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Postcrossing 350!

Sunday, May 2nd, 2021

Yesterday I received this card, my 350th from Postcrossing:

I’ve been a member now for 28 months, and in that time have sent 371 cards to 42 countries and received 354 from 42 countries. In total 49 countries have been represented, since there’s some I’ve sent to but not received from and vice versa.

People from 248 countries use the service, so I’ve only interacted with about 20% of the possible destinations. The ‘rarest’ for me has been the Bahamas: with only 20 members it was quite unusual for me to have sent a card there! The ‘rarest’ country I have received a card from is the Aland Islands, which has only 33 registered users.

Approximately one third (114) of the cards I have sent have gone to German users, with Russia (46) and The Netherlands (27) next in line. As far as received cards once again Germany wins (with 93 received) and Russia takes second (48) with China third at 21.

I’ve sent enough cards that the duration of international mail can be determined from my statistics, although I expect these are somewhat compromised due to the covid interruptions. That said Australia has an average travel time of 40 days, Japan 15, Germany 12 and the UK only 8. The longest average travel time is Turkey, at an amazing 85 days (based on 4 sent cards)!

The longest time for a receiver to get a card I sent them is still South Africa (115 days) and the shortest was a user in Lichtenstein who got my card only 5 days after I posted it here at my local post office!

For received cards, I got one from Hungary a whopping 175 days after it was posted, and one from Jordan 126 days after. Both of these were long enough that Postcrossing had marked both as lost, but I was able to register them anyway.

It’s not an inexpensive hobby! Each card costs me about $1 on average (including the ones I have printed myself) and international postage is $1.20, so the hobby costs me about $0.96/day on average. The cost is increasing, since as time goes on I can send an ever-increasing amount of cards (I’m at 16 simultaneous now) and I usually always send a new card whenever I can 🙂

Unsurprisingly the vast majority of cards in the last year have mentioned covid and the effect it has had on all our lives. Some have even mentioned losing loved ones or jobs from covid, and in recent months vaccine frustrations (especially from European senders) has also been common. Postcrossers tend to love travel as well, so a common hope is that we can defeat this virus and people can start traveling again.

It’s still a delight getting every card, reading the messages and looking at the stamps. 350 is a lot of cards to have received (I’m ranked about 3500th amongst USA users) but for me it’s just a start 🙂

Posted in Miscellaneous, Postcards, Stamps | Comments Closed

2020 in Postcards

Monday, December 28th, 2020

We all know what didn’t happen this year: travel. And no travel (usually) means no postcards. But as you may know I found ways around that, and this past year ended up being a strong one on the postcard front!

When I visited Australia/Japan late last year and early this year I sent Kristin about 50 (yes fifty) postcards, four of which are shown above. As usual these are mostly amusing travelogues and I’m already thankful I did them since they contain slice-of-life memories that have already faded! Here’s an example of what I wrote on one from Japan:

Of course the last card from Japan (sent on January 20) was the last card I sent in 2020 while I was actually on holiday somewhere.

Then a friend (thanks JK!) made me some postcards for my birthday! This was perhaps a better gift even than she realized, because immediately I decided to use the same service (moo.com) to start making my own.

And I’ve made hundreds! Most of you have received some in the mail, and a few of you are receiving them weekly! This is in part due to covid, and in part due to me enjoying sending postcards. I hope you are enjoying receiving them.

Happily I’ve been receiving cards as well, and the above is a selection. Even if none of you are traveling either, you’re still sending me cards which is great. Every time I find one in my letterbox I smile 🙂

And then there’s postcrossing as well. I only check my PO Box every few weeks but every time I do there’s a pile of cards in there and I’m very close to receiving my 300th card! Covid is still slowing the mail for many countries, but even if delayed the cards eventually arrive and I haven’t had a single one ‘lost’ during 2020. Understandably the vast majority of cards contain comments about covid, and I can assure you people all over the world are hoping we get through this soon.

My latest idea was to purchase some ‘vintage’ US Stamps (some examples above) to use on postcards, and I’m just about to start doing that. Even though US stamps are good forever I’m still going to test this before sending a bunch of cards, but I’m optimistic you can look forward to cards with 30+ year old stamps on them soon…

Of course I hope 2021 brings travel back, and I can once again go somewhere and send you tacky tourist postcards. But even if that can’t happen I’ve got enough cards to keep me going for a good long while, and enough ideas to keep them fresh. Watch your mailboxes!

Posted in Art, Postcards, Stamps | Comments Closed

Postcard Contest: The Results!

Wednesday, November 11th, 2020

The postcard contest is over! All cards have been mail, received and judged. It’s time for the final score.

To revise, at halftime the score was even-stevens, and the contest had been a nail-biter with close calls from the inscrutable judges.

I had mentioned at that point the existence of a mysterious fourth rule which hadn’t come into play and now it’s time to reveal what that was:

4) Each competitor has 2 points in total they can wager on cards. If they win that card, the points are added to their total score.

As of halftime neither of us had wagered any of our points which is why I didn’t mention it. But the points entered the contest in the last four cards: read on to see what effect they had!

Category 5: Horror

I chose this category, and when it came time to select an imagine regretted it since it proved to be a difficult one. I actually ended up making two cards and chose mine – on the left – at the last moment.

I chose well it seems, since the judges awarded me the win 3-2. The choice seemed difficult since some found the skeleton child unpleasant… but wasn’t that the point?

You’ll also note that here Bernard plays for the judges with his card by putting himself in the photo! As if the judges would fall for such an obvious gimmick…

Category 6: Lizard

This category was Bernard’s choice, possibly because he had his picture (the top one) in mind. I was so confident of my lovely chameleon I wagered one of my points on it.

Bernard won 3-2! My point was lost like tears in rain, and once again the overall score was tied! The judges that selected a Bernard’s card gave no comments on their choice, so I don’t know why his was chosen.

At this point KLS made an observation: Did the judges understand they were voting for postcards and not just photos? It was immaterial since judges decision was final, but I made that (slightly) clearer to them in the final two categories.

Category 7: Rain

This was Lakshmi’s category! Bernard’s card used a photo he took himself from inside a train in New Zealand, and mine was one of several I printed showing the Tokyo neon jungle on a rainy night.

Bernard won 5-0!!! This was the only blowout in the contest, and since not one judge gave any real comment I can’t say for sure why his was chosen unanimously.

I’ll attribute it to none of them having visited Tokyo on a rainy night 🙂

So the overall contest score is 4-3 Bernard’s way with one card left. If you’re keeping track you’ll know I have one point left to wager, and he has two. If I win the last category I’ll be the overall winner with 5-4; if he wins it it’ll be his rout at 7-3. It all came down to the very last card…

Category 8: Sculpture

The final category was chosen by Kristin, and it was a good one. Bernard’s card was the top (showing civic fountain in Newcastle) and mine the bottom showing a (real) photo of a moai against the stars.

Had I been a judge I would have said this was the most difficult pair to judge since they’re both good, and based on the comments this was indeed the case since a few judges took longest on this final card.

And in the end… my card won 3-2. As one judge said: Gotta be the moai.

So with my final point wagered the overall contest score was 5-4 with me as the winner. I’ll accept this triumphant victory with the humility I am known for!

Thanks to the judges. Thanks to Bernard for strong competition and thanks to Lakshmi and Kristin for the guest categories. This was a lot of fun to do and I already have some ideas for the next time we do it (such as have each judge pick a category) which I’m certain will happen before too long 🙂

Posted in Art, Family, Postcards | 1 Comment »

Postcard Contest: Halftime

Monday, October 19th, 2020

Bernard and I are currently competing in a postcard design contest!

The rules are as follows:
1) Each of us selected 4 one-word categories.
2) We each designed (and professionally printed) one postcard per category and sent them once per week to each other.
3) Each pair of designs will be presented to a team of five elite judges who will select the best card each week.

The judges were not selected until after we’d made the cards, so as to avoid choosing designs to cater to a particular judge.

As of today we’re four weeks into the eight week contest. Four cards judged, four to go. Here’s the current results…

Category 1: Android

The first category was chosen by me, and both entries are shown above. Mine is the lovely shot of Cara D in a chrome suit, and Bernard cheekily chose Aegis in an effort to confuse the judges and maybe nick a point! Neither of these are technically androids, but there’s no rule that said that the cards had to adhere to the categories.

The votes were 3-2 in favour of my card. Here’s one judges comment: (She) has strong eyebrow game, and reminiscent of my purple rock star Barbie growing up!

Category 2: Computation

Bernard chose this category and his design – some esoteric code – is on the left. I chose an artistic shot of Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry at the American Amiga launch in the 80s. As with all my designs I tried to make cards you’d see on a rack in a postcard shop, and this one certainly fits the bill!

Once again the judges favoured my design 3-1 (with one tie!). One judge said: While I appreciate the mathematical notation, which in this font resembles an ancient inscription, I cannot go past Andy and Deb “using” an Amiga.

Category 3: Gold

Once again this was my category, and it was a difficult one to choose an image of! I rejected many options before coming up with the cozy shot of the golden loo. I thought it was funny and would certainly buy such a card myself. Bernard on the other hand forgot to make a specific card and instead chose a flower card he has (coincidentally) printed and sent it as his entry 🙂

And… the judges chose his in a landslide 4-1 win. They were strangely quiet about their decision, so we can only guess as to why they preferred the flower to the toilet!

Category 4: The Holy See

Bernard chose this not-quite-one-word category, and I think both of us regretted it since it was very difficult! He went with a safe choice – the Vatican flag – and I went with a too-clever choice of Francis Bacon’s Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X. This was of course because it was used as the cover of a Sisters Of Mercy record, but I wonder if the judges would know that?

They didn’t, or perhaps they just preferred the flag, since once again Bernard won 3-2! Two judges commented on how they preferred the flag since the Bacon art was scary 🙂

Halftime Score: Tied!

So after four cards the score is even Stevens: 2 points each!

Four cards left! What could the categories be? Will the judges remain as unpredictable as they have been? What about the fourth rule not listed above since it hasn’t come into play yet?

In a month, all will be revealed…

Posted in Art, Postcards, The Unknown | Comments Closed

World Postcard Day

Saturday, September 26th, 2020

October 1 is World Postcard Day! This is a celebration of the joy of postcards, and to commemorate the day you should send at least one postcard!

So – this Thursday – grab a postcard and start writing. It doesn’t matter what you write, so write anything! If you’re short of ideas, here are a few:
– Your favorite animal, food, movie, song etc.
– Your goals for the future, or historical achievement you’re very proud of
– Your favorite memory from before the year 2000
– A joke, poem, limerick or lyric

The stamps are important too. Go for variety if you can, or if you’re sending domestically and only need one stamp try for an unusual or pretty one (this means no simple flags if you’re in the US!).

Send the card to anyone, as long as it’s me. Better yet, send more than one to family and friends. Be sure to mention World Postcard Day. And try to get it in the mail on October 1st 🙂

Speaking of cards, this is as good a time as any for a Postcrossing update.

I’ve now received 248 cards and sent about 260. I check my postbox every 2 weeks or so and they keep coming even during the pandemic. The average time for a card to arrive is longer now (in some cases excessively) but so far I haven’t had any of the cards I sent not arrive.

I’ve got a mini-album I use to showcase the favorites I have received, either due to the card, the stamps or the message. I’ve almost filled it and will have to buy another album before too long.

That’s on the back of an Australian card I received where the sender used vintage stamps. I was quite impressed that they used a $0.45 silver jubilee stamp from 1977! Most stamps are good forever, and it would be fun to buy some older US stamps and do the same one day.

I’m showing off the above due to the astonishing penmanship of Grigorii. Also Russian stamps are always very big and very pretty, and there seems to be an endless variety of them. Not every card is lettered this well, and I’ve receive some I could barely read at all!

The above is the most extraordinary card I’ve received so far, from the Aland Islands off the coast of Finland. There’s very few Postcrossers living there so it’s unlikely I’ll ever get another and receiving this was a genuine treat.

I’ve sent to 41 countries and received from 42. Russia, China and Germany are far ahead on the list of sent and received countries, and I still haven’t received anything from South America. I think I’m loving Postcrossing even more now due to the pandemic, and no matter where the card is from I love seeing it in my mailbox.

But of course the best cards are from those we know. Given we can’t travel now you may think there’s no good reason to send one, which is why World Postcard Day is so timely this year. Please consider sending some, but even if you don’t watch your mailbox since you know I won’t let the day pass without sending a bunch myself 🙂

Posted in Postcards, Stamps | Comments Closed

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