Rooy: Who knew they made typewriters this small?

 

Typecast in progress - I really miss the 1.5 spacing option (nonexistent on the Rooy). This was pleasant enough to type, but one really does have to do some amount of hunting and pecking as not all of the letters play nice all the time, particularly the "a".

Line alignment is also merely a vague notion on the Rooy, but I have long since resigned myself to that. This is more of a once-in-a-while typer, and I'm just glad it works enough to type whole pages with. If you haven't already seen it, don't forget to check out Georg's video of himself using this Rooy.

For my last post on the Rooy during the winter, I had to resort to pictures taken indoors. So I took the opportunity this spring to get some better-lit photos of the typewriter.

From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I prefer the look of the first generation Rooy, like this one. However, the chances of finding one of those with a usable qwerty or qwertz keyboard is quite slim, so I am very content to have more or less the same mechanism in this model.

 

The light blue-green color is pleasant to look at, somewhat reminiscent of the later Hermes signature green (as seen on the curvy 3000). My only gripe is with the ridges on the ribbon cover - I suppose they create some visual interest, but I would have preferred it plain. 

And here it is, closed. Slimmer than a '40s Hermes Baby! (And if you have one of those, you know they have a really low profile.)

The General Post Office in Accra, April 2010. Greeting card and stationery vendors in the foreground, and there's a news stand as well. No typewriters were to be seen - I suppose the ubiquitous internet cafes have taken over letter writing duties. It would have been fun to observe one of those men in action all those years ago, a sight which I understand is still to commonplace in some parts of India.

Typecast: Paralysis by analysis

I'm shelving the scanner-free typecasts for now, at least until I can (a) figure out how to photograph an A4 page nicely - a tall order, I'm sure, or (b) get into the habit of writing on several smaller pages, and (c) get back into typecasting regularly, period! Having this giant scanner on my shelf prods my conscience, so I might as well use it. Which does not mean I cannot show you my new ink blotter, perched on the Tippa S...

... or another book I picked up gratefully because typewriters are not the only machines lying fallow in my house. Yes, I have a sewing machine that, once upon a time, I was going to teach myself to use. In my defense, this is the first instruction book in English I have come across since purchasing said machine a year ago - so now I have no excuse, right? Except too few hours in the day. Sigh. I'll figure it out somehow, perhaps even craft an ugly skirt out of a hideous shirt one of these days. Can't wait.

A glimpse at the shelves in the Salvation Army's English section. A rather impressive selection of not-that-old literary bestsellers, if I may say so myself. Also reminds me of books I've been meaning to read but never got past the first few pages of (Kite Runner, White Teeth), others I downloaded but didn't get around to starting yet (What is the What) and a couple I have heard good things about haven't picked up (American Pastoral, Elegance of the Hedgehog).

Given Switzerland's proximity to the UK, the English-speaking population is skewed decidedly British, as you can imagine, a preference that shows up in the used book selection as well. Now, I don't know who this Jeremy Clarkson fellow is, but I was amazed to find this omnibus - three of his books in one, a hefty tome indeed. Publishers are still doing this? Is he really that funny? Who wants to carry this much text around in this day of ever-shrinking digital devices? Obviously the owner thought better of it - the book looked untouched.

Just the concept of the omnibus book brought on waves of nostalgia - ah, the Nancy Drew/ Hardy Boys/ Enid Blyton/ Sweet Valley omnibuses I have sought after and cherished, savoring every page! I miss 11-year-old me. My new resolution is to keep an eye out for those books and reread them for old times' sake, particularly the Blyton stories... you know, I think the Salvation Army would be a great place to start; they have a small English YA section that I shall take a closer look at next time.

Typecast: Trying something new

I love these outdoor displays - there you are, taking a walk along the lake, enjoying the scenery... and bam! You get to enjoy some thought-provoking art as well, without all the effort of actually going to a gallery or museum. Brilliant, really.

I vaguely recollect having seen posters for this around town, but I didn't read close enough to realize it was an outdoor exhibition. That said, coming across it by surprise was a happy accident. Zebra conversation translated: "As for me, my father is black and my mother white. ... And for me it's the opposite!"

Many of the cartoons were rather violent in nature, understandable if unsettling. On a pleasant albeit cloudy day in peaceful Switzerland, we were briefly transported to the restive locales we hear and read so much about in the news through the artwork of their citizens. I found myself hoping that wherever they were, these defiant defenders of free speech were all right, and would be able to continue their important work.