Send a postcard

Some thoughts about sending postcards, for my "Great Weird Ideas" series.

I learned how to write postcards from my grandfather Marshall Kay, a geologist. He would send cards from his field trips, and thought I don't have any of them I still remember getting a few scrawled words on a card from some far-away place. My cousin and I still keep in touch best with funny cards and occasional phone calls, much more fun than just getting emails. (Some pages referencing my grandfather refer to his work on geosynclines - some day I'll piece together a proper retrospective through his students who are in the midst of retiring now.)

Send a postcard to Eric, a preemie in the hospital for a few months - it will cheer him and his family up. check the link first to make sure that the address is still right (I won't include it here).

There are a bunch of places that will do custom art cards or book cards or advertising cards in q 250 or so. I have a hard time thinking how I'd hand-address that many cards. I've heard people say good things about Modern Postcard, but I won't link to them directly since I have no direct experience.

Sue Braiden from Windsor, Ontario, a journalist for the CBC, is looking for simple ways to build healthier communities. I contributed my send a postcard idea there.

Comments

[Prentiss Riddle]

I like sending postcards. I have a few hundred which I've collected over the years, not necessarily to keep, but to have something interesting to send out on a rainy day.

The postcard metaphor is a strong one, so much so that the Web is crawling with e-card sites, even though when you think about it they're just a slower, less reliable way to send a cartoon by e-mail.

For me postcards have associations with mail art*, once a passionate hobby of mine. In that spirit I've more recently been an occasional participant in postcardX*, a grand loose network of postcard enthusiasts who like to send and receive surprises in the mail.

Alas, it looks like postcardX is on hiatus. Perhaps one could Google for sites which link to postcardX*, look up their owner's DNS registration info, and send them postcards of condolence.

Notes --

Mail art: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_art
postcardX: http://postcardx.net
Google search: http://www.google.com/search?q=link%3Apostcardx.net