An Ideal Boy and Means of Recreation

Here are some Indian educational charts in the form of postcards. Mildly amusing, if I do say so myself. Look out for teeth-brushers and be sure to hit up the circus!

Toodles, Streudle

I'm just saying that cause it rhymes with ...

Sometimes, it's not about a card.

Sometimes, it's about a Russian GQ. Which I just sent to my friend who is learning Russian. I thought it was pretty cool, especially since now you're going to wonder where on earth I managed to find a Russian GQ. Let's just say ... I have my ways. ;)

And besides, the other awesome thing (or depressing thing? Not quite sure.) about sending people a Russian GQ is that you simultaneously want to be January Jones and hit her for being so hot.

Birthday Boy

I know, I know. I, the self-confessed card-addict who spends 90% of her free time wandering through stationery and card shops, struggle with this too. It is indeed quite difficult to choose cards for men. But, on occasion ... you find something indescribably perfect, universal and appropriate for every single man out there: a rotating card from The Regional Assembly of Text, Vancouver born and bred card company, ingenius in its simplicity.

Now, what guy wouldn't have a giggle about this--the truth comes out.

Genius. Sheer genius.

Aww.

Got this in the mail before Thanksgiving but I didn't have time to scan it before I went galavanting off to NYC! I think it's very cute. It's from a company called La Familia Green, based in Chicago, and all their cards are made eco-friendly. Very environmentally conscience. ;) They have some very cute cards on their site, you should check it out, and perhaps order a card or two or ten? I don't know about anyone else, but once I get buying cards it's impossible to stop--as I so painfully learned in NYC after 50$ at a card shop in Greenwich Village.

She sent this with the card too, to commemorate our going to New York. It really is a beautiful city. Sigh. Wish I was still there--the winter has set in in Ohio (it was surprisingly, pleasantly warm up until this last week) and there really isn't anything beautiful, not even some delicious tidbits of food, to soften the blow. Sigh.

Oh, well--Christmas is just around the bend and that means Christmas cards. Keep your eyes open for any cute ones.

If you believe...

"Love comes to those who still hope even though they've been disappointed, to those who still believe even though they've been betrayed, to those who still love even though they've been hurt before."

--Unknown

The frog will turn into the prince!!! I hope! We all hope! I bought this card six months ago and just sent it last week, to a very deserving best friend in need of hope (remember, everyone: credendo vides--by believing, one sees). It's a gorgeous little letterpress card, expensive, but adorable. And completely uplifting--because according to this card, life can turn out like a Disney movie!! :)

Ben and Jerry's

This just came from Vermont. Doesn't it look very Vermont-y to you? My friend goes to Middlebury College, where they get free Ben n Jerry's ice cream all the time. Which makes me extremely jealous, because I am pretty sure that Ben n Jerry's is the best ice cream ever. My personal favourite is Mint Chocolate Cookie--once, I will not lie, I ate an entire tub. In one sitting. So this card is especially beautiful--because it came from the land of Ben n Jerry's. And even though I'm not exactly sure what else they have in Middlebury, VT--at least they have that. And that's something to write home about, definitely. ;)

Ah, Life.

Now, what is the meaning of life? Who bloody knows. But... at least on the great and vast journey, cards can impart some excellent tidbits of wisdom to help you along with the lumps and bumps. And for the most part, they're moderately hilarious and wholeheartedly true.

True? Yes. Very much so.
I wish I had a smock for all the things life threw at me. That way I wouldn't spill cafeteria-produced chicken à la king on my new skirts or beer on my cashmere sweaters.

Can you relate? Can't we all. Sigh. ;)

So true.

Another relic brought from England to America, then on to Canada. It's currently in transit. I thought about sending First Class Priority Express with a tracking number, just because it's that beautiful. It was only the charge of $17 that deterred me.

Interestingly enough, I sent this card to my best friend, who is a guy. While on the whole he might like woman, he, like so many others (me included), cannot resist the suave-beautiful-badassness of Daniel Craig.

The Thank You Card

Remember that EPIC birthday card I made for my friend's birthday card? Well, what better way is there to express gratitude than sending a card in return!!! That's right, folks ... there is no better way!

This card is by "Uncooked" which is pretty awesome. Their tag line is "exactly what you may or may not be thinking" and on their website, their "whom we are" section literally says: "one day while sitting in a pile of deviled eggs learning how to speak rusty portuguese, we had a thought. maybe all these eggs and all this portuguese is bad for our heads. maybe our heads should be doing something grander. something more purposeful, that didn't involve getting hors d'oevers all over our supple skin. we quickly applied several coats of balm to our lips and began thinking of what to do with our heads. and somewhere between selling used braces to the less fortunate and constructing the world's first and largest land submarine, the first collection of uncooked cards was hatched."

Need I say more? Please do check them out. :) I will try and post more frequently (and with greater randomness ... as inspired by uncooked cards.)

Sometimes, you just want to fly.

I find that certain things give me inexplicable joy. I don't understand it, and I don't understand why these certain things do this to me, but it's just this intense feeling of happiness--complete with goosebumps and sighs and even sometimes tears pricking my eyes (which is very cliché, I understand, but I can't be held responsible for the actions of my tear ducts!) Usually, it's the most random thing, too--a newspaper article, a book cover, the way someone's dressed on the street. And one of those things that makes me really, intensely happiness and contented with life is this card:

Does this not make you want to fly? As a child, I was extremely whimsical and imaginative (and still am) and so I feel like this card typifies all my childhood fantasies. I definitely at one point or another believed not only that I would one day be friends with a unicorn, but that I could fly. Apparently, it's possible, according to Quint Buchholz, the artist behind this card (the image is called "Ausflug", and I have no idea what that means, but does it really matter?!?!). If you like this one, you should definitely check out the site of the company that makes these cards--there's plenty more whimsical and romantic cards where this one came from. I hope you too can find a card that makes you want to weep with happiness!

Ok, so I know Where The Wild Things Are is not card related, but it's just another one of those things from which I experience inexplicable joy. (Sorry it's kind of cut off, by the way--I am technically challenged and can't fix it, but you can always go here and see it in it's full size and glory!) The first time I saw this trailer, I literally almost cried. I was with my best friend in the movie theatre, and she said to me, "Are you serious?" All I could do was blubber back at her, "Doesn't it make you want to go on an adventure?". You should definitely watch it--I hope you get some goosebumps too. :P

365 Days of Laughter

I have a New Yorker cartoon 365 day calendar. I love ripping the cartoons off, sometimes they actually make my day. Granted, not all of them are funny, but some of them are awesome. (I swear, the cartoons are half the reason I buy the magazine. Ahem, I mean, no--I love the magazine. It's a veritable symphony of literary genius.) The best bit is that you can always find cartoons that apply to anyone--usually when I rip one off and have a giggle, I'm thinking of someone. And so it ends up being the perfect thing to paste in a card! I mean, half the fun of a card is the stuff you can stick inside it--New Yorkers are absolutely perfect for this. These are a few of my favourites I collected from May-September 2009 (it's always great when you've been away for a while and then you get to come back and rip 60 of them off. So invigorating.)...

Reminds me of one of my best guy friends. I just look at it and think he would say something like that. Or worse.
Ditto for this one. Haha. ;)
Sorry you can't read this one very well, but it says...

Hot Dog Stand Guy: You know, I 've got an MBA from Harvard. I'm selling these as a hoot!

Guy Buying Hotdog: Well, ha-ha-HA, because I'm only eating this ironically.

As someone who comes from a small liberal arts college that loves being pretentious and has half its population hail from New York City, I feel this is very appropriate. And true. ;)

This is hilarious, especially since I was a praying mantis last year for Hallowe'en. Although I was definitely not as epic as she is.

Randoms

Random cards are the best, because you receive them for nothing other than pure silliness. For me, it's even more fun when I find a card in the mail I wasn't expecting, that comes completely out of the blue on a Tuesday in the middle of November. It makes the trek to the mailroom completely worth it in the -12 weather! And it never fails to make me smile, especially when it's card as random and giggle-worthy as some of these...

Frida. I feel like she's pretty appropriate for a random card. Can you imagine opening this on a particularly cold and horrible Tuesday? I had a fun time puzzling over exactly what the caption meant for a while (I'm a little slow on the uptake haha) when I first got it in the mail.

An Edward Monkton! He is my favourite, truly. He's almost epic as Dr. Seuss with his simple and silly, but prolific cards. (Ok, so this one isn't so prolific, but honestly, deep or not, how can you not enjoy the Penguin of Death? Once, my friend and I actually tried to think of 412 different ways a Penguin of Death could actually kill you. It was moderately morbid and a good laugh--we think we only made it to 20 before we had to quit) You should definitely check out his website ... and his other merchandise (of which I own much ... pencil cases, luggage tags, pens, stuffies, calendars--it's just all so wonderful). http://www.edwardmonkton.com/

I saw this card in Hong Kong when I went to visit a friend last summer, and was completely in love with it. Lo and behold, it appeared in the mail a little while after I left! I think it's worth a giggle. :)