February BPS

This is my February offering for The Benevolent Postcard Society (BPS). It's from the Rex Ray postcard book by Chronicle Books, and I added the words on the front with letter stickers sent to me by a very kind and generous blog reader. I kind of like the effect.

Incidentally, I expressed my frustration with BPS in a prior post... I have faithfully sent postcards every month, and since the start in September, have received only two - or is it three now? This is a bummer since membership is limited, and there seem to be just a ridiculous number of flakers in that bunch. The founder, Lori, is very good at helping track down whether or not postcards arrived, but it turns out that I DID receive at least one of the ones I thought I didn't, because the sender gave no indication or marking that it was a postcard for the BPS project.

Folks, I get many postcards and letters every week, and especially if someone says "oh, I love your blog," I just assume it's a blog reader postcard. I've asked Lori to please remind people to note they are BPS postcards -- it seems the majority of the participants just get so little mail that any postcard they get from someone they don't know is assumed to be a part of this project, but this is not the case with me! -- but for the past two months that still hasn't happened. We'll see if such a reminder comes out with the March listing, but for now, my hopes are pretty low for receiving any back -- or knowing that I did, until Lori follows up and tells me that my February postcard was supposed to be from a Jane in Nowheresville, KS - and I'll look through my records and say, oh yeah, I had absolutely no idea that was a BPS postcard.



Anyhoo, here's the back of the postcard, sporting my new mailbox rubber stamp.

November Benevolent Postcard Society offering

Here's what I sent out for my November Benevolent Postcard Society offering. It came from Hammerpress in Kansas City; my mom sent me this postcard with a packet of some other fun things in a letter sometime earlier this year.



I liked the silver ink on brown postcard so much that I drew a little kitty face. Soda is featured on the stamp.

I sent this BPS November card out so late because they had some sort of gmail glitch where people with gmail emails weren't receiving the address info, which was supposed to have been sent on or before the first of the month (so postcards could go out the first of the month).

I think the Benevolent Postcard Society is a really wonderful idea, but especially since the membership is limited, I find it really frustrating that people joined up with a commitment to send a postcard every month, and then clearly so many of them aren't following through. I have sent a postcard each month, of course, but I have only received one for September. Whoever was supposed to send to me in October, November and December either didn't, or it's gotten supremely lost in the mail. I could accept those odds with one postcard, but I'm sure at least two of them just never bothered to send one. The gal behind BPS wrote a very tactful post reminding members of their commitment to send postcards, and asking them to be honest and just withdraw their names from the pool if they couldn't really send the postcards every month.

I've found this experience to be very typical of the idea-vs-reality ratio of letter-writing and snail mail. A lot of people really love the idea, but lack the follow-through. I certainly don't mind that for my pen pals - write when you can, and drop off if you must - but it makes me doubly appreciate the ones who have been writing faithfully for years. It's just a little microcosm of life, I guess - there are those who talk about it, and those who do it.

Be a doer.

Go write a letter, or a postcard.

(And if you're a member of the Benevolent Postcard Society - send your postcards when you should, or gracefully bow out!)

To end on a positive note, though, the recipient of this postcard wrote me back a really nice postcard, which included her own artwork that was delightfully modified by her kitty. I still owe her a response - so I guess I should quit talking and start doing, and go write a letter myself!

The Benevolent Postcard Society

I made it in just under the deadline to participate in The Benevolent Postcard Society, "a postcard exchange and art project in one." Their blog is quite well-organized, and you can find out all about it there. Basically you get assigned one person to whom to send a postcard on the first of each month, from September 2009 to September 2010. Above is my first postcard, September to Russia. Of course the day after I sent it, I was emailed that the poor Russian gal forgot to include her zip code, so my fingers are crossed that it made it to her in St. Petersburg without her zip code.



I sent a lovely mill view from Maxfield Parrish, an artist whose work I enjoy.



For October, I got a UK address, and made a postcard out of half of a card. On this side, I thought I was pretty clever for writing my blog address alongside the lady's skirt.



Here, an autumn scene prevails. It feels like that here now!