Flow magazine

The lovely people at Flow Magazine contacted me last year after seeing some of my postcards on instagram.

I answered a few little questions on email and a few months later, voilà! I get a copy of this beautiful amazing inspiring magazine in the mail, with some of my photos and a write up about what I think of Postcrossing.  In Dutch!  A short time later they generously sent me the English version as well.  Both are gorgeous, and I would highly recommend the mag.  Such a pity it's not readily available here!!

Are you a postcrosser?  I've just prepared a new batch to pop in the post :D

~Tan

Postcard feature: BY-930053, PL-710853, FI-1798019 *explicit*

A few postcards I have received recently and particularly liked.

BY-930053

I quite like this one for the very in-depth explanation of the front of the card.  And Opposition sucks!!

Hello Tanya!  I am Ann from Minsk, Belarus.  I chose this card for you because it's a very special symbol for my country.  Centuries ago it used to be flag (white-red-white) and symbol (image in the center) of our country.  Those times it called the Grand Dutchy of Lietuva (Lithuania nowadays) and was the greatest state in Europe in the Middle Ages.  The symbol is called "Cahse" ("PAGONIA" in belorussian langauge).  Nowadays these are symbols of our political opposition.  Opposition sucks (so as legal government) but symbols are beatuful and have very rich history.  Happy postcrossing!

PL-710853

The front of this card is mediocre at best, but I think it may win the award for best message ever.

My country is so proud of JPII, that they want me to put him here four times.  Now I don't have place for anything else.  Everything best from me.  You are great person, people loves you and you diserve all the unicorns and rainbows.  I want to give you pie, but it will be not fresh, so, well, I'm sorry, no pie.
Love
Hero

Added bonus of picture of sender telling me that I'm awesome!

FI-1798019

I like this one because BOOBS.  Generally I get these delivered to work, but have changed that now because BOOBS.  I have nothing against boobs, and even have two of my own, but you know, workplace!  LOL

Dear Tanya,

Summer greetings from Tempere, Finland!  This card shows you very typical and famouns finnish activity - SAUNA.  I love to be there; my soul and body relax and will be clean.  It's like re-born.  HAve you heard sauna earlier?

Enjoy postcrossing!

Liris

Sauna is unfortnately (or fortuantely?) not common in Australia!

~Tan

p.s.  Not a postcrosser?  Why the frick not!?!

regular correspondence

I am addicted to love postcrossing.

One of the many reasons for my affection is finding people like my new penpal Anna. She is from the Saratov region of Russia.  She is the most kind and thoughtful person I've ever had the pleasure of corresponding with.  We have a bit of a deal now.  She collects stamps.  Every month or so, I send her an envelope including a few postcards and stamps, and she sends one right back!  She's actually ahead of me in the sending game - sometimes sending me two in the time it takes me to get one in the post!

And she doesn't just settle with stamps - here are the contents of a few of her envelopes.  Yes, that's tea!  And stickers!

In the Christmas card she also translated the message!

Envelope 2, more great stamps, postcards, tea, stickers and fliers for movies in Russian!

Envelope no 3, postcards (look at the cat one omg), stickers and a little magnetic calendar!

I've been trying to make up for her awesome parcels with some awesomeness of my own.  Tea, a koala magnet, rad postcards and aussie alphabet stickers!

Does anyone have any other suggestions of things I could easily fit into an envelope and send to my penpal?  I must out-awesome her (because obviously it's a competition!).

~Tan

out of copyright

So I just did a spot of research on copyright law.  Apparently, if a photo was taken before 1955, copyright elapses after 50 years!  Sweet mate!

I don't have any insidious intentions - I promise.  I just want to get some if these gems printed up as postcards to send them to postcrossers.  Anyways, I'm still doing reaserach about whether or not I can/should do this.

Nevertheless, I can still appreciate how rad these pics are. These are from the National Library of Australia Flicker Commons Photostream.


Ladies cricket team about 1910, area near Weetangera Lane on Peter Shumack's property 'Fernhill'



Young Australian male athlete flexing his muscles, ca. 1899

H.M. Queen Elizabeth at a garden party held in her honour at Home Island in the Cocos Islands, April 1954



Unidentified group of people proposing a toast after Christmas lunch: scenes of Army life in Australia during World War II

Surf sirens, Manly beach, New South Wales, 1938-46

This next one even has a little story along with it:

Even the defendent (left) laughed when his solicitor, Drouin lawyer Basil Telford joked to witness at the Local Court.... Three here are Drouin's Shire secetary (Thomas Ryan), secretary of the town Water Trust (William J. Young), and the school teacher, (Frank Davis). The local policeman (helmet on table) prosecutes.

Justices of the Peace, Thomas Ryan, William Young and Frank Davis sit on the bench at the Drouin Courthouse,Victoria 1916-



Mothers and babies at the Drouin Infant Welfare Centre, Victoria 1916-

 Again, a little story:

A wartime skeleton staff of two produces the Drouin "Independent" (once weekly); circulation 1,000. It prints social doings ... Apprentice Ken McPhan (16) who is an Air Training Corps cadet, helps owner-manager-editor-reporter ... William Pettit (59) who has run country newspapers all his life

William Pettit and Ken McPhan of the Gippsland Independent and Express newspaper, Victoria

And this one, apart from the rad camera angle:

Rev. William McSpedden, Vicar of Christ Church (Church of England), Drouin is a fighting parson. He held two bantamweight Victorian boxing titles in his youth; went into the ring at 124 pounds. Other sports were distance running and baseball. He captained a country baseball team, catching and batting a .3 average. Rev McSpedden still teaches promising youngsters the fistic art; is married and has a son aged two. He sings baritone solos and recites at local concerts.

Portrait of Rev. William McSpedden, vicar of Christ Church, Drouin, Victoria

Sydney Harbour Bridge at sunset, 19 March 1932
Part of the collection: Official air views of the opening celebrations of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, 19 March, 1932

Group of Aboriginals at Chowilla Station on the lower Murray River, South Australia
Bayliss, Charles, 1850-1897




The icy face of a member of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition team, 1911-1914




Parliament House, Canberra, [1930s, 3]

 

Unidentified baby lying in a hollowed out pumpkin : part of a mixed selection of lantern slides and negatives from John Flynn's teaching days in Gippsland, and early AIM [Australian Inland Mission]


Aren't they fantastic?  I hope I can capture some photos half as interesting and meaningful one day.  They don't even look real, some of them just seemed staged. 

~Tan

CH-145596, NZ-84515, US-2183566 & US-2186225

I received a few postcards this week, a very eclectic mix that I feel compelled to share.

CH-145596

(Including this one because the sender actually sticky-taped a coin to the card!  Amazeballs, Imma do this from now on.)

NZ-84515

Meow!
I'm a cat.  I am forced to live with this dog.  He is FATDOG and he wants to EAT ME. 
Purr love Gordon

US-2183566

This card is actually made with blindingly fluro pink.  Arrghhh my retinas!

Dear Tanya
You have such a pretty name!  I love it.  Anyway, I'm Madison.  I live in Colorado Springs with my parents, brother Weston, sister Sydney and four cats.  I'm 12 and I loev soccer, swimming, basetball, softball, and vollyeball.  Do you like Australia?  I've always wanted to go there.  And oh, do you have a cool accent?!  I LOVE Australian accents!!  Hardly anyone I know has an accent of any sort.
Greetings from America,
Madison :)

US-2186225

4/18/2013
Hello Tanya!
Like you, I enjoy fiber crafts - I'm a pretty good knitter and have made crocheted items as well.  Instead of a yarn-related postcard, however, I have chosen this view of the Harvard Medical School.  Trauma surgeons and scores of medical specialists have been working around the clock here in Boston to treat victims of the bombing at Monday's Boston Marathon, and they have worked miracles - I am in awe of the dedicated people who do this work at the world-class hospitals here, which are supported with HMS staff and students.  Though many of the injured sustained amputations and other devastating traumas, they are getting the best kind of care.  I'm proud of Bostonians' response to this attack!
Best wishes,
Liz

I've been postcrossing just over a year now, and I am still astounded at the glimpses into the lives of others I get by reading these brief messages scrawled on the back of little pieces of cardboard.  This week's batch was a perfect cross section: wordless but interesting; a person who has anthropomorphised their cat (haven't we all?); a handmade card from a happy and carefree 12 year old girl; and a person at ground zero of the Boston Marathon bombings writing a postcard one day after the incident.  I got chills reading that last one.

~Tan

Organ Pipes

Would you believe I only live 5km from Organ Pipes National Park and have never visited?  Well, I remedied that earlier this month.

It's a smallish park, and the organ pipes themselves are actually quite impressive to look at.  The only thing that spoiled the experience was the generous amount of bird poo covering one of the pipes!

Tried my hand at wildlife photography.  Even though I hate magpies with every fibre of my being.

Oh, you couldn't see the wildlife in that picture?  Here you go:

There he is!  I don't know what he is, maybe a type of fairy-wren?

Another park visited, another postcard created.  Original photography by me, bird poo and all!

~Tan