Almost a typecast!

This Hermes Rocket portable manual typewriter (I suppose it's of the late 1950s: the serial number is 5603454) arrived today. Appears to be 10-pitch Pica. So far, everything is functioning perfectly save for the typist. It is painfully apparent that computer composition has degraded my skillz, such as they are/were. I was very happy the Rocket was properly packaged and the carriage locked for transport. A+++ for the seller! Aside from a new ribbon and a light CLA, I think she is good to go.

For the uninitiated, you can explore an entire blogging subculture in which quaint, seemingly misguided people engage in "typecasting" or "papercasting": uploading facsimiles of typewritten or handwritten pages to express their affection for bygone technologies such as the typewriter, fountain pens, notebooks and other ephemera. Funny word, that, "ephemera". Some might argue that all of the words (to use novelist Mark Helprin's phrase) "written on water"; that is, on the internet, are ephemeral. Whereas those words transcribed to the page via pen, pencil or typewriter, are real the instant they are put to paper.

Unfortunately I do not own a scanner, so a typecast is out for the time being. I tried to photograph the (woefully error-strewn) typewritten page but that didn't turn out so well.

I do promise to keep you posted, and I've promised the kids each a typewriter of their own. When I get around to getting a scanner and when I relearn to type (or at least strengthen my weak pinkie) I'll take a shot at a typecast. BTW, what is it with that word? Could one of you people think up a better one, please? It retains its original meaning in my head and I can't quite think of the word as a positive thing. Please report back ASAP!