Apologia

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/04/memento-mori.html

Concrete Poetry is Hard

A student created this. The effort that went into this poem is impressive.





Lies!

Free Selectric Ribbons

UPDATE: This offer is ultra-old.

The school librarian was cleaning out some cabinets and found these NIB selectric ribbons. There are three boxes. Let know if you want one for your Selectric (tryanpa@cox.net). I thought they might have been 0.5", but they are 0.65" so I cannot use them in another machine.

CAUTION: These are the high-yeild ribbons. They are the large cartridges, not the smaller ones.

Round-Up 2: Return of the Typewriter

If you would like a copy of this poster to hang up somewhere, email me your address and I'll send you one or two or three.

Other Happenings

The Blickenderfer has Arrived

It showed up in the mail on Friday. I was able to open it then, but there was so much going on Friday that I wasn't able to take pictures until this morning. So without further exposition...

It's in fair condition. The protective wooden case is rough and in desperate need of care. I pressed a few keytops and, unfortunately, all the keys stuck. I've been able to loosen then up thanks to a lot of penetrating oil and a little patience. Now, the typeball does rotate to the correct position when a key is pressed, but it returns very sluggishly. I've taken the mechanism apart (it is very easy to do) and I am fairly confident that a century of grease and dirt is making the return motion slow. Regardless of these faults, the machine is fascinating. The motion of the the two geared horns that move the wheel into place for striking on the paper is poetry. 

It does need some surface cleaning, but I am unsure of the crested badge. What did it look like to start? I cannot imagine that it came from the factory looking sooty and dirty. However, I am afraid to clean it to a point where it looks completely different from other Blicks. These types of machines vary wildly in condition. Some are pristine and others are junky. The only common denominator is that there is no consensus I can deduce on the original look of this badge. Part of me wants to just shine the heck out of it and get it glowing with a silver luster. I'll ask for suggestions from the TYPEWRITER email list. 

I was able to get some typing done on it, but the combination of the dirty movement and the different key layout makes it nearly incomprehensible. 

In the next couple of weeks I would like to get this machine into running shape. I don't think it will take too much effort. Regardless, I am excited to have my first 100-year-old machine in my collection.

P.S. Where do you find the serial number on this typewriter?