Many Postcards to Post

I've received a bunch of postcards in the past year or so -- one of my goals this year is to catch up a bit.

Appearing Soon--Great Wall of China Poscard from Kellee

Haven't had time to scan it, but for all of my fans out there (all 5 of you), there will soon be a postcard from Kellee's recent trip to China!

Sidd Goes to Pittsburgh and Stays (and Wait 'til the English First Organization Finds Out What's Going on There!)

So, you always thought they spoke English in Pittsburgh, did you? Well, I've been informed otherwise by this card Sidd sent from his final destination (well, for the next four or five or six, etc. years.)

JeetJet? NodJu?

Pixburg?

Kernigie?

Going Aht?

Yintz Want a Pop?


This is America y'all -- learn to talk like it! We don't want to see none of that bilingual nonsense here! ;-)

Jason Goes to Japan AND Israel, and I get a Postcard from Yale (wtf?)

I suppose Jason didn't know about the Postcard Rule when he went to Japan (esp. as this is a rule I've sort of made up along the way). And Jason did try to send a postcard from Israel, but it either got lost in the mail, or was never sent by the person who was supposed to mail it.

So I was pleased to eventually get a post card from him, hand delivered, from his recent trip from Yale. Look at all of those books!!

Hmm, he seems to have the usual physics major half cursive/half printed hand. I'm sure there is physics majors' handwriting out there that defies my expectations, but there really does seem to be a pattern.

Some of the note from the back of the card:

"I'm in Connecticut for a few days for my lab, and I thought that I'd hate to be the sort of guy who forgets the Postcard Rule. . . Nice place, though, if you ignore the parking situation."


What this is, from the caption on the back of the card:

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Photo: Thomas P. Benincas, Jr.
(hmmm, I wonder if Tom googles his own name?) (my name googled will give you "about" 327,000 hits. and if you act fast and google pictures underpants --without quotes-- you'll see my other blog as the first of 714,000 entries. this most likely has something to do with the Underpants of Science Museum.)

and there are still quite a few postcards to come from this summer's treks, to include Isaiah's card from Spain, Liz's card from Iowa, another card from Don (Spain this time), a couple more from Sidd, Ronda's card from Colorado, Amalia and Sierra's Doll's Head on a Fencepost masterpiece from West Texas, and from Robbie (if she can find it) a card from Cuba (which she couldn't mail from Cuba because mail can't get here from there!), etc. etc.

Don Goes to Portugal and Spain and Sends a Card from a Deserted Island (well, Beach)

(Click on the picture and look for the people.)

Don, the tireless lecture coordinator for the ACA, recently got roped into sending me a postcard from his recent trip to Portugal and Spain. (Note to my audience -- if you want to avoid being pestered for postcards, don't tell me your travel plans!)

So, what's with Portugal? I thought there would surely be scads of Northern Europeans lazing on the beach, frolicking in the surf, and taking wild and crazy boat rides, but nooooo! There is nary a person to be seen in this photo, and I even got out that little magnifying glass that comes with the compact edition of the OED to check! (btw, now that I can access the OED online through UT, I'm using that little magnifying glass more than those two big volumes of words.)

Back to the postcard. Did the Rapture happen in Portugal and nowhere else? Was there an e. coli outbreak on the beach? Did someone yell "Shark!"? Don seems to think that perhaps because it is a National Park, the tourists are all under water. (Don, what were you drinking?)

Don's printing is almost as small as that of a physics major, but not quite. He did put the coolest stamp on the card -- "Energia Solar, Portugal" complete with pretty blue solar panels. I think solar panel blue is the loveliest color on earth, and hope to see it more in the coming years, starting on our own roof.

It seems that Portugal may be a bit of a bargain, since the postage from Portugal is Euros ,75: the card sent from Espana is Euros ,78.

/snark

Sidd Takes a Wild and Crazy Road Trip to CMU and Posts 3 Cards!

Sidd and a friend drove from Austin to Pittsburgh (Carnegie Mellon U!) via NOLA; Florida, Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC; etc. etc.

Not the most direct route to be sure, but every evening they posted photos of their trip -- making funny faces at every "Welcome to the State of. . ." sign, taking pictures of every historic and architectural detail along the drive, and making funny faces at their food -- you should be proud of them -- they ate jambalaya, Creole sampler plates, pita with chicken & avocado, fresh seafood, etc. -- not one photo of McDonalds, or (shudder) Jack-in-the-Box.

Midway through the trip, Sidd sent this card showing Savannah and a gorgeous bridge. A couple of days later comes another card with "whaaa?" the same bridge. Only it's not the same bridge, it just looks like the same bridge. . . but that's for another card.

Sidd displays the small writing that is typical of physics majors; however, that may be a function of the small amount of writing space on a postcard. The stamp is the current USA .24 postcard stamp (glad to see this grad student isn't wasting funds by using too much postage!), and the stamp features a Common Buckeye butterfly.

More postcards to follow from Colorado, Portugal, Spain, Iowa, etc., as well as more from Sidd's trip.

Nicholas Takes a Bath

O.K., O.K., this isn't about Nicholas taking a bath -- Nicholas went to Bath for a year's study abroad, and he remembered the postcard rule and sent this beautiful card.

There isn't a regular postage stamp -- the card was put through a metering machine that stamped "Great Britain Postage Paid 0047" in red along with a crown and "Queen Mary University of London". It was sent from London on 30.09.05. (Hey, in a few hours it's going to be 01:02:03 04/05/06)

The caption on the back of the card reads "BATH -- The old Empire Hotel and Pulteney Bridge beside the River Avon."

Nicholas wrote a nice note in fairly legible handwriting for a physics major.

Amber Goes to Brighton

Amber is @ Sussex this year for study abroad. This card was sent from Brighton with a 47p stamp, and very neat printing by Amber. Nothing to snark at here.

From the card caption:

"Brighton, Sussex
Originally built in the classical style by Henry Holland. The Royal Pavilion was rebuilt between 1815-1822 by John Nash. Now owned by the Brighton Aughorities, it still retains the appearance of the Prince Regent's residence. Across the roadway, stands the original royal stables. Built in 1806, the Dome is 80ft high and 65ft in diameter. Remodelled in 1935, it is now a concert hall seating 2,100."

More Postcards, Soon -- I promise

Yikes -- I haven't put up any cards for almost a month, so last week I took down about 20 from my bulletin board at work (almost all of these were sent by students), and as soon as I have a few moments, I'll scan them and post them. Just had other things to do lately, that's all. If you want to see even more postcards and snarky comments, send me one -- the p.o. box # is in the very first post in the archive to the right (January, I think.) Please send me postcards!

Friends of Gad Go to Egypt

When I first moved to Austin, I sublet an apartment from Gad, a biology grad student at UT (from Israel), who was doing some fieldwork that summer in Costa Rica. He sent me a few postcards and also gave me some postcards sent to him by friends and family.

This one wasn't mailed, so there is no stamp, but there is a brief message to Gad on the back. The caption reads: "Giza - The Sphinx of Sakkara".