FBF: I Wish I Was Still There

In the last month I've been transcribing the journal I kept while traveling around the world from January 2017 to June 2018. It's been amazing to relive the journey, especially since big travel is not on the horizon for .... a while. I am fascinated by what I chose to record, and so grateful that I took the time to do this (although I know this will turn to frustration later in the trip when I'm pretty sure my journaling became a lot more infrequent).  

I also sent postcards, of course! I brought some along to get started, but naturally the big draw was sending cards from wherever we were.

First postcard sent from the road 1/29/2017 - to my ma

I even participated in LetterMo in 2017, and I was thrilled to see that I took some photos of the writing before sending them off - although more often than not, it was just a close up to get artist credit for the image and I can't see the whole text. So frustrating!

"Afatista em Alfama" Toni Frissell, 1946

Sent to a college friend in Colorado:

"3 February, 2017

Hey Chica! 

We were in Lisboa last week and walked around Alfama often, but have not yet seen any Fado. It seems primarily for tourists, and locals consider it old peoples' music. I'd still like to go, but it's also $$$. we are in Porto now, staying in an Airbnb that is a 3-room hostel. The other guests here DO NOT leave the apartment and rarely leave their room. It's weird. They leave tomorrow and we hope that no one else shows up. Tonight we went to a couchsurfing meetup that was very fun, although it's been so long I've been anywhere people can smoke inside it was hard to bear after a while. Rain continues to follow us everywhere. xoxo"

Narrator: She never did see any Fado.

I have to laugh at the sweet summer child I was at the beginning of this trip, because by the end I absolutely could have been the weirdo who never left their room in some of our stops. Also, get used to the indoor smoking, kid. RIP clean lungs.

Postage from around the world is also very cool:

Very inexpensive international postage!

I gave LetterMo a good try that year - which was mostly easy because we were based in either Lisbon or Porto the whole month. My correspondence after that became sketchy - there were plenty of places that I didn't have the time to figure out the post office situation, but also our schedule could be erratic and it was hard to be disciplined. Now I have a whole box of postcards from countries I've visited to join the huge stack that I inherited from my grandmother and her travels.

Stay tuned for more trip correspondence as well as more recent ones.

Dance History

I've been in a correspondence rut lately, focusing more on reading than writing. Maybe it's the change of seasons, or being back home after such an adventure, but I just haven't had much to say. But it's Thursday, so why not take a trip in ye olde time machine for a spell...

August 1993:

Photo by Barbara Morgan

As always, [sic]....

"Hey woman,

Sorry it's taken me so long to write you - I've beem thinkin about ^you quite a - but I hope ^your dancin dancin. You sound like you have a crazy schedule - I'll send you my address when I get it. I'll be staying in a graduate housing type of deal. I haven't danced in a long time I'm getting pretty nervous. I don't remember how to do this school thing. I want to make this good. I want to learn my brains out. 

I'm leaving here the 16th and probably be in Mass around the 25th. I'm going to try to get an E-MAIL account so we can communicate - Take care

Love ya - T"

This was the summer before my final year in college, from a friend who had graduated some years before but had come back to my school to teach and generally be awesome the previous year. She was on her way to Smith College to get her MFA in Dance. I can so relate to those nerves about school and that thirst for learning, although I'm pretty sure that "a long time" back then meant something like 6 weeks. Nowadays I sometimes go months between classes - and trust me, even when it's been weeks, it might as well be 6 months. Aging bodies are cruel!

As with many school friends, we drifted apart after a few years. She did come visit me in Seattle after her graduate program, and through the magic of social media I know she's still choreographing and dancing (yay!).

The most telling part of this postcard is the final sentence - this was back when email was accessible primarily through schools (and was still being called Electronic Mail or "e-mail"!), and everyone was so excited about this new, instant way to communicate with people. "Instant" being relative, of course - at my college, at least, few people had their own computers or access to a modem on their own, so we'd find excuses all day long to drop by the mail room or the library to use one of the 3 or 4 terminals. But the (electronic) writing was on the wall. It's no coincidence that my archive of postcards dries up about two years after this.
 
You can see the tape marks on this postcard - it was clearly well loved. The photo is from legendary modern dance pioneer Martha Graham's work Celebration, taken in 1937. I love the simplicity of the action in this picture, as well as the costumes and those gorgeously pointed (but not over-stretched) feet.

Sick Day, TBT, Vaults etc...

It's a lovely August Thursday and I'm home with either the worst allergies or the most annoying summer cold. I'm too unfocused to write correspondence, so I thought I'd go with Throwback Thursday and pull a postcard out of the ol' vault. I didn't even recognize this one, so it must have been unearthed during my spring cleaning.

June 1988, to my roommate and me:

Bear and monkeys, Egyptian painting c. 1335, from Bidpai's Fables.

"hey guys - how's it going? Not much here - DC is great - Joe N' I have been getting around by subways (they get you everywhere). You know I miss you both cuz' DC's nice but, just ain't no CINCINNATI. Tell Danny I said hi. Been playing lots of cards? I've been teaching Joe how to play games - cuz' he don't know none - we went to the FREER Gallery & the Hirschorn Museum AND the Sculpture Garden - I'll tell you more when I get home -- See you areound 7:00 (I THINK?!) Friday -

love,
Mimi"

The summer between my 1st and 2nd years of college, my friend Susan and I lived in Cincinnati. Mimi came into the café in our building a lot - she was a teenager, still in high school, and unbelievably precocious. Girl had a LOT of energy. Joe was her older brother (our age), and was the shyest punk to ever rock a mohawk. They made a funny pair.

It seems so odd now to read a postcard from a brief trip letting us know what time we would see her next, clearly only a few days away - but then I remember how careful we were about long distance phone calls back then. We didn't even have an answering machine at our apartment, let alone voicemail, so this was the most efficient way to let us know she was coming back!

Historic PRIDE

I set up a draft of this post a few days ago because I'm visiting family and will miss Pride weekend at home. I figured I'd just pull something from the vaults and call it good. But I'm in New York City, and after the Supreme Court ruling yesterday, guaranteeing gays and lesbians the right to marry in all 50 states, my mom, my sister and I hoofed it down to Christopher Street and the historic Stonewall Inn, where the modern gay rights movement began in the US.

It was a momentous afternoon, spent laughing with strangers as we passed around cameras and flags and stories. I think the only reason we could even get this close to the entrance is that it was Friday afternoon and many people were still at work.

I'm now a bit conflicted. My honeyboo is back at home, and I won't be attending Pride celebrations on either coast (for a good reason - check back next post). I hate to miss out on the massive celebrations about  to happen, but I remind myself that I was there - I am here - for a little slice of it. I'm sure the party will still be going by the time I return to the left coast.

In the meantime, here is my previously selected Pride postcard from 1995. From a college girlfriend - we were already exes by this time, and I had graduated.

"What is it you're looking for?" Rosa Ainley

"Hey sweetie-pie
honey bunch
punkin snatch
     (no offense intended, claro) ~
Wha's up?

Thought this postcard might give you some ideas for your new + improved dating game - any action yet? Good luck...

SO- here I am at [school]. Eek. I'm doing the LGBC fwsp [Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Center work study]. Eek. I'm leaning towards a women's studies major with a queer emphasis. Eek. I love my little cubicle of a room, but feel rather alone on the outside. T. told me there are some cool 1st years. We'll see.

Love + back rubs to you...send me postcards! (I can't find all the shit i usually put on my walls.) SEV

¡Amo café!"

Ugh - I just sat here deciding whether to redact this silly postcard, since my mom is in the other room and will likely be the first to read it. hell, we just went to see Fun Home together, I think she can deal.

My favorite part of the postcard is the silly doodle by the stamp:

"ANARCHY
QUEER
PERVERSION
CHAOS
Revolution
(American flags make me want to spew ideological rhetoric. Excuse the dribble.)"

SEV and I exchanged correspondence for many years after college and I always loved her droll humor.

Happy Pride to all!

Vaults #10, non-family edition

I am pretty informal about keeping up with this blog - pretty sure I skipped about a year and a half in there -  and occasionally I go back and realize with horror how frequently I repeat myself. I prefer to think of it as just having some strong themes in my life, but it's probably a sign I'm losing my marbles. I'd do well to peruse the last couple of posts before setting imaginary pen to paper.

It's come to my attention that the last several posts from the vaults have been from and about My Awesome Sister. It's true that she has been my most consistent correspondent through the years, and she had a flair for great cards and words - but it's time to mix it up. I do have postcards from other people. People with no family ties whatsoever, even.

Like this one, sent in July 1985, the summer between 10th and 11th grade, from my soon-to-be roommate (as always, everything is [sic]):

"Is tiger punchy?" is the title on the back

J,

I hope your mom doesn't take this the wrong way, but just that I love sleep! I found a really good post card shop (I'm at the shore, not UNIONVILLE) you'll have to bring them to decorate our room. Yesterday I saw A.M., it was really strange, but she was really nice! She cut her hair and it looks really good. She said she's going to be in W. chester the rest of the summer. It's pretty nice here, but there are 10,000 surfers and their girlfriends. I saw a Circle Jerk record, I might get it but I've only heard 1 of the songs on the radio. If you want, we should go to the UB40 concert with MB & her friend Andy (I guess you might want to save your money for England. OH WELL.

I hope you can read this, it's a mess
Love,
     Love,
          Love,
              Love,                





If you've read through previous archives, you might recognize the writing style from this entry. Abijah was another one who always found great and interesting postcards and she always wrote in a way that I could actually hear her voice leap off the page.

The back of the postcard has some random text printed at the bottom: Mirrored in a serene canal, a venerable home appears as in a dream - a haunt of silence broken only by the whisper of water cradling a boat and the echo of a boy's footsteps on paving stones. Its shuttered windows seem to blink like eyes closing in sleep. (The word echo is underlined by Abijah because we were into Echo and the Bunnymen, of course).

This postcard was made by a California-based outfit called hold the mustard productions. I see that they are still around, which surprises me. I may have to order some from their site. You can even order today's featured postcard!

Ah! I just noticed that there is a little heart and name of a boy that I sort of had a crush on underneath the postmark. Brat.

From the Vaults #9

It's TBT time! Earlier this week I saw a meme on Facebook claiming that it was "Back to the Future Day!!" - it wasn't, but in Marty McFly's honor, here's a postcard from My Awesome Sister dated March 1985:

Erastus Salisbury Field, The Garden of Eden ca. 1860

"Dear J,    Thanks so much for your letter! Glad to hear you're playing I.M. Tennis instead of track. It has been physiologically proven that some people are born sprinters and some are born long-distance runners. It has to do with the % of 2 types of muscle tissue that you have. I know I cannot run more than 2 miles max. Maybe you're a sprinter too.
      "I went to see a great exhibit at the Boston Art Museum last weekend. This was one of the paintings there. Go see 'Private Function' or 'Stranger Than Paradise' if you go to the movies soon. I saw both this past week. 'Amadeus' is pretty good too...I'll be seeing you on Long Island soon. Bring your jelly beans!
lots of love, A"

Fact: I am neither a sprinter nor a long-distance runner. I loathe running. My high school had no gym classes, so we were required to participate in after school sports. There were a certain number of quarters that you had to do competitive team sports, and others where you could be more casual about it. Sometimes you would have to try to be sporty and only after sucking very, very badly at everything were you allowed to go do what you wanted. That spring, I had to try out for the lacrosse team (long sticks and hard rubber balls constantly flying at your face = frightening!), then I had to try track and field, which made my teeth hurt after about 25 yards. Eventually I was released into the luxury of "Intramural Tennis", which involved carrying a tennis racquet and calling each other Muffy while chasing down all the balls that we let slip past.

This isn't to say that I dislike exercise, or being athletic. I mean, NOW I don't dislike it. As a teenager? Sports were supremely uncool. And running still sux.

I know I've seen Amadeus (impossible to avoid in the '80s), And I might have seen Stranger Than Paradise - although now that I think about it, I think I'm confusing it with Down By Law - but I am positive I never saw A Private Function.

Coincidentally, I'll be seeing My Awesome Sister on Long Island in just two weeks. Her note on the front of the postcard refers to the trip she was to take later that summer to Kenya to study rhinoceroseseses (rhinoceri?).

From the Vaults #8

I almost never get it together to post #TBT pictures on facebook, but here's a lovely postcard from My Awesome Sister back in the day- received April 1985:

"Like Father Like Sunglasses" (c) 1984 Card-ee-Yak Arrest, Inc.

As always, [sic]...


"Dear J,
    Remember Newbury Comics that record store with all the t-shirts? I went today and got U2: The Unforgettable Fire, Freur: Doot-Doot, Heaven 17: Fascist Groove Thang and Tears for Fears: Songs from the big Chair. Didn't get any homework done!
    It's great weather here - almost ready for sunglasses.
                                      Be cool!                               love, A"

Oh, the '80s. My Awesome Sister lived in Cambridge MA during this time. I went to visit her over the preceding New Year's Eve, and I came home with some records that I probably got in the shop she mentions. I bought Heaven 17: The Luxury Gap (and was thrilled that the super cool punk chick who worked there approved of my selection) and The Cure: The Top. The latter album was kind of a bummer other than "The Caterpillar", which had been making the rounds on Rock Over London. I still have that Heaven 17 album, but The Top did not make the cut when I went off to college - I only brought about half of my record collection, and the rest were lost to the world as my mom moved more often than I did during my college years and beyond.

In the summer of 1985 My Awesome Sister sent me a mixtape including songs from those albums and more. It's still in heavy rotation on Old School Cassette Nights at my house.

My Awesome Sister has awesome handwriting

The Letdown

Somehow, I really expected to have the energy to continue writing daily postcards, at least for a few days after the end of the month. Faithful readers probably knew better, based on my posts of endless procrastination, but a girl can dream. And dreams can be broken....nothing has left my mailbox since last Thursday. Not even bill payments.

While I get reorganized about writing, here's a blast from the past...

Received July 1986:

Ben Verkaaik, "Zonder titel/Untitled" 1983

"Hi J,
I spent last weekend on the beach at the end of Long Island. It was great! Next week I'm going to Cape Cod for the week at the expense of the dept. I work for. My french lessons are going trés bien!
Let me know how your internship is going!!
lots of love, A"

I'm still not 100% sure I know what internship is being referred to here. I did my senior project at the Walnut St Theatre in Philadelphia, and subsequently (I thought) came back in the summer to intern during their kids summer camp in exchange for adult level acting classes. But my senior project was in March or April 1987, and I spent my summer after graduation working elsewhere. I must have done the summer program first. It's a little disquieting to have your sense of your own history shaken up like that. What I remember about the youth camp is that there was one girl (around 10) who had been in some commercials and she lorded it over all the other kids. She also wore a ton of makeup all the time, and as a result had terrible skin, which made me a bit sympathetic. Needless to say, the other kids despised her. The production was a musical putting the characters of beloved fairy tales on trial...for what, I can't remember.

I'm also shocked to note that My Awesome Sister used the wrong accent in 'très bien'. She's as much of a stickler for spelling and punctuation as I am (and I definitely make mistakes, to my chagrin. There's probably one in this post).

well that's embarrassing...

Geez, I knew I was a bit behind on things, and I was a little afraid to come and see just how long it'd been since I posted...but almost three months? Oy. I did manage to send out a few postcards here and there, but not as many as I'd like. But I need to get ready for holiday mailing (yes I should have started this already), and I just saw a post about the 2013 Month of Letters Challenge, so I'm back, and ready to write.

Because I'm already in the proverbial doghouse, here's a postcard that was given to me in 1992 by a customer to hand deliver to someone she knew who worked at my college. Obviously, that didn't happen.

"Dancer with Flat Hat" by Phillip Levine

"3-25-92

Hi Theresa ~

The person who's delivering this card to you for me makes the best espresso and I think "they" should get the espresso flowing in [my college town]!! <3 Bonnie

'THEY' = PEOPLE WITH $ TO INVEST"

Sigh...oh the guilt! When I found this card I vaguely remembered chatting with a customer about going to school, and her handing me a card to deliver. I can't imagine why I didn't, unless I lost it and it only resurfaced later. Also - in 1992, espresso was all the rage in Seattle, but it hadn't quite become the indispensable commodity across the country yet.

Ugh, I'm going to get a lump of coal in my stocking this year, I just know it.

Back to School

It doesn't matter how long it's been since I was in the education cycle - the beginning of September always means both new beginnings - and time to get down to business. Before things get too serious, here are a couple of fall postcards from summer friends, both received in 1986.

Postmark 10/20/1986:

"Dear J, saw this card and thought of you. Sorry I have not written for so long. I got into a college in Iowa? Amanda is the girl who knows Jay B. You a senior? I don't know if I'm going back to the Chalfonte. Justin (of course) has not written did you write his sister? Hope to see you if I have a game at [my high school]"

This is a postcard from my INXS-groupie friend from this post. I'd love to tell you her name, but she didn't sign it. I don't remember why Goodnoe's reminded her of me, or who Amanda or Jay are, and while I also don't remember Justin or his sister, I'm guessing they worked at the hotel with us. Her handwriting is really spidery and almost runs off the card in places. I wonder if I even wrote her back.

Postmark 11/25/1986:

 "J-
I know - it's not my turn but I just thought I'd send this anyway to say hi + see how you are doing - though I suppose I can't see anything through this postcard anyway. I'm making up for it not being my turn by writing a postcard not a letter. Hope you're doing okay. Lynn"

Ah, the old 'whose turn to write' conundrum! Very sneaky to get extra credit by writing out of turn - especially sending a postcard that essentially says nothing. It didn't matter if what you received was meaningless - if you were caught having gotten extra (unearned!) correspondence, it meant your next letter had better be super awesome.

This was a girl I met at summer camp in either 1984 or 1985. She went to a rival school, so I got to see her a couple of times. I remember when she said she'd be coming to a basketball game at my school, because 1) it meant I had to attend the game and 2) her school had a varsity AND a JV team of cheerleaders with 12 students each, official uniforms, and complex cheers. My school had the only 5 or 6 students who were interested in cheerleading, wearing their own white sweaters with school letters tacked on the front, and they mostly just jumped around and yelled a lot. I secretly wanted to be a cheerleader (yelling is fun!), but it was considered so uncool in my school that I didn't do it.

Monday Motivation?

My wagon is draggin' this morning, I can't get going somehow. To abet my procrastination, here's one postcard sent and one from the vaults...

Mailed 8/12:

I forgot to write it down, but this is either an Henri Cartier-Bresson or an Édouard Boubat image...what can I say, their work makes for great postcards.

And now for an oldie, postmark Sept 2, 1986:

that white star is a cutout in the card

"8/29/86

YO!

How are ya? Hope that you are having a marvellous time.......how about an okay time. I'm fine. I moved. Now I'm exhausted but at least it's over, finally. I never want to move again (although I say that every year). Life with three fat cats isn't all it's cracked up to be. Hope I don't have a nervous breakdown - or get fleas. Hey, I miss you. Come home soon. I want to come see you on the 4th - O.K.?????

Love,

me :)"

Sent by a family friend while I was on my brief adventure as a chambermaid at a hotel in Cape May, NJ for a couple of weeks before my senior year in high school. I'm kind of surprised my mom let me go, I was one of the youngest people working there, and there wasn't exactly much in the way of supervision. My "room" was at the top of these stairs far away from the other staff (possibly because most of them were 20-something and there was a lot of partying in the staff housing), and it was a throughway to other parts of the hotel. I think it was usually used as a shortcut by staff, not as housing - a couple of times when I first arrived, someone would walk through in the morning and yelp when they saw someone sleeping there. I was reading Crime and Punishment during my stay - probably on the summer reading list for school - and the only other girl my age seemed soooooo cool because she had followed INXS on tour and claimed that Michael Hutchence was in love with her, which I both thought was complete BS and really wanted to believe, because what teenage girl doesn't want to believe their star crush will fall for them if only we could meet them??


The postcard is also notable in that it was typed.

From the Vaults #7 - Collaborative Correspondence

Since I posted the group postcards from my trip last night, it only seems fair to post the inspiration...

(postmark April 23, 1991)

"Hello Miss J! Congratulations on a successful escape from the midwest! Do you realize how fat [My Awesome Sister aka MAS] is making your cat? If you don't send for her soon you'll have to pay extra for the shipping because of all that extra weight. We miss you! Love, AC

Your evil cat just attacked AC & AC attacked your cat. Whose blood is it? MAS is in the process of feeding us. I am happy. xxoo John.

I'm twenty nine, two days ago and still I don't understand the humor of this company or I still don't understand English. Anyway they look funny and I enjoy them. The strange and funny company and I miss you and your funny hair - Gio

Hey J!! We're having a quiche and chocolate cake dinner with some bizarre CDs brought by Gio + John. We are only missing you for a perfect meal! Write soon and tell us how you are... xo, A"

If only I had more font options to truly capture the wonder of this postcard.

In the fall of 1990, I house-sat (aka slacked) for my sister for 2 months while she was working on her graduate studies elsewhere. Her friends kindly adopted me (possibly because she made them), which was good because otherwise I may never have left the apartment. We went on a scavenger hunt, saw Social Distortion and Sonic Youth, frequented a great Irish pub, watched an opera on tv (don't remember which one, but I'm pretty sure it was Mozart), and had many dinners. Soon afterward, I made my big move to Seattle, and this card was a welcome reminder of friends before I'd had any time to make my own in a new city (besides Dang Ramona, who was already here).

I never did get my cat back. I decided to go back to college, and begged my sister to hang on to her for a little while longer, which ended up being until 2008, when the Meepster finally trilled her last song. This is one of the many reasons that My Awesome Sister has a fancy title.

Pride posting...and where the hell did June go?

Blame the glorious transition from Spring to summer, blame a crazy work schedule, blame Mercury in retrograde - for whatever reason, I really just did not have anything to say this month. A couple times I sifted through postcards but wasn't feeling inspired. But! Last weekend was PRIDE weekend, so here's something new, something old, and a lot gay.

Mailed June 25:

I'm pretty sure I picked this us at the Hide/Seek exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum a couple of months ago. I love this photo - it's really joyful and subversive. Plus - unironic saddle shoes! I don't, however, love how the photo looks all checkered when I upload it. It doesn't look that way in real life or on my computer.

As a bonus, a former girlfriend of mine from college was in town last week. Here's a postcard she sent me in November 1994 (I promise, it's not mushy!):

As always, everything is [sic]

Hey Sweet thang - Your card kixs ass over mine. I'm sitting here mourning over Liz Phair's new crap of an album. What a let down. So here's the thrilling news of the 1/4, I am going to Costa Rica! And so is V__, we will be in different parts of the country but we're planning on travelling together for the last 3 wks or so. I'm going to have to put my dykehood on the shelf for a while. I'm a little uncertain about working with two boys (from here) and my boss who will be ♂ too; I know I'm capable of putting up with it but it will be a different lifestyle. I'm going to try and find another woman here who might be interested just for my sanity. It will make my parents hopeful to know I'm with two boys "maybe she'll convert honey". Last night E__ showed some queer films in Kelly Hall, this one flick - 'It Wasn't Love' had that song you used in your senior piece, M__ told me, did you know this?It was a pretty good film. I can't believe it's 7th week - Ahhh save me! I've been talking to R_ + M_ about driving out with them - there not sure if they're going yet. either Seattle or Ohio for me. I would love it so much to see you. Write back and let me know what yer thinkin - I luv you
 
Ahh, memories... we really bonded over Liz Phair's first album, and let's get real, the follow up was a disappointment. I think the only people who really like that album are people who had never heard the first one, which still hold its position on my Desert Island Playlist.

When I read old postcards, one of the things I notice is whether the person uses traditional paragraphs or they just write one big run on block of text. I've done both, but it's kind of tricky - you have to gauge ahead of time how much you're going to say. Nothing like starting a postcard with tiny, compact writing, only to realize you've run out of things to say with several inches of blank space staring at you. Other times, you may start taking up lots of space with your writing and by the end you're curling your sentences around all the borders and your writing gets smaller and smaller and eventually the person can't ready what you're writing anyway. I admire people who know how much room they're going to need from the get go - or perhaps they just adjust what they say to how much room they've allotted themselves. I don't really know what I'm going to say until I'm saying it. I'm sure there's something terribly revealing about that factoid...

School Spirit aka Vaults #6

Last weekend was my 25th high school reunion (eex). I didn't go, but in honor, here is a postcard from my 11th grade roommate Abijah, whose postcard writing skillz rival My Awesome Sister's.

Summer 1985 [sic throughout]:

Don't Play With Your Food

J,

Hi! I hope your summer is getting better. I just got back from "Landhope" where I saw 2 of the people I least wanted to see from "Upland" - they are "popular" and trendy & they just got their hair cut so now they think the're "Punk" - OH WELL - I saw '16 Candles' last night - it was pretty good - MB called and said she is "sooo sorry" and "will I ever forgive her?" - HA - I talked to Susan & Missy & it was good to talk to Susan again - we're trying to get a party together for Fri. YOU SHOULD COME - the SMITHS concert is tomorrow night -> I almost got us a ride with MB's friend :( - you left your shoes here (I sure you know) I should get them to you somehow - I want to go to the beach - I want U to come! - My cat misses U! <- me too. This concert for Africa sounds good. but the one in London has the only good groups - ELVIS COSTELLO will be there! I won't :( why can't he come here? why can't I go there? - OH WELL. this is a boring note but it's something.

-Love, Abijah

summer - HA!

P.S. we should get together. W/B

the news guy said "the" "U2s"

The use of quotation marks really makes this postcard. It reads exactly the way she spoke. I have no idea who Susan and Missy are - they didn't go to our school. MB was Abijah's friend from home that I knew a lot about but I don't remember if I actually met her. I also have no idea what MB did that made her so sorry, but they're still friends, so they clearly managed to muddle through.

And that concert for Africa? That would be Live Aid, of course. It is to my eternal shame that I grew up in a suburb of Philadelphia and did NOT attend Live Aid. Even if ELVIS COSTELLO wasn't there.

Frankly my dear...(vaults #5)

I'm feeling lazy, so here's an old postcard:

(postmark 29 December 1985)

"J!
I LOVE the tape, especially the two songs by the Flying Lizards and Yello. (Believe it or not!) Chicago is very cold, but it has good chinese food. Everyone in this hotel is an English professor, seriously. I've never seen so many wire-rimmed glasses in all my born days. I purchased some red patent leather boots, but who knows whether or not I will wear them. Auf wiedersehn, MAGS"

I grew up in a small town where everyone pretty much knew everyone and anyone you went to school with could be described as a friend at some point. This girl and I had been sorta kinda friends in elementary school, but somehow reconnected for a brief time in high school, even though I was going to a school in a different town by then. We probably would have been good friends if I'd stayed in my original school, two awkward smartypants new wave freaks with a love of unknown music and an aversion to spritz and Jams(tm) and other '80s staples. I wonder what she is up to now.

Dead Letter Office #1

Since I so narrowly avoided adding another half-written/never sent postcard to my pile, I thought I should do penance by posting one I wrote to my sister a lifetime ago that she never received.

Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with Braid, 1941

"23 February 1992
Dear A -
Hola! After our talk last weekend, I've been very curious how your talk with your advisor went and if you solved the mystery of the missing cat vomit. I sent in my financial aid form but I am dreadfully afraid that it is too late, which means I can't go to school until Fall. How typically irresponsible of me, right? I am quite angry at myself over this, but oh well. What else is new? We will have a niece or nephew very soon! xo J

Hi MEEP + CINE!"

Oh dear.....I'd love to muse about the missing cat vomit (we've all been there, right?), but I am already imagining the reply my mom is going to leave about this. You see, in February 1992 I was preparing to return to college after an extended sabbatical, and as I feared, I had sent my financial aid form in too late to qualify for spring quarter aid. But I didn't wait until Fall quarter to return. I honestly don't remember if I knew when I flew back to Ohio in April that I had missed out on financial aid or maybe I was hoping they'd just give it to me if they saw I was serious about my education (this seems more likely), but let's just say there was an unpleasant conversation halfway through the quarter when a bill arrived at my mother's house. And that I never missed a financial aid deadline again.

Love you, mom!!! Sorry I was so flaky 20 years ago! xoxoxo

From the Vaults #4

This weather is making me want to curl up in bed all day long. I feel like this painting.

September 1987:

Loren MacIver, "Morning Cart" 1960

"Hey J!! Sorry I wasn't home when you called! Next time leave a number where I can call you back if you have one. I love being in school again. I've been on lots of field trips - I even saw a copperhead snake once (these things are exciting to field biologists. Today is my 1st exam and I'm quite worried about it because I haven't studied enough. I hope you are happy there. let me know how things are going. Is your roommate ok? Mine are but they have bad taste in music. Write when you can! Can't wait to see you at T-giving! love, A"

This was my first quarter in college, and my sister's first semester in grad school. I ended up getting mono the week before Thanksgiving. I spent 4+ days in bed unable to function, and had cancelled my Thanksgiving plans...but the day before I started feeling human again, and I was able to score a ride in a tiny 1960s Volvo with three other students. They wouldn't confirm my passage until the last minute because they were hoping to get someone who could share driving time (I didn't and still don't have a driver's license, which makes me a very unattractive rideshare prospect). We left well after midnight. I remember waking up as the car was drifting off the road as our driver fell asleep at the wheel - no crash, we were all fine, and we pulled over so the driver could sleep for an hour or so. We arrived mid Thanksgiving morning to rain and crankiness, and an old hippie who looked like Santa Claus came out to greet us and to ask if any of us would like to partake in some vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner. I called my sister and said "I don't know where the hell I am, but come pick me up NOW".

Of course, by my second year in college I had turned into a vegetarian hippie, but it's amusing to remember what a culture shock it was at the time.

From the Vaults #3 and Happy Birthday!

My oldest niece's birthday this week. She will get a card (late - see yesterday's post) and a present (later, 'cause I can never get it together in time), but in the meantime, here's a bit of ancient history...

From some time in the mid-'90s. My niece has always been interested in science, which is pretty darned groovy. My mom must have taken her to the American Museum of Natural History and then sent me this card in a letter. How adorables, no?





And yes, I'm quite glad there was no internet for my relatives to post remnants of my childhood on when I was a young lady....

From the Vaults #2

From a high school friend, summer or fall 1991:

see how much better they look scanned?

"HI!!!!
This is me, unemployed & living in NY. Okay - it's Janis Joplin, but I am living in NY & severely unemployed. My new address is [...]. Anne told me you love where you're living. So do I! It's in the village, prime location w/in close proximity to lots of bars & restaurants I can't yet afford. What are you doing now? I look for jobs and cook a lot b/c I'm bored. If nothing turns up, soon I will look for waitressing. No one wants to hire you unless you type 50 WPM which I don't! Do you know where Will is post-graduation?? Talked to Camille - she is going to be a PHD student in Psych. Will wonders never cease??? I hope you're happy and that everything is good there. Get in touch w/me! <3 C"

She and I kept in touch for a few years after this - I remember talking to her on the phone either right before or after our 10th high school reunion (I didn't go) - but I have no idea where she is now.

Day 27

I mentioned in my first post that I found a bunch of postcards and letters I have written over the years and not sent. Even worse (or better, depending on your perspective), I bothered to save so many of them - probably because I liked the cards too much to toss. The time has come to excavate these little gems...many of the intended recipients have fallen to the social wayside, but I was looking for the right postcard to send a friend I've known since high school when I discovered one with her name already on it...

Mailed February 27:

I went to London in 1985 with my mom and sister - at the time I considered London to be THE aesthetic mecca of the world. Alas, I only got to spend 15 minutes on my own during the trip, when I had to run back to the hotel to use the loo. The rest of the time I was at the mercy of my more culturally minded family, wasting time* visiting Cambridge and taking high tea and overtipping cabs with those confusing pound coins. We did end up at some sort of flea market where I bought a favorite pair of earrings and a UK-only cassette of The The's Soul Mining album, which was awesome even though I already owned the US version.

I bought this card there (Punks in London!! Hanging out with a Bobby! SO AUTHENTIC!), and wrote it over the summer. We were moving from an apartment in what we all referred to as the "geriatric condo" to a house, and I hadn't seen the inside of my new home yet. I also mentioned going to Great Adventure, something I never did and don't even remember wanting to do.

My handwriting was atrocious.

Since this postcard was already written, I sent it in a groovy envelope with a note card inside for a more timely message as well.

The cat looks okay but I don't trust that bunny one bit

* By "wasting time", I mean having all sorts of interesting adventures that my snotty teenage brain couldn't fully appreciate until much later, of course.