FeedCity: Chris Aldrich

Chris Aldrich
12 Dec 00:00 • Chris Aldrich

Lochby Field Folio A6 with Hobonichi A6 notebook, pens and pencils on a wooden table with some ceramic Christmas tree decorations on a nearby lazy susan

I recently asked the kind folks at Lochby “if the Folio A6 will comfortably fit 25-50 standard 4 x 6″ index cards which are slightly larger than an A6 notebook? If not, is it something you might consider for some of us ‘Hipster PDA’ tribe members in the future?” Erring on the side of caution … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
12 Dec 00:00 • Chris Aldrich

Brodart has recently discontinued their salmon card index cards with pre-drilled holes #23-188-218. This has been a shift since the summer of 2025, though they’re still carrying the standard salmon index cards (without predrilled holds for card catalog rods). A conversation with their customer service team seems to indicate there aren’t plans for discontinuing their … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
04 Dec 00:24 • Chris Aldrich

Fundamentals Of Hypercomplex Numbers | UCLA Extension

Majestic green tree in front of the 3 story brick building that is part of the Math Sciences Building at UCLA

Dr. Michael Miller, a retired researcher at RAND, has been teaching upper level undergraduate/graduate level math courses for fun at UCLA Extension for over 50 years. This winter, he’ll be introducing hypercomplex numbers to those interested in abstract math: Fundamentals Of Hypercomplex Numbers. His courses are thorough and rigorous, but geared toward lifelong learners and beginners … Continue reading Fundamentals Of Hypercomplex Numbers | UCLA Extension

Chris Aldrich
27 Nov 00:12 • Chris Aldrich

I now have definitive written proof of a numeric indexing system (delineated in a popular textbook for secretaries, and published by a company which did significant business in Germany) from the mid-1920s with increasingly more detail into the 1940s and a fifth edition published in 1950. It’s exactly like, but notably predates, Niklas Luhmann’s alphanumeric … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
25 Nov 19:30 • Chris Aldrich

Twenty Four Correspondence Filing Systems

While digging about in indexing and filing systems, I ran across this chart created by the Oxford Filing Supply Company for a special Filing Supplies section of the May 1934 issue of Office Appliances magazine (Volume 59, Issue 5). It delineates the broad characteristics of most of the major commercially available filing systems of the … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
22 Nov 00:41 • Chris Aldrich

Zettel of the Year Awards

A black granite "index card" sits on a desk in front of a two drawer Shaw-Walker card index.

In preparing for some of my end-of-the-year review from my card index, I thought it would be interesting to choose the “Best Note of the Year”. Then it thought it might be worth choosing a “Best Insight”, “Most Surprising Note”, and a “Best Folgezettel” as well. And if you’re going to give out an award, … Continue reading Zettel of the Year Awards

Chris Aldrich
18 Nov 17:18 • Chris Aldrich

Banner that reads IWC San Diego IndieWebCamp 2025

This has been one of my favorite events for the past two years, and after a rough 2025, this is a great way to cap off the year. Even better, Tantek has already suggested a session on card catalogs that’s right up my alley: https://indieweb.org/2025/SD#Session_ideas.

Chris Aldrich
18 Nov 07:21 • Chris Aldrich

Wooden table with a green hardcover copy of Principles of Indexing and Filing on top of a copy of the fourth edition featuring a filing clerk on the cover. Next to the books is a yellow library catalog card for the first edition of the books.

The first section is on the rules of alphabetization and indexing to standardize the space of ordering cards for both people’s names and company names. The second section covers some history on basic filing techniques and then goes into alphabetic, geographic, numeric, and subject indexing methods. The final sections cover the L.B Automatic (Library Bureau), … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
18 Nov 01:27 • Chris Aldrich

Portion of a book page featuring an image of a card catalog tray full of index cards. In the front is a tab for November followed by 1/5 cut tabs numbered 1-31 followed by tabs for the months December - October.

Watching people online chat, ask questions, and generally get excited about their planners for 2026, I thought I would spend a few minutes to set up my Memindex-inspired planner version using 4 x 6″ index cards and tabbed dividers. It’s amazing how useful a $2.50 block of 500 index cards can be for planning out … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
14 Nov 16:24 • Chris Aldrich

Yellow library index card with red lines and typed book details for Principles of Indexing and Filing.

Chris Aldrich
11 Nov 21:15 • Chris Aldrich

You’re Invited to Another Southern California Type-In!

View of the front street entrance of Vroman's Bookstore. An elegant purple lettered sign hangs over the door. In the foreground is an artistic and quirky plastic red "chair" in front of a Little Free Library box. On the adjacent wall is the window for Tepito Coffee with a yellow lettered sign. Beside this is a painted wall mural featuring a typewriter painted in red with a page coming out of it that reads: I will forever be in love with you. And that's not fiction.

“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 With attendees from 8 months old to over 80, our Spring type-in was so successful, we’re hosting another one before … Continue reading You’re Invited to Another Southern California Type-In!

Chris Aldrich
07 Nov 06:39 • Chris Aldrich

There’s so much interesting to like in this post, but of particular interest to me is Gloria Steinem’s use of Wilson’s Memindex as her diary/to do list in 1960! Special thanks to my new friend Julian O’Shea who tipped me off to this little bit of history.

Chris Aldrich
05 Nov 22:06 • Chris Aldrich

Almost desk level view of a Dazor desk work lamp from the right side showing the subtle but blocky curves and the art deco-style lines. The lamp is pushed up slightly so we can see the two 18" long LED fluorescent-style bulbs. It sits on an oak card index box next to a brass raven desk decoration.

I had the ballast replaced to work with modern LED replacement bulbs and the switch upgraded to be able to control each of the two bulbs independently. I also cleaned of decades of grime and polished it up a bit. Thrift purchase for $24.98 from Goodwill on 2025-10-02.

Chris Aldrich
05 Nov 22:06 • Chris Aldrich

An interview set up with Susan Orlean in a chair on the left and David Perell facing her on the right. The background is a dark academia-esque set of bookshelves with old, vintage books and a handful of decorative book supports. Principle among these is a vintage Underwood standard typewriter which instead of standing by itself is being used to prop up a section of books which butts right up against it.

You know a typewriter is being used as flimsy filler decoration when it’s sitting on a shelf and simultaneously serving as a book support. A real writer’s typewriter is free and clear so that the carriage can move its full length.

Chris Aldrich
03 Nov 04:00 • Chris Aldrich

Typewritten score card for Game 7 of the World Series 2025

Last baseball game of the year.

Chris Aldrich
02 Nov 00:05 • Chris Aldrich

A black wooden "altar" with a black and cream colored Remington 666 typewriter sits next to a cocktail glass of blood red liquid. In the corner stands a kindergartener's black bat Halloween craft/decoration.

Samhain or All Hallows Eve when the boundary between the living and the dead has been blurred seems the best time to pull out the Remington 666 with the blood red ribbon and brew up a similarly colored Boulevardier cocktail to write about our wishes for the coming new year. Sláinte! How are you celebrating?

Chris Aldrich
31 Oct 10:24 • Chris Aldrich

An old fashioned glass with a large square ice cube and an eerie , blood red cocktail chills in front of a large gray Royal KMG typewriter. In the background a work lamp illuminates a group of books on a book case.

The blood red of the boulevardier works well on the night before Samhain. I’m pairing it with the 1950 Royal KMG (pica) to write about the ghosts of the year past.

Chris Aldrich
30 Oct 00:03 • Chris Aldrich

Typewritten index card which reads: Dear Trader Joe's: I suspect that if you move your sweet and dry vermouths out of the wine section and into the hard liquor section near the bourbon, gin, and vodka, you'll sell not only a lot more of the vermouth, but you’ll sell far more of the base liquors with them.

Chris Aldrich
30 Oct 00:03 • Chris Aldrich

Royal KMG typewriter on a desk with two piles of Greetings from Altadena postcards heaped in front of it. One of them is in the carriage ready to be typed on.

It’s been a rough year for a number of reasons, but I’ve bought a hundred postcards to try to catch up with people. Kindly send me your address if you haven’t heard from me in a bit and need proof of life.

Chris Aldrich
28 Oct 21:18 • Chris Aldrich

How do you use your typewriter? [Wrong Answers Only Edition]

It’s really an over-asked question: What do you use your typewriter for?. (tl;dr: writing). To make things more interesting and entertaining in the middle of the week, let’s turn it on its ear and ask only for the wrong answers today. Whether it’s use in food preparation: Throw a slab of steak into the segment … Continue reading How do you use your typewriter? [Wrong Answers Only Edition]

Chris Aldrich
28 Oct 00:39 • Chris Aldrich

Frontal view of a 1946 Royal KMM typewriter sitting on a steel table.

I purchased this 1946 Royal KMM standard typewriter on October 4th via Goodwill for $22.00. It’s equipped with an extra-wide 18 inch platen and carriage with “support wings” and a 10 key decimal tabulator which means in its day it would have been used for some heavy-duty accounting. The logos could be in better shape, … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
24 Oct 17:44 • Chris Aldrich

A close up of Wednesday Addams side of her dorm room constructed in LEGO featuring a small LEGO brick with a sticker that stands in as her typewriter. At the back of the typewriter is a piece holding a white LEGO representing paper.

I finished the Wednesday Addams and Enid Sinclair dorm room LEGO set in time for Halloween. The typewriter is a tiny custom LEGO with a pre-affixed sticker and a small white LEGO attached as a simulacrum of paper.

Chris Aldrich
23 Oct 16:07 • Chris Aldrich

An oak library card catalog with 20 drawers festooned with felt garland made of ghosts and cats. On top of it are a yellow Royal FP typewriter next to a large orchid with half a dozen blooms in a pot with yellow tuille decoration around the bottom. Behind it all on the wall is a framed abstract artwork with a matching yellow tone to the rest of the scene

Chris Aldrich
14 Oct 00:03 • Chris Aldrich

Text message with a Public Safety Message to prepare for potential emergency evacuation

We’re spending an hour to batten down the hatches and do some preparation (yet again) for another potential emergency evacuation in Altadena, CA. This one due to potential mud slides and debris flows expected in the Eaton Fire burn scar areas with impending heavy rains this afternoon. I suspect we’re probably reasonably safe due to … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
13 Oct 00:48 • Chris Aldrich

A beige colored copy holder made out of a bent piece of sheet metal stands next to a gray Royal KMG typewriter on a desk. The holder has a flat metal bottom that bends in a small loop at the bottom before shooting back up at an angle to hold papers for easy viewing while typing up one's notes. On this one there is a black binder clip holding an index card to the top of the holder.

I picked this copy holder up at a thrift store in early 2025 for about $2. Along with a binder clip or some small magnets, it’s great for transcribing notes using one of my typewriters.

Chris Aldrich
10 Oct 15:02 • Chris Aldrich

A gray Royal KMG typewriter on a felt mat sits on a table next to some index cards on one side and a purple bottle of nail polish remover (acetone), a brass bristle brush, and a toothbrush sitting on a blue-ink-stained paper towel on the other. A careful observer might see a black pin with a white moustache stuck to the front of the typewriter underneath the Royal badge.

Public Service Announcement: Here’s your gentle maintenance reminder to clean the slugs on your typewriter to keep your type fresh and crisp.

Chris Aldrich
09 Oct 11:39 • Chris Aldrich

A blue lacquerware index card holder full of index cards and a pen in the accompanying pen slot sits on a desk with several books and an oak card index.

I’ve been wanting a vintage desktop index card holder and pen set for a bit. This excellent version has a nautical theme featuring a ship with subtle blue lines on the sails and red rope lines that call to mind the red and blue lines on standard lined index cards. The fact that the blue … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
09 Oct 11:39 • Chris Aldrich

A square black plastic punch with a white circular button sits on a wooden table next to an index card with a tab shaped hole punched out of it.

I had been considering getting a custom punch made several times, but never looked to see if one already existed commercially. Today, while doing a 5 minute peruse of the thrift store, there it was! When you use as many tabbed index card dividers as I do, this can be incredibly useful. It’s just the … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
08 Oct 00:01 • Chris Aldrich

Sorry Ron, but that is more likely a late 40s Underwood SS than an Underwood 5. But I too want to type up every word I know.

Chris Aldrich
07 Oct 04:33 • Chris Aldrich

Desk set up with a gray Royal KMG standard typewriter and a brown Royal HH. Next to the KMG is a cocktail glass with a yellowish whisky sour in it. In the background are two card index cabinets and a barrister bookshelf full of books. In the background we see three other typewriters.

Made up a new batch of homemade sugar syrup for the bar and realized I’d never typed up a recipe for the card index. Sorted…