#postage stamp poem

[definegodliness]

The world was kind Reflected by your eyes, and back into Mine as the work of a Child, colouring Outside Each and every line.

--- 21-1-2024, M.A. Tempels ©

[milkymarble]

ephemera

mary ann samyn//konstantin simonov//elena yushina//frederick childe hassam//mary ruefle//charis psachos

[salovie]

resolved, hushed to silence

winter gray

snow white

cold quiet

settled river, ancient peace

[pillarboxstudio]

[contemplatingoutlander]

Our true feelings about race and identity are revealed in six words

This is a poignant article about a project that Michele Norris started that tapped into people's thoughts about race in a profound way--using only six words. This is a gift🎁link, so anyone can read the full interactive article, even if they don't subscribe to The Washington Post. Below are some excerpts from the article:

I have always cringed when the accusations fly about someone allegedly “playing the race card.” It’s usually a proxy for “You’re making me uncomfortable, so please stop talking.” Or a diversionary tactic used to avoid having to speak about race with any kind of precision or specificity. A shorthand for “Just shut up.” And so, in 2010, I flipped the script, turning that accusatory phrase into a prompt to spark conversation. I printed 200 black postcards at my local FedEx Kinko’s on upper Wisconsin Avenue asking people to condense their thoughts on race or cultural identity into one sentence of six words. The front of the cards simply read:

Race. Your thoughts. 6 words. Please send.

I left the cards everywhere I traveled: in bookstores, in restaurants, at the information kiosks in airports, on the writing desks at all my hotels. Sometimes I snuck them inside airline in-flight magazines or left them at the sugar station at Starbucks. I hoped a few of those postcards would come back, thinking it would be worth the trouble if even a dozen people responded. Much to my surprise, strangers who stumbled on the cards would follow the instructions and use postage stamps to mail their six-word stories back to me in D.C. Since my parents were both postal workers, this gave me an extra thrill. Here I was, doing my part to support the Postal Service. Who says snail mail is dead? Half a dozen cards arrived within a week, then 12, then 20. Over time, that trickle became a tide. I have received more than 500,000 of these stories — and more arrive every day, though the vast majority of submissions now arrive through a website portal online. They have come from all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Though limited to six words, the stories are often shocking in their candor and intimacy. They reveal fear, disappointment, regret and resentment. Some are kissed by grace or triumph. A surprising number arrive in the form of a question, which suggests that many people hunger not just for answers but for permission to speak their truths. It was amazing what people could pack into such a small package:

Reason I ended a sweet relationship

Too Black for Black men’s love

Urban living has made me racist

Took 21 years to be Latina

Was considered White until after 9/11

Gay, but at least I’m White

I’m only Asian when it’s convenient

To keep the conversation going, I created a complementary website for the Race Card Project, where people could submit their six-word stories online. Over time we added two words to the submission form: “Anything else?” That changed everything. People sent in poems, essays, memos and historical documents to explain why they chose their six words. The archive came alive. It became an international forum where people could share their own stories but also learn much about life, as if it were lived by someone else.

I highly recommend reading the entire article, using the above gift link. As an olive-skinned Italian American, with curly hair, I have often felt like I am a walking Rorschach test for race. Even though I'm classified as "white" in the U.S., I've had people ask me if I'm a Latina, a Native American, Black, Egyptian, Jewish, and even a South Pacific Islander. Given my history, here are my six words on race.

A book is not it's cover.

I welcome people adding to this post their own 6 words on race.

[booksellergothic]

Halloween Day 14

Today, a poem.

Field of Skulls by Mary Karr Stare hard enough at the fabric of night, and if you're predisposed to dark—let’s say the window you’ve picked is a black postage stamp you spend hours at, sleepless, drinking gin after the I Love Lucy reruns have gone off—stare

like your eyes have force, and behind any night’s taut scrim will come the forms you expect pressing from the other side. For you: a field of skulls, angled jaws and eye-sockets, a zillion scooped-out crania. They’re plain once you think to look.

You know such fields exist, for criminals roam your very block, and even history lists monsters like Adolf and Uncle Joe who stalk the earth’s orb, plus minor baby-eaters unidentified, probably in your very midst. Perhaps that disgruntled mail clerk from your job

has already scratched your name on a bullet—that’s him rustling in the azaleas. You caress the thought, for it proves there’s no better spot for you than here, your square-yard of chintz sofa, hearing the bad news piped steady from your head. The night is black. You stare and furious stare,

confident there are no gods out there. In this way, you’re blind to your own eye’s intricate machine and to the light it sees by, to the luck of birth and all your remembered loves. If the skulls are there— let’s say they do press toward you against night’s scrim—could they not stare with slack jawed envy at the fine flesh that covers your scalp, the numbered hairs, at the force your hands hold?

Mary Karr, “Field of Skulls” from Viper Rum. Copyright © 1998 by Mary Karr.

If you would like to be added to my taglist please let me know!

@dianamolloy @piggledy-higgledy @imdeadtiredtm @joyfullymassivewhispers @caffiend-queen @dangertoozmanykids101 @toozmanykids @myoxisbroken @wrathkitty @punemy-spotted @sillybillieandricky @stupendouslovegardener @sylviefromneptune @acidcasualties

[raedas]

some kind of poem

[text id: birds / soft carpet under your feet / lights, stretched out / music / braided hair / heartbeats / piano notes one two three four / rocking chairs / lemon & honey tea / blankets / nectarines / laundry, warm / laughter / suhoors and iftars / handmade birthday cards / painted nails / postage stamps hidden in notebooks / hoodie strings / brushstroke sunsets / love / love / love]

[theoriginalmkp]

[naming myself litany, with names redacted]

At work, they call me M---. A good, sensible name. A exquisite-handwriting name.

M--- is the name of a woman who gets things done. M--- is the name of a woman who always has three pens, two spare hair ties, and an extra postage stamp, just in case.

M--- is my worksona.

At home, they call me M------. A good, comfortable name. A jumprope-rhyme name.

M------ is the name of a girl who never learns to be afraid. M------ is the name of a girl who throws herself off of swings, out of trees, into the surprised arms of the world, laughing all the way.

M------ is the sunlight visible in the cracks of my marrow.

There is power in the naming of things.

I name you, self.

I name you daughter. I name you sister. I name you eldest-of-three.

I name you cannot-sit-still. I name you runs-into-walls. I name you talks-too-loud.

I name you reads-too-much, needs-too-much, cries-too-often.

I name you missing-stair, avoided-bruise, test-of-patience.

I name you elephant-in-the-story, child-of-too-many-questions, woman-who-sleeps-with-stuffed-animals.

I name you speaks-in-echoes. I name you thinks-in-gifs. I name you sings-off-key.

lullabye girl. changeling child. woman-of-the-laughing-hands. hush now. hush.

hush now, scared-of-shadows. hush now, ghost-of-a-girl. hush now, poem-afraid-to-be-written.

hush now. hush.

I name you rocks-yourself-to-sleep.

[sixsixsixnotricks]

“The Color of Pomegranates” is most simply described as a series of tableaus that recount the life of the 18th-century poet and troubadour turned monk who was known as Sayat Nova (a Persian sobriquet that means “King of Songs”). Born, like Parajanov, in Soviet Georgia to Armenian parents, Sayat Nova was enough of a hero to have the 250th anniversary of his birth commemorated in 1962 with a postage stamp.

In “The Color of Pomegranates,” Sayat Nova’s poems are seen rather than heard. There is some voice-over but little dialogue in an ebb-and-flow soundtrack that alternates wailing folk melodies with choral chanting. The film draws on Sayat Nova’s imagery: angels with flat halos and wooden wings, a pasteboard cloud descending as a vision, the constant repetition of key props including books, silver balls and ornate rugs. Fruits seem to bleed and books to weep. Animals, particularly goats and sheep, are ubiquitous. Impassive actors engage in dancelike gestures while staring straight into the camera.

[earthstellar]

tank eggs. hear me out

this may or may not make me sound extremely elderly lmao  

but I love postcards and stamps and bullshit. 

so when I had to get some more stamps today 

it turns out the Royal Mail has a fucking series of stamps which is ALL TANKS

and I immediately bought them because I legit need some stamps lol BUT ALSO because a few things popped into my brain instantly: 

1) what the fuck is the situation with the egg tank on the far left there, holy shit

“hey we need a heavy duty vehicle that is basically entirely made out of armour but can hold some people and also ammo for hopefully like a sick cannon or something” I know!!! let’s make a FUCKING EGG. sloped egg tank!!! 

real talk it’s called the Mark Four and it’s an adventure. look at that shit. jesus 

2)  mental image of Megatron with a nest full of tank eggs 

I love the idea of everyone just naturally assuming it would be the Seekers who would have nests, and like little nightmarish Starscream squaking tiny egg hatched jets or some shit 

but in reality, it’s the tanks!!! it’s just that nobody knows that because nobody has ever seen a tank nest and survived.

like the second anyone else’s optics are on the eggs, it’s over, cannon directly to the helm, super totally fucked. the eggs are safe though. of course they are, they’re TANK EGGS 

3) elderly Megatron sending out letters loaded with poetry and Communist literature that has been extensively highlighted and annotated, complete with shitty photocopier burn around the edges. nothing is ever stapled, there’s just 50 loose leaf sheets of poems and ranting. 

sometimes he gets stuff all ready to send, but then he’s still mad / got sad and wrote some lyrics at 3 AM like a normal well adjusted person and so he puts the original filled envelope in a larger envelope which is crammed with even more of this shit. 

sometimes he fucks with Optimus by just sending a blank postcard. just totally blank. no image, no writing. so much lab time has been wasted by Perceptor going apeshit trying to determine if there is any hidden ink or some kind of secret aspect to the cards once Optimus hands them over for analysis just in case, but there isn’t. they’re just blank. Optimus will never admit how irrationally pissed off this makes him. Megatron dedicates too much of a budget to postage for this shit, yet regrets nothing. 

---

TL;DR I love the idea of Megatron trolling Optimus with snail mail shitposting because that seems very on brand for gay pen pals, one of whom is a celebrated writer in at least one canon continuity

also we all thought it was the Seekers who might make nests but actually it’s the tanks, EGG TANK. EGG TANK! I fucking love the egg tank!!!! 

[definegodliness]

Black One day No light escapes All compresses to nothingness Gone?

--- 10-3-2024, M.A. Tempels © "... an elfchen"

[iamsalve]

Pilipinas

Pearl of the Orienta beauty beyond compareno money can scalewhere homey smiles can be seenfrom the mountains to the seas Image: Philippine Stamps Day 15 of NaPoWriMo asks us to write a poem inspired by postage stamps. Since I’m not familiar with the ones from International Philately, I’ve decided to choose one from my country. Here’s a tanka.

[postcards-and-postcrossing]

Sunday Stamps: Trees

San Marino – 1979 phoenix dactylifera Finland – 2021 Skaters on lake Ruovesi. Canada – 2022 Community Foundation: Treehouses Russia – 2022 Europa Stamp , Stories and Myths. The postage stamp provides images of fairy tale personages from poem Ruslan and Lyudmila by Aleksander Pushkin: a learned cat, a mermaid, Kashchey, Baba-Yaga, and a warlock. Japan – 1973 Phoenix Tree USA – 2015 Gift of…

[olivermspecialistpractice]

Artist Research - Editorial Designers - Irma Boom

Irma Boom is a Dutch graphic designer who specializes in bookmaking. Boom has been described as The Queen of Books, having created over 300 books and is well reputed for her artistic autonomy within her field. Her bold experimental approach to her projects often challenges the convention of traditional books in both physical design and printed content. Boom has been noted as the youngest recipient of the Gutenberg Prize, an award recognizing outstanding services to the advancement of the book arts. A selection of Boom's books are held in the permanent collection of MoMA, and a personalized Irma Boom Archive has been set up at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, showcasing Boom's work.

Here is an example of her other work outside of editorial, this is a Dutch Butterfly Postage Stamps created in 1993. I think that in design it is important to take inspiration from a range of different areas and I think looking at this its incredibly interesting. It draws the eyes, creates interest and sets in your mind. It absolutely looks like something out of a book.

Here is an image from Boom's SHV Think Book 1996–1896. This is one of Boom's earliest commissions, it is illustrative of her experimental and influential approach to book design. Paul Fentener van Vlissingen, CEO of the Dutch conglomerate SHV, tasked Boom with creating a book to commemorate the centenary of his company; his sole requirement was that she “make something unusual.” Boom compiled a 2,136-page document of the company’s history, presented in reverse chronological order, during an extensive five-year process that involved researching the company, attending shareholder meetings, interviewing employees, and reviewing archives of records and images.

The book design is not only unconventional in its approach but also within all the elements, typography, layout, materials, and printing. To encourage readers to journey through the book in a nonlinear fashion, Boom omitted page numbers, a table of contents, and an index. Furthermore, the book’s design extends to the edges of its pages, which are printed to reveal the image of a tulip field when flipped from left to right, and the lines of a Dutch poem when flipped from right to left.

I like the approach that Irma Boom took with this creating a non-linear book that can be enjoyed from any point. To work in all the elements to support this is super difficult.

[tga-ines-soares]

Einar Nermans 

Einar Nerman was born, 6 October 1888 in Norrkoping - 30 march 1983 in Lidingo, was a Swedish artist. He was born and grew up in middle -class family in the working-class city of Norrkoping and was the younger brother of the Swedish Communist leader Ture Nerman. Einar Nerman also had a twin brother Birger Nerman, who was an archeologist. Einar Nerman dropped out of his Norrkoping Gymnasium High School in 1905. And moved to St ockholmto study art. In 1908 he moved to France for many years to pursue his interest in art, studying with Matisse at the Academie Matisse in Paris. When he came back to sweden in 1912 he started studying music and taking dancing lessons. In the 1920s Nerman lived in London and drew images for The Tatler. During world War II , he lived and worked in New York City. Einar Nerman wrote songs and music and composed music to many of his brother Ture Nerman's poems. He also made many of the artistic book covers for his Community brothers's published writings. Einar Nerman also made illustrations for many of books by selma Lagerlof. In Sweden today, he is mostly known, or unknown, for being the man behind the art of the Solstickan matchbox. He also made some famous drawings of Greta Garbo, one of which was used on a postage stamp in 2005, a hundred years after the moviestar's birth. Nerman owned and inhabited Hersbyholm in Lidingo, Sweden. He bought the property in 1930. A book of his drawings appeared in 1979: Caught in the act, it was set harrap,London with an introduction by his friend, lyricist Sandy Wilson. It was contained by many caricature of friends in the London theater world. From 1922 to 1930 he was the theatre of cartoonist for the Tatler and also worked for the fashionable magazines Eve. The book is dedicated to Ivor Novello whom he had met in Stockholm in 1918. In the 1940s in New York he worked for the journal-Americans. There is much additional work information in Caught in the Act, as well as example of his work, sometimes said to be " Beardsleyesque", and his celebrity caricatures are as distinctive as those of Ralph Barton.

[blankenshipcrowder26]

The Eight Steps To Scrapbooking Nirvana

When November rolls around, just the thought of getting going on holiday notes makes me groan. Not only is it about selecting time to try them, could be the cost. Lots of people you're finished cards, envelopes, photos and letters per recipient, you can easily be into it for hundreds of dollars. That's why extremely of us are remaining the cartomancy game for that holidays. Alternatively, you could use colored cardstock for a card underlying part. Then embellish it with printable pictures regarding your quick and pretty credit card. Also use those bits of ribbon off cuts and odd buttons for room decorations. This world is never short of interesting photos or videos. You need to upload them a share them lengthy as as they not infringe on copyright. A great gilisoft photo stamp or video remains memorable to viewers; so is your name aiming to be. Will be a great photo certainly depend all over your target promot. Create ones postcards using recycled document. From one 8.5x11 sheet you can cause two 4x6 postcards. To get four postcards, trim to 4.25x5.5. Acquire a Christmas motif to the top of the postcard remaining cranberry sauce recipe laser printer and some classy clip art or digital photo, or rubber stamp images right onto the card. On his or her back for the card print your message and the address guideline. When you purchase rubber stamps, look for rubber stamps manufacturer to custom keep your family photo rubber stamp. You can create collage will be family topic related via your custom make stamps. I noticed a involving songs lyrics are with nice poem, and lovely sentences. Some toxins might lyrics are very suitable for collage scrapbook. plagiarism checker x Registration Key helps to produce the artistic atmosphere, with added one or two lines of musical note or lyrics. You get a much more stimulating with your stamps these days, means positivity . buy them online than when you simply go to the post office to find them. You can decorate, preview, and print your stamps all via comfort of your own household. You are able to upload any photo (within reason) simply to use this as part of your postage stamp also. How convienant is which is? Just as a ink is important, the paper quality is extremely important. Printing your personal postage stamps on sheets of low quality paper will ruin her. Even though get to as well as save money, do not cut corners on the majority of of materials you use for these stamps.