not just for looks

posted Aug 30th, 2008 View Comments

Pedal * Blog

mike has been getting the same question a lot lately, and actually we both think it’s kinda funny. but i guess i should clear things up a bit.

“You don’t really write on a typewriter do you?”

yes, he does actually write on a typewriter. it’s a vintage smith-corona that his brother, nick, got him for christmas a few years ago when we were visiting in michigan. i believe he bought it at a garage sale or something of that nature, but neither mike nor i can remember for sure. nick showed it to me before giving it to mike and i remember thinking “mike is going to LOVE this..” followed by “how in the hell are we going to get this thing home!?” it was extremely heavy, but we took our chances and placed it in our checked luggage, carefully wrapped-up in our clothes.

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mike has said of his typewriter, “I fell in love with it. I actually write on it all the time, I like the sound of the keys* hitting the paper… helps me think.”

i think it’s the simplistic nature of staring down at your fingers over letters that helps mike. there is no world wide web to distract him. there is nothing “just a click away” except what’s in his imagination.

i have to say it’s pretty fun showing up at his place to work on an episode and getting handed a pile of typo filled papers with all sorts of scribbled notes along the margins. i like taking the pages and switching their order around.. figuring out how best to present what’s been written.

mike recently went out and bought a newer sears electric 12 portable typewriter. here is what he had to say about it:

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“I’m going to start writing a lot more than usual, and the manual typewriter can get to my hands after a few days of heavy usage :P

So I found an electric typewriter at the Goodwill to help me write a lot more while not making the tops of my hands ache. It’s nice to have both :)”

*you can hear those “keys hitting the paper” in episode 8 as i’m crying and he turns to his typewriter to write what i’m saying.

View Comments
  • Nick Ambs
    I found your typewriter at a habitat build i was volunteering at. The owner said i could have it after i told him how much you loved to write.
  • I concur.

    Having bought my manual typewriter solely for the purpose of making fun of Mike... I now love it and like to type things on it that I just need to say, but don't really need to publish. The tap tap tap is totally therapeutic.

    I guess some day I might actually type something for someone else, but even now it serves a good purpose.
  • Yay :) I'm glad you're actually loving your typewriter - I'm still anxious to see the funny video you make ;)
  • Oh it's coming, man. Eventually.
  • I just my Olympia typewriter all the time.
  • I remember that typewriter from your video in the grass ;) that's a sexy typewriter.
  • Mr. Learning to be awesome
    I'm confused. These mechanical 'typewriters' as you call them... do they have Cntl-Alt-Del keys? What do you do when they crash? How do you reload the 'type' program? How do they manage constant upgrades and bug fixes?

    Wow, there's something to be said about the past. Simple. Reliable. Free of microsoft tyranny. Ahhhhhhhh.... I'm so glad I found OSX. Life is so much simpler.

    Okay, I'll try to be serious. How does this 1910 piece of technology handle back-up? A Xerox machine. Is it scaleable? Well, yes, a dozen secretaries can do the work of one... But I've heard 9 women and a month does not give you a baby. But I digress...

    There's something quaint about the typewriter. It's not about the technology, or lack there-of, it's something that puts you in a trance, and frees your mind to explore more creative pursuits.

    I sure hope your trusty machine doesn't break. I can't imagine trying to find a replacement so Pedal doesn't stop moving along.

    Someone should write an ap that makes the 'tap tap tap... chaching! tap tap tap...: sounds. I know at least one person that needs it. :)
  • Ha :) As for "back ups", I usually scan the final drafts into my laptop and combine it into a pdf, I have that for all the '64 Days' episodes, but I want to go and scan all my notes for the first five episodes too.

    Oh, and I use type-recognition in Acrobat to make them searchable ;) cause I'm a dork.
  • mike and i have actually discussed the need for such an ap before :)
  • I know :P I wish I knew how to code...
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