Fifteen Years

Can you believe this blog is 15 years old?

Handmade Christmas

I do not receive that many hand made Christmas cards. But they are so nice!

This one was sent by Imma (PC).

Typewriters

'Those who have nothing to say
now say it on Twitter'

Cards sent by Fabienne (France) and Heleen (Netherlands).

I Follow You

I am not on social media, but there are some blogs I read regularly, and some newsletters I suscribe to.

Elan Ullendorff, of Escape the Algorithm*, announced the Escape the Algorithm ᵐⁱᶜʳᵒsupporter Program in February. Contrary to other newsletters, to become a paid subscriber of the newsletter, you can pay money, but also "perform a tiny act of codependence". Suggestions include sending a postcard; although my postcard cannot compete with gifts like a jar of Danish raw honey... I really like the idea of "soften the para part of our parasocial relationship".

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*Escape the Algorithm is a newsletter about taking control of our attention and finding a more human side of the internet.

New Year Resolution: Write Letters!

PB955 Typewriter
thepatternbook.co.uk

Card sent by Laura (the UK).

Typewriters Are the Very Best

Der schönste Moment beim Schreiben:

wenn sich die Dinge plötzlich fügen.

Susann Pásztor

('The best moment while writing:

when things suddenly fall into place.')

Even een paar vriendinnen gebeld

en dan zo'n hoge telefoonrekening?

('Just called a few friends

and then got such a high telephone bill?')

From Betinna (Austria) and Heleen (The Netherlands).

Typewriters Are the Best

Postcard sent by Jeanne (the USA), through the Postcrossing site. I could easily be taken for that woman, looking at my Olivetti before writing a letter on it (or for any of these people...).

Pink!

Front and back of a letter in a decorated envelope, sent by Laura (the UK).

Just...

Postcard sent by Bryon (the USA).

(By the way... I love typewriters!)

My Fault

I sent this envelope to Catherine France a year ago: on 25 November 2021. It contained a letter and a Christmas card, but never reached its destination. 

Ten months latter, on 23 September 2022, it landed in my mailbox. Only then I realised that I had made a big mistake: I had written the name of the street and the country... But not the town neither the post code! 

(I cannot show you the evidence, because I do not want to display the recipient's address on the blog.)

Crossing the Ocean... Thrice

One of the letters I published yesterday as part of the Beer Appreciation Day post, was sent on 15 August 2021. 

On 3 December 2021 I found it in my mailbox, with the dreaded label:

Return to sender

Not deliverable as addressed

Unable to forward

The address was correctly written, but maybe too much decoration confused the postal machines. 

I resent it few days later, inside a new envelope. It arrived in twenty days.

Books & Postcards

(Thinking of) buying books?

Writing books?

Loosing or finding books?
(The book depicted is Мёртвые души, I think)

Postcards sent by Laura (the UK), Heleen (the Netherlands) and Vasilina (Russia).

From His Royal P (Vogue)

And this letter got a wonderful reply. Typewritten, of course.

I love the mix of new and vintage stamps:

The Typewiter Revolution

Do you ever send fan mail? I have sent two letters this year to authors whose work I admire.

This one was sent to Richard Polt (the USA), the author of The Typewriter Revolution book and blog. I translated The Typewriter Manifesto into Catalan, and it appeared in the blog (You can read here the original manifesto and its translations).

PS I did not blur the address on the envelope because he made it public on his blog. 

Coloured Lines

I painted some blue or pink lines on those envelopes sent to Laura (the UK), Pina (Belgium) and Imma (PC).

Stripes

I got this card from Laura (the UK). My reply reached her on the envelope below, made of a page of a magazine

If You Send Typewriters

If you send typewriters... You get typewriters!

Postcards sent by Heleen (the Netherlands) and Laura (the UK). The sentence on the first postcard is especially appropriate this week!

Waberley, 1889

"Äußerst seltene englische Schreibmaschine

 mit rückwärtiger Typenhebelanordnung,

 um ,,sichtbares" Scheiben zu ermöglichen."

Erich Hartmann (Paris, France, 1982)

Sending Out Some Typewriters to the World

And getting some, too:

Typewriter, 1972
By Fumio Yoshimura
Wood Sculpture

Writers on Postcards

John Donne, c. 1572-1631 / Unknown artist, c. 1595

Jane Austen's Writing Room

 I bet they would have enjoyed a typewriter!

Postcards sent by Laura (the UK), Bryon (the USA) and Fabienne (France).

Where There Is Tea

Wonderful envelope sent by Fabienne (France).

And, besides a letter, some surprises inside. Like: