James Tate's Final Poem

I just found out from The Paris Review that James Tate's final prose poem was left in his typewriter. It's witty and surreal. Fantastic! This is good, but I'm fond of "Very Late, But Not Too Late."

Silence

While a typewriter isn't exactly silent, it does allow one to enter a space where one's internal silence can come forth.

I try to talk to my students about silence and it's not exactly easy. They have a real fear of silence as if the moment you strip away all the noise what you are left by yourself. I can see how that would be scary.

This typecast is brought to you by a very lovely Olympia typeface.

A Taste of the Typosphere's Future

As I go along I have been sipping from the Future of the Typosphere essays as one would drink a fine cordial. Every new thing I read makes me feel that the Typosphere is one of the most learned and thoughtful groups on the internet.

Labor of a Mind

I asked a few of the typing regulars to respond to a question about typewriters. "Do you think that using old technology (like a typewriter) could help young people be more aware of the world?"

As soon as I asked the question, I thought of a thousand ways to better phrase what I was asking, but Vanessa (all of 17 years old) decided to go with her first instinct. 

The thing that makes me furious is that I didn't come up with "...hearing the labor of your mind and fingers ring out in the air..."

Selectric Memory

This summer, so far, has been filled with teacher-y stuff. I have been revising the Junior English curriculum to ensure that it aligns properly with the new Common Core nation-wide standards. It has been an onerous task and pretty dry. I can say that Junior English now looks a lot like Junior English of yesteryear. Blessedly, not much has changed. Most of our work was done on the computer and that was a challenge.

I am not used to sitting in front of a computer for extended periods of time. The on-your-feet nature of teaching is much more my style. After hours of staring at a monitor I started to feel tired and my eyes started twitching. How do people in offices cope? Computers...pah!

In my time working in the purely digital realm, I found some time to tap out notes on an IBM Selectric still lurking in the school library. It was a joy to unplug form the digital even if I was still plugged into an outlet.

My interest in them has been piqued. That brings me to the picture above.

Typewriter Day: Reflection

This post comes by way of my Royal QDL, the first machine I ever bought. Here is a picture (the one on the left):

Beneficient Bill

The Time Is Now!

Simpy, A Zine

More Gifting

Keeping A Promise

I said that I would post something else about the SG-1 and it's amazing that it's done. It's been a crazy few days, but thinking about typewriters has calmed me down.

Type-In Leftovers

These were the pages folks were using at the type-in. Some of what is written is meaningful. Some of it is just silliness. Other things are random. It's fun to read none-the-less. Think of these musings as public cooperative poetry.

Welcome to a New Typospherian

The Scent of Spring

If you are interested in seeing the Arrow post click on this sentence.

Celebrity RSVP

Typecast from the Front, Episode 5

I have a million of these to share. This one, in particular, was written by Oscar who is not a native speaker of English. His grammar and usage is frequently non-standard he can be understood. It is his typing that is really special. This typecast is typed beautifully. Please enjoy!

Student Typecasts Pt. IV

Juan had this to say about typewriters.

Typecast From the Front Part III

Today, we have another typecast from Jonathan.

SCM Sterling 12

Typecast From the Front Part II

Yesterday Enrique shared his views. Richard commented that the spelling and typing were very good. I would have to agree. Today, we will be hearing from Zaul, also in my 5th period. I have gone ahead and enhanced the images using GIMP rather than wasting time rescanning each page. This sould be much more readable.

Royal Aristocrat

Typecast From the Front

Enrique's response to "What do you like about using the typewriters in class?"

Smith-Corona Skyriter

EDITORIAL: I apologize for the quality of this scan. I intend to rescan it as soon as possible. The paper on which it is written is not, in fact, gray.