00 PM
If Le Laquet has a font for his thoughts then maybe I need to think about adjusting my font size. At least that way I would be able to remember a bit more - even if I had trouble reading it at a later date.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 7:35:00 PM
LOL - Sometimes I just like to sit and laugh at all your great thoughts rather than add my own...Clonk Clonk (thinking noise)- I wonder if my thoughts are in a different font....
Wednesday, September 07, 2005 10:52:00 AM
Deleted words and thoughts await go to the Big Blog In The Sky. There they mix & mingle into a dandy ever growing, endless tale of passion, joy, sorrow, pain, pride, and riddle.
It's like a soap opera (serial) for nouns & adjectives.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005 12:01:00 PM
You know when your computer gets all slow and sluggish? That's because all those deleted letters have fallen into it, clogging it up.
I empty them out regularly and make alphabet soup. Waste not, want not :)
Wednesday, September 07, 2005 3:06:00 PM
I sometimes do that with typos too, I go back and put in the right letters, and then slowly use up the extra ones to the right of the cursor as I get to other words that use those letters.
A similar notion is that of never making a loop in where I walk. As a kid I watched a cartoon rendition of Ariadne using a ball of twine to escape the Labyrinth. I sometimes imagine I have a string tied to the back of my head that spools out behind me, and I don't want to get loops or knots in it. If I walk around a tree that's ok because I could slip the rope over the top of the tree and straighten it out. It's things like when I walk through a building, in one door and out another, and I can't untangle the string from the building, sometimes that makes me wrinkle up my nose.
Saturday, September 10, 2005 8:28:00 PM