"The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason."
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Once again, I am participating in AIDS Walk Washington and, once again, I’m asking you to donate a few dollars to this cause. This 5k run and walk benefits Whitman Walker Clinic, a non-profit organization that offers medical and dental care, addiction counseling, free HIV/AIDS tests, legal services, AIDS education, and other services to DC-residents living with HIV/AIDS.
I try to keep my politics reasonably removed from this blog but the AIDS epidemic in DC is something that is terrible at best and unconscionable at worst. To put the District’s AIDS issues in perspective, consider that:
DC has a higher rate of HIV infection than most sub-Saharan African nations.
DC has the highest rate of new AIDS cases per 100,000 people in the United States — a rate that is 12 times the national average.
In DC, the greatest increase in AIDS cases is occurring among people of color, women, injection drug users and through heterosexual contact.
In DC, African-Americans account for eight out of every 10 cases of AIDS.
More than 15,000 people in the Washington metropolitan area live with AIDS. Tens of thousands more people are estimated to be infected with HIV.
If you can spare a few dollars, please take a moment to sponsor me. It’s a really, really good cause that is in very, very high demand in DC. The clip above is for the documentary The Other City, not yet available on DVD, that just begins to touch on how complex and profoundly serious a situation the District is in.
Who knew that glue could be so elegant?! Several years ago I went through a serious rubber cement phase– mostly because I loved (needed) it’s ability to adhere paper without causing bubbles. This was, of course, before I discovered Xyron’s adhesive runners, now my adhesive of choice for most projects. Anyway, this glue stick… Can I tell you that it makes me absurdly giddy that not only can you refill this bottle but you can even replace the parts should they wear out! I’m also a sucker for this particular genre and era of German design.
And this one, the Coccoina Paper Glue, is an Italian glue made from potato starch. Apparently, it’s been the same formula since the 1920s. Love that you can store the brush in that hole in the middle of the paste pot– so clever (and useful)!
Both glues are available from Manufactum, a German site, so you’ll be paying in Euros. Sadly, since the Euro is still about $1.25 I can’t quite justify buying rubber cement for $10 plus shipping. Even if it is beautiful and comes in glass. I, a self-professed paper and crafty bits addict, have limits and I think paying more than $8 for a tube of rubber cement might be that limit.
(Thanks to Martha Stewart Living’s current issue for turning me onto Manufactum).
Yesterday was Women’s Equality Day! 90 years ago women in the United States gained the right to vote and ever since have been a political force to be reckoned with– on both sides of the metaphorical isle. So today, 90 years and 1 day after our grandmothers’ gained the right to vote, indulge me just a bit while I join in with the “This is what a feminist looks like” blog carnival hosted by Fair and Feminist. I’m going to talk about why I am pro-choice, pro-woman, and pro-family.
Because I believe that women are capable of making rational, moral, and ethical choices about their own bodies;
Because I believe that medical care should be decided by a woman and her doctor;
Because I believe that women should not be lied to, misinformed, or under-informed;
Because I am tired of women’s lives being used as a political football;
Because I know that women deserve to be trusted to make choices about their life and the life of their families;
Because I know that comprehensive sex-ed prevents more abortions than shame, stigma, and abstinence only education;
Because I know that families come in all sorts of forms and at all different times;
I am pro-choice, pro-family, and pro-woman.
A few pro-choice, pro-woman organizations that I donate to and volunteer for (when I have time and money):
Emily’s List is dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women to office.
Girls on the Run DC, a group that offers programs that combine training for a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts.
Women Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE), works closely with adult and teen survivors of relationship violence and abuse, providing an innovative range of legal, counseling, economic and educational services that leads survivors to utilize their inner and community resources, achieve safety for themselves and their children, and live empowered lives.
Holla Back DC, fighting street harassment in America’s capital by empowering Washingtonians to speak out against gender based public sexual harassment.
I’m also putting up this list of organizations I volunteer with or donate to in order to push back, just a teeny, tiny bit on the myth that young women aren’t feminist. We are active, in new organizations, in organizations that are local and focus on the local. Some of us have kids, but we are also college students, law students, young professionals, and living examples of why the wage-gap just plain doesn’t make sense.
Matt Chase, a DC-based designer (swoon), offers up a hip, retro-kitsch re-branding of the USPS. My initial reaction was “gasp this is just too wonderful” but then I thought, “is it too trendy? Will this kind of design hold up long-term for an institution like the USPS?” The last (actual) major branding change was back in the 1970s after the postal reorganization and it was pretty major: new colors, new logo, etc. If we think the USPS’ retro, real-world services are what makes them valuable, and it’s safe to assume we agree on this, than the horse and rider image might actually resonate today. The eagle itself has gone through something of an evolution since the 1970s but has remained more or less the same. To be honest, the current, slightly-abstracted eagle has never really done it for me– esp when you see what other countries have done with their postal logos. I adore Thai Post’s envelope paper airplane, for example.
Click through to Chase’s portfolio for the complete re-design. It’s lovely and updates the USPS really, really well. I especially dig the sticker reminding folks that sending letters is fun. Part of the reason I’ve been so insistent about giving my friends with wee ones postal-themed baby gifts is that, frankly, I’m worried that by the time today’s kids are old enough to really enjoy the post office, it’ll already be gone! Though, let’s not forget that when people do get mail they do enjoy it– they just don’t think about it. Perhaps making it hipster cool could change that?
The toy company Melissa and Doug make a Stamp & Sort play set! I picked this up at a local toy store as a gift for (another) friend expecting a child; it’s never too early to brain wash future philatelists! However, if you Google “toy mailbox” you’ll find lots of cool ones. My hope is that it will spark some imaginative play and contribute to the elaborate “playing house” narrative that lives in all little girls’ heads (or, at least my childhood was full of elaborate city life… inside a card-table play house). Of course, if I was slightly better friends with the mom-to-be (or, her kids) I could’ve justified buy this incredible card-table play post office (pictured below).
This stamp came out of the bag/bucket I picked up for $5. I thought it was Syrian, over printed with… something. I assumed it was French for something like airmail or “rush” or whatever (I don’t speak French, not even a little teeny bit). Turns out, this is a stamp from The Alawites State (French, Alaouites), a region on the western side of Syria that, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire during World War I fell into French rule.
The blog Stamps of Distinction has a great post up on Alaouites’ stamps. The post covers the time frame and varieties of stamps issued in the Alawites State:
France never printed stamps for Alaouites; all of the stamps in use during the period were overprinted stamps of France or Syria… Beginning in March 1925, Syrian stamps were overprinted and used for postage. There are a total of 25 regular issue stamps from 1925 through 1928. Combined with the 24 French overprinted stamps, there were a total of 49 regular stamps issued for Alaouites.
I’ve just started collecting stamps, and after last weekend’s stamp show I’ve had a lot of stamps to sort through and put in an album. Some of them I got in $5 bucket, but some of them I picked out for a variety of reasons. Of all the stamps I’ve been gathering lately, I’m most interested in stamps with postal themes.
There are a lot of stamps issued with postal themes, which makes sense I suppose. But I wasn’t quite prepared for how varied the art would be. The one above, a stamp promoting zip codes from 1974, reminds me a lot of the art on Yellow Submarine.
And, the ever popular stamp on stamp variety– this one from Australia. It doesn’t look like the US has a National Stamp Week, which is too bad. We issue some really interesting commemoratives (plus, we already have a National Letter Writing week and some stamps to go with it).
In the name of the Empress of India, make way,
O Lords of the Jungle, wherever you roam.
The woods are astir at the close of the day –
We exiles are waiting for letters from Home.
Let the robber retreat — let the tiger turn tail –
In the Name of the Empress, the Overland Mail!
With a jingle of bells as the dusk gathers in,
He turns to the foot-path that heads up the hill –
The bags on his back and a cloth round his chin,
And, tucked in his waist-belt, the Post Office bill:
“Despatched on this date, as received by the rail,
Per runner, two bags of the Overland Mail.”
Is the torrent in spate? He must ford it or swim.
Has the rain wrecked the road? He must climb by the cliff.
Does the tempest cry “Halt”? What are tempests to him?
The Service admits not a “but” or and “if.”
While the breath’s in his mouth, he must bear without fail,
In the Name of the Empress, the Overland Mail.
From aloe to rose-oak, from rose-oak to fir,
From level to upland, from upland to crest,
From rice-field to rock-ridge, from rock-ridge to spur,
Fly the soft sandalled feet, strains the brawny brown chest.
From rail to ravine — to the peak from the vale –
Up, up through the night goes the Overland Mail.
There’s a speck on the hillside, a dot on the road –
A jingle of bells on the foot-path below –
There’s a scuffle above in the monkey’s abode –
The world is awake, and the clouds are aglow.
For the great Sun himself must attend to the hail:
“In the name of the Empress the Overland Mail!”
Oh it was fun to shop at the Stamp Show. Vendors had boxes and boxes and boxes of envelopes, stamps, old letters, and other items that they just let you flip through. My goodness it was almost like heaven on earth. If only I had a billion dollars and lots of space for that sort of thing. An upside of being very early in my collecting era is that I can still just buy what I like, I’m not looking to fill some particular niche.
Right now, that mostly means the covers I buy typically feature mid-20th century design, postal themes, and/or Texas. I was drawn immediately to the covers pictured here and am going to do my best to learn a bit more about the artists and stamps behind these tiny pieces of art.
At the booth of S. George Trager (sadly, no online shop I could find) I couldn’t resist this set of four hand-drawn covers commemorating the 20th Universal Postal Congress in 1989. Steve Wilson did the drawings and he’s also not (easily) found online. There are images of each envelope on my Flickr page. [Read more →]
I knew about the Universal Postal Union but I didn’t know there was a UN Postal Administration until I spent time at the APS’ Annual Stamp show! I purchased a few items they had available and talked to the husband and wife team who staffed the booth. I learned, for example, that:
The United Nations is the only organization in the world which is neither a country nor a territory that is permitted to issue postage stamps. It is also the only postal authority to issue stamps in three different currencies, namely U.S. dollars, Swiss francs and Euro.
They issue some truly incredible stamps: holograms, gilding, incredible printing, fantastic designs, and multiple language editions of one design. Don’t believe me? Take a look in their online shop. I picked up a cover featuring the humanitarian mail stamps they issued in 2007. Also fascinating:
The UN stamps can only be mailed from the UN in New York, Geneva and Vienna, while UPU stamps are only valid on mail posted at the UPU International Bureau in Berne.
Of course, that explains why there are 4 commemorative cancels on the humanitarian mail cover.
I also snagged the 2004 disarmament stamp that says “books not guns.”
The “books not guns” design really spoke to me. I actually bought 3– no idea what I’ll do with the other two, but it’s just too beautiful to pass up. Exactly my aesthetic.
