Mr. Type\u00adwriter<\/a>. The one he sent me had the clas\u00adsic \u201cLit\u00adtle Old Lady\u201d sto\u00adry: it had sat in a woman\u2019s clos\u00adet for over fifty years, tak\u00aden out only three or four times to type a let\u00adter. It was made before WWII, so it has about 10 times more steel than it needs, but I\u2019m not com\u00adplain\u00ading.<\/p>\nThe main point about writ\u00ading with type\u00adwrit\u00aders is that they\u2019re an anti-tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy. For one thing, it takes con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adable prac\u00adtice to type well on a typewriter\u2014especially a man\u00adu\u00adal, which you won\u2019t be able to use if your fin\u00adgers aren\u2019t strong. This means that you need to write slow\u00ader, and as a result you find your\u00adself choos\u00ading your words more care\u00adful\u00adly. Also, since they\u2019re only good for typ\u00ading, there\u2019s no email, porn or video games to dis\u00adtract you.<\/p>\n
As for pen\u00adcils, they may be slow\u00ader (a lot slow\u00ader, in fact), but they\u2019re reli\u00adable. I also like the process of sharp\u00aden\u00ading them. (Think of Spe\u00adcial Forces sol\u00addiers sharp\u00aden\u00ading their Bowie knives before a covert op.) If I\u2019m work\u00ading in pen\u00adcil that morn\u00ading, I\u2019ll usu\u00adal\u00adly pull out a dozen or so fresh ones and sharp\u00aden them until the points could pen\u00ade\u00adtrate the hide of a shark. When one becomes dull, I move it to the back of the line and rotate them until it\u2019s time to sharp\u00aden all of them again. For the record, like an expert wine taster, I\u2019ve sam\u00adpled just about every pen\u00adcil out there, and if you\u2019re search\u00ading for the per\u00adfect pen\u00adcil, let me save you some time. The fol\u00adlow\u00ading are the three best (not in order because each one is great for its own rea\u00adsons):<\/p>\n
* The Mira\u00addo Black War\u00adrior \u2014 Any\u00adtime they show a cup of pen\u00adcils on a movie or TV show, these are the ones you see. Says Alexas, \u201cThey\u2019re black, so they don\u2019t stand out in a pic\u00adture.\u201d Besides being pho\u00adto\u00adgenic, the Black War\u00adrior is round and won\u2019t hurt your fin\u00adgers dur\u00ading long writ\u00ading ses\u00adsions (they were Steinbeck\u2019s favorite for this rea\u00adson). Also, the lead, while not hard\u00ader than oth\u00ader #2s, is more resilient, so you get few\u00ader annoy\u00ading breaks.<\/p>\n
* Sta\u00adples brand \u2014 Believe it or not, these are con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly good pen\u00adcils. What\u2019s bet\u00adter, they\u2019re cheap. A box of 72 might run you four bucks. Although they\u2019re the old-school hexag\u00ado\u00adnal shape, the lead is nice and dark, and the erasers work well.<\/p>\n
* Staedtler Noris ergosoft \u2014 Made in Ger\u00admany, these are almost impos\u00adsi\u00adble to get in the U.S. When I first dis\u00adcov\u00adered them four or five years ago, Sta\u00adples and oth\u00ader places car\u00adried them. Then, for some rea\u00adson (either they weren\u2019t pop\u00adu\u00adlar enough or they were too pop\u00adu\u00adlar, out\u00adselling the oth\u00ader brands), they sud\u00adden\u00adly dis\u00adap\u00adpeared. After going with\u00adout them for a few months, I final\u00adly tracked down an obscure whole\u00adsaler out of Illi\u00adnois that car\u00adried them and had to order a gross. But why do I like them?<\/p>\n
First, they have a tri\u00adan\u00adgu\u00adlar grip, so they\u2019re ergonom\u00adic. Sec\u00adond, they have a rub\u00adbery coat\u00ading that gives with pres\u00adsure (soft), so your lit\u00adtle fin\u00adgies don\u2019t get bruised. The lead is a rich black (although it breaks a lit\u00adtle too often for my taste) and the coat\u00ading has an aes\u00adthet\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly pleas\u00ading black & yel\u00adlow design. The only down\u00adside to these pen\u00adcils, besides their rar\u00adi\u00adty, is that they don\u2019t have erasers. If you nev\u00ader make any mis\u00adtakes, you\u2019ll be fine.<\/p>\n
** As an adden\u00addum, fol\u00adlow\u00ading is a lit\u00adtle video of me using some of my type\u00adwrit\u00aders. This video was filmed by my friend Jason Scott a few years after this blog entry orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly appeared. It\u2019s titled \u201cEquip\u00adment Test\u201d because he\u2019s a doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary film\u00admak\u00ader and was test\u00ading out his new cam\u00adera equip\u00adment.<\/p>\n
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