March Madness

The only reason I know March Madness is upon us is that I went to watch The Amazing Race on Friday night, and instead there was basketball. I follow WNBA and figure skating, so I know the thrill of getting your non-traditional sport on the air, but still: meh.

March has been a bit mad. I've been trying to downsize my things (so painful), and getting organized generally means making a big fat mess first. Needless to say, I haven't managed to send anything in the mail in weeks. I've had more return correspondence from LetterMo this year than any other, which is fantastic but also makes me appreciate why we default to easier methods of communication (social media). My goal is to get at least two postcards out the door today.

In the meantime, here is the end of February so we can all move on...

Mailed Feb 20:

I think I sent this to my mom, who has been very nice about not getting as many postcards as when I first started doing this (and had fewer people to send mail to). In fact, she sends me great postcards herself.

 Mailed Feb 21

photo: Herb Ritts 1993

Last month there was internet chatter about unretouched photos of Cindy Crawford in a bikini, demonstrating her fitness but also very human-looking 47-year-old-2-kid-bearing stomach. I'm not sure those photos were real, but it did prompt a discussion with Tilly, and she recalled this image, which came out in the '90s and was quite famous (for the kids: that's k.d. lang in the chair). I actually already had this postcard. Of course.

Mailed Feb 24 (2):

The Two Fridas, 1939 Frida Kahlo

From the Frida Kahlo postcard book I bought in college. One of my favorite images. This postcard used to hang on my wall and has a lot of tape scarring.

Edward Gorey

In 2013 I hosted a couchsurfer from Montreal who'd been staying on a farm on Whidbey Island. She brought lavender and zucchini as host gifts, and also a pile postcards and told me to choose one. This was the winner, hands down. I didn't write down the title of this image - I believe it's from a postcard collection called Mysterious Messages.


 Mailed Feb 25:

I can tell it was the end of the month. I didn't note anything about this postcard except where it went. I think this might be from the collection of my grandmother's travel postcards.


Mailed Feb 26:

 

There are days that this is what it all feels like.

Mailed Feb 27:

This one went to a different couchsurfer I hosted last summer who sent me a couple of really creative letters in the fall.

Mailed Feb 28:

I made it! I made it! All the way through! This postcard was slightly cheating - sent to someone who'd already gotten one earlier in the month AND who had sent me the great cassette card so I really owe her a for reals letter (esp since I've gotten another rad postcard since then- I am in such trouble!!) - but I thought it was a great way to end a successful LetterMo.

I'm glad I came back to this after missing it last year. Several friends reported that they participated to varying degrees, and having received more mail in return reminds me of that rush one gets from finding something personal among the bills, coupons and pleas for money. Who knows if I'll be able to sustain this throughout the year - just looking back at the posts from this blogs suggests not - but dialog is a great motivator.