Proof of life before QWERTY's.
I have always been a bit romantic about old things. Maybe it's their design. Maybe it's the nostalgia factor. I am always struck by the quality of the craftsmanship that was either a necessity of the age they were created in or just a mark of the pride in manufacturing quality.
Somehow I feel like they communicate, either through the history they hold or the imagined life that they led.
As for this remarkable artifact I think I am intrigued by the alien nature of it. Being so completely different from the Smith-Corona style typewriter that I grew up with and knew, it seems more wild and creature like. I even see a woman's skirt (minus the paper carriage)but more than that it seems whimsical in comparison to my MacBook and perhaps more like it means business at the same time.I am transported to a post apocalyptic or post oil futuristic world, a la "Brazil", "12 Monkeys" or "9". I am struck by its duality... complex and uncomplicated, powerful and unassuming,primary and obsolete, ingeuity and simplicity... where the only battery powering the machine is the beating heart of the user.
- just some poetic wax
Without Wax,
So one of my advisee's (who shall remain nameless) brought to my attention the idea, or really the possible etymology, behind the word "sincere."
It turns out that "sincere" or sine cera meaning literally without wax is one of the, highly debated, possible roots of the word "sincere."
Explained here by a wiki source "An often repeated folk etymology proposes that sincere is derived from the Latin sine = without, cera = wax. According to one popular explanation, dishonest sculptors in Rome or Greece would cover flaws in their work with wax to deceive the viewer; therefore, a sculpture "without wax" would mean honesty in its perfection. [Rob Kyff. The whole ball of facts about wax.Hartford Courant (Connecticut). LIFE; Pg. D2. April 17, 2002.]
While this origin of the term is likely not accurate, I find it quite poetic that a word that is synonymous with genuineness and truthfulness is potentially linked to art . The fact that many have tried to prove that this sense of honesty in workmanship and excellence of accomplishment are the root origin for such a potent word.