Typewriter Tweet: “Stop ‘being social’ and start cleaning the messy office.” #procrastination
My typewriter, affectionately named Buelah Hildegard Francis, is excellent for tweeting. Instead of disappearing into the vast wasteland of Twitter, my <140-character tweet is captured beautifully here for eternity on a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper for me and my four household ‘followers’ to see.
The message and takeaway from this typewriter tweet is that I should really focus more time and energy on the ‘real world’ instead of dwelling so much in the online social realm. There is an entire office of clutter literally screaming for attention! I’ll get to it; maybe tomorrow.
I am love with USB Typewriters - here is my future ‘Typewriter 2.0′! I stumbled upon them online and I haven’t been the same since. Thank you for this ingenious invention, Jack Zylkin! I will have to kick my old electric typewriter to the proverbial curb when I get my hands on this one (sorry Beulah Hildegard Francis.)
I envision myself showing up to my marketing meetings with one of these beauties and clanging away on the keyboard. Of course I would be teased by some technology elitists, but I know at least one person in my office would admire it. We were both drooling when we first saw this most incredible invention. I MUST HAVE ONE!
This one that I am lusting after is steep at $599, but it’s so versatile and gorgeous, that I can (almost) justify the expense. It is adaptable to your PC and iPad, so I picture myself showing up at my neighborhood coffee shop, perhaps wearing an eccentric beret and smoking a long, skinny cigarette, and typing feverishly on this turquoise dream machine. (Kidding — I don’t smoke; or wear berets.)
Like a kid in a candy shop… more soon-to-be-released colors for USB typewriters.
“A Groundbreaking Advancement in the Field of Obsolescence”
The idea for USB Typewriter all began in late 2009, when I found a clunky old Royal typewriter on the side of the road. After a little spit polish and elbow grease, I was really amazed by how pristine this machine was underneath its century’s worth of rust and dust. And even more amazing: it still worked!
Typewriters are just really beautiful and elegant pieces of technology, and it has always struck me as sad that they are now neglected and almost forgotten, especially considering that most computer stuff today is so disposable and utilitarian. People love typewriters, and lots of people have them on their mantlepiece or in their attic, but there is just no place for them on a modern computer desk. So, with the USB Typewriter project I am trying to help people rescue typewriters from garages and attics and put them to use again.
In my online store, I sell a do-it-yourself kit can add a USB port to any typewriter. The kit can either be purchased pre-assembled and ready to install, or as a fun solder-it-yourself electronics kit. I also sell a range of lovingly restored and USB-enabled typewriters, but they are frequently sold out, so if you don’t see one you like, just ask.
USB Typewriter has been in business since June 2010, and since then has helped to rescue almost 1,000 typewriters, while constantly improving the conversion process to make it as easy as possible. The USB Typewriter has been featured by NPR’s Morning Edition, The Martha Stewart Show, CNN HLN, WIRED, Gizmodo, and many others. It was named one of the “Top 10 iPad Accessories” by PC Magazine.
Just as I was promoting this post on Twitter, I stumbled on a new film coming out featuring typewriters: The Typewriter in the 21st Century. I want to work on getting a screening in Irvine; it looks so interesting! I love the quote mentioned on the site:
Manson Whitlock, at age 95 the oldest person in the film and likely the oldest working typewriter repairman in America, is blunt about it: “I think that something that was made to be thrown away ought never to have been made at all.”
Last night, I discovered my inspiration and concept for my homemade beauties and created these four individual poems and cards.
Typewriter Poetry, written by moi
Love is in the air,
Cupid doesn’t care,
He will spear you,
So BEWARE!
L – Laughter
O – Over
V – Vain
E – Ego
To rhyme is not a crime,
If you are a poet, you should show it.
As well as share it with friends.
My haiku is the best though. There was a lot of consonant counting going on to develop this one:
Valentine’s Card Swap.
Love and Friendship are in Bloom.
Once Strangers, Now Friends.
Yes, I know the poems are corny; that’s what makes them so great. Plus, there is something odd about writing a romantic love poem to a female stranger. My pen pals included two separate women from West Virginia, one from Alabama and one from Australia. I hope they appreciate my attempt at poetry, comedy and paper crafting!
You can find poetry anywhere. Here are some photos from my recent trip to Long Beach, Washington for my grandma’s 90th birthday. The guestbook in our rental home, “The Admiral House,” had some very creative entries.
One in particular stood out. On the left page of the guestbook, some angry kid wrote “I hate this day!” This prompted another philosophical entry on the right page by a budding poet. (Perhaps who’d been smoking too much bud?)
Admiral House Guestbook
Here was some whimsical art at the entrance of the rec room of the beach house to inspire creativity.
All beach houses need poetic wall art.
The natural beauty of Long Beach is enough to ignite the writer in anyone.
View from the Admiral House
Definitely NOT Long Beach, CA – not a soul in sight.
To see more beautiful imagery of the Long Beach Peninsula, check out these books:
I’m always a little homesick for Washington. Let’s write a poem about it, shall we? A Haiku would be fitting.
Submit your best Washington-inspired Haiku for judging in the comments section below. Remember, a Haiku follows the 5-7-5 syllable pattern and is nature themed. Submit your poem by midnight November 12th. The winning poet will receive an autographed photo of Long Beach, WA and a personal letter drafted from my lovely typewriter, Beulah Hildegard Francis.
Update:
Our winner of the haiku contest is Hans Johannson from Fargo, North Dakota. Hans, we’ll have that letter out to you right away. Thank for your sharing your poetry with us.
Thanks to the generous people at Pencils.Com, I’m giving away some awesome Palomino Blackwing swag
But what’s the Palomino Blackwing? IT’S ONLY THE BEST PENCIL EVER CREATED!
If Jesus/Sherlock Holmes/Christopher Hitches were still alive and used a pencil, they’d use the Palomino Blackwing 602.
Really though, back in the day, a company called Eberhard-Faber made the Blackwing 602. It was the ultimate pencil of choice- Chuck Jones used it, John Steinbeck used it, everybody used it. But then, in the mid 90s, it was discontinued.
I don’t know why, it was the 90s, stuff was weird.
There was chaos, riots, etc- you know, the usual stuff that happens when a pencil is discontinued- but then the Blackwing 602 blackmarket emerged. These pencils started showing up online- in 2002, one of them sold for $40 on eBay.
Anyways, a company bought the rights a few years ago and now Pencils.com sells them! And because they want you to have all the cool stuff that John Steinbeck had, they gave me some stuff to give away!
BONUS: I’m also going to be giving away some Felix Exi “I READ BOOKS” stickers, too!
Rules:
Contest runs until July 5th, 2013. At 11:59 pm EST, I will randomly pick three winners. I will contact you via your ask box and will ship anywhere worldwide.
How to Enter:
Reblog this. You can reblog it up to 5 times a day and you must be following me. Why? Partially because I giveaway cool stuff like this every month and I want you to see it and partially because if I have more followers then companies will give me cooler stuff to give to you. If you’re feeling extra generous, like the Felix Exi facebook page, too.
