Category: Events

You’re invited to a Southern California Type-In!

Date
Saturday, May 10, 2025

Time
1:00 PM onwards

Location
Vroman’s Bookstore
695 E Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91101

2 blocks West of Lake Avenue, which has both East and Westbound exits off of the 210 Freeway.
We’ll be meeting upstairs on the second floor.  Parking available behind the bookstore as well as on surrounding streets. There is a handicapped accessible ramp (from the parking lot in rear) and entrance(s) with an elevator to the second floor as well.

What is a Type-in?

Type-ins are community-based, family friendly events at which typewriter enthusiasts share their love for the analog art of putting ink onto paper with mechanical marvels of the late 19th through 20th centuries. To do this they bring one or more manual typewriters and their knowledge and love of the machines to share with the community. New friends share stories, history, repair tips, working methods, and other typewriterly ephemera. Typists of all ages and levels of ability are welcome.

Typewriters optional
We definitely encourage those without their own machines to attend. With some luck and the kindness of new friends, you should be able to try out a variety of machines which are present in an effort to decide what styles and feel you might consider for purchasing one of your own one day. (Please kindly ask the owners’ permission before trying a machine out.) If you’ve got multiple typewriters, feel free to bring an extra for a friend.

“Like a jam session for people who like typewriters. You had unions do sit-ins and hippies do be-ins, so I thought, ‘We’ll do a type-in.’”
—Michael McGettigan, 56, bike shop owner who coined the phrase

Activities during the afternoon

  • Basic typewriter demonstrations covering: use, maintenance, and repair; how to find/buy typewriters, how to date the year of manufacture of your machine, etc.
  • Type up a message about how much your Mother means to you (May 11th is Mother’s Day)
  • Speed typing contest
  • Writing! (naturally)
    • poetry competition
    • letter and postcard writing;  bring some stationery/envelopes/stamps to write letters to friends & loved ones
    • Typing prompts for those who need inspiration for writing
  • Typewriter Art – composing visual pictures using ink on paper
  • Cadavre Exquis – a dedicated typewriter with paper is set up for participants to compose and write a group story, each taking turns throughout the event at writing one sentence at a time.
  • Impromptu lightning talks of 3-5 minutes on topics like “how to buy a typewriter”, “how to get into home typewriter repair”, “how to work a typewriter into your daily writing routine”, “how to join the Typosphere” etc.
  • Participants are encouraged to type up their experiences of the event for posting to their personal websites (aka the Typosphere).
  • Meet new pen pals to start exchanging letters via typewriter and post
  • Selfies with the typewriter mural on the front of the bookstore.
  • Typewriter repair advice: Have a broken machine and not sure what’s wrong? Get some advice from the community.
  • Bring and share your own ideas… What do you use your typewriter for?

Vroman’s Bookstore

Vroman’s Bookstore is a Pasadena institution and SoCal’s oldest indie bookstore since 1894 (almost as old as the invention of the typewriter itself!) While you’re visiting, be sure to check out not only their book selection, but their gifts and cards; the wide array of notebooks, stationery items and their fantastic fountain pen counter; and their children’s section. Downstairs stop by their and their excellent wine bar or Tepito Coffee Shop which will be open for snacks and beverages throughout the day.

Looking for Typewriter-related books while you’re there? Ask for some of the following:

  • The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist’s Companion for the 21st Century by Richard Polt (Countryman Press, 2015)
  • Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks (Knopf, 2017)
  • Typewriter Beach: A Novel by Meg Waite Clayton (Harper, July 2025)
  • Yankees, Typewriters, Scandals, and Cooperstown: A Baseball Memoir by Bill Madden (Triumph, April 2025)
  • Olivetti by Allie Millington (Feiwel & Friends, 2024)
  • Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin (Simon & Schuster, 2003) as well as other follow up books in the series
Two rows of four typewriters each lined up on opposite sides of a table.
Who’s ready for a type-in?!?

RSVP & Questions

Our meeting space, which is frequently used for author talks and book signings, should be adequate, but please RSVP (with your expected number of typewriters) so we can plan for the appropriate amount of tables and chairs.

Questions? Media queries? Contact: ChrisAldrich@jhu.edu

Save the Date: A Southern California Type-In on May 10, 2025

I’ve been in conversation with a local bookstore in Pasadena to help host a type-in in Southern California. We’re making plans for Saturday afternoon on May 10th from 1:00 PM onward. 

So mark your calendars, limber your fingers, and start tuning up your favorite typewriter(s)! More details and specifics to come shortly. 

If you’re nearby and can spare some time to help volunteer, drop me a line. 

A Book Club Reading of A System for Writing by Bob Doto

Dan Allosso’s (Obsidisan) Book Club will be reading Bob Doto‘s book A System for Writing (2024) as their next selection. Discussion meetings are via Zoom for 2 hours on Saturdays starting on 2024-10-19 to 11-02 from 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM Pacific.  New comers and veterans are all welcome to attend.

The book is broken up into 3 parts (approximately 50-75 pages each) and we’ll discuss each on succeeding weeks. The group has several inveterate note takers who are well-acquainted with Zettelkasten methods. 

If you’d like access to the Obsidian vault, please email danallosso at icloud dot com with your preferred email address to connect to the Dropbox repository.

DM either Dan or myself for the Zoom link for the video meetings.

Dark blue book cover of Bob Doto's A System of Writing featuring a network-like snowflake image.

Replied to Micro.blog Analog Tools Meetup by cygnoircygnoir (cygnoir.net)
Nearly two years later, I’m reviving the idea of a Micro.blog meetup for analog tools like paper and notebooks, pens and ink, pencils, stationery, planners and journals, typewriters, index cards, etc. Thirteen intrepid fans of analog tools filled out the survey last time, and the majority thought a one-hour Zoom meeting each month would be the best way to start. Timing is everything, in so many realms, and this one is no different. I’m available to host this meetup every third Saturday of the month from 9-10 a.m. PST. That would make our first meetup on Saturday, January 20th.
Typed index card that reads: "@cygnoir: I'm all in for this! Let me know the zoom details when it's set. Thanks for taking the initiative for setting this up for the community. Bestest, @chrisaldrich" Followed by a signature . On top of the index card is a demonstrator fountain pen.
RSVPed Attending IndieWebCamp San Diego 2023
The first annual IndieWebCamp San Diego is scheduled for December 16 and 17th! The venue will be the Blackmarket Bakery (until 4pm). They have a nice fenced in courtyard of good size with several table sizes, shade, power, etc. and is centrally located in San Diego, CA with easy access to transportation and other amenities.
This looks like a great weekend coming up. Can’t wait to see everyone in person.
RSVPed Attending Tinderbox Meetup - Sunday, May 7, 2023: Connect with Sönke Ahrens live, the author of How to Take Smart Notes
Time: Sunday, May 7, 2023, 12:00 noon Eastern Time (US and Canada)
9 AM Pacific Time
Zoom link for the meetup: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8850659900?pwd=ZE9ROUs1czNiK2FTTStjTUJuVkIydz09 4
Agenda
This one is going to be fun! Sönke Ahrens, the author of How to Take Smart Notes 12 will join our meetup on May 7th. Let’s start a thread on what we’d like to review with him. The meetup is not for a couple of weeks. If you have the time, I highly suggest you grab a copy and give it a read.
The Tinderbox crowd has been doing lots of solid zettelkasten related material recently.

📅 RSVP to Early Tools For Thought, with Mark Bernstein | Tools for Thought Rocks!

RSVPed Attending Early Tools For Thought, with Mark Bernstein

Mark Bernstein of Eastgate Systems, Inc., is the designer of Tinderbox: https://www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/ 

​Join Mark as he turns back the clock to examine some early Tools For Thought, and the people who created them. There’s quite a lot to learn from both, as well as a research literature that repays study.

​The infinite canvas as a thinking space now has a long history, but few of the early systems are well known.  I think some of them might be worth a brief look, in terms of the ideas they brought forward and in terms of the tasks they sought to address.  For example:

​Sketchpad: Ivan Sutherland’s system from the 1960 kicked off interactive computer graphics AND object-oriented programming.

​NLS/Augment: Doug Engelbart’s original outliner, the first system that explicitly sought to be a tool for thought.

​Xanadu: Ted Nelson’s early proposal for a hypertext docuverse.

​Storyspace: the first system intended for non-sequential narrative. Introduced in 1987 and still in use today.

​Intermedia: a platform for digital pedagogy, developed at Brown and BBN. 

​KMS: a hypertext system for technical documentation, the source of Akscyn’s Law

​Microcosm: A hypertext system based chiefly on contextual links, the ancestor of all sculptural hypertext.

​Aquanet: the 1990 system from Halasz, Trigg, and  Marshall at Xerox PARC, described as a tool to hold your knowledge in place.

​VIKI: the first spatial hypertext system, designed by Cathy Marshall as a reaction to Aquanet and the start of an enormously influential line of research

RSVPed Attending IndieWeb Create Day
Share ideas, create & improve our personal websites, and build upon each other's creations. Whether you’re a creator, writer, blogger, coder, designer, or just someone who wants to improve their presence on the web, all skill and experience levels welcome. Breakout rooms available for those who want to collaborate on the same topic.
After a week that highlighted some of the massive continuing failures of Facebook, there’s never been a better time to join the IndieWeb. Come join us in creating and working on your own website.

Gardens and Streams II: An IndieWebCamp Pop-up Session on Wikis, Digital Gardens, Online Commonplace Books, Zettelkasten and Note Taking

Event Details

Date: Saturday, September 25, 2021
Time: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM Pacific
Event page: https://events.indieweb.org/2021/09/gardens-and-streams-ii-pPUbyYME33V4

We’ll discuss and brainstorm ideas related to wikis, commonplace books, digital gardens, zettelkasten, and note taking on personal websites and how they might interoperate or communicate with each other. This can include IndieWeb building blocks, user interfaces, functionalities, and everyones’ ideas surrounding these. Bring your thoughts, ideas, and let’s discuss (and build).

This will be a continuation of the ideas from the Garden and Stream pop up session in 2020. Everyone is welcome and need not have attended prior sessions.

Format

We’ll try to do something between a traditional all day IndieWebCamp and a single session pop-up over the span of several hours so that we can accommodate a brief introduction and three BarCamp topic related sessions. Feel free to brainstorm session ideas in advance of the mini-camp, but we’ll choose session topics the morning of the event.

Tentative Schedule

All times Pacific.

  • 9:00 AM 30 minute introduction & IndieWeb building blocks
  • 9:30 AM 20 minute session pitches and scheduling
  • 9:50 AM 10 minute break
  • 10:00 AM 60 minute Session 1 (including 10 minute break)
  • 11:00 AM 60 minute Session 2 (including 10 minute break)
  • 12:00 PM 50 minute Session 3
  • 12:50 PM 10 minute closing remarks
  • 1:00 PM pop up finished

Hack day? Yes, we’ll all gather the following day for 3 hours at roughly the same time with a short demo session to follow for folks to show off what they’ve been working on. Details for this will be forthcoming.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

Resources

RSVP (optional)

And if none of the above methods means anything to you or you can’t log in to use them, don’t worry about it; just show up on the day!

Questions? Concerns? Volunteers?

Feel free to ask in the IndieWeb chat: https://chat.indieweb.org/indieweb/ or post a question below or on the call for volunteers post.

Planning for Gardens and Streams II: An IndieWebCamp pop-up session on Wikis, Digital Gardens, online Commonplace Books, and note taking

Following this past week’s I Annorate 2021 note taking sessions and the original Gardens and Steams IndieWeb pop up event last year, I thought it wold be a good idea to have a structured and open follow up.

I’ve sketched out some ideas on the IndieWeb wiki at https://indieweb.com/2021/Pop-ups/Sessions#Gardens_and_Streams_II. Feel free to share your ideas there or indicate your interest and preferred dates. If you have ideas for discussion sessions within the pop up, feel free to start sharing those as well. These should be discussion oriented. Depending on interest/demand we can add additional tracks, days, and times as necessary.

You can also use the IndieWeb #meta chat as well. See their chat page for other methods for joining the chat using your favorite platform.

This will be a volunteer-led BarCamp style online event, so help in organizing and executing is greatly appreciated. The more help we get, the easier it is to do and the more we can potentially accomplish. Participants must agree to abiding by their Code of Conduct.