Getting Inked in Portland

Place: Oblation Papers and Press

516 NW 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97209

Innovation:  Public Typing Station on the sidewalk pulls customers into the store

A sign on the sidewalk said, "Public Typing Station." Yes, this was Portland so it is the sort of thing you would expect. On a table were two old school typewriters, loaded with paper and ink. My friend Mary and I each sat down on opposite sides of the table and began typing--she, lyrics from Yeats and me, lyrics from Willie Nelson. "Turning and turning in the widening gyre ... Good Morning, America, how are you?"

Then I looked up to see what sort of place would provide a public typing station. It was a shop called Oblation Papers and Press. Since they had been so generous as to let passers-by type for free, I felt like I should pop in. More than that, I wanted to go inside. I would never go in a store without an explicit need in mind, but this seemed like it would be an experience, not just a store.

Inside, I was drawn to the back where, behind a type-writer laden counter, some women were printing stationary and business cards using actual presses from the 1800s. The place smelled of the old newsroom where I used to work in New York. It was a little bit of heaven for a Mac user who misses being an "ink-stained wretch," as journos call themselves, especially left-handed journos who smear ink all over the place.

So I had to get inked. With the help of a cheerful clerk, I tried out almost every pen they had on offer. She patiently let Mary and I write lyrics from Yeats and Nelson on several pages of a notepad. I nearly got a fountain pen but they blow up on planes or something, so I got me a mighty fine rollerball and now my hands, once again, are covered in ink -- my own version of a tattoo in Portlandia.