Ok, so I certainly didn't follow through with staying on top of this...again. So I won't make any promises about following up after this one either.

Here is another image of a couple of my stickers that my pal J. Rochedreaux posted in Andorra.

How has WWIII been treating you?

 It has been almost EIGHT MONTHS since I posted anything here.

There have definitely been some interesting things coming through the mailbox, I just haven't been motivated to make the effort to share...partially because I feel really weird about continuing to use Google's products as they continue to prove to be somewhere between problematic and actually EVIL.

But...here is a poorly reproduced image of one of my stickers that my pal Julien Rochedreux stuck on a mail box in Andorra.

I plan to follow this later today or tomorrow with some curious postcards I scored in a lot a week or so back.

Oh, and Fuck ICE. 

PJM Plays Andorra

 My pal J. Rochedreux lives in Andorra La Vella, Andorra and stuck a couple of my stickers and took pictures of them in their new homes. This leads me to request that anyone who has stuck any of my stickers somewhere to mail me pictures of them in their new spot and I will post it here.

Epic Cleaning The Desk Post

I haven't posted anything here for over a month but things I have wanted to post here have been piling up, so I better get them on here and moved onto their respective depositories.

 I cannot remember who sent me this...was it YOU T. Carey? 

I have no idea who these people are, but they look really happy to be together and I love the hand-coloring. Do I need this photo? Of course not. Am I keeping it? Yes.

Angle Inset, Minnesota is the northern most post office in the Lower 48. It is on a weird little chunk of Minnesota that sticks up into Canada. You can get there without going into Canada only by boat or plane but it is a pretty rickety looking airstrip.

This card arrived via Postcrossing from a guy in Amarillo TX who travels to Angle Inlet to get his postcards postmarked there! At least that is how I understood his explanation... 

I bought a lot of about 500 cards for $65 a few months back and while it was definitely too much money for what it was and I will struggle to make my money back ($13.50 so far... ugh), there were a good 60 or 80 that made it into the collection.

I love this one partially because I have a weakness for pre-1980 advertising postcards but also because these kids look so damned pleased with their new "Circle Stairs" manufactured by Toce Bros.Mfg.Ltd. of Broussard LA. That fireplace is Tre' Bitchen as well.

This card is also from the aforementioned lot. This golf course is at Lands End but I am not entirely convinced this particular view is possible from there. I never even knew the course was there and I spent plenty of time hiking out there and being shocked by non-golf activities!

From the same aforementioned lot.

Mucilage was (is?) a plant based glue. I feel like there is some meaning just beyond my ken in this phrase on this card. The card was posted from Akron OH in spring of 1914.

Yet another one from the lot mentioned above. This card is 2x5.5 inches! I have never seen one this size before. Here is the other side.

So, not only is it tiny, how does that address get it delivered? "City"?? Perhaps that is what you wrote if the mail was staying in the same city? Google doesn't find a Lillie St. in Newark NJ, but did find one in Newark NY. Thoughts?

Another from the lot. No clues on which ocean this might be, but isn't it beautiful?

The USS Pensacola was launched in 1859 and by the time of this image it was used as a receiving ship at Yerba Buena. The Navy burned it and sunk it near Hunter's Point in 1911. 

I have a bit of a weakness for sailing ship postcards and I think it is because they were just going out of fashion as postcards were coming in. This is from that same lot I keep mentioning.

This next one is the last one is also from that lot. I have no idea where it was taken or what the building is or what the guy on the left was doing in there. I can't even tell you exactly why I like it other than it shows deference to the Rule of Thirds. Thoughts?

 Ok, I am almost done! This next one was probably from my pal J. Olbrich of Germany. Of course, now I can't find it to tell you what the building is... I think it was a museum of some sort, but what really caught my eye was the large number of Volkswagens Beetles. Granted it IS Germany and probably the 1950's.

Alright. This last image isn't a postcard but rather a photo that my pal A. Brignull sent me of Bellingham...ENGLAND.

That's a wrap until next time. See ya in the mail!

PJM OUT

QSL ST LUCIA

 

When I was around ten years old my uncle gave me a breadbox sized shortwave radio. My dad and I strung a long wire across the roof of the house for an antennae and I started spending hours every night scouring the airwaves for...anything. 

I was living on the eastern edge of the Midwest, so I could easily pick up broadcasts from Canada, the Caribbean and Western Europe. As far as programming goes, I just remember news and foreign languages. More influential was the warp of voices and sounds and the waves of static I could control with the tuning knobs. It terminally effected what my ears enjoy.

I really wanted to get into QSLing, but either didn't quite understand it or was unable to listen to a show long enough to get the contact information, or maybe I just didn't know how to send a letter to St. Lucia. 

QSLing was contacting a broadcaster to let them know their transmission was heard. Broadcasters wanted to know how far their transmission was travelling and listeners wanted to collect the QSL cards the radio stations sent. While it was primarily a practice for ham radio operators, many shortwave stations did it as well... and still might.

I mention all this because my pal T. Carey sent me this QSL postcard he scored somewhere and it sparked fond memories of sitting in my room with headphones on and basking  in the glow of the radio dial.

Attend Better Parties

I have never attended a party that came anywhere near as stupendous as this appears to be.

 

 

This image is from the zine "Carte Blanche #1" Benedict Lumley in Berlin in 2005.

 

Hard Workers

 Hard Workers

I received this hand-painted postcard from Susan G. of Los Altos, CA yesterday via postcrossing. They are learning to paint with watercolors from watching videos on YouTube! It is obviously working!