Today in My History

2000: Where in the World Am I??
2001: Head for the Outhouse, Martha!
2002: Picture This
2003: Here Comes the Bride
2004: My Own Thing--Whatever That Is
2005: Murphy's Law
2006: Damn Post Office
2007: "Oh, Toto, There's No Place Like Home"
2008:  "Overlooking" I-5
2009:  The Trip Bug
2010:  Never Say Never

Bitter Hack
Updated: 7/1
"Or,"

Books Read in 2011
 Updated: 7/5
"The Confession"

VIDEO OF THE DAY/WEEK

Tom's Birthday
China Pictures

I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND

8 July, 2011

I received this postcard in the mail yesterday.

It's called "Grey, Orange and Black Lattice," and is from a member of the International Union of Mail Artists (IUMA), who designed this and several like it, in different hues.

When I started The Pen Pal Project, it was my intention to find a few people with whom I was compatible, with the goal of maybe having some new friends to write to, since so few people like writing any more...and since that has been my passion my entire life.

And in the beginning, that's the way it started out.  I discovered there were places on line where you could find other people who wanted to write letters (most of them younger than my children, but a few other old farts among them).

But in investigating these sites, I also began to realize that there was a whole new language, the language of Mail Artists.  It included such terms as FBs (which I have later learned are friendship books...not clear on what that is or what its purpose is) and ATCs (I'm still not sure what those are) and that there is a whole world out there of people who feel that how a piece of correspondence looks seems to be as important, if not more important than what it says.

Most of the people I am hearing from, thank goodness, seem to be more concerned with the content of the message, but I did see examples of attempts to decorate envelopes.

There were the people who decorated with stickers....

...some who used rubber stamps...

...and some who used more of a "mixed medium"...

My own first attempts at "mail art" consisted of learning how to make envelopes and making some pretty cool envelopes (if I do say so myself)

(made from a menu I brought home from China)

But when I started reading blogs by people who are snail mail and mail art enthusiasts, and when I started looking around at the photos in the IUMA, I was overwhelmed with the variety of things I was seeing, in the name of mail art.

Some people tried to see how many weird things they could send

Apparently if you can find a way to attach postage to it, the post office will mail it for you.  (One woman just recently mailed a pair of glasses, with an address on one lens and postage on the other.)

It's kind of fascinating, but I'm having a difficulty getting into the whole "art" thing. I'd much rather write what I hope is an interesting 3 page letter than spend time creating something like this.

or this

I am not good at abstract thinking.  As "far out" as I get in the art world are the impressionists.  I started trying to make my own "mail art" and this is what I came up with.

What can I say?  It's my Grandma Moses moment.

I'm not sure how many more of these far out ideas I have for envelopes, but I will continue to try for a bit.  I don't think I'm ever going to understand "Grey, Orange and Black Lattice," though.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

My first "altered" work -- this is a postcard
from the terra cotta warriors, with a tongue
from a little card I had made one time decoupaged on it.
It's sprinkled with yellow sugar (because I didnt have yellow sprinkles)
and the lettering added for effect.

Now to see if it gets delivered and if I get laughed out of the IUMA

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