A Little of This, A Little of That

I almost called my nephew on his birthday which was Friday. Of course, I couldn't since I don't have his phone number so it's a moot point. I tried calling him yesterday at my brother's house where I thought he'd be with the rest of the family, but no one was home. Finally reached him today and found out he had to work a 24 hour shift on his birthday. What a bummer, poor guy. But today he was at my bro's and  looking forward to his favorite dinner from his mom:  homemade spaghetti sauce, meatballs and pasta followed by a desert of angel food cake with butter cream frosting. Turns out he requests the same thing every year.

Since it's been so hot and I have no TV, I find myself turning to letter writing of all things! Hence the (not so great) photo of the stamps above on a letter to a friend of mine. She's going through a tough time in her marriage. Her husband says he loves her, but that he also is in love with a co-worker. What's wild, is that he doesn't understand why that can't all work out, the three of them! What is it with men? Doltoid actually said the same thing to me at one point! When he did, I just looked at him like he was insane.

The Day After

Has anyone else noticed this or am I just imagining things? In the last few years I've noticed that on the first working day after any holiday (like today) I receive no mail, not even the usual junk flyers. This has been very consistent and I can't figure out why. Is there so much to sort that no one gets out to deliver it or (this is the sarcastic side of me coming out) did they just forget how momentarily?

Now, I'm not knocking the USPS which is a remarkable system. In fact, when I look back on all my years of correspondence and card-sending, it amazes me that postage for a basic letter is only $0.44. Thinking back, I rember when I was in Italy at the age of 19, hearing horror stories about the Italian mail system where whole trainloads of mail would be lost.

I'm just baffled with the day after the holiday delivery question. Anyone else? Any ideas?

A New Site to Visit

Did you ever wonder what to wear for a particular event but have no one to ask? Wonder if you can get away with the long dress look when you're 5' tall? Well, that's were "Lookville" comes in. Daphne's recent email to me explained "We started our site Lookville.com not too long ago. It's a place for people to have discussions, share tips, and ask questions about fashion." 


I liked the idea of submitting a pic of an outfit for comments. I could have used this on a recent job interview. Instead I emailed my poor brother 6 photos of outfits to get some feedback (he's fashion forward, so I knew I'd get good advice). Still, I'm sure he would have gladly been spared being my stylist. 


They started a blog recently which features different designers and their fashions. I always like to see new (to me) designers thoughts. Anyhow, it's a nice concept so give it a look! I think you'll enjoy it!

The Postcard Project

I just ran across a bunch of vintage postcards that my brother "recycled" a few years ago.  It was for a project called "Wish you were here".  He picked 20 friends to grace with this fabulous correspondence art.  On each postcard, he wrote a little story about a particular trip or facet of a trip he'd taken.  It was wonderful to receive these missives out of the blue.  There's something magical now-a-days about a little card of paper traveling across a city, county, state, country, continent or ocean on it's own.  Swept toward its destination by unseen, unknown hands into those of a friend or loved one.  The ability to write a concise miniature journal entry is something I admire.

You can probably tell from this blog that I might be prone to write very long letters/emails (or not).  Well, I am.  I’ve been told so as well.  Running across the postcard project made me question why they tend to be so long.  I think they’re lengthy because to me it’s like spending time with the person that you’re writing.  As I write, I’m thinking of them and things they’ve said and done and my responses, reactions and so on.  It really is like a little visit with that friend or relative where nothing else interrupts or distracts.  Just a nice little visit when I haven’t seen someone in a while.  Think back to the post card and pioneer times before that.  People and loved ones separated not just by distance but time (no flying cross country in 5 hours back then).  You always see in the movies how the person “saves” the letter to read and it’s like a little visit because you know the writer spent time and thought on you and what they were describing to you.   With that I’ll bid adieu to this little tangent and say in honor of the postcard project…Wish you were here!