I’ve always been amazed at how interests vary so greatly from person to person. Just by taking a look at the collections people maintain, I can sometimes learn more than by hearing entire life stories. I’ve collected beanie babies for 11 years now and have hundreds in my collection. On the surface, I adore cute and cuddly things. But if you look a little deeper, perhaps you’ll see my collection as a manifestation of my childlike nature – a way of holding onto a part of my past that way too often gets left behind.

Cheryl doesn’t collect beanie babies. Well, at least not that I know of. She does, however, have a collection of manual typewriters. Her passion expands to include nearly all pre-digital forms of communication – drawings, old film slides, typewritten documents, and handwritten letters. She shares this passion with the world through her blog, Strikethru, which focuses entirely on typewriters, typecasting, papercasting, and retro content.

Having been a dedicated blogger for nearly four years now, I thought I knew all about the many forms of blogging. But when I saw references to “Moleskine blogging” while perusing the Strikethru archives, I was a bit confused – but very intrigued. It seems that there are bloggers, including Cheryl, who write and doodle in Moleskine notebooks and then digitize and post the pages to their blogs. You can see Moleskine blogging at work in Papercast: Death of a Diarist. I checked out the other Moleskine blogging posts on Strikethru, and I just have to point out Moleskine Blogging: Flat Cats. Cheryl claims that she isn’t artistic, but I beg to differ. The flat cat in her Moleskine is absolutely adorable! The post even includes instructions for making one of your very own.

Another regular feature of Strikethru is typecasting. You’ll find a number of posts that have been created using old manual typewriters from Cheryl’s collection. She even identifies the typewriter used in each post.

So, what have I learned about Cheryl during my several visits to Strikethru? First, it comes as no surprise that she works as a technical writer. She obviously loves the written word, and being able to record her thoughts through the use of obsolete writing tools creates a sense of nostalgia for her. I’m willing to bet that she often looks at her old photos, reads her old diaries, and remembers what life was like as a child and a teenager. And though I have no particular interest in manual typewriters, I think that Cheryl and I have a lot in common.

If you’d like to take a stroll through time and find some pleasant reminders of days gone by, head on over to Strikethru. Maybe you’ll even be inspired to do some Moleskine blogging!

For more information Cheryl and Strikethru, be sure to read 10 Questions with Cheryl of Strikethru.

Categories: Retro, Reviews, Writing & Books