Thursday, March 31, 2011

Interview with Matt McCormack of Ace Typewriter


Just found this interview from last October with Matt McCormack of Ace Typewriter in Portland, OR, done by WORK, which is an internet zine about, well, work.

Relatedly, if you haven't seen it yet, I made a random video of a visit to Ace a couple years back. Matt appears very briefly behind the counter in a couple frames.



Note: I feel compelled to mention my unauthorized use of the great song "Tomorrow, on the Runway" by the Innocence Mission in this clip.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Typewriter comic




Here's the post where I talk about the drawing business books. It's an intriguing concept. I especially recommend the book by Don Moyer.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Random drawing for prizes: Apica notebook!


So, you lost Magic Margin's drawing for Rhodia notebooks. Dammit!

Well, hold on just one minute, now. Don't go getting your knickers in a twist. Seems that Uwajimaya opened a new location 'round these parts, so you're in luck.

What? What does that have to do with notebooks, you ask? Well, Uwajimaya, an insanely great Asian grocery store, tends to carry imported stationery and whatnot (and even has a bookstore in its downtown Seattle location). I was ambling through the store's latest new location the other day, and found, in a display of Sumi-e painting supplies, various sizes of the highly-regarded Apica notebook.

Now, one doesn't tend to find Apica notebooks lying about any old where; I've only been able to buy them from eBay importers in the past. So I consider this a good thing.

One of the most appealing qualities of the Apica notebook, you will undoubtedly agree, is its cryptic cover phrase:


I grabbed two red ones of the 5" x 7"-ish size, and would like to share one with you. Leave a comment about your favorite notebook brand and I'll pick a winner this Friday, April 1st (not an April Fool's joke, I assure you).

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Myndology disc punch: mail art notebook


So I got myself a Myndology disc punch. A disc punch, if you were not aware, is a thingy that allows you to perforate paper so that you can place discs in the preforations and either create notebooks, or add random papers to existing ones.



Some of you Getting Things Done types have one of these from Rollabind/Circa, and use it to create fabulously organized and scheduled lives in notebooks with sober black covers. I, however, am a practitioner of another system called Starting Things, But Never Finishing Them. This consists of entertaining half-cooked ideas, getting out a bunch of paper supplies, making a big old mess, taking a coffee break, and then realizing, dozens of distractions later, that you have a bunch of stuff to clean up.

One such project included trying desperately to organize my letter writing stuff, after reading the following Clickthing post. Now, trying to live up to the inventions of Mike Clemens is a losing game, my friend. The man has a gift. But the fact remains that I have a disorganized snarl of paper that includes letters to which I would like to track and respond. What to do?

Enter the Myndology disc punch. I began madly punching letters and envelopes, and binding them with discs. I learned that anything covered in tape or made of thin vintage paper is a poor candidate for punching, but all other items are fair game. When finished, I grabbed two stray sheets from the teetering pile of school art projects generated by my older child, called them covers, and that was that.

I now have a bound book of letters to read through (although I'm not any closer to writing replies). Perhaps I will clean up this mess tomorrow...





Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Vintage office sticky notes, mail art, self pity




Here's Cavallini's sticky notes, they have lots of other stuff, some typewriter-themed.

Know that I'm reading your blogs, and apologize for not commenting for the last week or two, I've been reading on a smartphone during middle-of-the-night baby monkeyshines, and have not yet mastered the art of thumb-typing in microscopic forms with a virtual keyboard while insanely sleep-deprived.

There was some other footnote I was going to add, but I totally forgot. Worst. Pencast. Ever. (Brought to you by Lamy Safari medium nib and Myndology ring-bound notebook)