What would you type on the Unabomber’s typewriter?

unabombercorona2I’m wondering if maybe having the Unabomber’s typewriter would help me break through my writer’s block. It goes up for auction tomorrow, along with all the other possessions of Ted Kaczynski. I’m thinking that everyone else will go after his infamous hooded sweatshirtSomewhere, at this very moment, I suspect a hipster in Williamsburg is looking into the possibility of tapping his trust fund.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the the stuff. I know there there are people out there who buy the personal items of serial killers in order to destroy them. I suspect more, however, purchase them in order to preserve them. I don’t really understand the appeal, but I know people who own John Wayne Gacy paintings. Personally, I find it disgusting. Maybe I’d feel differently if the art were at all compelling, but I don’t think that’s why people collect Gacy’s work. I think, by and large, people get off on the novelty of it, and the visceral reaction other people have to it. Maybe I’m being a hypocrite, but I see Kaczynski’s manuscripts and the like differently. And maybe it’s just because there’s a part of me that shares his distrust of technology… which isn’t to say that I understand his actions, let alone condone them. He was clearly mad. I get that. But, with that said, I believe that his actions will be interpreted differently by historians, than, say, those of Gacy. And, again, I know that’s little comfort to the families of those he killed and maimed. I just mean that I expect his actions will take on increased significance in the future, whether deserved or not.

I, of course, won’t be bidding on anything in the collection. I’m too superstitious. I’d be afraid that having the typewriter in my house might make me go all Jack Torrance on my family. I do think, however, that it would be interesting to somehow incorporate Kaczynski’s typewriter into art projects. I think, for instance, making a zine lauding recent advances in nanotechnology, using his Corona, could be pretty interesting. I also like the idea of just using it to type up these late night blog entries of mine. But I have a weird sense of humor.

OK, it’s late and I need to go to sleep.

Good night, my invisible friends.

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8 Comments

  1. Mr. X
    Posted May 17, 2011 at 11:27 pm | Permalink

    I would type the following URL.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

  2. Edward
    Posted May 18, 2011 at 6:40 am | Permalink

    You could rent it out for love letters and manifestos.

  3. Kim
    Posted May 18, 2011 at 12:52 pm | Permalink

    You should leave it in a public place for your trolls.

  4. Maria
    Posted May 19, 2011 at 8:28 am | Permalink

    What I would do with the Unabomber’s Typewriter…
    melt it and make a statue to technology…

  5. Meta
    Posted May 19, 2011 at 11:30 am | Permalink

    Speaking of Ted, he’s in the news today.

    The FBI is seeking DNA from Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, who’s serving a life sentence for killing three people with homemade bombs, in connection with the 1982 Tylenol poisonings

    Seven people in the Chicago area died, and thousands of bottles of the over-the-counter painkiller were withdrawn. The case was never solved.

    Kaczynski made the disclosure in court papers in an effort to stop an auction of his belongings now in progress. It was confirmed today by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

    “As part of our re-examination of the evidence developed in connection with the 1982 Tylenol poisonings, we have attempted to secure DNA samples from numerous individuals, including Ted Kaczynski,” the agency said today in a statement. “To date, Mr. Kaczynski has declined to voluntarily provide this sample.”

    Kaczynski said in a handwritten court document that prison personnel told him the Chicago office of the FBI “wanted a sample of my DNA to compare with the partial DNA profiles connected with a 1982 event in which someone put potassium cyanide in Tylenol.”

    “I have never even possessed any potassium cyanide,” wrote Kaczynski, 68, a former mathematics professor.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-19/fbi-seeking-unabomber-kaczynski-s-dna-in-probe-of-1982-tylenol-poisonings.html

  6. Charlie November
    Posted May 20, 2011 at 12:07 am | Permalink

    Ted probably typed out this–> http://cyber.eserver.org/unabom.txt on that corona typewriter. One of his many lucid and, to some, frightening statements is, “179. It would be better to dump the whole stinking system and take the consequences”. Now what’s wrong with that?

  7. Edward
    Posted June 1, 2011 at 7:42 pm | Permalink

    The auction ends tomorrow. The hoodie and glasses, as of right now, are going for $20,025. They typewriter is $11,100.

  8. MSD
    Posted October 14, 2011 at 2:58 am | Permalink

    I’d write the best sci-fi novel ever, and then destroy it.

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