Greetings.
As many of you do, I enjoy reading other Typospherian's blogs. As I was reading CS1489's latest, I noticed in his profile blurb in the margin that one of his interests is snail-mail. Snail-mail huh? The term brought back memories of my childhood, when I used to maintain pen pals. The act of taking the time to write a letter by hand, maybe make a sketch to include and connect with another human being via postal correspondence is so much more personal than email, and the creating of such things is quite enjoyable. I realized about then that I missed participating in it.
Something had been brewing just beneath the surface of my conscious thought ever since I read this post on Writing Ball, this one on Streamlines De Luxe and...well, everything I've read on Manual Entry. So I suppose it was only a matter of time before it clicked, the idea fed to the surface and I subsequently shared it with all of you. Here goes; I'm going to throw this one at the Typosphere's wall and see if it sticks.
I would like to propose 'The International Correspondence Project'. In this project, participants would make, as my husband dubbed them, Typograms. They could be hand-written or typed (even made on a brailler, steno-graph or adding machine, for those who like 1337-speak), or be a sketch or photograph with no words at all or a small, hand-made item (a bookmark, for example). They could be a business or calling card, or a greeting card, too. The subject matter could also be whatever one wished; a personal letter, a type-written poem, a typecast. Once these Typograms arrived at their destinations, the recipient would then upload them onto their own blogs to share. I think this would be a great way to share and connect with individuals that we may never get to meet, say, on the other side of the world, or the other side of the country. And it could be a fun project for anyone who wanted to get involved.
So what say you, fellow Typospherians? If you would like to be a part of this initiative, you can email me here to get started, or contact another Typospherian that you would like to participate with. Let's have some fun and see where this project goes! I do hope you'll participate.
Use your words for correspondence!
Anna Strad.
Hmmm, perhaps we should dub this 'The International Correspondence Initiative' instead? Which one is more catchy?
ReplyDeleteI like your idea. I used postcrossing.com to send & receive a few postcards a little while ago, and it was fun, but a similar project with a smaller group of people, who share an interest in typewriters, would be more enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of postcrossing.com. Postcards sound like a fun idea too...hmmm, more ideas are brewing! I wonder how much of a bear it would be to type out a postcard? Might be an interesting challenge, and I'm picking up the stuff on my shopping list tomorrow, so I may have to add some interesting local postcards to that, too. I'm actually considering putting together something that would be more of a package and would include a calling card and typecast, as well as something small, hand-made, and unique to each correspondence. That will depend upon the personality of the recipient, methinks. ;)
DeleteSo then, can we count you in?
Yes, count me in, although I can't promise to be very prompt because of many other commitments.
DeleteMost typewriters will handle postcards OK, you just have to be sure that the card is held down by a paper bail or fingers.
Postcrossing got me some cards from Russia and Australia, but my random correspondents and I didn't have enough in common for the experience to be very meaningful. Some people collect hundreds of postcards this way, though.
Haha, that's fine. No time constraints. I completely understand, and I think everyone else would, too.
DeleteThat's good to know. I've never attempted to type something small like a postcard or an envelope, so it will be interesting when I do.
Well, it is cool to get postcards and stamps from around the world, and I can see how people could collect many that way. But content is important, too, so hopefully this project will hold more meaning for you.
Sounds like a great idea! I'd definitely be interested!
ReplyDeleteVikram from CS4819
Awesome, Vikram! I must say, I've really been enjoying your blog since I've been hanging around here. You have some very unique and interesting project ideas!
Delete( As an aside, if anyone is having trouble with my email address, just let me know.)
I totally love the ider! Count me in.
ReplyDeleteGuess Who
I'm pretty sure I know who this is, and also sure I already have your address, haha. And, I definitely owe you a letter...or three!
DeleteSo, how do I get involved?
DeleteG.W.
All you had to do was speak up! I [believe] I already have your address and Nome de Plume, so, once I collect another three or four, we'll get started. Unless someone requests another blogger specifically, it will be randomized, in round-robin fashion. So say, for instance, I send something to you first, next time I send something to someone else. And it can be a one-time exchange or ongoing, though I think if enough people sustained correspondence with just a few others then that would be really neat.
Deletethis sounds like a capital idea. I really need to carry a typospherian address book with me, I always fall down at the sending part.
ReplyDeleteWould you be game, then? There are no real time constraints, as long as something gets sent eventually. I find removing the constraints makes things happen a bit easier. Additionally, I know many Typospherians lead pretty busy lives, so a hard deadline would be rather unfair.
DeleteI'm in!
ReplyDeleteFantastic!
DeleteA, It's great to see all the interest. To spread around a few more ideas for your correspondents and to pump up the potential, I refer you all to: , the Dante's Wardrobe Correspondence Series, and
ReplyDelete, the Typewriters Around the World series.
Have Fun!
== Michael
Thanks Michael! I'm an avid reader of Dante's Wardrobe but have not seen the correspondence series and will have to check out typewriters around the world!
DeleteSorry; I forgot that Blogspot deletes URLs without warning. Try
Deletehttp://danteswardrobe.blogspot.com/2012/04/fictional-correspondences-what-are-they.html
and
http://typewritersaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/
== Michael Höhne
Ahh, that's good to know. I'll need to be going and checking my links from time to time.
ReplyDeleteAgain, thank you for sharing!
I now have enough participants to make first-round correspondent pairups, and I will be announcing them this evening!
ReplyDelete...Stay tuned...