aspens

01/23/2024: My big baby boy Rutherford crossed the rainbow bridge last week. He was my best friend for over 7 years and has been by my side as we traveled and lived around the country. His loss was very sudden as he had been battling prostate cancer. I miss him so much! As time goes on I may edit this to be more cheerful, but if you're reading this and are able to share some tips on dealing with grieving the loss of a beloved pet, please do share. I miss Rutherford with all my heart.

09/15/2020: After almost a YEAR I finally am getting that move done. I left Seattle, went back to California, and am now in Nashville. Who would've thunk??? Life is weird.

10/28/2019: I'm moving!! I've been in Seattle for 5 long years and it's time for a change. I'm headed east and should be settled in a new city within the month, hopefully! Any mail received after 11/03/2019 will be forwarded to my dad's house, and I likely will not get to it until Thanksgiving. Once I'm all moved in I'll get back into swapping. Thank you for filling my mailbox in Seattle after all this time!

09/04/2019: I'm going on a 3 week trip around southeast Asia starting in mid-September, so any mail received during that time will not be rated until I return in early October!

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

• The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

I don't really have the attention span for reading anymore (argh) but when I can finally simmer down, I love postmodern literature (hence Greene!), and some modernist works (like Tennessee Williams).

Currently by my bedside are:

• In Search of Captain Zero by Alan Weisbecker (surfing/travel memoir)

• Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner (kind of about applying economics principles to everything in the world)

Feel free to PM if you want to swap for either of these books. :)

I don't have TV so I don't indulge, but I used to love documentary series on Viceland. Of the shows I have seen, my favorites are Will & Grace, Ink Master, Game of Thrones (except Season 8), Archer, Succession, and It's Always Sunny!

My favorite movies are Mean Girls, Pulp Fiction, and Drop Dead Gorgeous.

It's an absolute cliche but I do really love most types of music--alternative, dance, rap, reggaeton amongst my favorites. My shower playlist currently includes "Si Tu Novio Te Deja Sola" by J Balvin/Bad Bunny, "Strict Machine" by Goldfrapp, "Whole Lotta Lovin'" by DJ Mustard, and “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton.

I try to go to shows often, and I go to Coachella every year (I grew up a few streets away!). Other festivals I've been to include EDC Las Vegas, Bumbershoot, Capitol Hill Block Party, 111 Music Festival, Outside Lands, Austin City Limits, and Lollapalooza.

I would be so happy to receive postcards, stationery, unused stamps, and washi! My only request with postcards (excluding those listed in Dislikes) is that if you are sending blanks, please don't send any touristy/destination ones. I think it's weird to get a card of a place I've never been to if there isn't a note that shows the sender has been there or otherwise has a connection to it, if that makes sense? If it's written, though, then I am so happy with tourist cards.

Other than all that, my favorite types of art are drawing (charcoal, pencil), painting (oil, watercolor), and photography.

My favorite artists are:

• Painting: Wayne Thiebaud, Ben Steele

• Illustration: Henn Kim, Apollonia Saintclair

• Photography: Mary Ellen Mark, Robert Mapplethorpe

I'll get on the ABC thing too! Here's "just a few of my favorite things" not mentioned already:

A - 80s Advertisements / Amusement parks / Alcohol (bartender here) / Art Deco / Aviation (esp. vintage)

B - Ballroom Dance / Barbie / the Beatles / Birthday Cake / Bunny Yeager / Burlesque

C - Camp (the aesthetic/style) / Cars / Catholicism (not Catholic anymore but I still love the iconography) / Chess / Classic Rock / Clouds / Coffee

D - Daggers / Del Taco (fave EVER) / Desert / Doughnuts / Drag

E - EDM / Eyeshadow / Expletives

F - Fairs & Festivals / Fashion / Film Cameras (I shoot 35mm) / Fireworks / Food / Formula Racing

G - Globetrotting / Guns (not in the NRA type of way... & oddly enough I'm a pacifist)

H - Halloween / Heart-shaped things / Herbal teas / Hiking / Hollywood Regency / Hotels

I - Iconography

J - Jazz / Jewels / Jukebox

K - Kit Kats / Kids (HA! Just kidding. Never having them) / Kings of Leon

L - LA Dodgers / Lavender / LGBT+ / Lingerie / Linguistics

M - Memphis (design style, not city) / Midnight / Money / Motorcycles / Mr. Men Little Miss

N - National Parks / Neon Signs

O - Okapis / Ombre / Opals / Otto von Bismarck / Outer Space

P - "Painterly" & "Photorealistic" art / Pasta / Peruvian Lilies / Pink

Q - Quantum Physics (it's fun to read & talk about even though I don't understand it, LOL) / Quartz

R - Records (78s mainly but also have some 45s) / Reincarnation / Roses

S - Sailor Jerry / Sarcasm / Sewing / Skateboarding / Skulls / Snakes / Soccer / Surfing

T - Textures (you could send a picture of denim and I'd be happy!) / Triangles / Typography (fave font is Helvetica)

U - Unpredictability / Urban (yes? no? This letter was hard)

V - Vegetarian / Volleyball

W - West Coast / Wine / World War II

X - /

Y - Yoga / Yuletide

Z - Zombies (cute ones like pin-ups otherwise I get bad dreams, lol)

Please don't send items with religious or cutesy/kawaii imagery. I'm perfectly fine receiving vulgar, provocative, or otherwise obscene cards (in fact I encourage those)!

My least favorite colors are yellows and neon lime green. I'm embarrassed to admit they make me physically nauseous, lol! Not embarrassed to admit they're ugly anyway.

And please, please, one of my only true pet peeves is when someone misspells my name. I get that it is very unusual, but as I get older, it starts to bother me more to see people write "Ana" or "Annelise" when my name is literally typed out in front of them. Other than these few things, I am very easygoing and I am so happy to receive anything! :)

Others have this list, so it must be useful, right? Swapping is one of my favorite hobbies so I do put a lot of time, effort, and money into what I send to others, and it is disheartening when people kind of disrespect that by not rating and then ignoring messages with offers of resending, etc. I'm also kind of a "neat freak" and so I like keeping my Swap-bot dashboard tidy and with swaps regularly moved to the archive.

• @EleniWalker for 💌WIYM: 5 Blank PCs in an Envie #21 USA
• @dvmac for NYUP USA Only #49
• @suepier and @matt319 for Ratings Booster Postcard Swap #29
• @matt319 for Ratings Booster Postcard Swap #10 USA Only and Ratings Booster Postcard Swap #11 USA Only When the host of a swap doesn't rate or answer messages...umm...
• @saturatedink for Penmanship and Notecards
• @koneko02 for Share a Secret postcard swap and Ratings Booster - Postcard Swap: Tell Me Why
• @fleder for Weekly Wrap Up PC #15
• @BizzyBusMom for Postcards With a Prompt #133 - US Only
• @KaurG for WIYM: Represent a Country Postcard Swap #1 - INTL
• @carrotkate for Vintage tourist card #08
• @wambatty for Quick PC Swap: Yuk, Not My Style #5 (US Only)
• @jaimierandolph for Notecard Letter + flat surprise #2
• @CraftyTraveler for Windows of the world Swap
• @taylorann for Brighten My Week Note Card July #2
• @Maddashin for tLB: Chatter, Chatter #3

& I guess Flakers Hall of Shame...

• @AllThingsCraftyy for AMAZON WISH LIST SWAP - USA
• @jillybeanie for Themed Postcard Swap #5 - Statue of Liberty
• @onewingedangel for Ratings Booster Postcard Swap #29
• @oceanilumn for Ratings Booster - Postcard Swap: Tell Me Why
• @sprog101 for 2022 Resolutions
• @steve2242 for Fun picture of yourself (Thank you @Mimi7 for angeling
• @SterlingRose for Playlist & A Postcard - Wk 14 - Cover Songs