In our America… (Oregon)

This postcard arrives from Portland, Oregon, one of my favorite destinations. I was thrilled to receive this lovely card, a product of a Facebook group called “Nasty Women Get Shit Done!” On my last trip to PDX, we saw several of these in people’s yards and windows. What a great message of inclusiveness and justice. If you wouldn’t fly one in your yard, I think you have some hard questions to ask yourself.

un assureur pour les mourants (France)

Encore une carte postale de mon ami fidèle Dominique, qui me passe cette message de son assureur. Franchement, je ne suis pas sûr de la tout comprendre. C’est à dîre que l’assureur appuie les patients au point de mourir (ils comptent les minutes parce qu’ils n’en ont pas des heures pour compter)?

Néanmoins, j’adore les cartes postales qui sont aussi des advertissements, surtout s’ils ont des messages qui me font réflechir.

Avez-vous noté que le medecin-ci ne porte pas de masque? Même avant la pandémie, les medecins portaient des masques, n’est-ce pas? :-)

Jordan/Biology Hall, Indiana University

This postcard comes courtesy of an old friend and former program-mate of mine, who sends greetings from her campus (even if she, like me, hasn’t visited it in person in some time). I’m interested to see that Jordan Hall at Indiana University is named for the same person that Jordan Hall at my workplace Stanford University is named for: David Starr Jordan.

Jordan was a staunch eugenicist, which is a nice word for a racist scumbag. His scientific contributions have been overshadowed and perhaps called into question by his unscientific moral decrepitude.

A group of students and others has finally convinced the Stanford administration to rename the hall. It seems the Indiana University did similarly!

The Line DC

This terrific design comes from the hotel where two friends stayed recently while visiting family on the East Coast. I really love its design; the bold outlines and the color palette are very evocative of another time. I can only imagine how beautiful the hotel itself was!

Mono Lake (California)

What a beautiful postcard that just arrived yesterday! I’ve been meaning to visit Mono Lake for some time now and this just reminded me of the beauty and variety of landscapes available in the state where I live. Who has been? What did you think?

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

San Diego Postcrossers (California

This beautiful postcard comes courtesy of the organizer of our very own San Francisco Postcrossers group! This is the second card of this style I’ve seen, where the users send in their avatars which are then printed on the card! I love it; it’s super cute!

Fort Jackson (South Carolina)

This postcard comes from a new penpal of mine who lives in South Carolina. With many of my family members having served in the military, I may have slightly more experience visiting military bases than the average civilian. However, I’ve never visited Fort Jackson. Interestingly, I heard that many of the military bases in the South were deliberately named after Confederate military leaders (how strange that a country’s military bases would be named after traitors!). At least this one is not named for a Confederate traitor, though.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Tom of Finland (bis) (Finland)

Here’s another terrific image from the Tom of Finland collection that my penpal Jussi has sent. This style of cap is so iconic to me but I don’t even know what they’re called. A quick web search turned up lots of sites selling them—or facsimiles thereof—but I’m not sure what they’re called. I wonder if they’re based on, or inspired by historical uniforms worn by Finnish police officers or soldiers? They’re certainly synonymous now with erotic hypermasculinity. There was a time when any self-respecting white, gay man would have worn at least one or two pieces like this when going out to cruise. I think you still see some of this style at the Folsom Street Fair and other places that gay men in the leather and kink communities congregate. Well, as the hip people say now: it’s a whole mood!

Beefeater Gin (Russia)

I wish I could show you the back of this postcard because the sender has the most beautiful handwriting I’ve seen in a long time! I’m always surprised when people can have beautiful handwriting in one script much less two or more! I think my handwriting is fine in the Latin alphabet, but I know it’s a wreck in Cyrillic and even worse in Chinese. A teacher once told me I’d never be able to write beautiful Chinese since I’m left-handed; I wonder if that’s the reason? (no, that’s not the reason. Handedness doesn’t impact aesthetics and anyone who tells you otherwise is rightist [or a self-hating lefty!])

lemon tea (Russia)

This postcard arrives from a person with a list of languages learned so long it makes my head spin! Sometimes when I get a big head about being able to operate in three or four languages, depending on the context, I just think of the true polyglots - people who’ve studied and can use five or ten languages! It’s really something. How I’d love to sit down with a cup of tea and learn more about how they do it and more importantly: why?

Webfooters Post Card Club (Oregon)

This pastiche postcard is so amusing and delightful! My dear friend Linda finds these in local thrift shops and sends them with brief messages to stay in touch. She informs me that they’re still active this club, which is very exciting! I might look them up the next time I’m in Portland, if the stars align.

Lillipippins (Germany)

What a cute image that arrived on this postcard! According to autotranslation, it means in English “Life is colorful!” Maybe a more colloquial translation might be “Life is bright!” or “Life is a rainbow!” In any case, I love this postcard and the message it brings.

face tattooing, Atayal people (Taiwan)

What a truly beautiful postcard that arrived last week from Taiwan! The sender writes about the “aboriginal” peoples of Taiwan, including the Tayal, one of whom is depicted here with face tattoos, “an ultimate glory.” The writer also writes about the Paiwan people, who are the second-most numerous aboriginal group in the country.

I’ve been fascinated by the many aboriginal groups of Taiwan, especially because their languages have helped linguists and anthropologists understand the migration of Polynesian people. Before the so-called “Age of Exploration,” Polynesian people were the most widely-distributed ethnic group on the planet, ranging from Taiwan to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), to Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Hawai’i!

Waddenzee (the Netherlands)

I was really struck by the colors and foregrounding of the fence here, in this postcard depicting the famous Waddenzee (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The sender writes that at low tide, you can walk to the islands, although you need a guide due to the dangers inherent. Of course, ships who wish to pass must wait for high tide.

There’s something familiar about this; this could be the north shore of my home state of Michigan.

Tom of Finland (Finland)

This postcard arrives from my new Finnish penpal Jussi, who writes about his favorite movies—among them, The Usual Suspects and the James Bond franchise. This image, in contrast, is a Tom of Finland drawing, which are very famous among gay men for their hyper-masculine traits and exaggerated sexuality. This drawing certainly exudes masculinity but may lack some of the overt eroticism seen in other pieces.

lighthouses of the Outer Banks (North Carolina), part 2

Perhaps one of the biggest drawbacks to a digital collection such as this is that you can’t feel the postcards. This has a lovely scalloped edge and it’s a linen postcard, even printed with soy ink. The feel of this postcard is so soft and supple, which makes it a joy not just to read and look at, but also to hold and feel. Leave it to Mejdulene and Katie to not only pick a beautiful image to represent their trip to the Outer Banks, but also to pick a postcard that is such a great tactile addition to my collection!

Mütter Museum (Pennsylvania), part 2

Two great postcards from a fantastic museum! I also love the artifact of its sending, a golden smudge in the middle. Some people would see this as a flaw, but at first I thought it had been deliberately added as a ghostly specter (is that redundant?). One of the things that Renée writes about is how many of the human remains are paired with what is known about the people before death. While I’m sure a collection such as this has a lot of ugly in its past, this seems like one step toward recognition of the people whose remains make up much of the museum’s collection.

anthropomorphic Ireland

This postcard is absolutely phenomenal! I love reimaginations of geographic areas as people or animals, and this one is perhaps the best I’ve seen in a long time! It even hints at the Partition of Ireland into the Republic and Northern Ireland. This is really a great one!

lighthouses of the Outer Banks (North Carolina)

This terrific postcard comes from our dear friends Mejdulene and Katie, who took a trip to the Outer Banks recently. I’m impressed to read that after a day of bicycle riding, they even conquered over 200 steps to climb to the top! I visited a lighthouse years ago during one of my visits to the Outer Banks and it was spectacular.

Mütter Museum (Pennsylvania)

Visiting this museum was a childhood dream of our friend Renée, who stopped by earlier this week and picked up a postcard to send to Andy. I remember hearing about it, too, when I was younger and I definitely put it on my list of places to visit. During my one visit to Philadelphia, however, I didn’t take the time to do so, so it’s still there. Maybe Renée can make a re-visit with us when next we see her?