Putting The 'Best' in 'Best Friend'

My pen and ink plans were derailed again yesterday by the best sort of distraction: a surprise gift! My best friend and her lovely boyfriend happened upon an 'estate sale' this weekend (don't ask me how... ) and while there they came across this fabulous old electric typewriter.


Naturally, when confronted with something print-oriented, bizarre, and ink dispensing, they thought of me and immediately scooped it up.

I spent most of Sunday afternoon tinkering around with this glorious machine. It works pretty well for a device that appears not to have been operated since before the millennium. A few of the type bars stick and don't strike the ribbon enough to leave an imprint, but who really needs an 's', 'w' or 'e' anyway?


I'm pretty sure my dad will be able to help me get the malfunctioning keys working again and, if not, I plan on formally accepting this divine oulipian challenge. Watch out, Christian Bök!


Of course, now I'm going to have to seriously brush up on my keyboarding skills. Nothing like a typewriter to show you that your accuracy rate is at an abysmal 20%.