Postcrossing 20

 Today marks 20 years of existence for the Postcrossing project, in which members exchange postcards with others all over the world.  What started as a casual experiment by a postal mail enthusiast with computer database expertise has grown into an elite worldwide community of more than 800,000 members who have sent, so far, over 82 million postcards.  As Postcrossing reaches 20 years of facilitating global connections, it continues to thrive.  Despite perpetually rising postal rates, wars, and a pandemic that curtailed air cargo transport, a postcard is delivered every 7 seconds to 209 countries on the planet.  Cards sent by Postcrossing members have travelled a cumulative 10 million laps around the world.  In celebration, I have ordered a pack of commemorative postcards that are a reproduction of PT-1, the first postcard ever sent through the system by its founder, Paulo Magalhães.  I regret that I was not aware of Postcrossing until some years after its creation.  But once I discovered it over 12 years ago in October 2012, I have been an enthusiastic member and have sent 11,346 postcards to date.  Of the many, many hobbies I have, there are few I enjoy more.  So on this day, I wish Paulo and all fellow Postcrossers a happy 20th!

Outgoing mail

 The three-day holiday weekend gave me the chance to catch up on some Postcrossing postcard writing.  Over the weekend, I wrote, stamped, and addressed over 50 cards, which are now ready to go out to the world in Monday morning's mail.  Get ready, USPS!  In addition to the hefty stack of postcards, there will also be my usual personal correspondence to family and friends.  July is a big month for friend's birthdays, as it happens.  I am currently ranked 28th among all USA Postcrossing members (more than 76,000 of them) in terms of number of cards sent.  And I still cling to my #1 ranking in Alabama.  So I hope this weekend's efforts will help to cement my position.  It's also the last flurry of activity before the USPS raises the cost of stamps once again, on July 13th.  What's become an expensive hobby will become a little more so.  Regardless, I have no intention of giving it up.  Write on!

No Kings

In General Congress, assembled-

The History of the present King is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.

He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws:

For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

          For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

          For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

          For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

June Postcrossing stats

 It was a slightly better month for me regarding postcards:  In June, I sent 84 Postcrossing cards around the world and received 68.  That brings my lifetime totals to 11,326 cards sent and 11,300 cards received.  As a matter if curiosity, I calculated just yesterday my loss rate: over the past year, 3.2% of cards I send are never registered.  That means they were either lost in the mail and were never delivered, or were delivered and not registered by the recipient.  In the past, I've noticed a significant portion of these unregistered cards go to Postcrossing members who appear to be active for a very short time after they join and then become inactive.  It's as though they lose interest quickly and don't bother to register cards they receive.  Another possibility is that the ID number written on the card is wrong (my mistake) or becomes unreadable (from damage to the card or obscuring from postmarks or other labels).  Postcrossing has an online form that I use often which assists recipients in obtaining an ID number via a search with other information (date of sending, city of origin, my name, etc.) and I am careful to write the ID number clearly in a location most protected from tears or other damage to the card.  I also ensure that date, city, and my name clearly appear on the card.  But I fear many Postcrossing members are unaware of this search feature or are too lazy to use it.  So when I am back up to my target of sending 100 cards each month, it's sad to think that three of them are wasted effort.  But that's how life is.  Write on!

Happy Typewriter Day!

 It is time, once again, to celebrate that remarkable invention - the typewriter - that was patented on this day in 1868 by Christoher Latham Sholes and others.  Their wonderous mechanical writing machine would go on to enjoy over a century of prominence as the symbol of writers, journalists, and the literary sect.  Even after being largely replaced by electronic word processers, elements of Shole's original design remain, most notably the familiar QWERTY keyboard layout.  Though interest in typewriters has enjoyed a moderate resurgence among some groups, I am proud to be fairly unique in being a regular typewriter user.  A week doesn't go by in which I don't type a few letters to send to family and friends.  So on this day, join me in remembering the historic and transformative machine, the typewriter.

Happy Martini Day

 Today is the day we recognize a classic cocktail, the Martini.  And by that I mean the true classic- a simple combination of dry London gin, vermouth, and a garnish of olive or a twist of citrus peel.  Served ice cold.  I have no strong opinion on the stirred vs shaken debate.  Years of experience and a degree in chemistry has not enabled me to discern much of a difference there.  But I do insist on gin (not vodka), with a sturdy Beefeater's London gin being my favorite.  The familiar cocktail was, by some accounts, first invented at the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City over 100 years ago.  I've had the pleasure of enjoying a martini at that very hotel recently. But one needn't travel far to taste a good martini, it being so simple to mix at home.  With good ingredients and some simple barware, one may mix the optimal cocktail in the comfort of one's home. Indeed, the bon vivant and actor Stanley Tucci has made a reputation as a martini mixologist, and is happy to show you how it's done. So however and wherever you prefer, enjoy a well-made martini today. Cheers!

Progress

I hope you'll forgive me if I indulge in a little personal horn-blowing.  You see, an effort that began many months ago and has become more dedicated in the past 10 weeks has paid dividends: I have lost 50 pounds of weight.  It's very gratifying to reach this landmark.  Even more so because I've done it on my own.  No fad diets, no subscription programs, no weight-loss drugs, and no surgery.  Just a very simple, common-sense regimen of eating less and moving more.  I've always maintained a healthy diet with a variety of foods, fruits and vegetable.  But recently I have been careful to have reasonable portion sizes.  Probably the most drastic change has been the end of my absolute favorite: the post work, pre dinner snack.  These were usually generous helpings of salty snacks from the broad potato chip and Dorito family.  Stopping that entirely is a serious daily calorie reduction.  And the reduced salt intake has done wonders to improve my hypertension.  But otherwise, I still eat a conventional diet - carbs included- but in smaller amounts.  

So today I find that I am 50 pounds lighter than I was at my peak.  Fifty!  That's more than two of the biggest sacks of Kingsford charcoal briquets.  That's nearly two full 5-gallon jerry cans of gasoline.  That's 10 bags of King Arthur flour.  I am really enjoying going through the back of my closet to find clothing I haven't worn in many years that now fits again.  Fortunately, my fashion sense has never been so daring that I can't wear a polo shirt that I bought ten years ago.  I'm also pleased to be able to get in and out of my little two-seater sports car much more easily.  And my aging knees thank me every day as we negotiate stairs so much easier.

As happy as this day is, it's sobering to think that I still have a long path ahead.  I will need to make this achievement once again, and more, before I am at a normal, healthy weight.  But if the proverb is true that a journey of 100 miles begins with a single step, I've made mine.  Maybe even 50 of them.

Late night reading

 Even though I've been an avid reader since early childhood, I was never one of those zealots who routinely read multiple books simultaneously.  A simple, linear progression of reading is more in line with my practical, boring self.  So I am stepping out of my comfort zone a little bit by beginning a second novel while I am in the midst of John Caldigate, by Anthony Trollope, one in a series of the year-long reading list from the Trollope Society.  What tempted me to add a second book to my daily TBR (to be read list, for you non-readers) is a newly instituted virtual book club from Stephen Colbert and The Late Show.  Recently, Colbert announced his new book club would kick off with Orbital, by Samantha Harvey.  The short novel is a Booker Prize winner, and at the outset seemed something that would interest me.  It covers the life of a group of astronauts living on the International Space Station.  As a space travel history buff of long standing, I think an account of life abord the space station would be fascinating.  Of course, modern space-age living will be a stark contrast with life of Victorian-era Australian gold prospectors, so I don't anticipate any problems keeping the plots of the two books separated.  Just finding spare time to devote to both is the main problem that arises.  But where there's a will, there's a way.

May stats

 The tabulated stats totals for my May Postcrossing activity are in.  And it was another lackluster month for me, coming in well short of my goal for 100 sent cards per month.  In May, I sent only 36 cards, and received 37 cards from around the world.  Chalk it up to another busy month where real life intrudes and gets in the way of hobby time.  Hopefully I can do better in June, and have a session planned this warm, hazy Sunday afternoon to do just that.  Write on!

Next Trollope

 Earlier this week was the final Zoom meeting session to discuss the Anthony Trollope novel The Claverings.  This is a part of the ongoing Big Read project organized by The Trollope Society.  Starting today, I begin reading the next novel on the list, John Caldigate.  This is a story of a young man, estranged from his father, who leaves his home in England to make his fortune in Australia.  After doing so, he returns to England, only to be embroiled in a bigamy scandal when he is accused of being already married to an Australian wife when he marries in England.  The book is said to be Trollope's response to the common theme in the novels of Charles Dickens of bureaucratic incompetence, as exemplified in Little Dorrit by the Circumlocution Office, which displays its unerring knowledge of "how not to do things."  Trollope, himself a government official in the Royal Mail, refutes Dickens with characters who are government employees who possess cool efficiency and professionalism. I look forward to this book, and the bi-weekly Zoom meetings to discuss it.