“Hello, Mister Typewriter. Welcome home.”
Those are the first words typed on my new (old) typewriter, a Royal Quiet Deluxe portable from 1938. I guess I didn’t plan to start collecting typewriters, but I am slightly obsessed. Where do I begin!
Cameron’s Aunt Jann called me over to the back of her van last weekend while we were up in Santa Barbara. She had a surprise for me. And this is what I found inside, protected within a black dust-covered, hardshell case. Incredible.
I brought it home and spent a chunk of time yesterday afternoon cleaning and restoring it to the best of my amateur abilities. Now she shines—free from years of cobwebs, grime and disuse. I imagine it sat in an attic or a garage for many years, but everything is still in perfect working order. The cleaning brushes are also still present, along with documentation that reveals the typewriter originated in Portland, Maine. Except for needing a new ink ribbon—this current one is, understandably, faded—it’ll work like new.
As a writer, the history attached to these things makes me crazy. I love to imagine what letters or documents it’s seen, what mind has put it to use. What happened over the years, nearly a lifetime, before it was brought to me? There’s an infinite amount of romanticism wrapped up in these machines, at least for me. It’s just enough to be near them sometimes, but it’s an honor to now call this one mine.
(Thank you, Aunt Jann. Thank you.)
“Welcome back to concentration.”
That’s the tagline for Ommwriter, a new computer application for writers that transforms their desktop into a stark, wintry landscape. It can also be toggled to display a textured sort of burlap canvas or a plain white screen. Either way, all that remains is a blinking cursor and the endless expanse of the user’s mind.
Now write.
Cos that’s the point! Ommwriter blocks out all of the digital distractions that can hinder the creative process, leaving you alone with your thoughts. It brings along 7 different ambient soundtracks and a variety of ear-pleasing keystroke sound effects to encourage productivity. All in all: very Zen. When you’re finished, you simply click a button and save your file like you would in any other word processor.
I love the marriage of simple design and a word processor, and Ommwriter has really nailed a clever concept. I’ve been using it for a few weeks, in a daydreaming sense. It’s perfect for brainstorming, jotting notes and ideas.
Below the fold, check out the quick instructional video to see the app in action! Keeping with the program’s less-is-more theme, it doesn’t come with any documentation.
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Two of my most favorite web-geniuses, Tony Delgrosso and Angela Black, have teamed to create Low Resolution Theatre. Every weekday they produce a new comic, pairing Tony’s witty bits with Angela’s irreverent drawings. I’ve gotten into the habit of checking LRT each morning when I wake up. It puts a smile on my face—from their slightly bent pop culture references to characterizations of their own lives, the sky seems the limit as to what might appear.
As you take your daily stroll throughout the world wide interwebs, I urge you to bookmark them for attention. And while you’re at it, take a look at my birthday cameo. It’s below the fold!
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