Belated stats

August:

Out - 8 letters, 3 postcards
In - 16 letters, 2 postcards

September:

Out - 15 letters, 1 friendship book returned home, 1 birthday card.
In - 8 letters, 4 postcards.

I wasn't free to write many letters in August during the school holidays.

No loneliness while replying to letters.

 Drawing is not my strong point - writing words is not a problem (most of the time), but making pictures, I am limited to stick people. still this didn't put me off trying to draw the scene in a cafe.

Two people sit at a table and rather than talk to / communicate with each other, they are on their mobile phones playing games and watching videos. Me, I sit there writing to my friends and I do not feel lonely one bit but sometimes glance at those two people, thinking how alone they looked in company.

Here I am replying to a letter, and I use my Lamy pen I had bought for 20p! Bargain.

Nostalgia - having pen pals - doesn't have to be in a bygone age.

A book on Letter Writing

I am not entirely sure why I went into my local library this week, but I did... and then borrow a book on letters even though I still haven't finished To The Letter. What is done is done and now I am sat down reading, "Letter Writing" in the "Everything You Need To Know" series published by HarperCollins in 2001.

One of the first paragraphs puts it nicely, "Generally speaking, we write because the process of putting words to paper is more effective than speech. It demands the sole attention of the recipient while being read and can be more intimate than speech; it is certainly more durable."

The book goes on to talk about paper, pens, typefaces before going onto grammar where I was reminded of a few things. The book then has examples of types of letter. It covers personal letters from thank you to condolences to congratulations to Dear John. "I know that simply leaving this letter on the kitchen table must seem like a total cop-out but, in the circumstances, it seemed the least painful way." Then there are business letters, from junk mail to bills to complaints to job applications...

Although I have not read every single word in the book, I have come across no mention of penfriendship - that is, friendship initiated through the medium of the letter. I found this disappointing. I shall be returning the book later this week, and will resume reading To The Letter.

Cheating

It is sad to still see on various penpalling/correspondence messageboards, fora and threads people contemplating or actually reusing used but unfranked/postmarked stamps. I had written a post about this earlier. It is illegal, fraudulent, cheating... Do you like cheats? Do you  like drug users in sports - should they be allowed to compete and win against decent, clean, hard-training athletes? I know the odd reused stamp is small in the great scheme of things... but from small things come bigger things. If people have no qualms defrauding the postal system... what would they go onto next? I wonder if there are any convicted murderers who have not ever dropped a single piece of litter, even if accidental and left it there?

Inkwells and places visited

Last month, I posted a letter with the Portmeirion stamp, and a fishy one.

It arrived safely at its destination. I had also enclosed a photo I took in Portmeirion.

It was a lovely day to visit, and we usually try to get there once a  year.

I have also been out and about, visiting Plas Newydd. I don't have inkwells, but have a box with bottles!

Plas Newydd is home to a fabulous mural by Rex Whistler. This is part of his artbox on display.  He also was a letter writer!

Address book again

One address I need to put into my address book is causing me a problem... I enter addresses under the initial of the surname (I wouldn't have the problem if I used initial of first name), but the person's name has "van" in. I received a letter from this person yesterday and the return address label had van with a capital V. Vincent van Gogh is under G in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Do I put the address under V, or under the name after the V? Maybe it is something I could ask in my reply.

July stats:
Letters out - 17.
Letters in - 13.
Postcards in - 2.
No postcards sent.

sad address book

Although I was given a nice Simon Drew address book last year for my birthday, I am still using an old address book...

I was adding a few new addresses to it (I actually made a mistake listing someone under the first letter of their first name, not surname! oops), but was sad to see the number of entries I have in it that are no longer needed (correspondence has been stopped by them.... they hadn't replied although I realise that perhaps mail may have gotten lost on route....). I haven't written the addresses of everyone I have written penpal letters to... if I did, I would have to start one of my newer address books...