Hard as a Rock Writing :: Writing Technology Technological Papers

Hard as a Rock Writing Can anyone ever create a â€Å"new† writing technology from items found in nature? Is it possible to â€Å"invent† something to write with and on that had not been thought of in the past? These were the questions I pondered as I sat outside my house wondering what to do for my â€Å"Invent Your Own Technology† project. At first, I thought I would somehow distill the pollen from the daffodils growing in my front yard. Then I wondered, â€Å"What could I use to write on with my new yellow â€Å"ink†? How long would it last? And what could I write with?†. After that I explored the idea of binding twigs together with weeds and creating letters. I could create a portable alphabet this way. Then again, without a permanent base to affix my letters to, they would scatter with the wind. After yesterday’s wind, I am glad I decided against that idea. Finally, after much deliberation and searching in my yard, I came upon a lasting idea. I was sitting in the grass and suddenly spotted a very sharp stone. â€Å"If only I could find something to etch my words into†, I mused. It was then that I came across a much larger, dark, flat stone. Then I experimented. Indeed, I could use one stone to â€Å"write† on the other stone. The idea was simple. It was almost too simple. My initial questions rushed back to me. Certainly, this writing technology was not new. However, anything I could think of would not be new. It might be a new use of materials for me, but ultimately, somewhere, someone at one time or another has thought to use flowers for ink, dried reeds for parchment, a stick as a stylus, and stones to carve words on to other stones. Even as a child, I remember using shells to write words and draw pictures in the sand at the beach. Suddenly, what to write became the focus of my internal debate. Then I remembered Mark Twain reminiscing, in his article â€Å"The First Writing Machines† about sitting at his typewriter typing over and over, â€Å"The boy stood on the burning deck† (501). Could it be that the technology suddenly became more important then the content of Twain’s writing? Was it the same for me, only in reverse? The technology was so simple; I was at a loss for words.