Mrpotani and her husband enjoyed staying at the LA Athletic Club on a recent trip to Los Angeles. 
An Australian postcrosser sent a card from the Emerging Artists series. This one features an oil and acrylic work called Rashie Racers by Andy Baker and the Bald Art Company.
Another in the 'love series' of altered cards, this one inspired by a novel that featured an old math professor besotted by numbers. The card itself is now off to Russia.
Green is a difficult color, much as I love it, especially when paired with red. This handmade card came from an Australian postcrosser. No matter how I tried to manipulate it, the scanned image refused to reflect the dreamy greens of the original. The Oscar Wilde tag is pointedly amusing and the sender's message was chock full of interesting comments. 
What a beautiful take on the Year of the Rabbit! Kudos to the Canadian postal system for what is, I gather, an annual series. My thanks to the Canadian postcrosser who sent the card.
A German postcrosser shared her love of dishy classical violinist David Garrett, who is half German, half American and a total hit with generations of music lovers. (Where have I been?) He appeared this morning on the Today Show, prior to embarking on a US tour, but I learned that too late to watch him.
Never too early for some baseball love. The Phillies' 2011 calendar finally arrived two days ago. I took the card enclosed and turned it into a baseball Valentine for Mrs. October.
A Japanese postcrosser sent this stunning view of Tokyo, sprawling across the broad Kanto plain, with a tiny Fuji in the distance. When I lived in Tokyo, a great place to work, eat, and drink, I could dig it. When I moved north into the mountains, it felt like this each time I had to go back.
A postcrosser who lives in Belo Horizonte sent this dynamic view of the city's Station Square. What I found out was that Belo Horizonte is the third-largest city in Brazil and is famous for its bars, called boteco, which are vital social venues for all in the city. Ah, city living.
Friend Carolyn, who now lives outside of London, sent this charming card she made of Poppy's first Christmas. Poppy looks intent on some holiday fun! The card was mailed a couple of weeks before Christmas and arrived yesterday. I'm happy it made it! 
Ozawa Yasuko, a gifted Japanese doll artist who specializes in cats, sent this card. We've been out of touch for years and the card, which also arrived yesterday, was a bolt from the blue. It shows a wonderful painting by Tamio Maita. I shall have to dig out some cards showing Ozawa's beautiful, mysterious cats.
I want to post this before mailing it off to a friend leaving early in February for Taiwan and other points. She's a big fan of kappa, the water imp shown on the sticker I used on this card. Originally from Germany, she will no doubt appreciate the Danube reference as well.
A Portuguese postcrosser in London sent this dramatic view of Big Ben, framed by roiling clouds.
I've been to Bilbao but did not see this view, sent by a Spanish postcrosser. It was bizarre enough for an immediate turn to Google, where I first found the Bizkaia Basketball Club of Bilbao, then a bank of that name, and finally a city plaza that features activities for children. No clues, however, to the identity of the big mouth shown.
I sent this postcard out without making a note about where it was from, perhaps a living museum in Indiana. It could be a scene from any rural schoolhouse in the early United States. Most of the old one-room schoolhouses in my area are now residences, firehouses, or museums. The only ones in use are run by Mennonites, Amish, and other Old Order sects.
Both of these Victorian figurehead cards are from the Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia. Both figureheads are from the late 19th century, which means that the one at top is not Mary Poppins. When I was a child, figureheads seemed so romantic to me. I never did hear what happened to either card after sending it off. I'm a fan of mariners museums, maybe because I used to think that marrying a ship's captain would be ideal. Even as a child I knew that the everyday part of life would be my bane.
PostMuse sent this evocative vintage card, which brings all kinds of things to mind. For me it was first of all snow.
Sandy Sapienza sent another intriguing postcard collage from her series using circles. Two others were posted on the 11th. Thanks, Sandy, for sharing the creative fruits!
A Slovenian postcrosser sent this lovely snowscape from her native country, along with a pretty holiday stamp.
This trio of stamps came yesterday on a card from a Russian postcrosser. The Vancouver stamp reminds me of what fun it was to track last year's Olympics, from curling to ice hockey. The food stamp is without doubt the first time I've seen caviar, not to mention a samovar, on a stamp. And the hare (or is it a rabbit) is perfect for 2011.
Lynn B. sent this Salvador Dali card, of a 1940 oil painting called Daddy Longlegs of the Evening--Hope! According to French peasant belief, a daddy longlegs seen in the evening betokens hope.
