Admitting guilty pleasures

Spring has sprung and Lynn is on spring break. It has been too long since we chatted on the phone. For this reason, it was especially nice to look at her card from last year. She had just finished taking her certification exam. After spending a lot of time studying, she was trying to remember what she used to do for fun. She admitted guiltily that she had been reading a lot of trashy novels - ones that you would usually save for an airplane ride. This made me laugh because my sister and I had a similar text message conversation. She admitted a current addiction to a 900 page book our mother sent her. Trying to make her feel better, I said that at least it was the Sri Lankan new year and she was home alone. I also reminded her of how when we were kids we used to try to sneak away from chores to read. This resulted in a practice of hiding our books in the waist bands of our pants and under our shirts so that our father could not see. We would rake the leaves or pull weeds until he stepped around the corner and then whip out our books to soak up a few more pages before he returned. The joke today is that my sister would need some very loose fitting elastic pants to hide her current obsession - or perhaps a mumu.

I hope you are also reading something fun on your break this year Lynn!

Trendsetting

We've inspired someone. My brother sent me a postcard from his trip to Delaware! On the back he wrote "your postal pals blog inspired me to write." Its fun that he took the time to send snail mail from here, although he also posted video from his polar bear so he's not too old-school.

Jess' card from last year is this nice drawing. She wrote, "I ended cutting paper because my glue stick dried up!" This little tidbit makes me laugh. Her drawing was inspired by a food magazine her dad left at her apartment- must have been old because card was from Spring. Jess also wrote about getting ready for a work trip to Pakistan, saying she spent time drawing to avoid packing.

Added Dimensions

We have been posting things other than cards lately. I'm wondering...do you like the additional things we've shared? Or should we just stick to our art?

OK, enough posing questions to the void! Jess' March 15th card from last year fell in her 'cut paper' phase. She put a printed design underneath adding some depth. She wrote, "next time I think I will paint/draw and then do a cut out on top. I think using this print is sort of cheating." Well, she went on to say what she had been up to: sewing,throwing another dinner party, hosting her Dad and Sister, so you could see why she'd need to cut a few corners to get her card in the mail on time.

I think the concentric circles are another cool abstract art experiment, much like her pears! The only thing I thought, was using a darker color paper to make the top stand out...I'm all for experiments and we know those don't always work out.

Misery loves company

This seriously does not reflect how I feel about my current locale, but I cannot help but post this link. Apparently Lynn and I live in #1 and #2 of a list of the worlds 10 worst cities (See link here). Lucky us.

Another pen pal in Michigan

This week This American Life re-broadcast a show originally aired in 2003 called, My Pen Pal. It describes a true story of a pen pal relationship between an 11 year old northern Michigan native, Sarah York, and the infamous dictator, Manuel Noriega. (You can see a picture of them here.) I love this story. It makes you think about how we classify who is bad. Noriega goes above and beyond in his letters to York in a way that cannot be justified only by political motive. You are left to wonder about the soft side of an evil man's heart and whether York's pen pal relationship led her to live off the grid with her family.

The last seven minutes of the show tells a second story. A woman describes her pen pal relationship with her husband to be preferable to the one they have when they live in the same house. This reminds me of a passage I once read in Margaret Atwood's book Blind Assassin that describes a reunion after a long period of time. The character's memories had softened and distorted over time, but when she met the person again all their harsh lines and wrinkles were once again revealed. There are some people we prefer at distance.

I am going to have to track down a copy of that book to find out how the eloquent Atwood described this, especially since I last read it when it came out 10 years ago. In the meantime, enjoy the podcast!

A fan of all things green

March=green! And pears are such a nice shade of green. Jessica's cut card theme continued on, and went beyond scenery with this lovely bowl of pears.

On the back of the post card she told me about being in NYC for 12" of snow, with stong winds that almost knocked her down. I am glad that today, my view is of sun melting what little is left of our snow.

But, back the the front, by cutting rather than drawing the fruit her top down view becomes more abstract in a very fun and pleasing way! I like it lots. It reminds me of Matisse, you?

From somewhere warmer than here

I am a little behind, posting this cut out card from Jess in February of last year. She writes "I cut it while watching the Superbowl. It is clear I was thinking of Africa I guess." Her mountain view reminds me of warmer places, ones I wish I was traveling to while it was still cold and snowy out. There is a time in Michigan where the grey skies and dark of winter gets hard to bear, but I think we've broken through. March has arrived with high 30's weather, blue skies and sun. I almost feel like I am in a warm savannah with a view! Where do you wish you were when the winter months grind on and on?