Month of Letters: Day 28

Finally! The last day of this challenge. I think the intent was good, but it takes more time out of your day than what one might expect. I think this would be a great project for people who have more free time than I do. As I’ve mentioned before, after this I’m sticking to doing all my mail on the weekends. If I were to participate again next year, I may reduce it down to one postcard a day. Maybe two.

Anyways, this last batch. The first one is going to someone in Russia who likes local nature scenes–I think I got this one in a tiny convenience store I stopped in while driving around Marin County a while back. The second is going to Belgium to someone who like comics and food (hence the food stamps and decorations and the Superman postcard from the Vintage DC Comics postcard box set put out by Chronicle Books). The third is to an animal lover in France who particularly likes all the animals that I’ve managed to squeeze into this (the postcard is from a set called “The Art of Instruction”). And the fourth is to an old school postcard collector in Germany who had a, um, roundabout way of stating that they didn’t like anything but tourist postcards and no decorations at the back. I also took care to not place any of the stamps over the writing because they specifically didn’t want stickers over any writing. And, you know, all the US stamps are stickers now. They might still not like the stamps, though, because they don’t like art.

Month of Letters: Day 27

First up is a postcard from the Earth and Space postcard box going to someone in Italy for a space tag. The second postcard is one I actually purchased at the San Diego Zoo going to someone in Taiwan for a zoo tag. And the third is also going to someone in Italy who likes bridges. Well, bridges is actually one of their minor preferences. They actually collect postcards with naked ladies on them and since that’s a subject I have no interest in accumulating in my stash, I had to find something else. Also, this person specifically said no cute things–hence the lack of decorations on the back of this postcard. I had to use the plainer stamps because this person also didn’t like flowers. I suppose I could have gone for the ship stamps, but they’re not the specific type of ships this person likes.

Honestly, I feel that my interest in postcards and an old dude’s interest in postcards only intersects at a very technical level.

Month of Letters: Day 26

The first postcard today is going to someone in Germany who is having a postcard contest with their parent to see who will get the most cards with a specific theme. That theme is “mother and child” and fortunately, I had a gorilla postcard with a baby riding on its mother’s back. I knew that if I had any chance of finding a postcard matching that theme in my stash it would have to be animal related. The only reason I have any postcards with people on them are because those were on sale when I got them. (If I’m going to pay full price, it had better be something that I personally like a lot. And I’m not a fan of human baby pictures in general.) The second postcard is a special one I obtained when I had visited Yosemite; it’s going to another person in Germany, this time for a specialized amphibian “tag”. The third postcard is part of a book of postcards on Frank Lloyd Wright–it’s going to a Canadian for an architecture tag.

Month of Letters: Day 25

Seriously, I feel like everything is due this week–hence why I’m later than usual in posting this. The first postcard is going to an Alice in Wonderland fan in the Netherlands. This is actually from a smaller set published by Dover and not the giant 100 Alice in Wonderland set you may have seen floating around. (I don’t plan on purchasing that box set–I don’t know enough people who are fans of it to justify buying so many unless it’s on sale.) The second is an illustrated postcard of my favorite bookstore in San Francisco–Green Apple Books. It’s going to someone in Kazakhstan. And third is a tiger painting by Eugene Delacroix going to a tiger fan in Russia.

Month of Letters: Day 24

I’m going to reiterate again that I will be glad when this Month of Letters is over. I know the purpose of this is to slow down and communicate with people using a slower medium, but this only works if you unplug from everything else. There’s a reason why I leave writing postcards to the weekend–the rest of the week is just filled with work stuff that seems to multiply overnight.

Anyways, first postcard on this list is going to someone in France who likes Japanese stuff. I’ve also been to Tō-ji Temple before, I particularly remember the visit because it was one of the monthly flea market days and it was raining. The second postcard is to a person in Taiwan who likes butterflies. I had obtained this postcard at a rummage sale–it’s pretty old since the attraction it’s from no longer exists (according to Google, it was replaced with Legoland). And the third postcard is going to someone in Belarus who requested this sent in an envelope. To be honest, I found their profile a little confusing–I think they were requesting postcards that would match some kind of romantic coffeehouse aesthetic theme. I don’t have any coffee postcards on hand right now, so I just picked something else. Hopefully this random illustration will work.

Month of Letters: Day 23

I find it interesting that some parents want to collect postcards for their kids while they are still infants–how do they know that their kids will actually appreciate the postcards once they get old enough to understand? Anyways, that’s where the first postcard (a colorful Tokidoki) is going to–as for location, it’s Italy. The second postcard is another entry from the Animal box going to someone in Australia who likes horses. And the last is a postcard of storks going to a bird enthusiast in China.

Month of Letters: Day 22

First up today is a cat postcard for a cat tag going to someone in Taiwan. And in a related feline tag is a postcard I had originally gotten at a rummage sale of a lynx in the middle of a leap–going to someone in France. And finally, a postcard of the de Young Museum since the German person this is going to had requested local attractions.

Month of Letters: Day 21

There are two birthday postcards today. The first one is going to a fitness fan in Russia–I don’t normally keep sports postcards in stock and the only ones I have right now are about skateboarding. Also notice that I didn’t put any birthday cake stickers on the fitness fan’s postcard because I’m pretty sure a fitness fan would not appreciate something that would throw their diet out of whack. The second is from the Cavallini collection of wildflower postcards is to someone in the Ukraine who likes flowers. The third postcard is a painting by Theodore Robinson going to someone in Serbia who likes impressionist paintings. And finally, another Harry Potter postcard, this time going to a fan in India.

Month of Letters: Day 20

For a “happy mail” tag, I chose to send a postcard from the Higuchi Yuko postcard box as well as a number of items I have not scanned in (such as stickers, stamps, and miniature art cards). The whole package is going to Germany. Second is a fantasy tag postcard going to Russia to a person who likes mermaids. Third is another tag, this time the theme was to send a postcard that is not from the country it was sent from. So I decided on a postcard I bought when I had been on vacation in Kyoto (I may have to do a series of posts on this at a later time). It is of Sanjūsangen-dō or the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. I actually did visit this place and in some ways, it’s as impressive as it sounds. That postcard is going to Portugal. And lastly, is an illustrated postcard of lemurs going to another person in Germany who likes lemurs.

Month of Letters: Day 19

It’s raining today and probably one of the few times that I’m glad that I’m working from home today and don’t have to go out unless absolutely necessary. The first postcard for this morning is for a postcard tag specifically for dogs–this one is going to Russia. The second one is for an “eyes closed” tag where you pick up a random postcard. This black and white photo of the iconic Grand Central Station in New York is going to China. And I have another orchid postcard going to someone in India who likes flowers. The last postcard is going to the United Kingdom–it’s also another random one, chosen from a collection of postcards depicting vintage photographs of Southern California because the recipient didn’t have any particular preferences.