Happy St. David's Day

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus.

February has ended and has brought to a close another International Correspondence Writing Month (InCoWriMo). I have managed to write at least one piece of snail mail each day of that month. I'm not expecting any surprise letters because I did not publish my postal address. That's OK, as there was someone seeking addresses for a prisoner. I also didn't have my address up via FB penpal groups, though have done in the past. 

In early Feb. Disqus allowed me to post again to the inco address exchange page, after marking my posts as spam in January. However, this week, I wanted to reply to someone's question, but my comment was yet again marked as spam. Irony... seeing as Eric (who owns Inco), neglects a fountain pen forum he also owns. which is full of spam and zero moderation. 

I am still in the process of deleting my Meta content. Social Media has become rather unsocial over the last couple of years, be it politics, unpleasant views, scams (and plenty of those were from "verified" accounts)... 

In removing a lot of my Meta content, I have been reminded of various groups I joined, and posts I've made. One group for penpalling has so many posts in the format of a job application - really! Titled "Penpal application" and it does not suggest a joy of penfriendship. Would you do friendship applications for real-life/in person friends made during school/college years or via employment or hobbies? This application process makes me think letters are a task/chore or essays/homework for school/college. A burden rather than a joyful activity. 

Then, there are the posts from people who cheat the system. Just because a stamp hadn't received a postage mark, they feel entitled to reuse for postage again. Or, in the case of one person, postmarked stamps bought from ebay are "new to her" and she had stuck on her outgoing letters for postage. 

I posted lots of photo content to both Instagram and FB. I do need to organise my digital photos; perhaps some should be printed out. I have taken pictures with smartphones over the last 12+ years, but some of those early picture have been corrupted though for a few, can still see thumbnail images. 

Many of my Instagram posts were of postage stamps, received on post or I've used for postage. One combination was with Captain Mainwaring telling a 007 off: You Stupid Boy! I still have the digital photo files. Maybe I will share some pictures on this blog. 

Letter writing snobbery

Penfriendship is a wonderful thing; connections across the globe makes the world a smaller place, making me care more about natural events in case a postal friend is affected- floods, forest fires, wind, earthquakes... The uniqueness of people; their lives, hobbies, interests, families... Can get to know people by the written word. It can be a façade, but the written word tends to come out of thoughtfulness, slowed by the flow of ink (or graphite) across the page. In typing, on computer or touchscreen, autocorrect may get in the way. Words appear quicker, maybe even angrier, and less thoughtful, less kind. How many electronic messages have been typed and sent in haste? I know I'm not immune.

I don't take much notice of etiquette guides: these are relics of the past, when misogyny was not considered wrong, a woman couldn't open a bank account on her own, wife-beating was allowed (but not between 10pm to 7am in case it disturbed the neighbours) and the ability to withdraw consent was removed on marriage. You do NOT need expensive heavyweight papers for genuine penfriendship, nor is a fountain pen a necessity. You don't need to have master penmanship nor need to do calligraphy. A letter can be a work of art, mail art, written on almost any paper, lined/plain/dotted/square, monogrammed or with  motif or without, adorned with stickers and photographs and washi tape. 

But, none of that matters if what is written is wonderfully thought out, meaningful. It is the words that matter the most; it is the purpose of the letter. Kind words written on a serviette in a cafe are still kind words. Fuck Off! written in calligraphy on expensive paper is still Fuck Off! no matter how well written (certain bits of this sentence are in a text colour matching the background, so if you really want to see two words, one beginning with F and the other with O....).

On social media, I have come across letter writing snobbery. One post linked to an etiquette guide and complained about not being able to get fountain pen friendly letter writing paper. I'm afraid that is poppycock; the person must be in a very uncivilised part of the world otherwise. I receive a wide range of letters, from college note-taking paper (taking fountain pen ink rather well), to Santoro, to Diddl, to Basildon Bond, to Clairefontaine Triomphe, and others: they are great. To me, it doesn't matter if the paper is lined (some prefer that is it helps the writer to write straight), or having holes punched down the side to go in a ring binder (if I use this, I tend to cover the holes with stickers).  It doesn't even ,matter what writing implement is used - fountain pen, dip pen, gel pens, rollerballs, ballpoints, pencils... yet to receive one in crayon though. 

Snobbery also haunts another associated hobby - philately. On stamp messageboards, there's sad news about 2 philatelists, men, of a good age, passing away, but very little sadness around the death of another philatelist - a woman, aged 34, who was the managing director of a stamp auction house. She was so young, so full of life, so full of colour and adventure. She touched me postally with a few postcards, with humour. Punk Philatelist wrote some words about her at https://punkphilatelist.com/2025/02/02/vale-constanze-dennis-the-greatest/

It is almost February...

Just a week and a bit away until the start of February. I should be excited, but this year, I am not. I have participated in the February letter writing projects since 2012 but this is the second year I am not ecstatic about both A Month of Letters and International Correspondence Writing Month. Both want you to send nice mail every (postal) day. However, for some, it is just a check box exercise, rather than seeking meaningful connection and penfriendship. 

Also, the decision to allow an account on LetterMo to seek addresses for a prisoner have worried some people, even declining friendship request is met by another request with no ability to say F OFF. It is one of the reasons I deleted my account. And while prison penpals can be a good thing, it should be for the "free" person to seek postal contact with an inmate via a prison penpal website. 

Then, this year, a post appeared on the InCoWriMo address exchange page for 2025, from this same person requesting penpals for the inmate. It has since been deleted as has the LetterMo account (edit - 6th Feb 2025 - there appears to be a new account for him). The person claims not to be grabbing addresses for the prisoner, but I'd take that with a pinch of salt. 

The account I set up for myself on disqus is having comments marked as spam. Even my upvoting is invisible. (edit - 6th Feb 2025 - I can comment again).

It is such a shame... the idea for the projects is good, but... 

End of year review, 2024 edition.

General enthusiasm for social media, sharing postal insights on those platforms and even in blogging, was at an all time low this year. Fed up of the competitiveness of it all. I took a long break from blogging, and even considered giving it all up, along with the snail mail forum I have. The internet has changed so much over the years, and the quality of content decreased, with tons of misinformation, conspiracy theories, hatred spread around the world. I do sometimes fear for my safety when I am out and about.  I'm so glad I have penfriends around the world, else I would feel very much alone in this town. 

Stamps this year haven't been too bad, but some issues have been better than others. New Year's Eve celebrations in many parts of the UK have been cancelled due to nasty weather.  Royal Mail celebrated the 170th anniversary of the UK Meteorological Office.

Perhaps one of the not so great issues this year was Porridge. A TV comedy drama series set in a prison first broadcast 50 years ago. Not something I watched, though have caught the odd episode here and there, however, not memorable.

I surprised myself by writing & sending more than 350 letters this year. Some have been written out and about in the fresh air under blue skies. Most though have been written at home this year. However, have received just over 300 letters in 2024.

The year ends with the sad news of the passing of a philatelist and Postcrossing acquaintance. She had arranged many a Postcrossing meetup in London, and even attended one in Ireland for the launch of the Postcrossing stamp from An Post. She was only in her 30s, but she had lived such a full and colourful life, with adventure, and had a job she loved. I hadn't met her in person, but had received a few postcards from her over the years. They will be treasured.

Looking forward to 2025, I'd like to get back into blogging, but maybe would start afresh with a new blog. I'd like to see more blogs out there, rather than social media posts... 

Coming partially off (un)social media.

For a few years, this blog had a page on Facebook, but I've since deleted it. Also, my forum had a page and group on FB, and now, they are both gone from there. FB/Insta/Meta/whatever have changed for the worse over the years, and even Twitter (whatever) seems a little better as you can choose to see posts from people you follow. Yes, on the Insta app, you can see the posts from people you are following, but not hashtags. Can't browse recent/latest posts of a hashtag, so I've given up trying. Mastodon seems better, though quiet. 

I prefer the set up of a forum, the sections that can be created, the different boards within, and proper thread titles. Much easier to navigate. But, oh so many people happy to allow algorithms to show them what the platform wants to show you (top posts in reddit, most "relevant" on FB, "top" posts on Insta). Insta - I want to see hashtag WriteMoreLetters,  not more crafting/painting posts, cats reels (OK a few won't hurt), posts telling me I should change my looks/body/be someone else... 

There used to be a time where there were loads of blogs to read about snailmail, penpalling, letter writing. Can easily dip in and read. Sad though, so many don't get updated. But now, it is all social media, pictures here, pictures there, full of oneupmanship, ner ner ner ner ner, begging/wanting freebies, and [redacted]. Whatever I do, just doesn't seem to be good enough.

I'm just so tired... so tired of it all. I'm worn down. I had to quit another hobby/interest because of the burnout, and I feel I've lost many years of my life and money and brain cells. Time for something new. Time to let go.     

March thoughts

InCoWriMo and LetterMo are over for another year, and March is a month of replies. However, with the announcement at the start of the month from Royal Mail raising postage rates in April, I have found my enthusiasm for all things postal has diminished (including for the snail mail forum I run). I knew the postage rate increase was coming, but didn’t think it would be an extra 10p domestically, an extra 20p international economy (can't use for letters to Europe), and 30p extra for international standard: huge increases. I know it isn’t much in the great scheme of things, and can afford it financially, but even so… How much money do you spend a month on hobbies?  Some people like to fishing, hillwalking - may have a largish outlay at the start; good quality board games can cost quite a bit (£50 or more, e.g. Power Grid, Agricola, Talisman, and then there’s the expansions); a weekly or even daily cup of fancy coffee from a large coffee shop chain costs (£3+)…. so snail mail doesn’t seem that expensive, and if it comes to it, can buy postage only when it is needed, and no need for expensive stationery (£30 letter writing set with 10 sheets of A5 + 10 C6 envelopes one stationer's sells is taking the biscuit).

It is heart-breaking what Royal Mail are doing to a long-time appreciated institution with its micromanagement of the posties, tracking them, complaining when they are idle (perhaps on the mandated breaks). The regular posties were almost social workers during the pandemic on rural routes may have been the only face some folks would have seen. La Poste even offered a service to check in on people, albeit for a fee. A regular postie is very much part of the community. A while back, had someone’s pet rabbit escape into my garden, and the postie knew whose bunny it was. Perhaps I feel betrayed by Royal Mail, yet I am reliant on them for this hobby - no choice is available; I will not do email. 

I haven’t kept up the pace of daily letter writing I managed in February. I will respond to all the surprise letters I received through the February projects, and will probably have replied to all the letters received in February before the postage rate rise immediately after the Easter bank holiday.

As for the forum, it is still quiet. This July will have been running for 9 years, but it hasn't turned out how I imagined: I wanted a forum full of discussions on all-sorts of snail mail issues, plus it is something off Facebook (can't read my "feed" most days without some sort of scam/fake but paid-for accounts posting things) and Instagram (the one-upmanship, look how fancy "this" is, and the disregard for other people's privacy by not-covering/obscuring the other person's address). I want the forum to remain free (money complicates things), and available to "all" (in quotation marks, because there are those who post forum spam, and those accounts get deleted). I know it is somewhat ironic to have all this online, for an offline hobby.

Well, yesterday wasn’t a quite so happy St. David’s Day. Royal Mail had chosen that date to announce postage rate rises to come into force on the 2nd April 2024. Knew in advance that the details were coming then. The rise is not just a penny here and there. Both 1st and 2nd class goes up 10p apiece.

International standard is up 30p. International economy up 20p. First + second still adds up to the first international economy/surface mail rate and can be used for post outside Europe. Some postcrossers have been using this economy rate and haven’t noticed longer delivery times. 

I haven’t watched the BBC Panorama programme on Royal Mail, about deliveries, lack of them coming daily for some, letters coming bundled up once or twice a week, or less frequently. I must be lucky my regular postie makes it to me mostly daily. He is a great postie, and would have been the only person some people saw during the pandemic. I don’t live that remotely, but I can imagine living up a country lane, neighbours out of sight, a postie delivering mail and making sure I’m OK. A regular postie is a wonderful thing; almost a community service, a Postman Pat!, a community “warden” of sorts. 

I managed to speak to my postie this week. He had so many parcels to deliver first, before doing the letters. I’ve noticed he can deliver about 1100-1130 if he doesn’t have much in the way of parcels to do first, otherwise anytime after 12 to about 1pm. 

Royal Mail have said that most don’t spend more than £7 a year on stamped mail. I think some of my relatives are among those who don’t even spend that much… as they prefer to wish Happy Birthday to relatives on Facebook whether or not the birthday person is on Facebook. “Happy Birthday to my great-grandson who is 11” and even those relatives who live nearby don’t even get a physical card. Christmas cards are all e-cards and I can’t stand these. An in-law prefers to phone and chat for a while instead of a card (the cards don’t say much, no words of news/encouragement/stories). 

I also haven’t finished watching the Horizon Post Office scandal docu-drama. Llandudno is up near me!