greetings from oulu

The Finnish postcrosser who sent this card from Oulu writes that since 1996 the town has been home to the "Annual Air Guitar World Championship Contest". Shown is a restaurant/cafe called Sokeri Jussi. Is it by chance famous for blueberry pie?

covered bridge cows

Could anything be more bucolic? It's such a typical scene, too, here in Pennsylvania. Another card from my trek along the turnpike last week.

flash in naples

Friend Lynn sent this card of a Basquiat painting called Flash in Naples. She and her husband will soon be moving to Philadelphia, but I hope the cards keep coming.

anticipation

A 10-year-old postcrosser from Belarus sent this luscious depiction of a woman picking grapes. The timing was felicitous as I am now reading The Fruit Hunters, by Adam Leith Gollner, which is filled with juicy information about unimaginable fruits around the world.

banja luka

The stamps, too, from Bosnia and Herzegovina were something special.

Multiviews are not really my thing but I love the indigo hues of this one from Banja Luka, a town in the western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, though I probably would have loved any card from that country. The postcrosser who sent the card noted that the pedestrian street shown is a famous one in city center. In 1969 it was destroyed in a terrible earthquake.

stamps and a sticker

The charming chimney sweep sticker at top came with the postmarked foot on a card from Poland.

girl and bear

The German postcrosser who sent this "evocative" card wonders where the two are going and why and are they friends. Ah, imagination and dreams.

poor people

A postcrosser in Belgium sent this Emile Claus (1849-1924) card showing a sad slice of street life. Natasha, the sender, writes that she is "not the greatest art fan" but that the card struck her. As a child, she found poverty romantic and loved books such as Under the Hawthorne Tree, about kids during famine, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They made her think that "being poor and having only each other, having love and warmth was a perfect existence." Thanks, Natasha, for the card and the thoughts.

mav

My recent mail art continues to be of the photographic variety. MAV, the Hungarian state railway, always makes me feel nostalgic. I took this photo at the sprawling Rail Park in Budapest.

paper shark

Mention that handmade cards have been scarce of late and here comes another, courtesy of PostMuse, who writes that the card is one of five she made "to use at work for reminding managers to send their paperwork." But her office manager thought the cards were "too out there". And so the cards now go to fans of mail art. Funny card, funny story. How could the office manager pass on the fun?

harrisburg blue

I spent some time on the Pennsylvania Turnpike this week and was happy to discover that its rest stops are still offering a handsome selection of postcards, including lots of ones new to me. I was unable to resist this blue rendition of the State Capitol building in Harrisburg.

hello, kitty

The Polish postcrosser/student who sent this sweet kitten wrote that she was looking forward to cooking up a 'surprise dinner' at home with some of her schoolmates.

dutch 'thea'

A Dutch postcrosser noted my preference for tea and put together this charming card showcasing Dutch 'thea'. Seems like ages since I got a handmade card and this one was much appreciated.

train travel in taiwan

A postcrosser in Taiwan sent this postcard featuring train travel in that country. 'Choo-choo, choo-choo, ch-boogie!'

repeats?

I have the feeling that I've received all of these stamps before but will post them anyway. Simply can't resist foxes, cyclamens, canoes, or the aurora borealis.

decin

Cards from Central Europe are always welcome. This one, of Decin, Czechia, is from a Czech postcrosser.

kazlanak tomb

A Bulgarian postcrosser sent this wonderful card showing a detail of the paintings in the Kazlanak Tomb, a repository of Thracian art which is now a UN World Heritage Site. She also sent the stamps, noting that they too show Thracian art. The way the couple in the fresco have their wrists interlocked is somehow quite timeless and touching.

paper streets in pittsburgh

Hong Kong-born artist Bovey Lee, who now lives in Pittsburgh, is having a solo show called Paper Streets at 709 Penn Gallery, on Penn Avenue, in the heart of her adopted city's Cultural District. The show opened yesterday and runs until May 22. It features spectacular paper cut installations created by Lee in tribute to some of Pittsburgh's more iconic street scenes. http://boveylee.com

retro card on a spring day

PostMuse sent a Cavallini retro card, with a wistful comment about trying to make something of the same herself. It's all about practice--or so I like to tell myself.

finnish easter

A Finnish postcrosser sent whimsical Easter greetings. Sweet!

station inn

Another photograph turned into a postcard. This one is of the sign at the Station Inn, a train-spotting paradise in Cresson, Pennsylvania.

head of a man with a helmet

I mailed this card to a friend in Tono yesterday but should have taken notes. All I remember is that it is a 17th-century work touched up by Rubens and in the Louvre.

it's spring, yes?

A good way to spend a spring day even in Ben Franklin's time. I sent this card weeks ago to PostMuse but don't think I ever posted it. I'll be spending much of this fine day at the ballpark in Reading.

back street temple

The drama student/postcrosser who sent the card from Almada (below) asked me to send a photograph from Japan. and with that this photo I took in 2003 at a temple complex on the back streets of the Tokyo section of Asakusa suddenly floated to the surface of pile of things---and a card was born. A tenugui maker in Asakusa took me to the temple, which was one of his favorites. It was popular too with tea ceremony aficionados, who often rent space there to hold gatherings.

autumn in new brunswick

The Canadian postcrosser who sent this card wrote that she is new to postcrossing and worried about finding pretty cards to send. Well, this one is gorgeous! Autumn is my favorite season but the card arrived on a day when the prunus out front suddenly burst into deliriously fragrant blossom. Nothing like it.

look to what is beneath

Detail from the Summer Reading series by Jozef Bajus.

Friend Jozef Bajus is having a small show of his obsessively cut and folded books in the Peter A. and MaryLou Vogt Gallery at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Called Look to What Is Beneath, the show runs until May 23. This card arrived today on the heels of an email message from Jozef.

live the dream

I'm sending this ad card from 10 years ago to Mrs. October, my old baseball pal.

where turtles cry

What was I thinking?

angel of spring

A Finnish postcrosser "desperately waiting for spring" sent this Angel of Spring by Paivi Mansikka-aho.

stamps

more pussy willows

Another in the pussy willow series. This one I made to use as a thank-you card for a friend who suddenly sent a cool necklace she got for me in India. I didn't even know she had gone to India.

cat in autumn

A German postcrosser who loves cats sent this postcard. Or maybe it's a New Year tribute. Lest we forget, in Vietnam this is the year of the cat, not rabbit.

almada, city of theater

A young Portuguese postcrosser named Joao who studies theater sent this postcard from his native town of Almada, for 500 years a stronghold of theater in his country. He wrties that Gil Vicente, the father of Portuguese theater, was born in Almada. The card shows the Center of Contemporary Art, with Lisbon in the background. Joao takes studies theater at the center.

time for stamps