Diminuendo

In a premature act of of spring renewal, I bought a computer keyboard today. It's a $10 job, made in China for General Electric.

I chose this one because the keys are almost noiseless when struck. For many years I have used an IBM keyboard from an old PS/2, circa 1984. I like that keyboard because it is very solidly built, and its keys make a satisfying clicky-clack sound when you strike them. However, much of my work involves telephone interviews, during which I like to take notes on a computer, and old clicky-clack is too loud for that purpose. I've made do with laptops, but these are more clutter than they're worth. And so today my home office turns the old Hollywood model on its head: the silent era follows the sound era.

Also, the old IBM is literally a dead man's keyboard, a possession I acquired under unusual and sad circumstances. So there's purification in setting it aside.