Auditions

Typed on Zsa Zsa, an Olivetti-Underwood Studio 44

The Unexpected

Typed on Zsa-Zsa, an Olivetti-Underwood Studio 44

Vanishing touch

I will blame most of the mistakes in this typecast on the fact that this is really the first time I've used Zsa Zsa for anything longer than a typing test, and so was distracted by a drying/fading ribbon and not knowing her touch. Yes, the irony is not lost on me. What is very much my fault is that Strikethru said that pinkies will go away, not ring fingers. This is a much more sensible, and a mistake I did not see until I was several lines down the page.

Curse the first-draft nature of typecasts!

• Apple keyboard
  

Retail therapy

I've had the best luck at Goodwill, defining "luck" as "tripping over typewriters." Today was a rare day in that I was actually dropping off stuff rather than shopping for stuff. And isn't that always the way...

Olivander writes a test-poem, I run through the keys on an index card.

When you least expect it, bang. Fate clubs you one in the kisser. I've been looking with envy at shopgoodwill.com, resigning myself to the likely fact that any machine won there involves the added gamble of interstate shipping, something that still foils many collectors on eBay. Tot up the winner cost + shipping charges, and suddenly that $7 bargain machine costs $40 or more, and since I can't do the usual ritual of try-before-you-buy, I've been wary. None of the participating stores on the web site are anywhere near me.

As I bent down to drop off the box of clothes, I caught the unmistakeable shape of a typewriter case. A quick peek, and off to the registers, tally ho! Inside:

• Olivetti-Underwood Studio 44, a twin to the one pictured on Will Davis' site
• A small paper bag containing a ribbon purchased twenty years ago from the now defunct local typewriter service place
• The original? brushes
• An eraser shield and eraser

Initial impressions:

• It's freaking huge for a portable, and heavy, too. Will says that these are sometimes called "semi-portable" and I can see why. Once the adrenaline rush wore off, lugging it is a chore.
• The case is fuzzy inside. Not mold-fuzzy, but soft-fuzzy. Fabric-lined, and powder blue. Wild.
• Obviously a yard-sale leftover, as it's still sporting a "$10" sticker on the ribbon cover. Arrgh. Goodwill does not honor other people's prices, though to be fair, I snatched it from the donation section.
• Giddy, giddy, giddy. My .com envy has been abated for now.

UPDATE: Zsa Zsa's first portrait.