Welcome

 Welcome to my new blog, me and my olivetti, the title of which I have not capitalized because. . .well, I am not sure why. I suppose it was to be a bit pretentious by making it all e. e. cummings-esque, though I am not a poetry fan myself. Small matter, though. Let's just chalk it up to selective stylistics, artistic license and all that good stuff.

In the subtitle I state that this blog is "A typecast (and, just as often, traditional blog) broadcasting from the typosphere in southwestern New Mexico."

Hmm. One on earth is that supposed to mean, you might ask, and fair enough. I suppose we can start by defining terms as need be, staring with the word typecast. What on is a typecast? Well, HandWiki defines it as thus:

A typecast (blogging) (a.k.a. typecasting or typecasting blog) is a form of blogging by media type and publishing in the format of a blog, but differentiated by the predominant use of and focus on text created with a typewriter and then scanned rather than text entered directly into a computer.

Another term I threw in the subtitle is typosphere, and a good description of all that can be found here, the essence of which is given as:

A term for bloggers who collect, use, and otherwise obsess over typewriters and other "obsolete" technologies, including, but not limited to, handwriting, pens and ink, paper mail and mail art, knitting and fibre arts, film photography, chip-less combustion engines, and related ephemera. Though typically reclusive, members of the typosphere can sometimes be found lurking around the fringes of rummage sales, swap meets, flea markets, and church fundraisers, hoping to find the one make, model, or color typewriter that will finally complete their collection and bring them true happiness and satisfaction. None have managed this feat yet.

Well, I'm not really a collector, so I don't do too much "lurking" (though I always have an eye out of a pre-1960 Smith-Corona Skyriter), and as for fibre arts? Please. I did weave a short cloth or two back in the day, but that was more due to my interest in gadgetry than any interest in. . . wool. That all said, I don't fall cleanly into that definition of typosphere, but I do share some common some traits, and thus I consider myself a typospherian. Still, while I am attracted by the idea of typecasting in that "isn't that neat" sort of way, I am not dogmatic or maniacal enough to go through all the trouble of typing and then scanning everything I write in order to create a pure typecast. I mean, let me frank, there are few activities as tiresome as scanning.

That all said, I envision this blog as being a sort of hybrid of typecast and traditional blog, the form of each post reflecting its purpose and/or inspiration. . . or even my desire for a challenge on any given day. There is not much reason I can imagine, for example, of doing a post about, say, binoculars for birding in typecast format unless I am proving to myself and the world that I can do it, and I don't see any reason to prove that. I suppose we'll see how I divide my posts in regard to format as things go forward. 

This might lead you to wonder what the topic area of my typecast/blog will be. Naturally, as I was inspired to do this in the first place be my reborn interest in typewriters and typewriting (a later post will go into that story), it is natural that typewriters and typewriting will be topic areas I will frequently touch upon or be inspired by. I don't, however, want to get stuck in that narrow channel. If I do, I'll eventually run out of things to say, and this typecast, like many other typecasts and blogs, will die under its own restrictive weight. So, no, I will include pretty much anything that of interest to me, and that includes a lot of things, such as taichi, camping, travel, Native American flutes, and so on. Hopefully it will all fit together well. If not. . .well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. 

That all said, let's get on with it. I hope you will find things of interest as you make your way through this world I am uploading here, as it is not much fun to make such an effort only to get bored in the end. Let's see how I do. Give me, say, a decade or so.