Postcard Distractions

I am definitely looking forward to summer. I think today could be efficiently described as a day long mini-break down. I still need to acknowledge the people worried about me because I was M.I.A. for so long... but I don't feel quite like becoming un-M.I.A. just yet, so I will do that later. Sorry guys.

I was looking at one of my bedroom walls today, and found myself re-examining my many postcards that I've put up. I've received postcards both from friends traveling abroad, as well as Postcrossing, and both are meaningful to me in their own way. Some of the stories behind the Postcrossing ones are pretty neat, actually, so I thought I'd share a few.

This first one is from Finland, and is a picture of Mama Moomin. Apparently the Moomins are an "essential part of [the] (children) culture" in Finland. Besides that, the sender of the postcard included this little story, which I found to be quite interesting: "I found [the card] inside a Library book. The best thing is, it's of Mama Moomin - my favorite! :D AND I'm sending this card from a special Moomin Museum! Check out the stamps!" I love to know the stories behind things, and I really enjoyed reading this particular card.

This was sent from Evanston, Illinois (which is kind of cool because it's the only city I've been to in Illinois - I went to visit Northwestern a few years back). This might be my favorite that I've received so far. The sender wrote "I've had this postcard for 27 years and finally decided to part with it. The super-realist paintings of Richard Estes are amazing! See some of his actual work if you can." He also included a Bob Dylan quote... but I love more the fact that the card is 27 years old and he chose to, for some reason, send it to me. I also love the painting on the front. A time past. I love stuff like that.

The third is from Hamburg. The postcard itself is actually a vintage card that was originally sent in 1936 I believe, written in old German. My sender explained the significance of Plön (the town pictured on the front of the postcard) to him: it was the town his mother was born in. He also mentioned that he tends to send old vintage cards, which I personally think is REALLY cool. I wonder what the story was for the first sender in 1936?

In any case, I've received many other interesting postcards (with some bland postcards thrown into the mix), but not recently. Postcrossing is a very good anonymous postcard sending system - send a card to a random person, and another random person will send you one (once the first is received). I've been so busy this semester, though, that I haven't really gotten the chance to sit down, choose a postcard, write a message (I like to write a note, although it isn't required), and mail it out. So no new postcards for me.

I'm thinking of starting it back up again, though. It really is nice to open your mailbox and find something other than an advertisement or a bill :)