Postcard #59

Another result from my 2010 birthday project, this one sent by a SnoutCast listener in England who is working his way through our past episodes. Thanks for listening, Chris!

Postcard #58

 

It's lenticular! 

 

From the "better late than never" file: this card from Alexandra actually arrived last month, but languished in the glovebox of our car while we finished up WarTron.

(Backstory: this was my 2010 birthday project!)

Postcard #57

A missive from our mysterious friend abroad--let's call him "Jake Gyllenhaal"--which took a full two months to travel from Iraq to Portland.

Postcard #56

A somewhat late but still very welcome missive from Yuan, a fellow DASH collaborator and PAX convention-goer!

Postcard #55

Everyone's a comedian.

Postcards #53 and 54

Two more from Karl, whose recent travels also prompted this e-mail exchange:

K: I think I've had about enough complexity for today, just making it from my apartment in London to my hotel in Paris completely by public transit.

J: I can't be the only person who read this and thought, "Boo effing hoo," right? :-D

Postcard #52

Another Google doodle postcard! This one's from Rich, who--by pure coincidence--was also our guest on SnoutCast this week.

Postcard #51

Another electronic greeting--this one from my Uncle Tau, who lives near Boston, Massachusetts. There was a reason I wanted actual, physical postcards--because I liked the idea of having real objects I could touch, and I wanted to see what kinds of postcards people would find locally--but it's nice to hear from people regardless. And personal photographs are always fun!

Postcard #50

Not surprisingly, Larry and Chris seem to shop at the same postcard store. But Larry also felt the need to disguise decorate his card before sending it.

Postcards #48 and 49

Two wonderful homemade postcards from our good friend Loren. We do miss the Mountain View Farmer's Market. And In-N-Out. And randomly running into people we know while we're out and about. Little things mean a lot.

Friday Flash Fiction: "Friday the Thirtieth"

Yes, I know today is not the 30th. The title is my attempt to mash up two familiar tropes: Friday-the-13th horror and dreading-your-30th-birthday horror. I think the concept has merit, but I'm not sure I executed it very well.

And no, despite coincidental similarities to my 37 postcards project, this piece is not autobiographical. Informed by personal experience, perhaps, but I am neither a 30-year-old woman or haunted by mailmen from hell. Just to be clear.

Read "Friday the Thirtieth" at 512 Words or Fewer

Postcard #47

Riel and his wife Tiffany just moved to Portland recently. Mutual friend Shenly introduced us by e-mail, and we first met in person at Lucky Lab's weekly game night. I'm looking forward to spending more time with them. He's right about the bridges, by the way--they're awesome.

Postcard #46

Adam is my editor at ProgrammableWeb and the author of Map Scripting 101. He's also very tall.

Speaking of PW, I'm taking a break from my API news blogging right now to devote time to NaNoWriMo and some other projects. I expect to be back on the blog-horse before the end of the year.

Also, "Back on the Blog-Horse" is the name of my bitpop OK Go cover band.

Postcard #45

Why don't people sign their postcards?

Postcard #44

After my sister and I both graduated college and moved away for good, my parents sold the house we'd grown up in and bought a smaller house on a hill in RPV. Then they moved into an apartment, temporarily, while my father "remodeled"* the modest home into a huge mansion. (As my sister says, you could hide immigrant families under the giant island counter in the kitchen. And as DeeAnn says, you could hide bodies inside that Sub-Zero refrigerator.) They have a koi pond and a beautiful view out their back window, and we always enjoy visiting when we get the chance.

* Apparently, if you leave just one wall standing of the original structure, you don't need the more expensive type of building permit.

Postcard #43

At first glance, I thought the photograph on this vintage postcard was from Disney World, but it's actually Toronto, where my VPXII classmate Claire lives with a curious assortment of wildlife.