Royal

2009 Jul 16
Comments 87
Published In Design, Personal, Technology, Thinking
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I’m a collector by nature. I gather random bits of beauty and ephemera to surround myself with to keep inspiration nearby but also to remind me where my influences come from. I enjoy slowing things down and reflecting on past methods of creation and how they’ve brought about our modern means.

I like to think of many of the things I collect as artifacts of creation; drawers that once housed metal type, cameras that require both patience and dexterity, and through their past use these items tell stories of their own operation and creation. They tell us how ideas take their first breath.

This typewriter is one such acquisition. I was lured in by its blood orange shell, but after cleaning it up and pecking out a few lines of text, something else happened. Using this obsolete machine gave me a new appreciation for its place and time. It has dozens of moving parts, each assigned to levers or keys by way of springs and hinges deep in its tangled metal innards.

This typewriter is a product of the technology and needs of its time. It was a stepping stone to the digital contraption I use everyday from a time when the input from finger to keys gave a direct physical output. How far removed from that am I now?

I had to spend time practicing typing again. The ideal page has even weight to each character, press too softly and you end up with grey letters, too hard and you deliver too much ink. I take the ease of use I enjoy today for granted. Take a moment to consider the things around you. Sit down and reconnect with an object. What can you learn from it? Does it inspire you?

87 Comments

Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 16, 2009

Apologies in advance for the small type. This was the best I could do with photographing the typewriter and page. If you use a browser that zooms the whole page, that will help a bit. This is one we’ll file under the “experimental” tab :)
Permalink for this comment Kmpstr says: July 16, 2009

Very nice

Such a long page scroll for 1 photo too!
Permalink for this comment Andy says: July 16, 2009

A little small but still looks fantastic! I can’t read any of your articles in Google Reader because I feel like I’m missing out on the complete experience you create.
Permalink for this comment Matt Wiebe says: July 16, 2009

Great to see you posting again Jason, and a fun one at that!

I too have been feeling the siren song of the typewriter, probably as a combination of silly nostalgia and a desire to look backwards in order to better look forwards as the web grows out of infancy and into toddler-hood.
Permalink for this comment Brian Warren says: July 16, 2009

Just delightful. The tactility and instant gratification of the typewriter is something that everybody who sits in front of computers all day should get to experience.
Permalink for this comment Pat says: July 16, 2009

The type looked great to me! A bit tough with some of the letters being a bit lighter than others, but it wasn’t really a struggle.

The typewriter itself is gorgeous! I saw a VW Vanagon the other day almost this exact colour. Must have been a fad back when both of these instruments were created.

Great article and excellent presentation!
Permalink for this comment Able Parris says: July 16, 2009

Glad to see you promoting the old methods, if only for inspiration. I believe that even the slowness of the typewriter, hand writing, drawing, and collage help us think better than we ever could by using a computer.

A wonderful post, as always. Thanks, Jason!
Permalink for this comment Jack Osborne says: July 16, 2009

Beautiful, just beautiful Jason.
Permalink for this comment Gilbert Lee says: July 16, 2009

Great acquisition, Jason! So beautifully designed. The simplicity is precisely what was needed to fit the needs. Nothing more. Thanks for sharing. I love the green box, too!
Permalink for this comment Mickie says: July 16, 2009

Very well put! The image is beautiful, too and reminds me of “The House of Leaves” a little.

I get great joy out of typing on a keyboard (or typewriter!) not only from the physical satisfaction in hand-feel but also in the clickety clack sounds of the keys depressing.

And pick up a pencil, or better yet, a mechanical pencil, and feel anew the reconnection with the grace and dexterity needed to wield these highly breakable things!
Permalink for this comment Liz Danzico says: July 16, 2009

Stunning, of course.

What’s fascinating is not just what effect returning to a typewriter must have on the creator (e.g., slowing down), but for the reader as well. Simply looking at the text reveals patterns in the cadence of your telling the story that would have been missed in a Word doc or Google reader. The periods are bolder—in fact all punctuation marks are. It’s as if when you finish your sentence, you press harder on the key with determination. Fascinating to see it manifested visually.
Permalink for this comment Dane says: July 16, 2009

Ahh, yes! I’ve been reflecting on this a lot as of recent, how we can look at historical interactions to better inform the digital interfaces we build today. As physical beings in a physical world, humans have a long history of engaging with tactile systems, from simple tools to levers to buttons and switches, and each of these systems has its own rich aesthetic experience.

In fact, just last night I was writing about analog interactions.
Permalink for this comment Paul Burgess says: July 16, 2009

We need to have a chat about your SEO
Permalink for this comment Paul Burgess says: July 16, 2009

OK – no we don’t… you fooled me
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 16, 2009

@ Paul Burgess :

We need to have a chat about your SEO… …OK – no we don’t… you fooled me

;)

@ Liz Danzico :

The periods are bolder—in fact all punctuation marks are. It’s as if when you finish your sentence, you press harder on the key with determination. Fascinating to see it manifested visually.

This was partially me and partially the typewriter, I think. The punctuation keys seemed to just have more punch to them that the others. Even if I pressed lightly, they would always strike heavily.
Permalink for this comment Jen says: July 16, 2009

Love it!! I often peruse second-hand shops and flea markets looking for stuff like this. It reminds of a time when life was simpler and slower. I’m sounding old, but things move way too fast these days to enjoy anything.
Permalink for this comment Lea says: July 16, 2009

This has mild nostalgic meaning for me, and it makes me wish I hoarded certain things a bit more. When I was 12, my dad came home from his friend’s garage sale with a box of romance novel books and a typewriter that looked just like yours but it was aqua green. Back then, I thought I’d be a novelist when I “grew up.”

I remember at that age feeling that my writing would be “legitimized” by using an old fashioned typewriter. Mind you, this was before we could afford a computer or any of that crazy fangled stuff like “word processing.” Having a typewriter to me was next to being published.
Permalink for this comment Sandor Weisz says: July 16, 2009

A recent, sobering thought: the generation below ours has little conception of what a typewriter is, and thus will never be able to enjoy the most satisfying and hilarious way to eat corn on the cob.
Permalink for this comment Renaud says: July 16, 2009

and no white out. impressive.
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 16, 2009

@ Sandor Weisz : This comment just made my day :)

@ Renaud : It only took me a couple of tries. I still messed up once above (typed an “8” at first instead of an “e” in “orange”), but I figured that was part of the charm.
Permalink for this comment Jason Robb says: July 16, 2009

Great post. That typewriter is in good condition. Where’d you find it?

And orange blood you say? I never knew you were color blind! ;)
Permalink for this comment meat-eater says: July 16, 2009

My mother had the same model typewriter only hers was beige. I learned to type on that typewriter. It was quite old when I started using it, so the tab keys never worked correctly.
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 16, 2009

@ Jason Robb : Yeah, it’s in great condition. I picked it up off eBay a few months back and had to spend some time cleaning it up. “Blood orange” was the closest I could peg the color, it’s like a really juicy read-orange.
Permalink for this comment Ms. Jen says: July 16, 2009

lovely.
Permalink for this comment Thomas Brand says: July 16, 2009

I developed something similiar a couple of years ago to host my resume. My solution features multiple stock image typewriters, but suffers from slow loading times.

http://www.thomasbrand.net/resume/
Permalink for this comment Pat says: July 16, 2009

Just one more thought… would have been great if something else like the navigation was set in some typewriter font. But, that’s just personal preference.
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 16, 2009

@ Pat :

Just one more thought… would have been great if something else like the navigation was set in some typewriter font. But, that’s just personal preference.

Something I’ve found in doing these custom blog posts is that a little goes a long way and it’s often a practice of restraint when you have so many options to play with. I actually like that the text is restricted to just the image, it makes the environment that much more effective to me. I think the nav text might be overkill, like a little elbow nudge from the page, “get it? typewriter!” :)
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 16, 2009

Also, I just noticed that viewing this post on the iPhone shrinks the background image. Not sure if this is a bug or if Mobile Safari somehow restricts background images based on dimensions or file size.
Permalink for this comment kyle steed says: July 16, 2009

Great day in the morning, that is a beautiful work of machinery. I really like the contrast of color in the “blood orange” body, as you described it, and the more cream colored keys.

I can remember learning to type in grade school using a typewriter. The practice it took compared to modern keyboard typing is ridiculous.

And like you said, taking a moment to enjoy the things around us is a great way to appreciate what we already have. This is a great venture in to new “experimental” territory.
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 16, 2009

Following up from my previous comment :

Looks like Mobile Safari just has a certain threshold from which it scales images down. Specifying -webkit-background-size fixed it.
Permalink for this comment Pat says: July 16, 2009

Something I’ve found in doing these custom blog posts is that a little goes a long way and it’s often a practice of restraint when you have so many options to play with. I actually like that the text is restricted to just the image, it makes the environment that much more effective to me. I think the nav text might be overkill, like a little elbow nudge from the page, “get it? typewriter!” :)

Touché. I suppose I was thinking back to your Pretty Sketchy article, though in that case the whole site became the environment, where here the article environment is limited to the paper.

Anyway, I’ve been really impressed with your experiment here, and want to encourage you to keep at it to expand both your abilities, as well as our perception of what art direction can look like on the web. You’re doing a fantastic job.
Permalink for this comment Julian Schrader says: July 16, 2009

Looking around regarding “old tech” I noticed I absolutely don’t have anything related to that category around me.

I seem to update very quickly and discard “stuff” at a similar pace, because I don’t want my surroundings to “clutter up”.

I think it’s important to find the right balance between keeping and tossing things.

Great article, very nice and inspiring though! Makes me think again about the way I handle old stuff.
Permalink for this comment Solo500 says: July 16, 2009

Elegant and fun. Thanks.
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 16, 2009

@ Pat :

I suppose I was thinking back to your Pretty Sketchy article, though in that case the whole site became the environment, where here the article environment is limited to the paper.

Exactly, where that post became the environment, this one is much more straightforward of just being about the object depicted.

Anyway, I’ve been really impressed with your experiment here, and want to encourage you to keep at it to expand both your abilities, as well as our perception of what art direction can look like on the web. You’re doing a fantastic job.

Thanks very much! :)
Permalink for this comment Daniel Black says: July 16, 2009

In a similar vein, I’m rediscovering photography, at least as a serious endeavor. Of course, I’m shopping around for a nice DSLR; but I developed instant attraction to the likes of the Nikon F2-AS and Pentax LX bodies. Narayan of etherfarm shares similar attraction to tactility and the beauty of the corporeal. I’m excited to have solid, metal knobs on some future creative gear.

I suppose steampunk is a purposeful conflation of a world of older machines, with their enduring personality, with some of our modern sensibilities. Maybe that evinces a hope to see you do something steampunky for a post? +)
Permalink for this comment Sean Flanagan says: July 16, 2009

I see a direct parallel between design and music in this. The digital age has taken a lot of what used to make music great, and what true artists still strive for: feeling and emotion. You get a great sense of feeling from the type, something that is often lost in desktop publishing.
Permalink for this comment Andrew says: July 16, 2009

Who needs font embedding? ;) Great photo and post. And it’s a beautiful piece of machinery.

What’s intrigued me the most is the box or crate on which the typewriter is sitting. Is that what it shipped in? What’s with the U.S. Army Lab plate?
Permalink for this comment Nick says: July 16, 2009

Great picture, reminds me of the old manual typewriter we had when I was growing up, a gray one that was quite like this.

However, I must critique your typing — I noticed you are only using one space between sentences. Wouldn’t two spaces been the common practice of the day? :) That’s the way I learned even in the early 90s, and I’ve never been able to change, now that the practice has changed. Even now I still hit the space bar twice after every sentence!
Permalink for this comment Marc of Chicago says: July 16, 2009

And no typos!

This makes me long/lust for a Selectric. (I think “Selectric” is longhand for “sex.” It’s the previous era’s version of Apple’s “i” products.)
Permalink for this comment Lee Joramo says: July 16, 2009

This reminds me of a site we did a few years ago for a performance art poet who still writes all of his poetry with a typewriter on lined pages torn from a note book. He wanted to capture the exact look an feel of his writing, including ‘X’ed out deletions.

Check out A Gig in Print
Permalink for this comment Toni says: July 16, 2009

This is just great! I often use American Typewriter font just because! And now, I must, MUST, uncover my dad’s WWII era typewriter and give it a whirl. I just thought displaying it was a cool idea. Nice to see the further step taken—inspiration!
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 16, 2009

@ Andrew

What’s intrigued me the most is the box or crate on which the typewriter is sitting. Is that what it shipped in? What’s with the U.S. Army Lab plate?

That’s my coffee table. It’s an Army footlocker I picked up at a yard sale. I attached wheels to the bottom and store lots of board games in it. It was ideal for this shoot, both because the color was right, but also because it was mobile.
Permalink for this comment Shane says: July 16, 2009

I love seeing the unique style of each of your posts – this one hasn’t disappointed me.
Permalink for this comment Paul Randall says: July 16, 2009

I really like the way Art Direction sites have cropped up recently, and I think this was one of the first I saw.

It really adds another dimension to the post, and I think people appreciate the time and thought which goes into each one.
Permalink for this comment Olivander says: July 16, 2009

I do believe that this is the first typecast I’ve ever seen where the paper was still in the machine! Well done! (And gorgeous Royal!)
Permalink for this comment Chris Robinson says: July 16, 2009

Great to see you’re back, dig the idea and style of the post. Although I’m to young to have experienced using a typewriter, its definitely interesting to think of the textile feel of a mechanical object physically printing the letters on the page as you go versus the plastic, lifeless, electronic world we live in today.

Taking it one step further we’re getting even farther away from buttons and keys with the ever growing line of touchscreen products. Even though some products try to reproduce a textile feeback of a “click” (Verizon Dare, Blackberry Storm), its almost annoying. There’s no substitute for the real thing.
Permalink for this comment Nick says: July 16, 2009

Very very nice
Permalink for this comment Haarball says: July 16, 2009

Yours is the only blog I always open in a browser when there are new entries. Kudos to you. Well written, this was.
Permalink for this comment kevin says: July 16, 2009

20 years ago I learned to type on one of these, except black. I still bang on keyboards and am really rough on them because of the force required on a manual typewriter.
Permalink for this comment Steven Clark says: July 17, 2009

Ah 3 years of High School spent slogging it out for several hours per week on the Olivetti alongside the hottest girls in school – none of who ever went out with me because I did 3 years of typing. :)

All I can say to the footballers now is – hey who’s cool now? Ha ha. Yes the typewriter is an unappreciated thing of beauty, I agree.
Permalink for this comment Dan says: July 17, 2009

Take this beauty down to Starbucks and set up amongst the pretentious psudo-novelists. Once you’ve written something that will inevitably be of greater value than their recylced tripe, leave the page on your table when you leave.
Permalink for this comment James McEwan says: July 17, 2009

Awesome post, that typewriter is one heck of a find too!
Permalink for this comment Dan Rubin says: July 17, 2009

Beautiful, succinct; jealous.
Permalink for this comment Chris Pacheco says: July 17, 2009

Great post and a nice read also.

Would be interesting to see how you took a photo of it, it turned out nicely.
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 17, 2009

@ Chris Pacheco :

Would be interesting to see how you took a photo of it, it turned out nicely.

Basically just trial and error in my apartment for a couple hours with crappy lights and a white backdrop. :)
Permalink for this comment Timothy says: July 17, 2009

“Two penguins were sitting in a bathtub when one of them said ‘Can you pass me the soap?’ The other one said ‘What do you think I am, a typewriter?’”

Best joke my older sister ever told me when we were kids. Still makes us laugh, 30 years later.
Permalink for this comment Mike Clemens says: July 17, 2009

Welcome to the wonderful world of “typecasting!” A number of us do this quite regularly (look at the blogroll on Strikethru

Few of us have yet to combine our typecasts with such wonderful typer-pr0n, though. Well-played!
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 17, 2009

@ Mike Clemens :

Thanks! Some great stuff on Strikethru and your site!
Permalink for this comment Mike.Speegle says: July 17, 2009

I can’t believe that no one in the typosphere thought of this before.

But yes, I agree that objects can influence creativity. Some seem to have actual memories…
Permalink for this comment Strikethru says: July 17, 2009

I have to say, of all typewriters floating around out there that I don’t have, the red RQDL is the coolest one.

Nice post! It’s a new form of the typecasting genre.
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 17, 2009

@ Strikethru :

It’s a seriously gorgeous machine and it’s in fantastic shape. I cleaned it up and tried to fix a few things myself, but in the end took it to a typewriter repair shop in NY to really get it tuned up. That was money well spent. It sings now.
Permalink for this comment Monda says: July 17, 2009

As I said on my blog, I’m so envious I could die. I can’t figure out if it’s because of the typecast or the red Royal.

Probably both.
Permalink for this comment Walt French says: July 17, 2009

Very nice.

Perhaps the periods are bolder — the first thing I noticed; “this is one odd version of Courier” — because the platen (“roller”) has gone soft and the extra PSI pushes the key farther into the paper, fattening out the inked impression.

And is it my imagination, or are we commenters holding back on the usual clichéd LOLisms in the presence of this holy icon?
Permalink for this comment Dave Dawson says: July 18, 2009

It’s funny that you should post this now. I was having a conversation with someone the other day about all the strange things that I have in my apartment. As I looked around the room I realized that 80% of the things in my place were given to me, found on the sidewalk or at a thrift store. Everything I own has its own unique story behind it. One object sticks out in particular. This antique Gramercy chair was given to me by a guy who needed help getting some stuff out of an attic of a house he was trying to sell. The attic was filled with “junk.” I helped him move the things he needed and he told me I could take anything else I wanted. For some reason I was drawn to this chair.

This chair has followed me from apartment to apartment over the last few years. It is so worn in, the stuffing is busting out of the front of the chair and people keep telling me to just toss the thing. I can’t bring myself to do it. Who knows just how old this chair is, and how many interesting people have done who-knows-what in it. There is something about this chair, busting with experience, that for some reason I now have a connection with.

To answer your question, it does inspire me. This chair, in all of its imperfection, is perfect. It is just the way it is supposed to be. I love how real it is, how “alive” it is. Every time someone sits in it, the seams tear a little more and the color fades. It is continually evolving, just like all of us. Who knows where it will end up? Maybe I will eventually get it re-upholstered, maybe it will end up on the sidewalk for someone else to add to its life story. But for now I can sit in it and think about how much this chair and I have in common.

Great post. Thanks for getting me thinking again.
Permalink for this comment Zack Grossbart says: July 20, 2009

I’ve spent far too long intimidated by your designs and this one pushed me over the edge. I stopped wishing and started doing. I took my own pictures and created my own design. The most wonderful property of art is that it inspires others to create. Thank you for this and for the small help with my site.
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 20, 2009

@ Zack Grossbart

Great stuff, and great photo! I’m glad you can find inspiration in the stuff I do here.
Permalink for this comment foresmac says: July 20, 2009

Just an FYI, the punctuation is always bolder because the surface area that strikes the page is much smaller that that of letters and numbers.

Imagine poking your arm with your finger with about, say, 5lbs of pressure. Then imagine putting the same 5lbs of pressure on your arm using a needle instead ;)
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 20, 2009

@ foresmac :

Imagine poking your arm with your finger with about, say, 5lbs of pressure. Then imagine putting the same 5lbs of pressure on your arm using a needle instead ;)

When you put it that way, it makes complete sense. :)
Permalink for this comment Janine says: July 20, 2009

This looks great!

These Royal typewriters were made in a beautiful range of colours. I hope to find a yellow one some day…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uppercaseyyc/sets/72157611176493594/
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 20, 2009

@ Janine :

Thanks! It was your site and love of typewriters that inspired me to pick up one of my own.
Permalink for this comment Tony Krol says: July 21, 2009

Dealing with creative problems personally, in artwork, on client work, and in general can be mighty frustrating at times.

Your thoughts are appreciative to me because just this year I’ve come to realize the connection between the analyzation of aesthetic values in life that are important to me, and how these things transpire into clearer organization, and function in my work.

As I’ve increased analyzation, questioning, and experimenting, I’ve improved as a thinker, a designer, and an artist.

Its not just that I look at my work and think it’s way better, I just have more respect for it.

So through that respect, I don’t have to really worry about “is this work good or better,” I just feel better about being creative.

Or maybe I think I’ve improved because I have more respect for what got me to this point; the little things that make up the history of what I do. (Just like this typewriter as there is so much physical appreciation in which to nerd-out on).

Either way, I think its super important to continue to appreciate little things, examine things; even to the point of doing something seemingly pointless or backwards. Connecting with ideas, and things we aesthetically value will most definitely help improve the outcome of creative problems.

I guess the desire to pin-point aesthetic values really just helps us respect the fact that we are creative and we notice this little stuff…. It all just brings out details, which really helps gain global respect in any industry.

Details matter, having extreme OCD helps.
Permalink for this comment Sean Kelly says: July 22, 2009

Aesthetically I love this, but “holy inaccessible content Batman!”

I’m rather surprised that no one else has chimed in on this.

One of the many image/text replacement schemes would be a very low-overhead way to fix this.
Permalink for this comment Jason Santa Maria says: July 22, 2009

@ Sean Kelly :

I’m rather surprised that no one else has chimed in on this.

Someone did earlier, the text is all there in the source, see for yourself.
Permalink for this comment Shavetta says: July 22, 2009

Awesome. Where can I get one of these typewriters?
Permalink for this comment Christopher Meeks says: July 22, 2009

Bravo! One of these days I want to see a design of yours that I am unimpressed with.

I’m sure it is coming eventually. Or maybe posting fairly infrequently allows you the time to wait for awesomeness…

Let me know when it is coming so I can prepare my constructive criticism in advance.
Permalink for this comment Leonardo Melendez says: July 22, 2009

Noice. I have an antique typewriter. My dad used it to type songs behind old cassettes in his days.
Permalink for this comment Syd Dangerous says: July 26, 2009

You make me want a typewriter so much.
Permalink for this comment Vicki M says: July 28, 2009

Hi Jason! I am a newcomer to your blog, just came across it today per recommendation and, i must say – I’m floored.

First – LOVE this post! What a brilliant approach to conveying your thoughts, gorgeous machine and your writing has such strong resonance. Wow.

Second – love your overall blog!! I’m so excited to start digging through all the archives and start keeping up with the new!

_*Cheers*
Permalink for this comment Izzie Zahorian says: July 29, 2009

Inspiring talk @ galapagos and inspiring post as well!

It’s reminded me of how much I miss craft. I miss touching my work, cutting and molding it. I love technology as much as the next designer, but my fingers have grown increasingly unsatisfied with their normal routine of stroking keypads and tapping buttons.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

On a separate note, would still love to hear your sci-fi flick recommendations!
Permalink for this comment Jetoine says: July 29, 2009

Wow U about blinded me with such small font but nice article though.
Permalink for this comment Chris says: July 30, 2009

thanx for that great picture, i still remember this kind of machines (born in the 60thies), even used it myself ;-)
Permalink for this comment Leo says: August 01, 2009

Somewhere in storage, I’ve got my old portable manual typewriter that someone gave me when I was living in Berlin in the 1980’s.

I like to think that I carry it around in the case that through some doomsday scenario, we no longer have access to computers.

It’s a gem: small and with a keyboard in German so I can type all those Umlauts.
Permalink for this comment Keri Henare says: August 04, 2009

It doesn’t matter how much technology advances, the humble typewriter will always hold a place in my heart. I remember my mother using one a lot when I was very young and the machine intrigued me. I love the sound of the hammers and the slide after each line, you just don’t get the same effect from the tap-tap-tap of a keyboard.
Permalink for this comment j. Anderson says: August 06, 2009

Olde Media that inspires me at home includes my set of rubber stamps. i like making cards (birthday, note, post), and i use not only my collection of Goth-themed imagery, but also my set of letters and numbers. i hand-write the message inside but any other lettering, including the envelope, has to be stamped!
Permalink for this comment StarG says: August 11, 2009

Great!
Good words with cool design, it is amazing.
Permalink for this comment A-to says: August 14, 2009

I have never seen anyone can do so many different stlye for his blog, it is cool !
Permalink for this comment Michael Locke - ML Web Co. says: August 14, 2009

Love the creativity of your blog. That type writer is a classic.