Going Old School in October


Autumn was upon them. Here and there, leaves struggled to turn color, and the day was cloudy and cool. from Karen Cushman's Grayling's Song


It started with buying a journal (or two) embellished with photos of old typewriters or QWERTY art. Then I rediscovered a vintage Underwood typewriter in our basement. My husband reminded me that his mother bought it at a garage sale and toted it home for her five children. It now sits in our living room with various black and white postcards (Samuel Beckett, Flannery O'Connor, et al) dressing it up. 

I have typewriter stickers and artwork. I have books about typewriters. When I text, the sound is a clickety-clack straight from a 1950s typing pool.

After hemming and hawing for a few months, I reached a decision today. Sitting in the back seat of my car is a typewriter. Black. Metal. Not electric. It has an ink ribbon. It won't self-correct. It won't offer suggestions of similar words.

Why is there a typewriter in my back seat? I'm not a total Luddite. I depend on the Internet for wide-ranging searches. For news updates. For shopping/browsing. But I also feel sad when I scan a restaurant and see entire groups seated together, heads down and texting, posting or searching. Or people taking selfies continuously during a concert while not paying any attention to the singer/musician on the stage.

We're incredibly connected and totally disconnected at the same time.

Why is there a typewriter in my back seat? I want to hear the clickety-clack and see words magically appear on paper, not just on a screen. I want to reverse decades and be 17 again with a typewriter, crisp white paper, a plot and a dream. I want to hear the crank as I roll in the sheet of paper and listen to the ping(!) of the carriage return lever.

It may be another whim that I'll regret by the end of the year. But it'll be fun getting there.

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October is Children's Magazine Month, Emotional Wellness Month, National Art and Humanities Month, National Cookbook Month (yum), Photographer Appreciation Month, National Go On a Field Trip Month and National Stamp Collecting Month.

If that doesn't keep you busy, look for new thrillers/mysteries by John Grisham,Stephen King, Vince Flynn, John Sandford, Stuart Woods, Tana French or Charlaine Harris. If you enjoy tales told by celebrities, this is your lucky month. Check out books by Dolly Parton, Bryan Cranston, Brian Wilson, Phil Collins, Elvis Costello (new in paperback), and Princess Leia herself - Carrie Fisher. More ideas? Try Randy Wayne White, W.E.B. Griffin, Jennifer Weiner, J.K. Rowling, Jodi Picoult, George R.R. Martin, Maria Semple, Elin Hilderbrand, Karen Kingsbury, Alexander McCall Smith, Pat Conroy, Debbie Macomber, Mary Engelbreit, Laurell Hamilton, Nancy Grace, Iris Johansen, David Macauley and Stan Lee.


                                               October Days


2-8-     Great Books Week

4-        National Taco Day (perfect for National Cookbook Month)

5-        In 2000, series premiere of Gilmore Girls 

6-        American Libraries Day

7-9-     National Storytelling Weekend

13-      Silly Sayings Day

16-22  National Friends of Libraries Week

17-23  Freedom of Speech Week

25-31  International Magic Week

28-      National Chocolate Day

30-      Checklist Day

31-      Boo! 

      
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