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.