Postcard #168: Birdfood

 

Text: 

I could sense she was waiting for me to move. She wasn't tapping her foot or clearing her throat.. but I saw in the corner of my eye that She rolled her head on her neck and gently inched her grocery cart toward me and casually "revving" the handle. I turned toward her and apologized. "Oh don't worry! Take your time!"  She said contraindicatively. I finished tying off my bag of raisins from the bulk dry good section. She quickly took my spot and opened the raisin bin and started scooping as I fumbled with another produce bag. ''I get these for my birds... " She said as she took another ample scoop. "Oh?" I said while scooping some dried cherries. "Yeah. They love them!", "Are they outside birds or caged birds?" I asked. Hoping to ascertain if I was essentially eating the same meals as wild or domesticated animals. She explained, "Oh, I don't keep my birds in cages." "Ah." I replied. And we both finished our scooping in a mixed blend of amusement and confusion for entirely different reasons. 

-TM.

Sent via Postcrossing to werewegian.  So in making this card I was reminded of an episode of the Simpsons.

Because I technically ruined two postcards:

Some Bear cage one from Milwaukee Wis...

And this old "Wampole's Creo-Terpin Ad Card" which advertised a cough medicine that had as its ingredients Chloroform and Creosote.  Which kinda feels dangerous but is probably not as poisonous as it sounds.  But the back of the card was a soft sort of construction paper that apparently was used to absorb excess ink from fountain pens back in "the day".  The funny thing is this is a pretty neat ad card and by definition, many people on Postcrossing would not want it because it's an ad card.  Stupidly cleverly, I cut it to ribbons before checking about this card.  On eBay, in pretty incredibly crappy condition this card is being sold by someone for 17 fucking bucks.  My card WAS in perfect condition. Whoops. I guess I should have checked that out before destroying it.  I hope he likes it.  He says he has so many cards that I should not worry he will get doubles.  There is no way he has this card now.  

Postcard #167: Poor-nithologist

 Text:

I once took a road trip with a friend of mine to help him move. I asked my girlfriend at the time, Amber to watch my finches. I had a large flight cage with about 10 birds. A few days into the trip I remember calling her from a gas station to see how things were. She said she and the finches were fine. Later I would get a frantic call from her telling me that a bunch of my finches had died. She was convinced something had gotten in the cage and killed them. Confused and concerned, I asked her: what could have done it? Was the cage open? 'No." Was there blood? Are the finches in parts or just dead in the cage? "No blood. Just finches and feathers all over." Is there food and water? There was a slight pause. "Yes, I gave them food and water?" I asked: Today? Did you give a cage full of dead finches food and water this morning? But instead what came out was: "When?" "Today," she reported. How about the last time before that? "I don't know."  Needless to say, we did not work out and I never forgave her. 

-TM

Sent via Postcrossing to Natalia0502.  She wants Owls.  Which I do not have.  I ought to take a picture of my workspace to show people what a fucking mess my room is right now searching for cards that will fulfill people's postcard wishes. The room is a fucking mess. Period. It is NOT her fault.  I am messy and I have a lot of cards.  So messy happens.  But explicit requests for things do not help me stay organized.   But she did say she would like animal birds and nature.  So a picture of a peacock and a story about animal and human nature.  True story. 

Postcard #166: Free as a Bird

Text:

I've always liked the sweetness and simplicity of finches. They can be a little messy but they have some personality and make sweet songs. When they pass on there usually is not much ceremony of fanfare or crying. Just before the pandemic started my last finch past away. I started with 4 when I moved to the West Coast from New Jersey. As time wore on the numbers dwindled. My wife and I shopped for finches several times but never found any we liked. We had a penchant for finches with ill-formed feather formations or a friar's tonsure. The last night I went to feed them the cage was silent. Up in the nest was the tiny bird. Cold, Fragile. Weightless. I tucked the little thing into a cardboard paper towel tube along with some nest bedding, some food, and a tiny bell. Then folded the ends of the tube and buried it outside my property along the fence. It seemed weird to bury it within the cage of my own property.

Sent Via postcrossing to MissMureena.  She said she was cool with homemade cards.  

Postcard #165: Cafe

Text:

People generally "tolerate" the coffee they serve at my work. It's Kobos brand which used a Portland brand but it got bought out by some company in Cali. I feel like it's easier to escape Starbucks on the west coast than it was on the east coast. I prefer light or medium roasts. At one time I had convinced myself I liked dark roasts. The same way I once convinced myself that IPA beers don't taste like cat piss. They do. I like regular drip coffee, or maybe a pour-over or americano. A little half and half or creamer. That's it. I spent a stupid amount of time broke in New Jersey Diners. So crappy / Burned coffee was common. And now that is my threshold. Is it watered down? Is it Starbucks? Is it burned? NO? Perfect! Do you have any creamer?

www.minormumbles.com

Sent via Postcrossing to YasmineBeiBei who wanted airline and transportation cards and said she liked coffee.  I made another coffee ring on a card.

Postcard #164: John Henry

 

Text:

When I was younger I never really liked the album "John Henry" by They Might be Giants. I had a friend who played the album for me and at the time I remember not liking many of the songs. I think that this album followed Apollo 18, Misc. T,  and Flood. 3 solid albums. The album after, my personal favorite was Factory Showroom. Followed by Severe Tire Damage. I listened to a ridiculous amount of Flood. But in my MP 3 / Lime wire / Napster years I lost ahold of what songs were on what albums, In my somewhat depressive funks I recall listening to "Self-called nowhere" and "End of the Tour" on repeat. "Destination Moon" always reminds me of one of my favorite shows Futurama. I love the horn sections of "Spy " and "Sleeping in the Flowers". Lately, I have been listening to "AKA Driver" and "Meet James Ensor." My album playing friend was Jesse. Whose friendship of ours was only severed by time and distance from what I remember. He was a good friend, who at the time had a better and more mature grasp of music than I did.

Thomas Minor

www.minormumbles.com

So I looked this guy up.  I hope it's him.  2020 is a crazy time and maybe he will get a kick out of getting a card out of nowhere.  Maybe I will come off as a weirdo...I am 99% sure it was the album John Henry.  My memory is not as wonderful as it used to be.  But if it's not him or his address maybe they might take a listen to They Might Be Giants.  You probably should too.

Interlude: Doing my Part

 

Yeah.  So I deactivated my Facebook account.  Its deactivation is hopefully just my first step to actually deleting it.  It became apparent I have absolutely no self-control.   I can't have shitty interactions with people and then pretend they are "meaningful" interactions.  Just because I know them doesn't mean I am having healthy conversations with them.  Just because I have "collected" their friendship doesn't mean I am a good friend for them or them for me.  

I am hoping this will help buoy my feelings of togetherness.  Facebook was destroying my insides.  People make me sad.  I think its worse to wish to that I did not have a connection to people because of the dumb shit they write (myself included) than to actually feel and be isolated or alone.

So if you want a postcard.  Comment here.  I will get in contact with you and we can trade addresses or something.  

Here is a first of many interludes...this is Postcrossing.  A website that enables you to safely trade a limited number of postcards with people all over the world.  It's a free service.  But you should donate.  You can donate money to them so they can run the site and put together programs for people.  I am hoping that deactivating Facebook might direct me to be a little more creative. Maybe be a better person in general.  

Postcard #163: "Doublespeak"

 

Original Card:

Stamp: United States White House with US Flag Postage Stamp 8¢ Scott: 1338f (I think)

Original Postmark: Libby, MT 59923 Jun 17th AM 1974 

Message:

Dear Janice,

Staying with Thora and Earl 'til Monday morning. Even Montana is Hot! Think it will be cool at Glacier. The "Hook's" say hello & so does David. Dad tried to get you on the phone, but no one answered! Lots of love. Mom, Dad

Text: Something I have learned working in healthcare for the past 8 months is what I am really hearing when a manager talks to me (not necessarily MY manager)

"I hear your concerns and they are important to me.  I am going to escalate these concerns up the chain of command in order for them to fall on the appropriate deaf ears."

-T.M.

Sent via postcrossing to MmeJarrell. She said she went to the World's fair in Portugal.  Which was in 1998 I suppose  I had a few of these 74 world's fair cards.  I think this is the second I have sent.  They all require editing to cover up the previous writing.  

Postcard #162: "The Big One (a 2020 reprisal)"

 

TEXT: www.minormumbles.com

US-7034052

Oct 4, 2020

This was the first year that I can remember where I paid next to zero attention to hurricanes. My life has been altered several times by them Andrew (Miami Fl 1992) Katrina (NJ - 2005) Irene (NJ-2011), Sandy (NJ-2012). After Sandy, I was done with the East Coast. When I told my father I was going to move out west. "But what about the Big One ?" He warned. The belief that the Juan de Fuca plate or the Cascadia Subduction Zone will utterly annihilate Oregon. I dismissed the warnings "I'd rather deal with a hypothetical natural disaster than a definitive/actualized disaster uprooting my life every 4 years or destroying it every 10. I will be completely honest a pandemic, never factored in as a natural disaster. Couple with the Oregon wildfires and the rest of 2020 I feel I was missing a lot of calculations. The "Big One" seems awfully real now. Perhaps my idea of Big One " lacks vision. If wildfires and pandemics escaped my list of "what if's " along with months-long protests...Perhaps there are even more creative "Big Ones" that await.

Sent to cimplicius.  He likes photos.  And culture.  One out of 2 ain't bad.

Postcard #161: "Viral Load"

 

Text:

www.minormumbles.com US-1017630

"GREETINGS FROM ATLANTA”

R. LAND 

It's 3 am. I awake to find my 2 1/2-year-old daughter had crawled up into arms at some point in the night.  I turned over in bed to look again at the clock. I begin to perform the calculations "if I fall asleep by 'X' I will get 'Y' amount of sleep before work."  1 hr 45 mins max. Then I realize I have called out already. My daughter was exposed to Covid-19 at school by her teacher. 3 days ago the teacher and all students were ejected from the class for 14 days. Quarantined. No daycare, besides my wife and I.  I am a nurse by trade, my wife also works in Healthcare. Who is to say I am any more or less exposed or positive than my daughter is right now? I become aware that I am holding my breath contemplating my daughter. I know this because the CPAP I am wearing, is violently trying to force air into my nostrils - a humidified pressurized high flow cloud of potentially aerosolized airborne-stable COVID -19. I am faced with a new calculation How long had my child been in my arms? How much of a viral load could she have received? I push her into the middle of the bed between my wife and I.  I turn off the CPAP and sit on the edge of the bed. I will get up. Knowing the chance of sleep is gone. The symptoms of non-illness now rival those of an illness.  -TM.

Sent to chanm.  She wanted a "Greetings from Postcard..." and something typical of my country.  I had the perfect card.  

I am actually back on postcrossing.  I finally deactivated my facebook account.  Maybe at some point I can actually delete it.  I will try and watch that Social Dilemma program everyone has been raving about.  Maybe that will finally get me to delete the account rather than treating it like a credit card I can not get rid of because its the credit card I have the most credit history with.  I am looking at you discovercard.com with your 20.99% self.  

Postcard #160: "Heroes"

So I had a whole card written on the back on the back of this.  But.  I don't think I want to transcribe it all.  I think I might rework the writing differently. It essentially was the embodiment of this graph:

But the writing makes me sound pretty bitter.  Which wasn't really what I was going for when I set out to write it.  So I will probably cannibalize it for a later postcard.  I sent this postcard to a comic that I subscribe to that I enjoy.  This might feel a little fanmailish.  Maybe it is.  Check out his stuff and Patreon.  It's pretty funny.