This entry originally appeared on my disability blog, I hate stairs.

So I found an old copy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It’s one that my brother had with his old laptop. It doesn’t run on MacOS X, but I’ve got Windows XP installed on my Mac via Parallels Desktop. As it turns out, my typing speed using Dragon NaturallySpeaking is 81 wpm. That’s incredibly fast compared to 24 wpm, which I achieved using two hands. Further, I’ve exerted very little energy. I guess Dragon’s slogan is correct: “talk as fast as you type!”

I believe my request for MacSpeech Dictate, the Dragon-like voice recognition software, and KeyStrokes, the on-screen keyboard, has been approved by the powers that be. Hopefully, I’ll be getting them soon. I’m looking forward to being able to use my Mac programs via voice-recognition.

Also, I will have a lot more blogging time as a result of decreased typing time. Who knows, I might be able to make a post every day. It seems like I’ve had a lot of good ideas to write about, just not the strength to write about them. Being able to speak these entries into existence adds another dimension to writing them. Before, it was as if there was a bottleneck keeping my thoughts from reaching the page. There’s more than a physical aspect to writing like this. I feel like there’s no longer a filter keeping my innermost thoughts from being revealed. Nothing to stop me from saying something I might not need to say. It’s a bit scary.

Sitting here at 11:30 p.m. alone and talking to my computer, I almost feel tempted to tell this WordPad document all my secrets. Things that I hold inside. Things I have told few people, if any.

Open the pod bay door, Hal…