I won the Gold Medal in the 2016 Friendship Radiosport Games CW competition. A friend asked how I’d learned to send fast on a straight key; a couple of years later, Talking to Myself is Chapter One of the answer. I’d gotten a GoPro to make close-up slow-motion videos of bugs; I shot this as an impromptu test of “what the camera could see” with no thought it would ever be shared. Thus: no setup, lighting, script, plan, etc. In my head, I protested not being prepared but the editor in there insisted “Just write something about keys!” So I started in as though someone handed me a Mic – and started “talking” with one hand while I made a selfie with the other. Which is somewhat embarrassing. This was a first draft, unedited, right out of my head: and I proceeded to make the same kind of mistakes I do when typing. I blew the spelling of “modified” (three times!), forgot what I wanted to say, used wrong words... Gaak. But I pressed on regardless because, after all, this was just to test the camera, not the author, right? Anyway, when I looked at it a month later I decided sharing all those mistakes and sending gaffes was the best way to start these Chronicles: the point is not to show-off, the point is to Elmer - this is what you might see if you were sitting next to me, showing you how I make a straight key work. But wait, there’s more: my XYL said it was “Interesting.” WOW! That was like an Oscar… Enjoy. 73 Chris NW6V
