Tuesday 27 November 2012

Singapore, you've been good to me.


Typewriters have been running hot lately almost everywhere but on my own desk. NaNoWriMo has seen the Typosphere reduced to a skeleton crew, while the ICI has been chugging on.

Even my own computer keyboard at home has been feeling largely rejected of late.

It's not that I've lately lost the passion for writing, typing and just generally blathering. But rather I have had a distinct lack of time and energy to be able to just simply - enjoy these little things in life. Not to mention reply to some of the letters that I have received from some of the members of the Typosphere. I really, really need to get onto that. Sorry Ken.

I seem to be missing out on a lot of late. I haven't had the time or mindspace to read Teeritz's latest Bond fan fiction. I haven't had time to mow the lawn, wash the car, or even just... call my sister and tell her that I wont be coming down to Melbourne for Christmas.

I really should get onto that last one. Maybe I'm just procrastinating on that... and the lawn.

Work has been something of theme park mess of late. One moment I'll be on the workplace emotional roller-coaster, only to then jump onto the workload dodgem-cars.
 

In amongst this personal mess, a handful of bright and cheerful people invaded my desk with their wonderful letters and bright and cheerful gifts.



A lot of the Typosphere bloggers may have noticed something interesting of late - a large amount of page views from Singapore. I'd been hearing rumors of a passionate crowd of users and collectors in Singapore for a while, and I was delighted to recieve some letters from some of the Singapore crew.



Not just letters.... Oh no.... But photos of typewriters and a puppy, a bookmark that looks a lot like my Lettera 22, stamps and beautiful envelopes. One of the letters even came bound in a card depicting a wondeful sketch of the writer's Hermes Baby Featherweight typewriter.

Seriously, this was nice stuff.

My lettera 22 looks over my collection of goodies! Look at that awesome bookmark!

Firstly I received a letter from Caroline C, who can be found over at the Inkleaves blog. She was replying to my original ICI letter, but did it in far grander style. A beautiful Lettera bookmark along with the card made from a sketch of Caroline's Hermes machine accompanied the letter in a striking blue envelope. 



On the same day that Caroline's letter arrived, another letter from Singapore appeared in my letterbox. It was another beautifully written letter that was a thank-you note for helping repair a typewriter. It came adorned with gifts and goodies that I also enjoyed. 

But this letter was different. One of the first things I noticed was that the letter had a distinct lack of the sender's details. The writer's name was no-where to be seen! Also it was a thank-you note for helping repair a typewriter that I had not even laid a hand on. Actually, I lived approximately half a country away from the typewriter. Not only that, but the person writing the note had yet to actually touch the typewriter themselves!

Confused? I was a little at first... 

Nat over at the NatsLapTaps blog had a little issue with her Adler Tippa one evening. To help her fix the problem I grabbed my own Tippa and set about dismantling it, and re constructing it while I sent her instructions live via Facebook's chat function. I didn't know it at the time, but the Tippa was to soon be delivered to one of Nat's friends in Singapore, and it was this friend that sent me the lovely little package.

I'm hoping they'll write again soon with their Tippa... this time with their name, so I can write back to them! One good turn certainly deserves another. It was very touching to get a thank-you note like this - so completely unexpectedly.

Speaking of Nat... 

Nat is also from Singapore, but is currently living in the Australian city of Darwin. There's a nice road between my city (Brisbane) and Darwin, but it is hard 3 to 4 day drive through some of the most desolate countryside that I have ever come across. 

Nat also sent me a little envelope with a bit of a treat inside. 


A great little package of Sholes and Glidden themed Post-it notes!

Nat informs me that these are actually pretty rough to use, and are more ornamental than anything. Sounds a bit like the typewriter that it depicts actually. 

But is this all I got from Singapore?

Oh good grief no! 

While all of this was going on, my friend 'Mars' (no, she isn't typewriter people) took a bit of a trip to Singapore. Mars and I often discuss blogging and online goings-on, and you can find Mars's 'Mars on life' blog over here.

Coming back from Singapore with Mars were a couple of very funky little gifts that now sit my desk. Firstly, there's the globe....


Ms Jane floated past my desk not long after I put the globet next to my computer. A subsequent fight to the death ensued, and I only narrowly escaped having the globe stolen and relocated to her desk at work. Which would have been bad, as her desk at work is in a building that was heavily damaged by the storm I mentioned in my last blog entry, and is currently uninhabitable.

But Mars also got me this -- super cool pop culture mouse mat. 

Fraken awesome! 
Just for reference, the mouse is covering Sean Connery's face. 

This awesome stuff is now all over my desk, and I feel really guilty for not responding to anyone's letters and posts of late. Caroline gave me a little prompt on my page the other day, reminding me of her letter (yes... I got it about 2 weeks ago, Sorry!) and as such has prompted me to get off my butt and actually post a blog.

Actually, more accurately she prompted me to get ON my butt and tap out a response on my blog. 

Anyway, thanks a heap guys - you came at just the right time. Singapore, I've yet to visit you... but you're clearly awesome!

15 comments:

  1. Glad that the letter got there safely. I thought maybe with the wonky "2" typeslug on my typer and the number of that numeral in your address, it was all the encouragement the post needed to lose the letter, hah! Sorry to hear you've been having a hard time at work. I'm getting some of that, so I know it can be draining if not immobilising. Hang in there!

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    1. Well, as you can see I was very glad to get it. The '2' key was fine. It is a bit odd that it does seem to be just that little out of whack to the others, but alas! These things happen.

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  2. What a cornucopia! Thanks for sharing. I have also corresponded with a certain enthusiastic typewriter lover in Singapore and wonder whether she's the writer of the anonymous thank-you.

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    1. Claudia I presume?

      They do seem to be a very pleasant crew there in Singapore. They do seem a bit quiet on the blog front!

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    2. And no, it wasn't Claudia.

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  3. Awful when life gets that hectic, Scott. If it's any consolation, I haven't mowed my lawn either...or called your sister, for that matter, probably 'cos I don't know the lady. But I did manage to wash my car. It's over-rated, you're not missing out on anything.
    You got some nice goodies from Singapore, by the way. Looks like the Typosphere is alive and well in the city of the Merlion ( I went there for my honeymoon back in '96. Man those Singapore Slings at Raffles were expensive!)
    And those of us not participating in NaNoWriMo are the keepers of the flame, or rather, the tappers of the keys, during the month of November. That's why I hammered out that Bond fanfic...plus the fact that waiting for "Skyfall" to open was driving me insane. Just saw it a second time tonight. Instant classic. Thanks for the plug, too.
    I trust life will calm itself down a little to allow you to:
    A) Call your sister
    B) mow the lawn
    C) wash the car
    D) make yourself a cup of tea (Earl Grey, black) or a Gin&Tonic (Bombay Sapphire), weather depending
    E) have a seat, put your feet up
    F) read the Bond fanfic

    Take care, sir.

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    1. AH! Bombay Sapphire... Indeed!

      Actually, I managed half the lawn this afternoon..
      I haven't called my sister...
      Or washed the car...

      But. I did see Skyfall, and I was suitably impressed. Looking at seeing it again myself.

      And yes, I hear the Singapore Slings are very expensive at Raffles. And I will probably blow some of my own money the same way one day.

      I'm kinda glad you hadn't called my sister. She'd be very confused about that I'm sure.

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  4. Oh, one more thing- as a Bowie fan, I think your friend Mars came up with a great blog name!

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  5. What a great haul! I'm about to exchange exotic typeface samples with one of the Singapore typewriter fans. She is not a blogger, but appears on the Yahoo forums.

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    1. Would that be Claudia? I speak to her every so often.

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  6. That Lettera bookmark is delightful. Doesn't this just go to show the generosity of those that are sharing the passion for the typewriter?

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    1. Isn't it just?! It's great! I totally didn't expect it!

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  7. Greetings Scott from sunny Singapore!
    And G'day....(sorry i am a little schizo cos I live in Sydney and Singapore for most parts of the year)

    Great stash you got there. I am a friend of Nat and the mysterious letter writer. LOL in fact we are meeting today for a mini type in. =)

    Yes Singapore has quite a few collectors...and we are rather quiet on the blog front. Some of the collectors do blog but not specifically about typers. Most of us are more active on facebook. We even have a small typers groups to share our loot and drool over each others finds.

    We are quite typer mad....some of us, specifically me...even collects typer rubbers stamps (and anything with a typer; cards, tags, notebooks etc so my sweet affliction does not just restrict itself to the machines! My personal collection is a humble 20 of pieces that appeals to me. =)

    I will try and send you a typed letter when I can find the time from my studies/work.

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    1. Well, hello Eve!

      And thanks for replying.

      looking forward to hearing from you, when you get the chance. Thanks for popping in! Rubber stamps? That sounds facinating!

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