love in an envelope

I think we all dig when there is something in the mail other than bills and adverts right?



Even though I use email probably more than I should to communicate with people in my life, I still LOVE to send out cards and goodies in the mail. (I even have a favorite post office and a favorite post lady who is a character right out of a movie. She is plumb and wears her hair in the wildest up-do ever. She wears buttons and "flair" and always lets you cut back in line if you didn't fill out a form correctly the first time)
I like to imagine what the person looks and feels like when they see an envelope, hand addressed sitting in the box. When I get mail that isn't bills or credit card offers I always try to guess who it is from just by the handwriting on the envelope. I have a few friends that I can guess immediately just by the way my name is scrawled across the middle of the paper.
I love that.


And because I love that, I want to give a little "woot-woot" to a few people. Beacuse they have filled my mail box with joy.

A little thanks out there to a few people who have sent me things in the past month or two. People who I have never seen or met in person. My name written in a handwriting that is unfamiliar, yet totally fits...has been showing up in my mail box. It is exhilerating and wonderful- mostly because these people are sharing part of themselves with me. There have been things like photography and music and art work.Things like "lobster egg" gum balls and fabric and sweet sweet words. And plans are brewing to even meet one of these people to do a west coast version of this...
These things in an envelope took time and creativity and love. And these woman headed out to the post office just because I said I liked something they did. They were nice enough to put my name on an envelope and lick a stamp (or stick a stamp, what ever the case might be.
But those ladies help to make my trips to the mail box so much fun.


So here is to JesC, I have these hanging in my living room.
Stilt Houses 1
Stilt Houses 2
Stilt Houses 3
Stilt Houses 4

So here is to LeSophie, I have this in my car stereo.

So here is to Angela, I have this (or a version of it anyway)waiting to be framed (and a few others waiting to be passed on in the mail to others)

Thank you ladies for making my life a little fuller, a little more creative and for the connections....

Supporting Indie

Natalie was great to listen to last night.

She had some new material (which meant that Uma*, Q and I couldn't sing along with every song like last time) and she was well received by the crowd (much larger than the last time she was in town from LA).
Which meant selling CDs and t-shirts.

The cool part about the venue where she played (Walden's Coffee House) is that they do an open mic night every Friday. Which I knew about but haven't gone to in awhile. The other cool part is that it is a coffee house, so that means all ages, no smoking, and an intimate atmosphere (sometimes really intimate when there is a full band playing).
The mic and the room was scatterd with kids, teens 20-30 somethings and your hip seniors. I love that sort of thing. It is the way music should be shared- with everyone. They also have food and beer/wine, so you can enjoy while you listen.
Having all the other open mic-ers there playing music, gives out this really great sense of support. They all know what it takes to write, play and sing their own music. I loved watching and listening to all the different styles of musician last night.