Writing Real Letters

While I was searching through an old pile of papers yesterday, I chanced upon some long-forgotten letters from my early days in Taiwan (the mid 90s). It was wonderful to reread them, and it was fun to see a letter that a friend had sent back to me because he was worried about my mental state (among things the letter had several references to “nuking Hong Kong”).

I only started using the Internet on a regular basis in 2002, the year I joined Forumosa. I’m not normally one to become addicted to things - excuse me while I grab a beer - but I feel I’ve become much too reliant on computers and the net.

Anyway, I decided that I should set aside some time each year to write real letters to people. I wrote one letter last night, and will finish the others next Sunday. I’m not talking about some typed letter that gets sent to one and all, but pen on paper, individualized letters. Such letters have so much more feeling and depth than a e-mail.

Cheers
:beer:

Get yourself a pair of parents who don’t have a computer. Writing letters is EASY! (Except I’ve forgotten how to make a “kicking k,” so I have to forgo that particular letter.) Thank fuck we Brits don’t use “z” too much – that one’s a right bitch, too.

Zee Zandman wrote: [quote]Get yourself a pair of parents who don’t have a computer. [/quote]

Ya, but it’s not just the internet that has killed real letters, but cheap telephone calls.
I speak to my ma and pa almost every week. It’s nice to chat but I still think that a real letter has its place.

Sirs–

Thanking you for your posts, I have the pleasure to remain

You humble servant, etc.,
SJ

I write letters all the damn time, I just never send them out. Gotta whole notebook of unsent letters.

I gave up writing real letters while in the US, given the way the government relentlessly and with no end in sight keeps jacking up the price of stamps.

Email and blogs are free.

Writing, email, pigeon carriers…All the same for me, no one responds…

[quote=“Chris”]I gave up writing real letters while in the US, given the way the government relentlessly and with no end in sight keeps jacking up the price of stamps.

Email and blogs are free.[/quote]
However, computers, internet service, and electricity are not.

I send postcards. If I write a letter, it is typed.

In the old days, though, I used to enjoy writing and sending letters. I think e-mail has pretty much replaced that, but I have found that because of the convenience of e-mail, many people don’t bother to return them.