Typewriter

I want a typewriter. I want to unplug from the digital world for a while and reconnect with the physical.

As a kid, I used my grandfather's portable manual typewriter to produce newspapers, menus, play programs, and all the other essential printed matter of my fantasies.

One of my first purchases as a working teenager was an electric typewriter. I typed out every issue of the West Hazleton High School "We-Ha" during my tenure as editor, then I carried it with me to university and used it for all my papers. And a few play programs.

But those old machines are both gone, as is the early 20th century Royal I found at a flea market. Now it's just me and the computers.

And I'm dissatisfied. I'd like to write without being distracted by incoming e-mail, IM, and RSS feed updates. You're thinking, "Well, don't launch those programs when you write." But I get antsy wondering might be missing some key communication. Does someone want to go to lunch with me? Have any of my friends updated their weblogs? Critical information--who'd want to miss that?

I'd like to return to fact-checking by referring to books instead of Google. My capacity to store facts and trivia was once legend, but has dwindled to nearly nothing. My brain is full of key-combinations to effect changes in my documents, but I can't remember the population of Tokyo or recall when I should use 'effect' or 'affect.'

Ironically, I've just purchased a new G5 with an amazingly large screen so that I can do my video editing in double-quick time. It arrives in 5 weeks. I'm doomed.