red sails

Until I received this postcard from a Brazilian postcrosser, I had always thought the sails in Red Sails in the Sunset were tinged red by the sunset in the song's title. This card opened my eyes. Andre, the sender, writes that the boats are called jangada. People use them to go to see the fishes in the natural ponds formed by the reefs. The fish stamp is perfect.

an avant card from down under

The postcrosser who sent this card from Sydney chose it instead of the inevitable view of the Opera House, and I thank him for it. It shows a perfect autumn illustration called Falling Leaves by writer and artist Sally Heinrich for a book by Myra Lim-Hunt. The card is by Avant Card, a nifty Australian ad company that "helps artists to be seen around Australia with its postcards." www.avantcard.com.au

my name is red

Lynn B sent this postcard of a gorgeous mid-17th century Mughal tent, of silk and velvet and embroidered with metal-wrapped yarns and cotton. Oh, my. Lynn writes that she is "having a blast reading Calvin Trillin's The Tummy Trilogy." Yummy, yummy.

busy bees

A queen bee has taken up residence in a barrel of straw that has been standing on the back porch, and her followers now buzz in and out all day long. I'm not averse to giving up the straw for a hive but the bees are too close for comfort. The back door is about six feet away. Walking through a cloud of agitated bees gets everyone agitated. What to do, what to do?

5th anniversary of katrina

On the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, here are two postcards of Louis Armstrong, famed native of the city of New Orleans. The top one shows the Colored Waif's Home, where Louis was confined as a 12-year-old. The bottom one is from Prague, where he was on a jazz tour in the 1960's.

women in stamps

There are certainly not as many as you might think.

minsk

This card came from a postcrosser named Svetlana who lives in Minsk. She sent it in part because it "resembles a selfmade." (That's the spirit!) The card shows where the Sisloch River crosses a main avenue in the old city. Svetlana included a mini-travelogue, writing that Alexandrov Park and Maxim Gorky Park are nearby.

flower power

Paper tigers dream of fish among cloth flowers. Or is that fish just passing by? In any case, my thanks to Sandy Sapienza for making this card.

two by two

getting around

This vintage card, of a lakeside beach in Cadillac, Michigan, reminds me of a Winslow Homer work. Doesn't that boat look inviting?

Always love a tram! This retro view of one running in Poznan, Poland, comes from a Polish postcrosser.

A German postcrosser sent this pretty view of a lighthouse, her favorite place on her summer vacation at the Baltic Sea. It sounds like a grand time, bicycling and collecting fossils, stones, snails, and shells on the beach. She illustrated the back of the card with some of her finds.

three from folio deux

These three cards arrived together a couple of days ago. They are from JoAnn Castagna at Folio Deux and represent an interesting genre of postcards that is new to me. JoAnn wrote that she used to publish "a little poetry magazine and did a lot of exchanges with other members of the 'small press'". I at first posted the poem by Adam Tavel, set on Assateague Island, vertically but flipped it because I liked the feel of the words washing on the shore. I have no idea what the poet intended. Read and enjoy!

summer holidays

The Dutch postcrosser who sent this card has just finished her first year in art school and is enjoying her summer holidays. Check out her blog at emmelielindner.blogspot.com. I do like this card.

lush nude

A young Russian postcrosser and art lover picked this peachy card up on a recent trip to the State Gallery in Moscow. It's by an early 20th-century painter named Alexander Dejneka, who seems to have spent much of his time painting athletes.

alt-berlin anhalter bahnhof

If the Wikipedia entry on the Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof is accurate, the railway terminal had a checkered history. A German postcrosser sent this reproduction card showing the handsome old station, which was last used in 1952. The curious stamp of the ill-fated Andrea Doria was on the card. Just seeing the word bahnhof made me feel that I was back in Central Europe.

two from lynn

Lynn B sent both of these cards. This little (3" x 5") wooden one printed with pictographs is from the "Indian Pueblo Cultural Center". No other info given.

This postcard shows a beautiful printed textile from Ghana. It belonged to King Prempeh when he went into exile (1897). It makes me think of Eli Leon, the African-American quilt authority who also had a fine collection of African textiles. There is a definite 'quilt' feel to this textile.

from nayda from tashkent

This could be the best postcrossing postcard ever. It's not the card itself, which is perfectly fine, but that it is from an Uzbekistan postcrosser from Tashkent. Wow! He sent the card from Bulgaria, where he is vacationing in the "tiny town of St. Vlas." I say that he sent the card, but it is "really" from his dog Nayda, who wrote: "I am a dog & happy to be an animal, not a man, we are kinder & honest," and signed the card, "Bow-wow-wow, Nayda". There was even an Uzbekistan stamp on the card! Bow-wow-wow-wow-wow-wow!

swimming tiger

Sandy Sapienza keeps the tigers coming, this time a cooling image of a big cat swimming, which is tagged with a pointed Mao quotation.

kunstlerplakate

It's getting to be that time of year. Here is the first card for a fall show, of artists' posters from East Germany, at Grey Gallery in New York from September 7 to December 4. I miss many more shows at Grey Gallery than I see, which is a pity as, like this one, they almost always look interesting.

boomerang art

A British postcrosser who is a fan of art of all kinds sent this Boomerang art card, an illustration by Ann Ellson.

cristo redentor and a japanese grandpa

This postcard came from Mina, a postcrosser in Brazil. At first glance it is a straighforward touristic card of Rio's famed statue of Christ. Then I read the heartwarming message: "This monument means a lot to me. When my grandpa came from Japan he was 90 years old and he walked like a young man to reach the Christ monument, with beautiful shiny eyes smiling like a young boy! It is indeed a magical place to visit."

altered again

Boring old postcards, cut up labels, and oil pastels.

chinese apothecary

This card of a Chinese apothecary in Thailand came from a Thai postcrosser who wrote that many such apothecaries are now closing. The image reminds me of several stores where I used to shop in Tono. Sweet memories of a lifestyle that is just about gone.

half-timbered limburg

A German postcrosser sent a card showing these fab half-timbered buildings in the town where she was born. She did not, however, mention if Limburg is the home of Limburger cheese. Gotta go get some.

more altereds

Most of the old cards sent me recently by a friend are interesting. Ones that are not, such as the card on top, are perfect for altering. The card below is from an exhibition I never got to see. It was about time for some sticker-fun alteration.

fox dress for fox girl

The Finnish postcrosser who sent this cool card wrote that it is about "the clothes arsenal of a fox girl: fox dress." She went on to explain that a fox girl is " a female nature activist that releases fur animals from cages." She added that in her childhood this sort of thing did not happen. I like it: Two fox cards in less than a week. Is another on the way?

new dimension

This card, of an intriguing image called New Dimension, came from a Dutch postcrosser. The night before she sent the card she had been playing a witch in the woods for a summer camp's 'horror night'. Her account made it sound like great fun.

iridescent abalone shell

Old Tono friend and mentor Suzuki Kei sent this card she painted of an abalone shell. She likens its wonderful luster to the iridescent wings of the beautiful beetle whose Japanese name is tamamushi. The tamamushi is a stunner even among the many jeweled beetles of the world.

new stamps

'too cute"

The London postcrosser who sent these darlings apologized for "the really cheesy cliche postcard but it's too cute!" Or maybe I should say too coodly. He also wrote that he has become a follower of this blog and of Diamondposte. Only goes to show that he is a man of wide interests! Meanwhile, I'm adding Coodle Pie to my fave list, though as kittens go, Indy is more my taste.

first card

This pretty card from Taiwan is the first one ever sent by a Taiwanese postcrosser named Jessie. She wrote that she was hoping to send her first card to North America and was delighted when the random selection landed her with my address. I wish her a long and happy postcrossing adventure.

garden love

The verses on these vintage (and vivid) garden cards are simple yet comforting. No matter how they are phrased, the sentiment is right on.