I stared longingly at my typewriter collection this morning and decided to write ****ty poetry and letters for a few hours. I had let my collection linger for many weeks without any use, but I blew off the dust and let the ink ribbons fly.
Something about the machines create an unequivocal focus and fun with writing that I have great difficulty replicating with any sort of electronic device. Even if I pull out my finest keyboard and turn off the wifi, or type on the smart phone with Bluetooth on the Matias Laptop Pro, or a "distraction-free" e-ink device without a browser, nothing can provide the feedback of that "whap, whap, whap" of the hammer onto the rubber platen of a typewriter, and the thrill of an instant creation that you can hold in your hands. Even this experience now as I am typing, I have tried to remove all distractions, dim the lights, resist the urge to cruise Ebay, but not quite does like a fine session with my Voss or Alpina or Facit.
I don't like to build up large collections of anything, because things end up sitting around not being used that someone else would rather own. I can't spend all my days typing away on both keyboards and typewriters. The realities of the modern world and my life dictate that I should favor keyboards over typewriters, if I should have an unhealthy collecting habit at all. Yet with each typewriting session, as short and "pointless" as it may seem, my affection for these machines is reaffirmed, and I find it difficult to make a clean break with the hobby, even though all logic says I should "Sell! Sell! Sell!"
I know the emptiness of pure collecting, and I know that my young life would be better spend doing things more practical for my future, but I have difficulty resisting these machines in a world that places so little value on anything that lasts a lifetime.
