Postcrossing.com

Recently, I joined a website called "Postcrossing." This site exists to do just what the name implies: provide a way for individuals (not businesses) to exchange postcards with other people around the world. It costs nothing to join, although if you want to donate to the upkeep of the site, you may.


Because I have a large postcard collection just sitting in a file box, I thought this was a good way to use those postcards up before I croak and my daughters have to give them away or throw them out.


The steps to setting up a Postcrossing profile and registering are simple, and you immediately receive five addresses to get you started. Once your first postcard arrives at its destination and the recipient logs it into the website, you can get another address, and the process continues. For every postcard you send, your address is given to another member of Postcrossing, who then reads your profile and sends a postcard to you.

Randomness is one of the best aspects of Postcrossing. My first postcards went to Russia, China, The Netherlands, Croatia, and Germany. After about a week, I received my first postcard, from a Chinese student who was living in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Once you receive a Postcrossing member's address, you may read her/his profile. This gives you an idea of the person's interests and preferences for the type of postcard she/he would like to receive.

I derive a lot of pleasure from choosing a postcard that I hope will please the recipient. For example, I sent this postcard to a woman who has two small dogs on whom she dotes.

This month, Postcrossing turned five years old. Here's a message from the site:

"On 14th July 2005, the Postcrossing project started its first steps in spreading smiles through postcards. It was a small project done for the love of sending and receiving postcards from all over the world, and the hope was that there would be more people sharing the same love and interest for snail mail. Fast forward 5 years and this same project is now responsible for over 4.5 million postcards connecting about 200 countries. It binds together people from different cultures of all ages and genders, with different political and even religious beliefs. Few other hobbies can claim to have achieved the same results, and we are quite proud of this!
Throughout these years, Postcrossing has gone through several milestones, thanks to the work of a team of volunteers as well as the precious support of its members who helped it reach what it is now. 

Postcrossing is sending out a bold message to the world today: postcards are not something from the past. In fact, we feel like we are starting a postcard revolution and proving that no technology will ever replace the intimacy of a handwritten postcard. Thank you everyone who made this possible. Let's make the next five years even greater!"

To join Postcrossing, go to: http://www.postcrossing.com

Fourth of July Party

Our Independence Day celebration was a success! Friends, neighbors, and family members joined us on the front porch for an evening of fun and food (and quite a bit of beer).



[Click on images to enlarge them.]

Guests were invited to come in costume as their favorite signer of the Declaration of Independence or to otherwise represent someone from the revolutionary period. Here is Naomi as John Dickinson.

Ruth came as her ancestor, Judge Samuel Chase...

...and Connie represented her ancestor, Roger Sherman.

Donna brought a wealth of information about the Declaration signers, including her ancestors, Robert Treat Paine and Oliver Wolcott....

...which she shared with Joanie, who represented Julia Stockton, wife of Declaration signer Benjamin Rush.

Thomas Jefferson is sometimes credited with inventing macaroni and cheese, but it actually was just a favorite dish of his which he first sampled in France.

We served three versions of Jeffersonian Mac & Cheese, as well as John Adams' favorite drink, hard cider, and plenty of Samuel Adams' beer. Guests brought a variety of delicious potluck dishes to share. Gail and Dale brought the patriotic fruit pizza pictured at top of this blog post.

Ruth and Rob examine the properties of cheese.

Naomi baked a large Liberty Bell brownie...

...and Michelle arrived just in time to get one of the last pieces.

Babies and dogs joined the celebration, too.

Proclaim Liberty!

YouTube Video #2: Unboxing 101, a Tutorial

I had good response to my first YouTube video, but--as a few people pointed out--I didn't actually unbox my Princess telephone, so my second video is proof that I know how to do that.
I hope the video gives you a laugh or two. Watch for the meat cleaver.
The link is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgG5Dh6sdtk
Enjoy!

YouTube Video #1: Unboxing the Princess Telephone

Last night, I made my first YouTube video, called "Unboxing the Princess Telephone." It's a parody inspired by all the recent "unboxing" videos people have made to show off their newest communications devices.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8J2JvGOBw4 
Enjoy!

Selling on eBay

Yes, I was a Brownie for a few years in the 1950s. I still remember that dorky brown cotton uniform that wrinkled as soon as I put it on.


After my parents died a couple of years ago and my daughter and I spent days shoveling through their lifetimes' accumulation of possessions and documents, I came home resolved to eliminate--or at least reduce--the amount of "stuff" in my house. I'm not exactly a packrat, but somehow, my belongings have a way of reproducing, and before I know it, every available surface in the house is covered.


First, I held a yard sale (see the archive for May), which made a small dent in the pile of cra--er, treasures. Then, I resorted to eBay. After a steep learning curve and a couple of mistakes vastly underpricing items, I finally got the hang of it, and what a weird, wonderful, wacky world eBay is!

Where else could you buy my limited-edition Blue Glove figurine from the Beatles' movie, Yellow Submarine...

...or my dancing Coca-Cola can with shades and headphones?

 

Before I could list this Dazey churn, I had to convince the little survivalist in me that I will never really need to churn my own butter.

How about this one? It's a guilt-powered coin slot for a newspaper vending rack. This odd item had more "watchers" than anything else I listed.  It wound up in someone's collection of newspaper-related memorabilia in Tennessee. (At least, I hope that's what he's doing with it.)



Is it ever too early to plan for Christmas? These and about a zillion other wooden ornaments were part of my "Box o' Christmas" sale. When my granddaughter-in-law bought the ornaments, her husband threatened to take them to the shooting range to use as targets.

I got a laugh out of the advertising copy I wrote for this item: "Each year, Godiva designs a new tin for their Lady Godiva chocolate collection. This tin is one of the most beautiful ones in recent years....The tin is empty now, which is sad, but I can assure you that the chocolates it used to contain were heavenly, and it's still a lovely storage or gift container."

In the '80s, I wore the hell out of these Jack Daniels overalls, and now, a woman in Oregon (whose name is also Cheryl) is wearing them.

I had no idea what this was, so I listed it as a "Mystery Container" and asked bidders to speculate on its use.  Although I described it as a glass container that held approximately one gallon, bidders wrote to me asking, "What's it made of?" and "How much does it hold?"  One person wanted to know what it smelled like.  No one bid on it, so I may list it again, just for fun.

"Vintage" is a key word on eBay. Pretty much anything that wasn't made in this century is described as "vintage." I invited bidders to "Relive the '70s in these vintage psychedelic shoes."

Thanks go to my friend, Sherrod, for providing the impetus to start selling on eBay. He found some great deals on used musical equipment at a local thrift shop and was able to triple his investment when the items sold on eBay. This was the first item we sold. People in Australia went mad for these "vintage" stereo headphones.

This "vintage" bass drum pedal was highly coveted by a drummer in Italy, but ultimately went to a guy in Oregon. Maybe he knows Cheryl in the Jack Daniels overalls.

I felt conflicted about listing these owl bookends, since they've held my books together as long as I can remember. I don't know which of my pets chewed on the owls' ears, but it may have been all for the best. No one bid on them, and now, they're back on my bookshelf.

Maybe not everything should be sold on eBay.