I was joined this time by my colleague David Herr, SJ. Was it the presence of a Jesuit that inspired some heavy topics? In any case, we thoroughly enjoyed making connections to the muses who came by.
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Monday, August 18, 2025
Revolution in the mailbox: Great graphics from south Florida
What a sweet envelope turned up in my mailbox this morning!
Congratulations to Patton Horton on his Constructivist design skills. I'll be replying soon. Meanwhile, you can follow him on Instagram or join his South Florida Typewriter Association on Facebook.
Want to type me a letter? My address is on the envelope.
Friday, August 15, 2025
Book review: V. M. Harrigan, Thaxton Research Institute Report on Sidewalks, Residential Concrete Construction and Extra-Dimensional Combat in Post-War Memphis, Tennessee
The other day, this classic Inter-Department Delivery envelope showed up in my mail.
Freddy and I were quite curious.
Inside was the Thaxton Research Institute Report on Sidewalks, Residential Concrete Construction and Extra-Dimensional Combat in Post-War Memphis, Tennessee.
The 32 unnumbered, glossy pages of this pamphlet include a few maps and photos, and extensive typewriting.
What begins as a prosaic account of the competitive concrete business soon takes a Lovecraftian turn as a centenarian interviewed under hypnosis recounts some mighty strange events.
The presentation of the tale gets points for unusual creativity in packaging and, of course, for being typewritten. The typing looks genuine to me—no phony fonts here—although it should have been scanned at higher resolution in order to avoid some pixelation. (I get a Royal KMM vibe, but that's just a guess.) It's good to see typewriters in use to create intrigue and atmosphere!
Thank you, V. M.!
This publication and others by V. M. Harrigan are available from Manifold House. Next up: Four Doorways In or Near New Orleans, which looks like it will pick up on themes introduced in TRIRSRCCEDCPMT.
Thank you, V. M.!
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Book review: Becky Franzel, Ohhh. Okay. I Think I Get it Now.
Becky Franzel, like Gene Gazelka, is another typospherian who's been through the wringer and made art from it. When her boyfriend committed suicide years ago, she turned grief into writing. She also has a redemptive sense of humor, and she writes the right way:
In a stage play at QWERTYFEST 2024, Becky played a judgmental copy editor.
In the title story, a human female tries to understand a frog secretly named Harold Steven Jones VI.
Yes, Becky has a lot of fun with names. There's "dfk Gary" from "planet dfkjss09sdjfksl," who meets "Earth Gary" in a quick and terminal encounter. And another alien who crash lands in "his old MMNNPuh-Puh-Puh Model 8."
Then there's the portrait of Stevan the Van, Becky's 1979 Chevy that is "nerdy," "clunky," "archaic," and beloved.
In the surreal dystopia "Toyotathon!!!" (maybe my favorite story), in a time after "The Unmentionable Thing," in a landscape "where the omnipresent orange glow of distant fires painted everything in apocalyptic light," a couple of survivors continue the tradition of the yearly car sale ... even though there are no more Toyotas.
Other stories have darker topics—anorexia, death ... but a refreshing and offbeat perspective is never far away.
For an entertaining and unpredictable reading experience, get your hands on a copy of Ohhh. Okay. I Think I Get it Now.
PS: Do you have a story of your own you want to publish? Consider Becky's publishing house, Aw Shucks!
Becky's Instagram:
Monday, August 11, 2025
Book review: G. Gazelka, Bodies in Transition
Cover illustration by Mitch Green
I’ve known Gene Gazelka through Instagram and the typosphere for several years now. He uses a Smith-Corona portable and a Royal standard to write fiction, poetry, and poetic snippets that get posted around town, making life a bit more interesting for those who may run into them. Gene is a trans man who’s been through a lot and turned it into words.
Last year Gene published Bodies in Transition, a collection of poems that each make me stop and reflect. Almost all seem autobiographical. Some are a bit cryptic, others tell the truth without adornment. Some have passages in prose, others make full use of line breaks and the arrangement of words on a page. Gene writes about love, sex, surgery, justice, and injustice.
If you lean left, or you’re not straight and cisgender, you’re more likely to empathize with these poems. If that doesn't describe you, I still recommend this collection as a trip into the experience of someone unlike you. As Gene truly says, “they are worthy of love just as I am.”
It’s not words you ask for, or
to be taken
Yours has been a life of
pain and you seek
care, to be seen,
to be appreciated,
to be re-wrapped
and re-gloved,
for your knuckles
are bloody
You do not have
to be the womb to
the world
It is okay to kiss
the sky when it is
at its darkest
Gene reminds us that
the body is a home and some are lucky
enough to walk safely in it
—while others are not. For them, it is precious to be acknowledged and welcomed as representatives of the gender they desire:
The first time
my name pronounced “Eugene”
from another person’s lips
lit me up
like a holiday festival
Why do so many people take pleasure in cruelty toward those who already feel so much pain? Why do some politicians choose to encourage this cruelty by scapegoating a small and endangered population? Why are so many so bent on reinforcing images of masculinity and femininity that boil down to silly stereotypes, such as the one that Gene quotes in a poem?
Boy: (n) a noise with dirt
on it
I read this line this morning. Later in the afternoon, while strolling through a thrift store, I saw its counterpart on a sign:
How tyrannical and how insecure to insist that girls can’t get dirty, boys can’t get glittery, or bodies can’t flow from one gender to another. Let’s let each individual struggle toward their own form of expression and desire. Gene makes the point with a metaphor that my readers should enjoy:
Each typewriter requires
a different stroke
One must be replaced with a lower
case L on my Royal and Smith-Corona
I have no exclamation point
You cannot see my emotions
Feel the rhythm
Jam
Adjust
Hear the clacking of the keys
Connect to the physical
There is the ink,
the fine print,
my love
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCD116L8
https://www.instagram.com/with_a_gg_/
https://www.instagram.com/g.gazelka.author/