One weekend last month, I attended an amazing gathering so ultra-nerdy that, according to someone living with me who will remain anonymous, “it makes the World Fantasy Convention look cool.” Hmm . . . Well, I’m talking, of course, about … Continue reading
A gray, rainy Saturday in late November . . . a small “creative space” with paintings on its walls and a plate-glass window looking out onto the main street of Bridgewater, Pennsylvania . . . a room filled with typewriters … Continue reading
It seems Hallowe’en is coming both late and early this year. The local parade is on schedule — it’s coming up this Wednesday, the best parade our town has all year. Julie and I have been so busy that we’ve … Continue reading
First: We are nearly through the Netflix series Stranger Things. Loyal kid friends on bicycles in the eighties, romance, a monster, mysterious nights in the Midwest, references to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, not one but TWO typewriters … Continue reading
Did you know that Tom Hanks is an avid typewriter enthusiast? Yes, Tom Hanks the movie star — he introduced the highly popular Hanx Writer app, a touchscreen typewriter that apparently comes in three varieties. But beyond helping us approach … Continue reading
So here’s the new paint job: When I got it, the Royal was a dingy gray with decades of discoloration that wouldn’t scrub off: I decided to leave the side access panels and the front facing their original color. This … Continue reading
Little by little, in breaks from checking galley proofs, I’ve had the joy of cleaning up this beautiful octogenarian typewriter, which brings our “fleet” up to five: This was a miraculous find on eBay, being sold by a nice couple … Continue reading
Manual typewriter mania continues at the Durbin household! The fleet has now grown to four, all write-worthy and in good shape. I’ve been typing a lot on all of them, learning their quirks. And I’ve been studying typewriter care and … Continue reading
Here’s my newly cleaned and organized writing space for the new year: The good dictionaries and style books are close at hand. Ergonomic keyboard, check. I’m on the black keyboard now; in another month or so, I’ll return to the … Continue reading
Poe’s Law of the Short Story is this: “Every word in a piece of fiction pays its way.” Have you ever read Mark Twain’s enthusiastic description of the wonderful new invention called the “typewriter”? If you read it today, you’d swear … Continue reading