I struggle with this.
I can have a hard time writing a short note to someone I KNOW, let alone to a yet-to-be-assigned invisible partner.
I end up writing comments about the weather.
seriously.
The weather?
Thankfully, Mary at Uncustomary Art posted a wonderful list of 50 things to tell your penpal on her blog.
here are a few of her ideas:
- people you'd invite to a celebrity dinner
- things you've dressed up as for past Halloweens
- what you'd put in a time capsule
I love this list.
Once in desperation, I wrote a list of the contents of my glove compartment on the back of a postcard. Mandy later told me it was one of her favorite messages ever.
I for one am going to print out Mary's list and hang it on my bulletin board.
10 comments:
The contents of your glove box?? LOLOL! What a hoot. I usually write about the techniques I used on the card in case the person is interested, and I've had several people mention it (in a positive way! Not 'gawd, is that all you could think to write??') But her ideas sounds good so I'll branch out. Look out, swappers -- I'm gonna start writing about everything I've eaten in the past 24 hours and all the weird dates I've ever been on. Ha!
This is a great link. So many funny things to write about. Gotta try a few.
I *love* getting lists of contents. Every so often, my penpal, Emily, sends me a postcard with a list of everything that's on her desk. It's always different, it's always interesting, and it's always my favorite piece of mail that day.
I'm so glad you enjoyed this list. I hope it gets put to use! Thanks for sharing. :-)
Thank you so much for this! It's always the awkward part of a swap. Hope you're enjoying Monkey Beach!! xoxo
TO THE LOVELY KAREN:
I am just so DELIRIOUSLY HAPPY that you are still with us, what with your "I'm off seeing to holiday celebrations" post and such -- which, don't get me wrong, IS a great thing to do, especially with family and what not, and besides, this is the season for friendly cookies and cocoa and stockings carefully hung by chimneys. Absolutely. Family: go to.
BUT, I was resigned, in my "Are we there yet?" angst, to having to pour energies into creating an advent calendar, but not one simply relating to a babe born in Bethlehem so long ago. This one would also tick off days until the Easter-like resurrection of MMSA.
Believe me, it is way too dark and cold, and WHITE, in Minnesota these days, where every night I feel inclined to go to bed at 4:00 in the evening (the sky becoming the color of thick, stale coffee), and I'm feeling a bit bereft, being unable to hummingly dance through my house, gathering ephemera and fingering my new-and-nifty water-soluble crayons, and glue sticks and such, and dreaming (not of visions of sugarplums, but) of future mail art cards.
What would I tell Santa, were I perched on his lap right now?
2014 swaps.
[And by that, I don't just mean swaps in Anno Domini 2014, but instead 2014 swaps, so, like, over 2000 of them, which, divided by 365 days, would average out to slightly over 5.5 swaps per day, every day, next year (I think you'll need a bigger PO box). Anybody out there know of a "swap idea generator" to go along with the "50 things to tell a pen pal" site?]
-- Joanne, enthusiastically waving east, from amid the country's drifty mid-section
Hard to believe YOU would have trouble thinking of things to write about! But thanks for sharing the list....
Another idea, too, is something of current interest in your community. This is a sad example, but it illustrates:
In a snowstorm here last Wednesday, a lovely 17-year-old Junior died on the way to school. She lost control of her car on a two-lane stretch of road and was broadsided about a mile away from her destination.
Yesterday, however, police briefly blocked off the road so that five school buses of friends, family, and her soccer teammates could endure the sub-zero temperatures to assemble at the crash site for a mini- and pre-funeral memorial service. Over 200 people, bundled in coats and hats and mittens, hugged and prayed (the deceased girl being a committed Catholic), and her father, speaking choked up words of gratitude to the crowd, said "It's overwhelming for us. We wouldn't be able to do this without you" (or so says the newspaper report today).
In addition, our pastor today did announce the accident during our services, and asked members of our congregation to pray for peace for those who are grieving.
A sad story, yes, but one that shows the resilience of going on, especially when being embraced by a community, and a story that is a very much, very real, and very local "today."
I struggle with this too. I find that when I get goofy it's always better. xox
Guess we all wonder what to write - and as usual you've found an excellent solution. I often default to quotes (or the weather) but watch out.....I'm going to be brave and daring and sharing and my cards are just going to be full of all sorts of weird info next year! Woo hoo!
Here in Minnesota, weather is a serious topic. If you don't know someone, or just need to fill some conversational space, it is ALWAYS the fallback subject.
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