The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or a near relation
~ Oscar Wilde
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I remember one time when the girls and I had a competition to see who could identify the songs on the radio the fastest. I am pretty good at that. I like music a lot. And I got practice with Julie and Monica and Monica when I lived in Iowa City a long time ago.
Anyway, they were doing remarkably well and beat me on the race a number of times. Then I realized that they had Elizabeth's iPad out and were using an app which told them the names of the songs. To my credit I DID beat the iPad more often than it beat me.
I was thinking about that the other day and I was reminded of a research paper I did in school about John Henry racing the steam engine. And I thought about how much like John Henry I was - we were both trying to beat machines. We both were trying to prove that humans are always going to be better and more important than steam engines or iPads or whatever kind of technology. And we both have become something of folk heroes for our amazing feats.
(pause)
One of us may be slightly better known than the other, but still...
