Tuesday, April 26, 2011

HONORING THE TYPEWRITERSORAUS (SORTA)

Sorting their coins
So, this post was originally written just after the kiddos' birthday.  That was over a month ago.

But then I read this morning about the last typerwriter manufacturer in the world closing its doors, and realized I no longer had to wallow in my guilt of draftdom.  I would just start whipping out an old (doesn't matter how old, so don't ask) draft of a post that I never quite got around to finishing for whatever reason, so long as I could sync it up, however remotely, to a current event.  "Current" is yet to be defined in relation to this revelation.

Yay, procrastination station has once again opened its exit doors!

So...onward ho! (There's no comma. No need to be offended.)

The (as yet) featherless quill.
Must remedy that soon.
Besides a rubber chicken (which they didn't get), the top three items on our kiddos' birthday wish list this year were...Number 3... coin collector kits...Number 2...a real quill...and Number 1...a typewriter.

Yes, really.  No, no, REALLY.  That was their list.  I have a handwritten copy.  It's pretty freakin' magnificent.  I'm breeding nerds. How cool is that? :)

And yes, before you ask, they do each have a laptop. And yes, we even own a desktop. And I, of course, am practically physiologically attached to my iPhone and MacBook Pro. They also have a Wii at their Mommy's. And two DSi's at their fingertips (yes, I know the apostrophe doesn't go there, but it looks ridiculous without it).

But no, no, that's clearly not. the. same. thing.
  
So off we go in search of a typewriter.

Hmmm...

Where does one even begin?  I mean, besides yard sales and antique stores, who in the world even stocks these things anymore?  And lo and behold, wouldn't you know, thank you, Office Max, there were still 6 on the shelf (and covered in layers of dust).

Hunting and pecking
But my short-lived moment of Mama joy was quickly extiguished when I saw that the cheapest frickin' thing was $100?!!? For a typewriter?! Really?  No, no, REALLY?!?!?  And here I was thinking we could get them one a piece.  Whatever. That ain't gonna happen. They shared a placenta. They can share a damn typewriter.

For what, you ask? For thank you notes, apparently.  At least that's what they claimed after realizing they couldn't change the size or type or color of the font.  ("What's the point of THAT?" he said.)  Although, since I made the feeble attempt to peck out their names in asterisks, they've now got me on a hunt for a book on how to create "cooler" ASCII images.   Nerds, I tell ya. :)

On the upside, however, it's proven most useful for buffing up Mama's biceps, evidently, as the dinosaur weighs as much as a third child.  And it doesn't even come in a handy dandy carrier, or with a storage case, or stand upright to easily put away in a closet or an attic... or maybe on a street curb.  It seriously simply could not be MORE inconvenient.

And now, back to today's headlines...
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1 comment:

myevil3yearold said...

Can you believe that I still use one everyday for work? We still type cashier checks.