人生玩家关于钢笔和打字机的通信 241118 Mon
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今天在 reddit.com 的r/fountainpens版块看到一个好故事。作者是Osgoodbad，他讲述了一次和 汤姆·汉克斯的通信——使用钢笔和打字机。
翻译如下，原文在最后。
我给汤姆·汉克斯写了一封信——他回信了！
几个月前，我看了一部名为《加州打字机》的纪录片。
除了关注一家小型打字机修理店（同名的加利福尼亚打字机）在后打字机时代努力生存的挣扎外，它还关注了许多其他现代打字机用户，以及是什么吸引他们在现在使用这一工具。
从歌曲创作者到作家，再到拆解旧机器以获取零件的艺术家，这确实涵盖了广泛的人群经历。
我最喜欢的部分是关于一个收集“非常规”打字机的人，这些打字机来自于我们当前对打字机的概念固化之前的时代。
但让我印象深刻的是对汤姆·汉克斯的采访，他可能是世界上最知名的打字机爱好者。
他说了很多事情，但让我感触最深的是他提到没人会再制造出“好”的打字机。
我不太擅长写信，但我总是寻找借口来使用我最喜欢的钢笔，而这个观点在我脑海中不断回响。
汤姆·汉克斯说他喜欢每天写点东西。我听说他偶尔会回复粉丝邮件，所以我决定把我的想法写下来，寄信给他的制作公司。
亲爱的汉克斯先生，
我最近看了纪录片《加州打字机》，我想感谢你给我提供了一些视角和思考的食粮。当你提到没人会再制造出“好的”打字机时，我感到对我最喜欢的爱好充满感激。
虽然我一直喜欢使用打字机的想法，但我从来没有真正使用过打字机。我出生的时间正好太年轻，无法玩我爸爸的打字机，但当学校需要打字时，电脑已经开始流行。
我一直对模拟机械小玩意儿充满兴趣。我戴着一块自动手表，因为尽管它在报时上严格来说不如石英表，但我可以惊叹于内部弹簧和齿轮如何保持时间，而石英表则感觉像是魔法。
但我主要的爱好是钢笔，因为我妻子在婚礼上送给我第一支钢笔。我喜欢在纸上书写时笔尖滑动的触感。我喜欢钢笔所能提供的独特效果，这是圆珠笔无法复制的。
我喜欢找到恰到好处的墨水色调，而这种色调是圆珠笔永远无法提供的。
因为尽管钢笔比打字机更古老，而打字机正处于衰退期，钢笔目前正经历复兴。
许多钢笔源自于钢笔的黄金时代，并可以通过一些努力进行翻新。一些型号，如 Lamy 2000，自 1960 年代以来一直在持续、不变地生产。但更令人鼓舞的是新钢笔市场的状况。
一支优质的钢笔，比如白金 Preppy，价格低至五美元，因此入门门槛非常低。像百乐、派克和奥罗拉这样的传统品牌在每个价格区间都推出优质产品，并且不断发布新型号。
他们甚至继续在填墨机制和笔尖上开发新技术，创造出几十年前无法想象的可能性。我们现在拥有的墨水和定制钢笔制造商比以往任何时候都要多，感觉就像有一个全新的世界等待我们去探索。
虽然这个爱好永远不会像钢笔的全盛时期那样广泛，但它为那些渴望简单时代的人们找到了一个小小的避风港。
我相信，作为一个衰退爱好的最后哨兵之一，确实有一种特殊的浪漫。
但你也提醒我要感恩，因为我发现了一个庆祝过去技术的社区，他们将能够将这种兴趣延续到未来。
谢谢。
您真诚的，
Osgoodbad
使用 Edison Pearl 钢笔书写，这支钢笔采用月光晕彩亚克力材质（Moonbow Acrylic），配备宽头斜体笔尖，使用 Monteverde 地平线蓝墨水。
我几个月前写了这封信，对是否能够收到回复并没有抱太大的希望。但写信对我来说就是一种回报，所以我并不在意仅仅发送信件是否就是故事的结局。
但就在几周前，我收到了一封来自 Playtone 的信封，我知道这将是一个非常美好的一天。我撕开信件，里面是我发现的内容：
2024 年 9 月 30 日
Osgoodbad,
打字机和钢笔属于同一家族。除了锤子和铁砧，我想不出还有哪两种工具能像维护良好的打字机和精心照顾的钢笔那样持续工作一千年。
每一个都是作家和用户的见证，二者将永存。
而且，没有人会扔掉用自己的手写的信，或者用自己的手指写的信。
继续使用和钻研吧…我很喜欢 KAWECO 钢笔，特别是搭配森林绿或苔藓绿墨水。
长传，
Tom Hanks
（注：“长传”原文是“Throw deep”，这是“Throw deep ball”的简写，也可以翻译成“投深传球”。这是一种橄榄球进攻战术，指四分卫向场地纵深处传长距离的球。汤姆·汉克斯曾在 reddit 的一篇帖子里说这是他最喜欢的名言，来自奥克兰袭击者队的传奇四分卫 Kenneth Michael Stabler。）
我想我需要写更多的信。这封信对我来说将永远是特别的，因为它是由我崇拜的一个名人写的。但我非常欣赏这封信的“真实感”，以及它是如何写成并寄出的，瑕疵也无所谓。
它写在一张精美的手工信纸上，带有定制的信头，但也包含轻微的打字错误和排版错误。
我相信汉克斯先生是一个非常忙碌的人，他无法抽出我为确保我的信件恰到好处而分配的整个晚上，但我最终得到了一个以自己的方式恰到好处的信件作为回报。
正如他已经提到的，这封信已经被装裱好，将在我的墨水神龛中找到一个新家。我将会寻找更多机会在未来寄信。
（完）
我也喜欢一位网友的回复：
This is such a great reminder of how easily we can connect with people if we slow down, give it a little thought, and make it personal. What a great story.
这真是很好的提醒，让我们意识到只要放慢脚步、稍加思考、用心交流，就能轻松地与他人建立联系。多么温暖的故事啊。
以下是原文
I wrote a letter to Tom Hanks - and he wrote back!
Several months ago I watched a documentary called California Typewriter.
On top of following the struggles of a small typewriter repair shop (the eponymous California Typewriter) as it attempts to survive in a post-typewriter world, it also follows a number of other modern typewriter users and what draws them to this tool in the modern era.
From song-writers to authors to artists who cannibalize old machines for parts, it really runs the gamut for a wide range of experiences.
My favorite segments are from the person who collects “unconventional” typewriters from the time before the design solidified into our current conception of a typewriter.
But the part that stuck with me is the interview with Tom Hanks, who is perhaps the highest-profile typewriter enthusiast in the world.
He said a number of things, but the part that resonated with me was when he said that nobody is ever going to make a “good” typewriter ever again.
I’m not much of a letter-writer, but I’m always looking for excuses to use my favorite pens, and this was a point of view that would not stop rattling around in my brain.
Tom Hanks said that he likes to type something every day, and I had heard that he occasionally responds to fan mail, so I decided to get my thoughts down on paper and send the letter off to him at his production company.
Dear Mr. Hanks,
I recently watched the documentary “California Typewriter” and I wanted to thank you for providing me with some perspective and food for thought. When you mentioned that nobody will ever make a “good” typewriter again, it made me feel grateful for my favorite hobby.
While I’ve always loved the idea of using a typewriter, I’ve never actually used one before. I was born at exactly the right time to be too young to play with my dad’s typewriter, but by the time typing was required in school, the computer was coming into vogue.
I’ve always been drawn to analog, mechanical gadgets. I wear an automatic watch because even though it is strictly inferior for telling the time, I can marvel at how the springs and gears keep time inside, while a quartz watch feels like sorcery.
But my main hobby is fountain pens after my wife gifted me my first one as a wedding present. I love the tactile feel of writing as my nib glides along the paper. I love the unique effects that a nib can provide that can never be replicated by a ballpoint.
I love finding exactly the right shade of ink in a way that will never be provided by a ballpoint.
Because even though fountain pens are even more archaic than typewriters, while typewriters are in a period of decline, fountain pens are currently experiencing a renaissance.
Many pens persist from the golden age of fountain pens and can be refurbished with a bit of effort. Some models, such as the Lamy 2000 have been in constant, unaltered production since the 1960s. But more encouraging is the state of the new pen market.
A quality pen, such as the Platinum Preppy can be had for as little as five dollars, so the barrier to entry is very low. Legacy brands like Pilot, Pelikan, and Aurora release quality offerings in every price bracket and release new models all the time.
They even continue to innovate new techniques into the filling mechanism and nibs, creating possibilities unimaginable decades ago. We have never had more ink or bespoke pen manufacturers than we have now, and it feels like there is a whole world to explore.
While the hobby will never be as wide-spread as it was in the heyday of fountain pens, it’s found a niche as a small retreat for those who yearn for a simpler time.
There is, I’m sure, a certain romance to being one of the last sentinels for a hobby in decline.
But you have also reminded me to be grateful that I have discovered a community that celebrates a technology of yesterday, and who will be able to perpetuate this interest into tomorrow.
Thank you.
Yours Truly,
Osgoodbad
Written with an Edison Pearl in Moonbow Acrylic in a broad Cursive Italic nib with Monteverde Horizon Blue Ink.
I wrote the letter months ago, and didn’t have a huge amount of hope that I would get a response. But writing the letter was its own reward to me, so I didn’t really mind if merely sending the letter was the end of the story.
But then, a couple weeks ago I got an envelope addressed to me from Playtone, and I knew it was going to be a very good day. I ripped the letter open, and this is what I found inside:
30 September 2024
Osgoodbad,
The Typewriter and the fountain pen are of the same family. Other than a hammer and an anviI, I can’t think of twoo tools that will keep working for a thousand years like a maintained typewriter, and a cared-for fountain pen.
Each is a testament to the hands of the writer, the user, and both will last forever.
And, no one will throw away a letter written in ones hand, of with o nes fingers.
Keep up the uses and that expertise..1 and I am a fan of the KaWeCo hountain pen in a forest gree, or moss green ink.
Throw deep,
Tom H anks
I think I need to write more letters. This one will forever be special to be because it was written by somebody that I admire who is famous. But I greatly admire the “realness” of the letter, and how it was written and sent off, warts and all.
It’s written on a fancy piece of craft stationary with a custom letter head, but also includes light keystrokes and typographical mistakes.
I’m sure that Mr. Hanks is a very busy man who cannot afford the entire evening that I allotted myself to make sure my letter was just right, but I ended up with a letter that was just right in its own way in return.
As he has already alluded to, this letter has already been framed and will be finding a new home in my ink shrine. And I will be looking for more opportunities to send letters in the future.
本文由 Claude 3.5 Sonnet 协助完成。