Hermes i3000

I received a pair of-new plaid shirts today. As a result, I need to go through my closet to find shirts or something to pass along. I have more than enough clothing. I am not a minimalist. I do need to keep the inventory down. But what to rid myself of? My wife suggests faded clothing. It is fine for around the house. It is not fine to wear when we go out into the world. (Hopefully, someday.) But I have to confess to liking the faded clothing. Because it has beausage.

Beausage? You have never heard of it? Part of the reason is that “beausage” is not a recognized word. It would be good to change that. For it to happen is to have lots of people use it. What is it and why? Beausage was invented, coined by Grant Peterson of Rivendell Bicycles. It means “beauty through use” and the word is a combination of beauty and usage.

Beausage is faded jeans, a worn off bit of paint on a bicycle, the creases in a book, baking pans with baked-on bits. Beausage is never present in something that is new, like jeans with tears in them.

Beausage! Use the word and spread the word to other people so they can use it and, I hope, enough people will use it that I will be able to find it in a dictionary.

— MichalRpdx :: ih3k

So you sit down at the typewriter. You start to sype, or type, or something. If I was Issaz Asimov this might be the start of a novel. Or it might be a part of the stuff that gets thrown away after a daily six hour session. Maybe. Could be. Perhaps.

Just start typing. That is what the One Typed Page is all about. Right? There is Cuban music playing in the background. Semi-random choice of what to play. It comes, the music comes, from Pandora. It is not loud enough to really understand. Just the vibe, the feeling of it.

It is not late. OK, I am lying. It is almost 10:00. Yes PM 10:00 type of night time. The tyme the time of the day that is never lit up by sunlight. Like would or could be in middle of twight if it were the height of summer, in late June or so each year. Though those days are long gone. We will have darkness for hours by now each day. My lying earlier in this piece was due to me not knowing what I have been doing. The typewriter has been out. For hours, since there was a twilight. Like I love each day, twight ti twilight. There we go.

Keep going. Keep going, keep the fingers on the keys and moving. Keep having words appear on the paper keep having bits of stuff that I don’t recognize show up on the paper.

By the time you read this it will be Sunday for hours in every direction. I used to have that as a signature line while I worked. “It is Monday for hours in every direction.” On Mondays. Now it is Sunday for … If you are reading this at another time, in another day, substitute the name of the day for what I have said.

Life is formless these days. I do not have something Well, there are many things on my to-do list but none of them are necessary. This is all recreation I can do what I want and if it does not get done the only thing that misses is my tracking, like my One Typed Page. Or whatever it is that I get out of it. Maybe this inside is really a day of not making something for others to read. It is a day of typing something so that I have typed something and my typing muscles are still there and my attention to spelling and spaces get a little workout. It is my junk page because somedays you need to write the bad stuff so there is room for the good stuff to escape your or my or the typists brain and then something good can emerge.

Or so we hope.

— MichaelRpdx mlr:ih3k

I said I would not look. But I did. I kept looking. What could I do?? It was like developing a taste for beer. Or something. I kept looking. I keep going back and check the changes. Do the math on what is left. Maybe it won’t work out like I expect, like everyone expects. But I keep watching.

§ § § §

How have I ended up with 17 pens, fountain pens, with another eight on the way? Seven kinds of ink, really pretty ones, but seven kinds. I think I am figuring out what kinds of pens I like. That is a good thing. I think. I know there is a whole big batch of handwriting in store for me.

§ § § §

I am drawn in by moving things. I watch them. It is a problem I have with a TV on. I look and cannot look away. I sit down with an intent to allow it to play the Taiwanese thing my wife watches and practices her Mandarin. I intend to write or draw or something. Instead, I watch it. I check the changes in w

I said I would not look. But I did. I kept looking. What could I do?? It was like developing a taste for beer. Or something. I kept looking. I keep going back and check the changes. Do the math on what is left. Maybe it won’t work out like I expect, like everyone expects. But I keep watching.

§ § § §

How have I ended up with 17 pens, fountain pens, with another eight on the way? Seven kinds of ink, really pretty ones, but seven kinds. I think I am figuring out what kinds of pens I like. That is a good thing. I think. I know there is a whole big batch of handwriting in store for me.

§ § § §

I am drawn in by moving things. I watch them. It is a problem I have with a TV on. I look and cannot look away. I sit down with an intent to allow it to play the Taiwanese thing my wife watches and practices her Mandarin. I intend to write or draw or something. Instead I watch it. I check the changes in what I have left to do. Calculate what I want to get done. And my attention is drawn in to the TV. Again and again.

§ § § §

Did you think I was talking about politics? Georgia and Nevada and Arizona and … all that? I wont admit.

— MichaelRpdx :: ih3k

hat I have left to do. Calculate what I want to get done. And my attention is drawn in to the TV. Again and again.

§ § § §

Did you think I was talking about politics? Georgia and Nevada and Arizona and … all that? I won’t admit.

— MichaelRpdx :: ih3k

Well, now that this whole election thing is over except for the counting, it is time to move on to important things. There are lots of things to consider, for instance, ownership of animals. Like kangaroos. Were you aware that 37 states ban kangaroo ownership outright? Another 10 restrict ownership to people with “permits”? But there are a blessed three that allow ownership outright. Yes, three, just three, states in the fine country we reside in allow kangaroo ownership without restriction. You can verify my claim by searching for “kangaroo ownership legality united states” and maybe add “mapporn” to narrow the search a bit.

Do that and you will see a map with three green states doing things the right way. South Carolina, West Virginia, and (well lookee here!) Wisconsin. That would be the future home of Kent. I pointed out this great blessing of his relocating to the cheese state. He forwarded the idea to his wife. She came back with a “no kangaroo. Inkling would freak.” I, personally, believe this underestimates Inkling’s tolerance for other animals and his desire for a warm and cuddly place to stay. Can you imagine being a cat with a mobile place to stay? The ‘roos pouch has to be a wonderful place to stay.

§ § §

In other election news, we turn to Oregon. We have joined Portugal in our legalization of all drugs. All of them. This makes “a personal non-commercial possession of a controlled substance no more than a Class E violation (max fine of $100 fine)”. Perhaps we were getting ready for another winner for the white house. The program is going to be funded by taxes on our already legal marijuana industry. But that is not all. Measure 109 “Psilocybin Mushroom Services Program Initiative” authorizes the Oregon Health Authority to creat a program to license the administration of psilocybin-producing mushrooms. Oregon is the first in both of these matters. No rush to move here. It will take a while to get things set up. And it is a lot cheaper than moving to Portugal.

That is it for Oregon changes to the laws. Well, the notable ones. Yes, we did vote to fund the libraries, provide daycare for free, a police oversight committee, and other items to spend our money on.

-— MichaelRpdx :: ih3k

Oh yes, let us praise Matt of Ace Typewriter in Portland!
Let us praise him for setting aside time to fix what I broke.
Let us praise him for diving right in and setting right it all. One would think losing er loosening a screw and moving a knob a small fraction of a millimeter would be simple.  It was not. He did appreciate my bringing all the parts. We did have a nice chat. I got to be tempted by the Royal typewriters. It turns out he classes them as one of the best-made machines of the US. Now I just need to figure out how to get the machine into the house without my wife wondering too much about them. No: I mean it, not them. Singular, just one typewriter. Of course, I need to find a place for it. As we are overflowing with them at the present.

If you happen to be a Hermes 3000 fan, like me, Joe Van Cleve has a comparative review of two of them on YouTube. One is a 1961 the other a 1972. Wich skipped the golden age of my typewriters. OK, maybe not the golden age. But they sure are nicely shaped. Though I can see the lust for the early 1960s versions.

Speaking of YouTube I am watching this in the background while I type this. It was about typefaces this week. Interesting. I believe I will work on my not very legible handwritten typewriting descriptions before obsessing on whatever my typewriter spits out.

“Drink, no wait. “Write drunk, edit sober.” Not for me either. My wife just handed me a glass of cognac. So this will need to draw to a close.

— MichaelRpdx :: ih3k

“Process saves us from the poverty of our intentions.”
—  Elizabeth King

“There would be no book if it weren’t for that quote.”
So said Seth Godin in his interview with Tim Farris. Tim’s interviews last about 90 minutes. You can scratch off 15 minutes if you skip the promos and perhaps you can get down to an hour or so if you find a transcript to read it. But in any case, I found it to be an interesting well worth it interview.

So what does that have to do with us? We all have a process of typing a page. Type a Page Every Day. make a One Typed Page. This is also a habit. One I don’t have yet. I am working on it. And I remain amazed by those of you whose writings appear each day. You and I do not have to be like Isaac Asimov. He published 400 books. They were the result of a writing habit. Every day or every workday he would type for six hours. Didn’t matter if they were good or not. He typed for six hours every day. Later on, he would throw out the bad stuff and keep the good stuff for publishing. You type that much you are going to have good stuff. Or so they say. I have yet to get to that place.

I need to work on my typewriter. As in work on the physical machine and work out keeping the line advance. I know what the problem is. Now to fix it so I can type some more.

— MichaelRpdx :: ih3k

Matt at Ace Typewriter is a great guy. We had a nice chat today. His pickup policy, well I don’t think it exists. When his dad ran the shop if you didn’t pick up your repaired typewriter in 30 days he sold it. Matt keeps them around. He pointed out a part of the store where they were put after five years. He says he will get around to selling them someday.

I was in there for two things. A hard lid, or cover, for my Hermes 3000 that came without one. The other item was a platen know for the right … err, left-hand side that came with one that was too wide to fit with the hard lid or cover for my existing 3000. They are close enough in years to fit it. He had one from an earlier year that was a small amount smaller. He will keep an eye out for one, they come through he said. The other item was the left-hand platen knob. He had those, It seems to be one that was 3D printed We put it on. Or rather he put it on. He also adjusted the margin release. That is big for me. I push the end of the line and often am stuck with a character or two Over the Line. The previous two lines were returned right after the bell rang. Bad habit for me to get into. He also lubed a couple of other points. “You have to do that every 10 years or so. Otherwise, the return lever will snap right off.” Yes, yeah right, like I will remember nine and a half years to do that.

So I brought home the typewriter with two platen knobs. Neither of them matches the machine. But I can put on the lid. Yay! for Matt!1

In a way, I was really lucky too. Hanging on the wall was a sign. “Closed today Oct. 29” Ace had been closed the previous day. The day I had planned to go into Ace. I just didn’t. Lucky for me, with them being closed. He also has a pair of Royal typewriters. I had to get out of there before temptation overtook me and I bought one. They will still be there when he calls about the lid.

— MichaelRpdx :: ih3k

What is it about 3:00am? I wake up then. Not all the time. Enough to not like it. I have read that if you have trouble Sleeping, Get Up. I have taken to that. Today I am adding “no computer, no phone” rule to it, the getting up thing. When I get up I can write or read. My wife says it is OK to type. I do not want to disturb her. She can get back to sleep and I do not want to wake her. Maybe I can get back to sleep. Maybe not.

Today I followed through on the write and read plan and went back to sleep. I wrote “Morning Pages” and it went well. Two pages in 21 minutes. I tend to take 10 – 12 ménutes to write a page. After that, I enjoyed a novel. More on it later, after I finish it.

Side note: (much better now) In these One Typed Pages run 250 to 440 words. When I was a beer journalist I would write 1000 – 1200 words per column. It seems that I need to work on my stamina. A novel? Short story? That is a whole bunch more words. Another side note: when I was in radio a 30-second spot, advertisement, was around 100 words give or take a few. That kinda spoiled me for long wordy explanations. Say it quickly get what you can in your 30 seconds. It in very languorous to take the words, to take the explanation, to take the reflection, to say what you have to say. Yeah, I am trying for that. In these few hundred words. My side notes are getting to be longer than what I started with. Let me see what I say side note, digression, on next.

Ballots are … wait, sorry, I am not going into that topic.

I think, wait back up here. After my stroke I had problems reading. I could not read a book. Two items, 1) I could not concentrate on a book while reading it, 2) I could not physically read a page. The second one was helped with therapy. The concentration was helped by summarizing each chapter. Perhaps I can reverse that bit, write an idea. Expand it. Expand it again.

This is thinking out loud. It is time to go off and think out loud with a pen or pencil and something to write on Probably a journal. That means …

Hold those thoughts, thoughts, something. I will be back.

— MichaelRpdx :: ih3k

They sang. I listened. They beckoned. I deterred.

After months of denial, I gave in. I was lured by a Kickstarter for Dutch Ovens. It cost less than a new one less than my – oh wait, another temptation I fell to – so a typewriter and a dutch oven. Then today three (more) Fountain Pens. OK, a typewriter with the key layout I have been looking for for months. A dutch oven with a reversible set up you can use it as a pot, or turn it over and use the lid as a cooking surface and have the pot part as a lid, like an oven, for bread in my case. And then the fountain pens, costing less than either of the others, and I have the ink that is beautiful. Such beautiful ink. They do not lend themselves to scribbling like my best in the world ballpoint pen, a Jetstream, that flows over the paper while I keep it in a supply of refill barrels. They lend themselves to a considered bit of prose going forward slowly, like the considered cadence of a judge.

They sang like the Sirens and I did not have a crew to tie me to a mast of self-control. I was not an Odysseus (or Ulysses if you prefer the Latin telling) not by a wide or narrow margin. So I have a typewriter in hand, a dutch oven a few months away, and fountain pens somewhere in the care of the USPS, soon to be delivered.

That is how I fell. By paying attention to things that I was prone to listening to the call of good goods. It is not like I do not have typewriters, five functional or pens, a number of which I cannot count, and two functional fountain pens or cookware of which we have enough to feed 50 or 60 guests a variety of things. No! I have plenty of those things that I purchased after the Siren call of a typewriter with a key layout like I do not have, pens with a different feel to their writing, and a dutch oven with a lid like one not found on any we have.

Maybe I am a slut, a glutton for something slightly better than what I have currently. Maybe. Perhaps.

 * * *
PSA: it is the time of year to get a flu shot. We did today. It is painless. It should protect you.

—- MichaelRpdx :: ih3k

It was a bright and stormy day. So windy! So stormy!

We were happy to have rain again. So much rain throughout the night, through the day and night. Through the day I read Noir and watched “Typewriter Club LIVE: Fix It or Forget It?” Seems that most of the people fix it, or at least try. It was interesting in that they were joined by people in Portragul and Japan, Tokoyo. The video is quite the marathon – two and a half hours. It does make for an afternoon of stormy weather. You can curl up and watch it while looking out the window and watch the people move in. Watch them Surreptitiosly (sp)

There were things to write about. Now, what were they? I seem to have this problem a lot.

I am going to quit trying and quit boring myself and you.

-— MichaelRpdx :: ih3k
~
~