Rare Card Alert

 A very rare postcard arrived today.  This one was my first from Réunion, which I learn from Wikipedia is an island off the southeast coast of Africa, and is an overseas department administered by France.  Think of it like Guam is to the USA, I suppose.  The card ID number is 5380, which is wonderfully low and reflects the small population of this territory (there are only 66 Postcrossing members there).  And as I mention in my Postcrossing profile, card senders may write to me in French, and they did with my full understanding.  Thanks, DuoLingo!

10K

 Just moments ago, I reached a Postcrossing landmark.  The 10,000th card I've sent was registered by member juju in Germany.  The card took 13 days to make the 4,807 mile trip.  It's taken me a little over 11 years, or 4,126 days, to send this many cards.  And by this activity, I have reached a ranking of 29th highest among 74,378 Postcrossing members in the USA.  Write on!

Harvest Time

 Back on October 9, 2023 I planted my current crop of cherry tomatoes in my Aerogarden hydroponic grower.  And today I began to harvest the produce.  Some delicious, ripe tomatoes are included in the sack lunch I take to work today.  And plenty more will soon be ready.  With record cold weather this past week, this is a nice little reminder of the rhythm of life, and warm Summer weather soon to come.

Forever More Expensive

 Today, another postal rate increase goes into effect. It will now cost more to send postcards, letters and parcels around the country, as well as more to rent post office boxes.  A standard 1 ounce first class letter will now cost you 68 cents to send within the USA.  A postcard, 53 cents.  Sending either internationally will cost $1.55.  That last figure impacts me the most; as a Postcrossing member, I send about 100 postcards a month.  It's a substantially more costly hobby than when I began over ten years ago.  Postal rate increases have become regular and frequent in recent years- the last one on July 9, 2023 also raised costs by a similar amount.  But we can console ourselves in the knowledge that while rates have increased, postal service has declined significantly.  Even by their own official measures posted on the USPS social media pages, average transit times for mail have grown longer over the past year.  In my own personal experience, I regularly send first class mail from Helena, Alabama to a suburban Chicago town.  For many years, mail sent on Monday would reliably arrive on Thursday.  But for over a year, that is rarely the case.  Not only is mail arriving later, but it is also much more erratic.  So I can't even adjust for slower mail in timing arrival of things like birthday cards, as they now may arrive early or late.  For this, we have only Trump appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to thank.  He may be making some progress in making the USPS more financially self sufficient, but he's single handedly destroyed the goodwill the service once had.  Other government services from Amtrack to the air traffic control system are similarly intended to be financially self supporting, but rely on government subsidies, without incurring the political outrage the USPS deals with.  For myself, I wish for a return to the days when the government had to provide a subsidy, but when the USPS was a reliable and dependable service that was able to move mail at least as quickly as it did 100 years ago.  Sadly, that's no longer the case.

Cut the cheese

 Despite a dismal reputation (well deserved, in certain respects), Alabama and Birmingham still can boast some admirable qualities.  The city, in fact, is a premiere foodie city.  Many great and award winning restaurants.  A vibrant and growing craft beer community.  And many purveyors of fine food provisions.  A relatively new member of the latter community is Son of a Butcher, a luxury meat, fish and cheese shop.  It was here that I bought a delicious beef tenderloin for a Beef Wellington for dinner last Christmas.  I often stop in to pick up treats from their small but excellently curated cheese selection.  With a dedicated cheese monger on site, one can usually find high quality cheese there that arrive from around the world.  In fact, it is one of the only places in town that I can get some of my favorite- authentic English Stilton.  So in this spirit, SOB last night held one of their regular Parmesan Reggiano cheese crackings.  They do this every couple of months with a new 90 pound wheel of the "King of Cheese".  The wheel opened last night was particularly rare- one of only 100 wheels made each year by the particular Italian cheese maker, and this wheel was one of only six that made it to the USA this year.  Attended with wine, bread, charcuterie and olive oil tastings, the cheese was opened, and generous tasting samples were provided.  A large crowd attended, and one had to be patient to finally obtain a wedge of the precious cheese to purchase.  But I ultimately did, and hurried home in the cold, rainy night with my small block of concentrated Italian goodness.  Thank you to SOB, and the cows of Italy for the tasty treat!

End of the road

 For several years, I have subscribed to a number of 'zines.  A couple of these are of special interest to me from the standpoint of typography.  They are both "anarchist" 'zines of long, venerable tenure.  To me, they evoke the subversive atmosphere of the radical activist 'zines of the 1960s- produced in basements and distributed on street corners and read in coffee houses.  I have enjoyed subscribing to two of these for at least a decade though their publication track record goes back much further.  And they have things in common- both are produced without computers or any other sort of digital equipment, in the conventional way of printing I learned in my father's print shop in the early 1980s.  One, The Match!, is produced by Fred Woodworth via offset printing methods.  The other, The Cunningham Amendment, is really an art 'zine, produced, as the publisher commonly says, "The R Supward Press: Letterpress Printers of Subversive Ephemera - Salvaged Type - Discarded Inks - Obsolete Machines".  TCA has been published regularly by Peter Good since 1974 (first, as Anarchism Lancastrium), making this the 50th year of publication.  An astonishing accomplishment for a small, one-man operation.  The craftsmanship of TCA is amazing, especially in the digital age.  Multicolor, typeset by hand, and presented on fine paper, it's a joy to hold in one's hands.

Last week, I received the latest copy of TCA, which is always a highlight of my day.  But instantly, it was clear this issue was different.  It was tiny, compared to the standard format.  Only a few pages and hardly larger than a dollar bill.  Well, Peter Good has experimented with interesting formats in the past, I thought.  I read through the issue and absorbed the familiar bits of humor and wisdom, while marveling at the printing.  But then, I reached the last page, and the paragraph shown below.  After 50 years of publication, this was to be the last issue of The Cunningham Amendment.  I was shocked.  Poor health is given as a reason, which isn't a surprise.  In private correspondence, Dr. Good has told me of his weakening health. And sharp eyesight and dexterous fingers are required for typesetting a letterpress page.  But still, I am heartbroken if this is to be the last issue of such a long-lived publication.  I've written well wishes Peter Good, with my deepest thanks for all enjoyment he has given me over the years.  I hope his remaining days are comfortable, peaceful, and proud of his publishing legacy.

 

Classic style

 As my familiar New Years Resolution, I frequently resolve to spend more time reading.  This is not an activity that I must force myself to do.  Rather, I have to work to overcome the guilt I feel when reading for enjoyment, which usually brings thoughts about all the other household chores and obligations that I should instead be doing.  This year I renew my resolution to overcome this overwrought guilt and make time, no matter what, to read for the sake of relaxation and enjoyment.  To that end, I've nearly completed reading a literary classic I have long wanted to read:  Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Those who haven't read this book will still be familiar with parts of it.  Everyone has heard of the novel's antagonist, Long John Silver.  And we all have heard the tune, "Fifteen men on a dead man's chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!" So this past week I have finally sat down to the classic pirate adventure and found it an entertaining yarn.  This volume was a Christmas gift from my dear wife, and is a limited edition from Easton Press, the firm that specializes in publishing older and classic books in very luxurious bindings.  Reading is fun, and even more so when the book is leather bound, gold-embossed, and comes in an equally beautiful slipcase.  As I've always said, extravagance in literature is no vice. While I have "read" many books via audiobook form, it's especially nice to immerse myself in the timeless ink-on-paper version. Here's to a productive year of reading!