Comments on Strikethru: Typecast: Survivalism

Yes, I took another look at that photo & it...

2008-01-30T11:04:00.000-08:00

Yes, I took another look at that photo & it's definitely a portable without the distinctive green TAB bar above the top row of keys characteristic of the heavier desktop SG3 model. I must have transposed my own preference onto the memory of that picture....

-Bostian

I, too, lived through the big Pacific Northwestern...

2008-01-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

I, too, lived through the big Pacific Northwestern Storm of '06. That was something, wasn't it? In my case, I ended up with friends who had a generator -- me and my three cats and the dog. It was the only way to stay warm! And the few times we ventured into town, it was like the apocalypse...long lines of people trying to get fuel and water and easy-to-prepare food. Most of the grocery stores were open, but with dim, sometimes improvised lighting and all the perishables aisles blocked off. Lots of empty shelves. And of course very few places could or would take anything but cash -- that was the biggest thing I never thought about before. Now I try to keep a few twenty dollar bills stashed in case of emergency. Of course, if society really and truly crashed, I suppose paper money wouldn't be good for long, but...

I had just received my first typewriter a few weeks before the storm hit, and being as how I was still in the throes of post-NaNoWriMo gottawriteis, I wanted to haul it out in the worst way, both to document what we were going through and just to work on my story...but I was too chicken to use it in front of people. I should have. I don't think I'd be as shy now.

I rather like the double red line, by the way!

It's actually a 1967 SM-9, like this one.

What model Olympia are you using? It's that S...

2008-01-29T09:28:00.000-08:00

What model Olympia are you using? It's that SG3, right? I haven't seen any mention of other Olympia machines in your posession, and the picture of the Olympia was definitely an SG3 model. Sorry, your readers who not only love typing for its own sake but are also obsessed with the machines want to know. I just moved my own "Old Reliable" SG3 into a new writing space & feel a profound conviction that it's the best machine for writing anything. And it will work well into the apocolypse. An old toothbrush will clean up your typebars magnificently.

-Bostian

You're right - when the end is nigh, it will be ty...

2008-01-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

You're right - when the end is nigh, it will be typed and mimeographed for distribution to the masses.

On a physical level, there really is something beautiful about machinery. Most things that function well also are graceful in their own way - maybe because of some Darwinian sorting out of things that just don't function well? The purely mechanical always stands a better chance of working if there's a way to make it move.

I wonder how well the next earthquake we have in Los Angeles (and we will have one, no doubt about that) will be blogged? Maybe it will be typecast after the fact?...

If only that double red line matched your blog's c...

2008-01-27T15:56:00.000-08:00

If only that double red line matched your blog's color scheme!

The Moon family has plastic tubs full of canned food in our basement, right next to the dozens of gallons of water. We sometimes can our own vegetables, grown organically at the Moon family homestead. We'll be ready.

When the revolution comes, it will be typewritten. Or some such.