treefaller wrote:

Yep, I'm beginning to develop a real envy of the story-tellers since I started using typewriters and wanted something to write. Still, I love the physical pounding of the keys. And I'm absolutely sure this daily exercise with my mind--keeping the spelling and grammar correct--is bound to be good for my mental faculties as I get older. Some old people take up knitting. Some take up whittling wood. So I like pounding the keys for my recreation. That's about the gist of it.

Yes sir. I am with you 100%. It works on many levels - the physical action of your hands, the spelling and grammar, and I would not short keeping a journal or just writing down random thoughts as mental activity. The physical act of writing aids thinking. I had thought my IBM B was actually the ultimate thinking machine. The tiny increment in automation is repaid in more mental activity available for thinking. Or maybe it's just the IBM logo.   As I become more proficient on a manual the margin narrows. 

Hard to find a good supply of ribbons for the darned thing though.