Postcard #139: "Get a load of this guy..."

Text:

CHACO CULTURE National Historical Park

New Mexico

US-4283257

#19226 

This massive 5-story building is the center of a vast architectural complex which developed during the 9th through the 11th centuries in the four-corners region. Photographer-Russ Finley

NHS STAMP:

CHACO CULTURE NHS

JUL 26 2004

NAZEEZI, NM

I don't remember a whole lot of this road trip. I wonder if my dad or my sister do? I remember moments, like pictures in my mind But I've never really thought of myself as a photographic memory. I remember the drive to Chaco Culture. It was 20 or so miles of unpaved roads... I honestly thought the van we were in would fall apart. A lot of these sites in the middle of nowhere have been destroyed.  When cattle ranchers and travelers were moving west they would remove the wood from the support beams and rooves to these large structures to use for firewood. So all buildings /ruins have those large gaping holes where the beams once were...Then the elements sneak in.  And in time the ruins... become ruined. It eats away at you that when the people were building these ruins they never said "Someday years from now these will all be ruins."  Just like we do not say that about our cities and what we build.  

Favorite book: 

Voltaire's Candide

Sent to REDACTED via postcrossing.  So.  This gentleman from Germany wanted a postcard of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  I suppose it is an interest that is close to him because he apparently lives in close proximity to one.  I went through some of the world heritage sites on the website and I learned that Chaco Canyon was listed.  I have had this postcard for 12 years.  This is one of MY postcards, from one of MY adventures.  I went on a cross country road trip with my father and my sister.   I got the card at the gift shop at Chaco Canyon and I got it stamped at the National Park Passport station while I was there.  This postcard represented the history of my trip and a memento of the trip.  I wrote about the trip there.  I wrote about how the Chaco Canyon location was falling apart.  I figured when I sent it..."Daaaaamn Tom.  You really knocked that one out of the park." I honestly thought he would make it one of his favorites or something.  That card has to be rare!  It was such a pain in the ass to get to...it is one of the least visited national parks for a reason.  This cat also wanted to know my favorite book...which I was happy to tell him.  

So he got the card...and replied back with this...

I was floored.  I read his short note (several times) and the first thing I thought was "Get a load of this guy..."  I REALLY want to think something was lost in translation.  Perhaps he did not mean for it to sound as rude as he did.  But then again, if he liked the card enough he could have just asked me for my name.  I think normally I would have eaten crow.  I would have apologized for somehow slighting or being unfriendly to this stranger.  Instead, I replied:

Postcard #137: "Cold #8"

Flavor Text:

HORSETAIL FALLS, OREGON

A beautiful view of this 208 foot high falls on the Columbia River Highway – only minutes away from Portland on the New Freeway. ©1969 D.P.I. DT-58413-C

Cold #8

The water around me was eager to carry me to the falls. The tree trunk was turning steadily to its side. My anchor dropped out from under me. I leaped weakly from the trunk to the rock it was resting on. My hand darted about the stone for handholds on its smooth surface. The tree trunk was still sliding to the left and it pushed me back into the water. The water did not feel cold anymore. I felt an edge but before I could slow myself down it caught me in the neck. Ice. Ice still attached to the far shore. I pulled my arm above the cracking ice. The current pulled hard against me and my waterlogged clothes. I was too weak to pull myself out of the water. My vision was blurry. I squeezed them together. It took me a moment to realize the dark blur in front of me was my own arm fumbling around on the ice struggling to keep me above the water. I squeezed my eyes together and breathed deep and when I opened them, I could already see an outstretched hand. The shackles of the river had me by the ankles.

-TM     US-9295161

Transcribed by jjwood687 on Fiverr.

Sent via postcrossing to twindaddy.  He is someone who shares my first name, lives in the states, and doesn't care what sort of postcard he gets.   I had high hopes that I would get the rest of the story on a final card. Maybe it will be finished by Cold #9?

Cold Series:
Part 1
Part 2

Part 3

Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Postcard #138: "Terminology"

Front:

GRANDMA’S

Unique Family Dining

Beaverton, Oregon

Flavor Text:

GRANDMAS’s Unique Family Dining US-4295160

Corner of Denney and Hail Blvd. 12255 S.W. Denney Road Beaverton, Oregon 97065

There is probably a word for it. Like the German word schádenfreude. Happiness at the misfortune of others…a specific word for a for a specific identifiable thing or act. My wife went for sushi at a place were the dishes ride on a moving track around the dining area. You grab what you want. We were having a great time and then an old grey haired retiree with recent wrist surgery sat upstream from us. She proceeded to eat and the “good” plates of sushi leaving us with the worst plates. She would stack them infront of herself creating a buffet for one. There has to be a word for an upstream eater who takes the best stuff leaving you with the crap. Asshole…perhaps the word is asshole.

Transcribed by jjwood687 on Fiverr.

Sent via postcrossing to sanoji.  Among many of the subjects she was looking for traditional dress and style.  I figured this would work.  If any one reading knows the answer to the topic I am all ears.

Postcard #136: "Talent Scout"

Original Card:
Stamp: "John Adams" Red United States Postage Stamp 2¢

Original Postmark: Burlington, VT. Aug 1 1952 PM
Addressed to: Miss Elizabeth Leeds of Elhurst, NJ
Message:
Faith had a baby girl after a hard time it was borne(sic) Thursday morning at eight oclock(sic) and we were all glad[.] Mother Kemyon is very sick, had two heart attacks and they don't know if she will pull out of it or not. Will write later Love Alice.

“Talent Scout”  US-4273718

Flavor Text:

Nickname---Green Mountain State

1940 Population---359,231

Area in Sq. Miles---9,564

Entered the Union. Mar.

I saw the man standing outside the employee entrance door through the security glass. He had a big grin on his face like he was about to sell me a car. I took a deep breath as I pushed the door open just enough to let myself outside. He stood there and the door closed behind me. “Hey, how are you doing?” he asked still smiling broadly.

“Good. Have a good night” I said as I moved past him briskly. He starts to follow me.

“Hey!” he calls out.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to be [dramatic pause] a star?”

“Eh.” I said indifferently.

“I will make you a staaahh.”

“Oh?” I said feigning interest as I stepped backwards while looking at him.

“Nah. You don’t have what it takes to be a stah.”

“Aww.” I said crestfallen.

In a related note my place of employment has a psych unit.

Transcribed by jjwood687 on Fiverr.

Sent via postcrossing to Pei_Hsin.  Who wanted "greetings from..." cards.  I realized I have been sending a lot of these cards out incorrectly.  "Greetings from..." were listed in a lot of people's profiles but it wasn't until now that I realized that they are not asking for these they are asking for this kind.  Which I kinda feel are just dumb.

Postcard #135: "Paint"

Flavor Text: In public, Dean’s own insecurity was submerged by his Brando-style machismo. His open shirt and arrogantly poised cigarette were a perfect fantasy for nonsmoking teenagers who still listened to their parents.

US-9266380

“Paint”

Michaelanne’s vision was going black. Her helmet was repeatedly depressurizing and repressurizing in an attempt to help oxygenate the dropping O₂ levels in her blood. She was clawing at the Juggernauts forearm which was holding her up by her neck. She reached up at the underside of her shattered facemask. The tempered glass crunched within her gloves on the helmet detaching from her suite. She hurtled it at her assailant who dropped her to the floor. Gasping she reached around for a weapon only to find her recently discarded helmet. She slide backwards away from the man who was still holding his face. She backed up into a wall. There was a silence as the both stood there looking at one another. His jaw tightened and he hunched forward as he wiped blood from his eyes. She started pushing backwards again as she moved right along the wall and into a small vestibule. She looked up as she passed under something before she could register what it was her bulky Maglev book had kicked out one of its legs. The wooden leg of a ladder, which was so out of place for the arbormine space station. The ladder began to fall forward between her and her assailant. Objects began to fall off the top of top tier of the ladder. A bucket of blue paint fell into his arms and a moment later a bucket of white paint fell in her lap.

Sent via Postcrossing to Reby who wanted pictures of dogs.  But particular types of dogs so I did not want to "waste" one of my odd dog photos if she would not have liked it.  She did mention wanting images of movie stars.  Even mentioned James Dean by name.  I happened to have an oversized James Dean postcard so...boom.  The story is an excerpt of an excerpt.  I have all these pieces of stories everywhere.  Parts of nanowrimo stories I have long forgotten.  Is nanowrimo still a thing? I have less than a month to figure that out.  If I fit 250 words on a postcard...I would only have to write about 6-7 a day throughout the month of November in order to complete the 50,000 word requirement.

Postcard #134: "Belarus Fact"

Sent via Postcrossing to cosmogyral who wanted something hipster.  Whatever that means.  But she wanted to know something that I know about Belarus.  I mentioned a paper I did in Nursing school.  That even though Chernobyl was not in Belarus...it received some of the worst long term damage from the fallout of the nuclear disaster.  I actually got this card at the actual EBR site...I hope she appreciates this card as much as I appreciated the actual site.  

Text: 
For a nursing class on world health, I wrote a paper on the immediate and long term effects of Chernobyl's meltdown on Belarus.  
One fact I learned was that you could spend the day wandering around much of the site of Chernobyl and Pripyat and still be exposed to LESS radiation than you would be exposed to if you were performing one endovascular thoracic case using fluoroscopy.  

DAY < Case (1)

Postcard #133: "HRC"

Flavor Text:

Andre Kertesz. American, b. Hungary, 1894-1985

Du-Dubon-Dubonnet (On the Boulevards) Paris, 1934

Gelatin silver print, 13 5/8 x 9 7/8 in.

Norton Museum of Art

West Palm Beach, Florida                     US-4273775

So it looks like Hillary Clinton might be our next president. I cannot bring myself to support her (yet?). I really do not like the idea that I must vote for her because Trump is a worse candidate. I find Hillary morally as vile. I would vote no confidence in either. I was a registered Democrat for most of my life. Since I gained the right to vote. I changed parties to an independent because I do not what the DNC has become. Deceitful. Petty. I don’t think I will change my party to vote in any closed elections. Unless…a candidate really wows me. Hillary does not care about “doing the right thing.” She wants to do the popular thing. Sometimes the right thing and the popular thing coincide. Sometimes the popular thing only involves those around her not the majority of Americans or people. Sometimes she does things because she is worried about diminishing her popularity. I can’t say she is evil. Just calculating. Self evaluating constantly. I worry about trusting that. The DNC who I cannot trust is insisting that I trust her. And apparently I must trust her or else.

-T.M.

Transcribed by jjwood687 on Fiverr.

Sent via postcrossing to aleksiite.  She mentioned wanting black and white.  Let's see if this fulfills her wishes. I have been sitting on this postcard for awhile I've wanted to send it. But I really have not found an audience.  Now that Trump is really going viral with his latest fuckup in which he says that as a "Star" he can grab a woman in her "pussy"...I figured I should finish up my political postcard series for now.

Postcard # 132: "Marguerite"

Front:

Making a point to say hello

Back:

“Marguerite”

My grandmother on my mothers side was named Marguerite. I always knew her a Grandma Walsh or Florida Grandma (since she lived in Florida not New Jersey…though come to think of it I never called Grandma Minor, New Jersey Grandma)

At my grandmothers funeral the priest was doing his sermon/homily he kept calling her Margaret…which no one ever called her. No one ever corrected him. Perhaps she is still standing outside the pearly gates because her name was written incorrectly because of the bumbling priest.

Moral: only let those who know you, care about you…talk about you.

US-4273822

Transcribed by jjwood687 on Fiverr.

Sent via postcrossing to MargaritaAlekseevna who wanted a kids card, animals, or a kids hero card.  I can't think of anything more kid-like than these precious moments cards.  I have a whole book I snagged at a garage sale.  I sent this story to a mother who was collecting stories about her daughter's name "Marguerite" I really did not know what to write.  Well.  Let me rephrase that I knew something I could share.   I lamented about writing it for a few days honestly until I threw this story on the card. Finally.  After writing it...I felt badly.  Until my wife said, at 5 years old a child will not have the same existential crisis about death that you are having right now.  So I sent a story about my grandmother's funeral to this little girl.

Postcard #131: "MTG"

Last weekend my wife and I attended a sealed deck magic the gathering prerelease tournament for “Kaladesh” Series. Played till 05:30 AM but we only played 5 of the 6 rounds, since they cut the game short. I only lost one match…to the guy who won 1^st place I ended up getting 8^th. Using math I will never understand. My wife got 25^th place. I got 4 booster packs she got 1 pack. Days later we both discovered we both won cold viruses, which I may have mailed to you.

 

Flavor Text:

PORTLAND, OREGON

Mount Hood and the heart of downtown Portland, Oregon are framed by the beauty of Washington Park’s International Rose Test Gardens.

-TM      www.minormumbles.com      no need to thank me.

Card:

Die Young

Sorcery

Choose target creature. You get (two energy counters), then you may pay any amount of (energy). The creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn for each (energy) paid this way

“When the time comes, let go. Nothing lasts forever.”

Transcribed by jjwood687 on Fiverr.

Sent via postcrossing to powertree. Who lastly mentioned that she would like scenic photos.  I found this one at a recent estate sale.  I sent her a card I used that night I played at the tournament which seemed most appropriate.  I deserved the cold...that's what I get for shaking peoples hands after playing.  I should have elbow bumped them...or brought handsanitizer.  

Postcard #130: "Pokemon Go"

Sent via postcrossing to ReaderChris who wanted a postcard of a Jackalope from a state other than AZ or CO.  Boom.  I can totally do that. ReaderChris also has a postcarding blog too.

Text:
I had to uninstall PokemonGo on my phone.  I was convinced I would kill myself or someone...with my car.  I noticed I was playing at red lights...then playing in stalled traffic.  But it wasn't until I asked myself while driving across a bridge..."I wonder if there are any water pokemon here?" I did not check. Because I imagined myself driving off the bridge.  Of course, I would not die...but I would have to explain how it happened.  I deleted the game when I got home.  -TM

Postcard #129: "TMBNE"

Postcard #129: “TMBNE”

Flavor Text:

MOON BRIDGE – JAPANESE GARDENS

Portland, Oregon

Maintained by the Japanese Garden Society of Oregon, the garden is resplendent in imported authentic Japanese artifacts. All of the shrubs, plants, and trees seen here are also native to Japan. A garden of serene beauty situated in the West Hills of Portland.

Tickets:

09:28A

Sep 08 2016

A

Adult 2.5 Hours

1 found $2.50 09/08/16

Merch: 174037600999

2562 Auth. 51174

PORTLAND, OR

Monmouth Mall #2234

DARK KNIGHT RISES

2:15pm Mon 7/30/2012

AD2MAT $9.00

Tax $0.59

2           PG13

0           0089265101530003

STATION: 0087/30/2012  1:47pm

Back:

“TMBNE”

US-4242295

Back when I was more single and more regularly depressed, I bought two tickets to see “They Might Be Giants” play a New Years' eve show in Brooklyn. I bought the tickets months in advance with the idea it would give me the courage to ask someone out to use the other ticket. I asked someone they said they were busy…and that was depressing enough not to bother trying to ask other people. I decided to go to the show…maybe I will meet someone on the way. Someone outside the show. We will get to talking. Hit it off…kismet! And we have a cute story to tell our friends about how we met. I met no one. I handed my extra ticket to the bouncer and said let someone in for free. I enjoyed the show but it was sad. No one to share the music with. I awkwardly stood there while people kissed at midnight. I gladly left at the end of the show. I could still make it out of the city if I hurried. On the subway train home when the train reached the tunnel going under the east river the conductor really pushed down the throttle we bounced and rocked violently all the way for a few miles. People on the train struggled to stay in their seats. By the time the train stopped the car was full of vomit and smelled of future New Year’s resolutions.

(cut here)         -TM

 

I don’t know where all my movie ticket stubs are packed. We recently moved. This is the one I just happened to find in my desk. Here is a train pass from Portland’s ticket system. $2.50 can get you anywhere. Feel free to rip this off and reuse the card. Let me know if you do.

Transcribed by jjwood687 on Fiverr.

Sent via Postcrossing to DorisRen.  She had an interesting request that she get a train ticket and a movie ticket from my country.  So, that pretty much guided the whole exchange.  I found an old ticket from each and created a pocket on the card.  International postage stamps are pretty much all the same...postcard or letter.  God bless America.  I originally wrote two stories.  But the first one was really sexual and I did not glean anything from her profile to make me think she would be amused by getting a raunchy story from me.  So the story goes in the notebook for later use.
I sort of wish I sent her a different movie ticket.  I have a bunch of them packed away somewhere but this was the only one I could find.  I have movie tickets going all the way back to high school.  Which sort of blows my mind just typing that.