Thank you Old Photo Album for this great picture.
February 4th, 2010
Here is a quote from Clarissas comment on my WOWH post: “Letters have been a passion of mine for years; I even married one of my penpals nearly 21 years ago!”
Thank you Clarissa. I completely forgot about penpals. I used to have a few when I was a young adult, and with some I was corresponding for a few years. Eventually, probably as my studies demanded more time and attention, the letters stopped.
For years I kept those letters although I didn’t go back to read in them quite often. I guess they seemed too childish to the more grownup me.
I don’t know when exactly I lost or tossed them, but they are all gone now, and to tell you the truth, I’m not that interested in what was in them anymore. What I would really love to read is actually the letters I wrote and send to my penpals. I think they will tell me a lot about my old self. Maybe I would find out things about me I did not remember or even didn’t knew at the time.
I guess it will be a good idea for the future to keep a photocopy or a scan of the letters we work so hard on. We might not find any interest in them after they went out, but I can imagine my children wanting to read them after I’m gone.
After all, our letters are much about us as they are about the ones we write to, maybe even more so.
January 30th, 2010
It has been not long a go that I finished reading Jonathan Safran book “Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close” (and I recommend it to all of you) , and it took me a few days to realize what big part writing was playing in the story.
So many of the characters were in one time or another using some sort of writing to fill a gap in their lives.
There is the grandmother how as a child asked people to write her letter, the grandfather how use writing instead of talking, an old reporter who made a catalog of people, each categorieses in one word, and the grandson how documents his life in a journal and embarks on a journey after finding an envelope with one work on it.
Besides these there are other more or less common ways of communicating described in the book. A walkie-talkie , a flashlight, stones thrown on a window, a note on the window and more.
In the book, the writing may be replacing something that is missing in the characters life, it is sometime a way of communicating with the world, and sometime a way to understand it.
I was thinking why letters are so important to me. Of course there is the message and the time and effort people are putting in to them, but you can get that from an Email as well.
The answer, I have to say, is that letters are one of a kind. There is the hand writing that is unique to that person, and also the fact that they cannot be duplicated. They will not be sent in syndication to a mailing list, and no one except me has the same letter.
That is what truly makes them a work of art.
January 25th, 2010
Here we go!
I prepared a gift to give a way to one of the readers of this blog.
Kipping in the spirit of this blog, my gift is related to letters writing:
These are New Zealand post First Day Cover HEITIKI Stamps. Issued in limited edition on the 24 of June 2009.
With them I will also send a hand made postcard, made by me, especially for the winner.
To go in the draw to win these stamps all you need to do is leave me a comment on this post.
When you leave me a comment, make sure I have a way of contacting you in case you are the winners.
You can click on the picture at the bigging of this post to go to the event website. It will end on the 15th of February, when I will draw the winners name and annonce it here on my blog.
And if you would like to send me a letter, well, that will be great! My address is at the top of this page, next to the blogs name.
Thank you for stopping by and participating in this great event with me.
D.
January 13th, 2010
This is my letter to the World
That never wrote to Me –
The simple News that Nature told –
With tender Majesty
Her Message is committed
To Hands I cannot see –
For love of Her — Sweet — countrymen –
Judge tenderly — of Me
***
Emily Dickinson has many songs referring to letter writing. It obviously had had a part in her life, and not a small one.
D.
January 6th, 2010
The One World One Hart event is very much about connecting people as writing letters are, so please join me this year in participating in this great event.
In the words of Lisa the creator and host:
“The original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way.
This is more than wanting to win something…….that is only the means…….in the end it’s about finding kindred spirits. Someone who may be fairly new to blogging, not sure how to navigate, find others and have others find them….Some are long time bloggers and in some cases well known in the blogging community. Whatever the case it brings all of them together. This is an INTERNATIONAL event that has and had participants from the US, Canada, France, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Malaysia, Brazil, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, England,Wales, Slovenia and more. It transcends geographical location, socio economics, political affiliation, religious beliefs……it’s a coming together like the giant community we are on this planet. If only it took a simple giveaway to create PEACE everywhere, in the mean time here we give from our hearts. We are not solving the worlds problems nor are we curing anything nor are we changing the world. We are merely generating a closer community between humans through blogging. What more could I ask for, my little idea has surpassed my wildest dreams of what it could become.”
So how dose it works?
This great event start on January the 25th, when every blogger participating in this event will offer a giveaway on his blog. To be in the draw to win the giveaway all you need to do is leave a comment on that post.
The end date for this event is the 15th of February, when all the bloggers will draw a winner for their giveaway from all the comments that was left on their post.
So be sure to check my blog again after January the 25th to see what is my giveaway. I can only hint that it will be related to letter writing.
See you.
D.
January 4th, 2010
To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.
Phyllis Theroux
December 23rd, 2009
This letter was written by a very resourceful and worried 6 year old.
It is now hanged on our window, just in case Santa will come early this year.
December 18th, 2009
I wonder if
you keep the letters still,
spidery and blotted
now, like old days
just withered away.
I remember sunlight bursts
that inspired
those winged words,
the spirit of spaces
flying paper aeroplanes of love.
I picture us then-
a perfect summer’s night
calligraphy of stars
burning Indian fire
and I wonder if
you keep the letters still.