grassbeneathmyfeet

Okay, disregard the below message, but only the part where I say I'm taking a break. There are just so many fun postcard swaps, I can't stay away.

I am currently taking a break from swaps because I have been paired with slackers--more than one no-send in every swap. Everytime I go to investigate a no-send, it turns out the person is suspended. Can't we catch these guys faster? Anyway, I am up for one-on-one trades, but beyond that I'm still trying to recuperate from the disappointments on swap-bot.

I have a lot of different interests. I'm a really big pack rat. But I'm mostly obsessed with postcards. It started with an interest in vintage postcards (my first was a French postcard from 1910) and I prefer ones that have been written on and mailed. Thrift stores are good places for these. But I buy postcards whenever I go on trips somewhere and often just when I'm running errands and I happen to see one I like.

I also collect book memorabilia. Pens, quills, calligraphy manuals, autographs, letters from authors, journals, and inkpots. But one thing I really want is an old writer's box like the kind students would use in school, circa 19th century.

Hmm, what else. I really like the website for Found Magazine. It's a magazine that publishes found objects--photos, postcards, love letters, grocery lists, etc. I love the idea of finding an object that gives you a tiny glimpse into the life of another human being.

Another good publication--PostSecret. Great for postcard collectors. As a matter of fact, Found Magazine and PostSecret are going on tour together and I'm hoping to see them.

Beyond that, I'm into folk, blues, bluegrass. I like anything unique to regions and peoples that hasn't been assimilated into some mass culture. So share your unadulterated self with me.

Hmm . . . Simon & Garfunkel, Jonathan Richman, Liz Phair, Eels, White Stripes, Regina Spektor, Death Cab for Cutie, Dolly Parton, it's hard coming up with artists. I just like people who I feel write really good lyrics or who have an appreciation for various sounds and a talent for incorporating those different sounds into their own style of music.

If you're making a CD for me, here's a list of songs I want but don't currently have:

Anything But Down by Sheryl Crow D'yer Mak'er by Led Zeppelin Been Smoking Too Long by Nick Drake My Favorite Mistake by Sheryl Crow Strong Enough by Sheryl Crow anything by Devon Sproule and Paul Curreri The Day I Went Away by Sleater-Kinney I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Sleater-Kinney Little Red Riding Hood either by Sam the Sham or the Rolling Stones (I haven't figured that one out yet)

A Separate Peace, Middlesex, The Virgin Suicides, Everything Is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Wise Blood.

The Paper, It's a Wonderful Life, Little Shop of Horrors, Amelie, The Last Unicorn, the Marx Brothers, kind of a random list but I guess I can add to it if I think of anything else.

Arrested Development, House, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Lost