(bag rustling) (typewriter clacking) - A lot of people are afraid to be bad at something, but I think that's what makes life fun, is to see growth at every age.

(pins clacking) (bell dings) Never stop learning, never stop trying new things, never stop expanding, because as soon as you stop expanding, learning, growing, trying, you die.

And I don't wanna die yet.

(pensive music) (typewriter clacking) My name is Anja Notanja Sieger, and I am a typewriter poet.

(typewriter clacking) So a typewriter poet is someone who owns a typewriter, has access to paper, and they go to places where people mill about and gather.

They set down their typewriter.

They put up a sign of some sort, like "Custom Poems."

What would you like a poem about?

And people come to that person and they ask them, "How does it work?"

(laughs) And the typewriter poet says, "You tell me what you need a poem about, and I will type it up and I will give it to you."

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) (ball thuds) (pins clacking) I am not remotely athletic, but bowling allows me to zoom in on a moment because I have a very busy head that, like, never wants me to sleep, never wants me to go to bed.

I just wanna ideate all my life.

I never wanna stop thinking.

But bowling, it just says, pay attention to the pins.

I think it's important to constantly rewrite your story if you're an artist or not.

Yes!

- Hello.

- Hey, Adam.

- (chuckles) Hey, Anja.

- What would you like a poem about?

I've had a lot of jobs.

I used to hand my authority off to other people to tell me how to live my life.

Between having jobs and being a typewriter poet, being a typewriter poet is the most practical job for me.

(pensive music) In order to sway people to achieve what I need in life, I have to beguile, I have to charm, I have to disarm people with my ideas.

When you hear this, (bell dings) it'll be complete.

Is there anything else you want me to know before I begin?

- No, I think we got it.

- All right.

Sounds good.

All right.

- Sweet.

(typewriter clacking) - It'll be 15 years of me being a typewriter poet this December.

(bell dings) I've started performing and reading the poem, because what I am offering is not a product, it is a performance.

It is an experience.

I grab a peacock feather because I'm a peacock, and I will perform it for them.

Aidan learned at 13.

Roused with hormones.

He loves to whack people.

Busy train car.

Choo-choo, cowtown slaughter.

Yeah, and what's one thing you wish for?

And I do get a lot of feedback.

Like, I get people who are like, "I got a poem from you 12 years ago, and it's still on my fridge, and I love it."

Or like, "You wrote me a poem, and, like, it really helped me not, like, give up hope."

(bell dings) Solo traveler woman can scale the globe with latte-sharpened intuition that tells her which street to avoid and which will show her yaks.

Freewheeling as content as she.

- [Customer] Wow.

- Just like going to acupuncture, like, sometimes you need needles, sometimes you need something to pierce you in just the right spot by an expert hand to realign your energy.

I'm using, like, a acupuncture metaphor, but, like, you know, to realign your energy.

I don't know how acupuncture works, but, you know, more or less.

(laughs) - [Sandy] Thanks for watching "The Arts Page."

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