Life, you know, is cyclical. That means it goes around, features that whole "death and rebirth" thing, and makes itself ripe for allegories, songs, and much deep thinking.
I, myself, don't write allegories, can't sing worth a bean, and wouldn't know a deep thought if it was presented to me on a platter, surrounded with watercress.
But I can perceive and have noticed in the past couple days some evidence of all the things listed above. It's almost as if the world is turning, taking some thing, creating other new ones, and even rebirthing some.
It saddens me to report the loss of Bob Denver, who I think made everyone smile at some point in his or her life. Staying between loss and rebirth is Fats Domino, who we thought for a time was missing but was rescued in a boat and is now, I guess, doing reasonably well. What's coming back, at least according to the people in Wyoming who have as good a grasp on popular culture as anyone in the flyover states, is the manual typewriter. It may be just wishful thinking on their part, though, so I'm not getting my hopes up yet.
I don't know if they're really staging a comeback or not, but I hope so. I have a manual typewriter (a pink and gray Royal with sans serif type) and if they become all the rage there's a chance I could get some ribbons for it.
I used it when I first thought about writing, and it was an excellent form of limited exercise. Only when I was hauling shingles onto my roof were my arms more masculine. I do like the clack-clack-clack sound it makes, and few things could be more rewarding than slamming the carriage back at the end of each and every line. That, alone, gives one a sense of progress.
Coming, Going, Staying
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2 comments:
Russ, I love my manual typewriters. As with anything (including blogs) when one will do, I have several. I have five manual typewriters. My work hourse is a Remington (I forget the model at the moment) that was built in the 1920s. I've got a Remy portable and a Corona Portable. My prize is my Olivetti grasshopper. My two year old son loves banging on them. I've tried to use them to write, but I can't type as fast. Wendell Berry uses a manual. I'd love to get an old Underwood.
I'm sure there was an Underwood around here when I was growing up. I distinctly remember the circular keys, slightly twisted. What's curious is that no one in my family ever wrote on it, not that I know of, and I wonder if it was one of my parent's school supplies or if typewriters, like computers today, were merely a necessary component of a home.
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