It’s a soothing sight to once again see a typewritten page, the pressure of deliberate thought embedded in paper much as ancient scribes produced hieroglyphics, Latin texts and calligraphy.
I'm thinking if I use narrower margins in the future I can zoom in more so that the reader doesn't have to squint so hard to read it. Don't know why I didn't think of that to begin with!
The typewritten essay is nice. I think handwriting would be even better. I do like how handwriting corresponds to personality. My friend is very knowledgeable about the art of graphology, with which he can discern if someone is honest, secretive, bold, etc. Just think what we've lost in these digitized times.
By the way, Mercy is wondering if the blue typewriter she saw is the one you describe?
Thank you -- If I were to do a handwritten essay I'd sure have to improve my penmanship, ha!
And no, the blue typewriter Mercy saw was my newer one. This one is older and was stowed in my cabinet when she was here. Was honestly shocked it still worked!
One of my kitchen tools is a 'Favorit' scale made in Yugoslavia. While it came to me from my great aunt, it is identical to the one in my mother's kitchen, and to her mother's as well. I treasure grandmother's 1924 treadle sewing machine, on which the paint is partially worn off from decades of use in caring for her family. I am drawn to sturdy tools that pre-date our digital age, especially those made of metal and wood and built to last generations. Despite having too much 'stuff', it is difficult to release hand-written letters penned by loved ones. Tools and objects that have been handled with love and care hold a seemingly magical connection to the past.
Your writing is a gift to those who love the written word and the reflections of a thinking man. Like many, I struggle to reconcile living in our modern lock-step world with the yearnings of my soul. There is something deeper than individual memory that draws us to a simpler life, to exploration, and to kinship. You seem to tap into a deep reservoir that I instinctively recognize, but have difficulty describing. Your writing expresses this in a watercolor of painted words. Please keep writing and sharing - and yes, using the old Yugoslavian typewriter.
Thank you so much! I agree with you that the old, sturdy tools are incredible to behold. I'm sure this old typewriter will outlive me, and that your old scale will still be weighing fairly and correctly for many years to come. Thanks for reading.
It's harder to read but I can appreciate how much more satisfying it is to sit outside and type then walk and scan than to do it all directly onto a computer, so I'm willing to persevere.
I've also the last few years been using my computer less for writing. I've always written initially by hand on paper - my writing is just better that way, and I love the sensuality of pens, pencils and paper - but used to type it up and do all my editing on a computer. Then I read about how D.H. Lawrence wrote 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' one summer sitting under a pine tree, and was immediately envious. Then I realised that if I wasn't on a laptop, I could work outside more too, so I bought a printer and now write, type up, print out, edit by hand, type up, print out, edit by hand ... it takes longer but I enjoy it more and spend more time outside doing so.
There's a lyric from the late Montreal singer Lhasa, "And things just get further and further apart / the head from the hands / and the hands from the heart." We must keep them connected.
A better ink spool might improve the experience of reading the typewritten pages; other than that, I like it. Handwritten would really be something, though. Interesting thoughts you’ve put down; we can only be in one place at a time; everything else is imagination, even if we’re just considering what the traffic might be on a certain stretch of road, on a certain day and at a certain time, so we can best guess when to run errands or buy groceries, etc. we won’t really know until we get there; we assume. All it takes is an accident ahead, or unexpected weather, or s9me public event we weren’t aware of, or meeting someone we haven’t seen for awhile, to change the course of even a simple afternoon’s errands.
I love this. I would prefer typewritten. It's easy to hammer away at a keyboard using word processing software. Backspace + Google + Autocorrect = Ad lib extemporanea, chicken heads. But ink on paper, especially without errors, that's the difference between thoughts and thought.
Perhaps I need to think of where and when I will be walking this year. Right now I am in the middle of the asphalt hellscape some call Austin Texas, so I don't know if I feel particuarly safe walking too far... so I say. But in reality I think I am just making excuses for my laziness or capture by tech. Something to consider.
As for the typewriter, I really enjoy it! I think as I read more of this it will keep growing, but there is something really neat about even in the digital context defying the cursed perfectness of the modern world. As a great artist I recently interviewed said (or quoted I guess), "Perfect reproduction is very much a machine based operation."
I find it interesting how that quote itself is quite mechanical and stiff.
I was just in Denver, speaking with someone who gets building owners in line with regulations. He said the new Denver efficiency standards are pretty much impossible for old buildings to meet, and most old buildings won't get historical passes, so buildings are just going to have to be torn down. I suppose at that point they'll be replaced with perfect reproductions of the same buildings, perhaps even assembled by assembly robots that have been programmed to work not only in factories but also on construction sites.
What a bright future our society has to look forward to! Such beautiful efficiency, so we can spend even more of our time being entertained!
But bless the Lord nonetheless. It really is beautiful here in on my University campus, even in Austin. The bluebonnets, Mexican hats and Indian paintbrush are all blooming!
I sometimes ponder of whether I like historical reproductions, or if they lose the main point of the original thing. If there is any point in having, for example a Scandinavian style church, which uses its unique structure to support itself purely on its own wood, if you're really just using nails while making it look the same.
It’s a soothing sight to once again see a typewritten page, the pressure of deliberate thought embedded in paper much as ancient scribes produced hieroglyphics, Latin texts and calligraphy.
Man I better upgrade my reading glasses.
I'm thinking if I use narrower margins in the future I can zoom in more so that the reader doesn't have to squint so hard to read it. Don't know why I didn't think of that to begin with!
Your saying about miles and years applies to the length of service your eyes provide.
You’ll be old like me soon enough.
I can't wait -- then you'll be even older!
Gonna be taking the kids to "Uncle Gord's" y'know...
The typewritten essay is nice. I think handwriting would be even better. I do like how handwriting corresponds to personality. My friend is very knowledgeable about the art of graphology, with which he can discern if someone is honest, secretive, bold, etc. Just think what we've lost in these digitized times.
By the way, Mercy is wondering if the blue typewriter she saw is the one you describe?
Clara
Thank you -- If I were to do a handwritten essay I'd sure have to improve my penmanship, ha!
And no, the blue typewriter Mercy saw was my newer one. This one is older and was stowed in my cabinet when she was here. Was honestly shocked it still worked!
I wish I could say I like the typewritten pages, but my eyes simply can’t deal. My aged, dry eyed issues are far too much to navigate!
Thank you for your feedback, Susan! If I do this again in the future I'm going to try narrower margins to increase the size of the letters.
One of my kitchen tools is a 'Favorit' scale made in Yugoslavia. While it came to me from my great aunt, it is identical to the one in my mother's kitchen, and to her mother's as well. I treasure grandmother's 1924 treadle sewing machine, on which the paint is partially worn off from decades of use in caring for her family. I am drawn to sturdy tools that pre-date our digital age, especially those made of metal and wood and built to last generations. Despite having too much 'stuff', it is difficult to release hand-written letters penned by loved ones. Tools and objects that have been handled with love and care hold a seemingly magical connection to the past.
Your writing is a gift to those who love the written word and the reflections of a thinking man. Like many, I struggle to reconcile living in our modern lock-step world with the yearnings of my soul. There is something deeper than individual memory that draws us to a simpler life, to exploration, and to kinship. You seem to tap into a deep reservoir that I instinctively recognize, but have difficulty describing. Your writing expresses this in a watercolor of painted words. Please keep writing and sharing - and yes, using the old Yugoslavian typewriter.
Thank you so much! I agree with you that the old, sturdy tools are incredible to behold. I'm sure this old typewriter will outlive me, and that your old scale will still be weighing fairly and correctly for many years to come. Thanks for reading.
A bit hard to read but nothing digital zoom couldn’t fix. I really enjoyed this
Great! Thank you!
Making it difficult, but made it through, excellent as always.....met a 'Southie' once in a bar, green dot on his wrist, interesting conversation.
Next step is to make carbon copies to share this!
Samizdat!
It's harder to read but I can appreciate how much more satisfying it is to sit outside and type then walk and scan than to do it all directly onto a computer, so I'm willing to persevere.
I've also the last few years been using my computer less for writing. I've always written initially by hand on paper - my writing is just better that way, and I love the sensuality of pens, pencils and paper - but used to type it up and do all my editing on a computer. Then I read about how D.H. Lawrence wrote 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' one summer sitting under a pine tree, and was immediately envious. Then I realised that if I wasn't on a laptop, I could work outside more too, so I bought a printer and now write, type up, print out, edit by hand, type up, print out, edit by hand ... it takes longer but I enjoy it more and spend more time outside doing so.
There's a lyric from the late Montreal singer Lhasa, "And things just get further and further apart / the head from the hands / and the hands from the heart." We must keep them connected.
A better ink spool might improve the experience of reading the typewritten pages; other than that, I like it. Handwritten would really be something, though. Interesting thoughts you’ve put down; we can only be in one place at a time; everything else is imagination, even if we’re just considering what the traffic might be on a certain stretch of road, on a certain day and at a certain time, so we can best guess when to run errands or buy groceries, etc. we won’t really know until we get there; we assume. All it takes is an accident ahead, or unexpected weather, or s9me public event we weren’t aware of, or meeting someone we haven’t seen for awhile, to change the course of even a simple afternoon’s errands.
I love this. I would prefer typewritten. It's easy to hammer away at a keyboard using word processing software. Backspace + Google + Autocorrect = Ad lib extemporanea, chicken heads. But ink on paper, especially without errors, that's the difference between thoughts and thought.
I hope that division, to fit with the typewriter, was done long-hand, rather than on a calculator.
5.7x10^-9 might need more zeros
Perhaps I need to think of where and when I will be walking this year. Right now I am in the middle of the asphalt hellscape some call Austin Texas, so I don't know if I feel particuarly safe walking too far... so I say. But in reality I think I am just making excuses for my laziness or capture by tech. Something to consider.
As for the typewriter, I really enjoy it! I think as I read more of this it will keep growing, but there is something really neat about even in the digital context defying the cursed perfectness of the modern world. As a great artist I recently interviewed said (or quoted I guess), "Perfect reproduction is very much a machine based operation."
I find it interesting how that quote itself is quite mechanical and stiff.
I was just in Denver, speaking with someone who gets building owners in line with regulations. He said the new Denver efficiency standards are pretty much impossible for old buildings to meet, and most old buildings won't get historical passes, so buildings are just going to have to be torn down. I suppose at that point they'll be replaced with perfect reproductions of the same buildings, perhaps even assembled by assembly robots that have been programmed to work not only in factories but also on construction sites.
What a bright future our society has to look forward to! Such beautiful efficiency, so we can spend even more of our time being entertained!
But bless the Lord nonetheless. It really is beautiful here in on my University campus, even in Austin. The bluebonnets, Mexican hats and Indian paintbrush are all blooming!
I sometimes ponder of whether I like historical reproductions, or if they lose the main point of the original thing. If there is any point in having, for example a Scandinavian style church, which uses its unique structure to support itself purely on its own wood, if you're really just using nails while making it look the same.