sandbook magazine issue 10
DESCRIPTION
Sandbook Magazine is an online magazine for penpals and swappersTRANSCRIPT
August 2011issue 10
THE MAGAZINESANDBOOKPENPALS AND SWAPPERS
FEATURES :• Missive Maven• Pen Pal Interviews• Write Around the World
waffles
sendmore mail
Aurorae Yoga
tasting
2012US
stampprogram
August 2011
Dear Sandbookers,It is summer, the sun is shining bright and you are reading another issue of our penpal magazine. Whether you have chosen to be at the seaside or in the mountains, we really hope that you are having a wonderful summer holidays! The summer is all about friends, parties and having fun.
Don’t forget that in our September issue we will be publishing stories by real penpals on how they spent their vacation. If you would like to be a part of the next issue, don’t hesitate and contact us real soon!
Yours,
Raia the Sandbook.Net Team www.sandbook.net
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content
Editor in chief: Raia AlexievaGraphic Designer: GAYA DESIGNSIT administration: Jason DimitrovProduction Coordinator: Raia AlexievaInformation is correct at press time.
gaya designshttp://facebook.com/gayadesignshttp://twitter.com/ajelin
http://redskyatmorning.netemail: [email protected]
graphic and web design studio
8 Write around the World12 Postcards from the missive maven18 send more mail20 2012 united states stamP Program22 fun mail26 a good mail Week28 corresPondence With the confined34 internationalist Prison books collective
36 PenPal intervieW: gabriele38 PenPal intervieW: bev46 PenPal intervieW: marta56 PenPal intervieW: anna67 kid’s zone 20
snail mail18
read more
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68 PenPal of the month70 lost PenPal72 PenPal and sWaPPers ads78 PenPalling connections80 Waffles tasting86 go flight!90 samantha’s thoughts94 World travel: World heritage102 beauty brite: fraPPes!104 beauty brite: aurorae yoga106 birthday tWins108 next issue
109 subscribe110 contacts
content 86
94
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And it’s also a time when we would like to start stringing together all the wonderful footage we have. We’re looking forward to hearing from our interviewees and piecing everything together. We’re looking forward to everything that this project is bringing. So far it’s brought us new friendships, and rekindled old ones. It’s taken us on travels we thought we’d never see (and boy, are we excited to be leaving the country soon!). Through it, a myriad of wonderful people have stepped into our lives and enriched them far beyond what we could imagine.
It’s amazing and I’m looking
forward to seeing how
much further it takes us.
So, if you’ve signed up to do an interview we’d love to hear from you. I’m keeping it a secret, but there will be gifts for those
who return their interviews to us. A thank you, from Glass Completely Empty Productions to the truly awesome people who have stepped into our life over the last year. I honestly can’t believe that it’s been three years since I first began working on this project and now it’s here, carried along and blessed by the beautiful people of the pen-palling world. To all who’ve walked with us through this, who’ve offered to bear their souls and speak to us; thank you. Thank you for being with us, and for staying with us through such a long process.
So yes, we’re here. We’re working away. Currently our editing computer (“Cheese” the iMac) is undergoing some renovations. She’s just been used for a huge music project and we’re in the process of formatting and reloading all the software. It makes for a far cleaner, and far easier experience for editing on. Meanwhile, poor “Cracker” the MacBook (See what we did there?!) has been taking the brunt of the workload with various hard drives hooked up to every available USB
W r i t e around the world
“I am the master of my fate:I am the captain of my soul.” “Invictus”, William Ernest Henley
I, for one, refuse to b e l i e v e t h a t summer is anywhere
near over yet. The sun is still shining, the flowers are still blooming and the fields are filled with harvests ready to be brought in. Harvest time is nearly here...
by Rach Gee
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/GCE-Productions2
Our Office Manager: http://tinyurl.com/GCE-office-cat
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to make sure she runs smoothly. Needless to say, the hard drives are rapidly filling with footage and they’ll soon be a shopping spree for more.
Once we’re completely
finished and have a product we’re happy with, all your beautiful interviews will be archived for
all eternity.A few more people have signed up, which is wonderful news! We’re
really enjoying hearing from you. It’s very inspiring that there are so many people out there who are so willing to help and throw themselves into this project. If you’ve been thinking about getting involved but think it’s too late, think again! We’d love to hear from you! You can find all the contact details at the end of this article.
For those who haven’t met him yet, I’d like to introduce to our “Office Manager”. Well, I use that term in the loosest possible sense because he’s most likely to be found napping in sunbeams, eating the leftovers or destroying the boxes which our equipment lives in. Bertie, who actually belongs to the neighbours but spends a portion of his time with us, is known for his sarcastic motivational speeches. If
you fancy laughing with him at my expense, then you can find him at:http://tinyurl.com/gce-office-cat
Just remember to bring an offering of a box or, at the very least, a beef sandwich!
For the moment, I believe that is all. If you’d like to get in touch (and please, feel free to. We’re not going to bite!) with questions, comments, suggestions etc, you can contact us at: [email protected]
And you can find our Facebook page at: http://tinyurl.com/gce-Productions2Take care, keep smiling and keep writing! For now, I am your friendly, neighbourhood film-maker.
: rae
@gl
assc
ompl
etel
yem
pty.c
o.uk
Face
book
: http
://tin
yurl.
com
/gce
-Pro
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ions
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The genesis of these postcards stems from me searching etsy for snail-mail related postcards... and when I didn’t find what I was looking for, I decided I’d just go ahead and design them myself! The six postcard designs, all printed professionally by Vistaprint, are as follows.
“solitude and good comPany: lord byron letter-Writing quote Postcard”
Postcards from the Missive Maven
I’m honored to have been asked by Sandbook.net magazine for pen pals and swappers to be featured in
an upcoming issue of their magazine. I’ve been in touch with the very accommodating Raia, and she suggested a lot of great possibilities. Since I’m so excited about all my new postcard designs that I’m selling in my etsy shop, I
jumped on that option. I’m writing this blog post to double as a magazine article, featuring all 6 of my postcard designs. A lot of my blog readers have asked if I designed these postcards myself, and it seems I haven’t been as clear as I could have been, so let me proclaim it here: these postcards are all of my own designs, using either vintage graphics or my own photographs that I manipulated using GIMP graphics software.
PHOTO BY Missive Maven
PHOTO BY Missive Maven
“Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company.”
Lord Byron
PHO
TO BY M
issive Maven
httP://WWW.missivemaven.com
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love of good old fashioned snail mail with this vintage graphic of a girl dancing on a snail. What’s not to love?
“vintage Postman Postcard”
Reproduction of a beautiful vintage postman illustration. Meta mail, anyone? Check out his snappy uniform. Look at his bountiful bundle of packages and letters - and he’s offering a letter to you!
“snail mail: not dead yet”
Don’t you hate it when someone says “snail mail is dead” or “no one writes letters anymore” or something like that? I do! I put those sentiments to work in my slightly creepy, goth-inspired, Monty-Python-quoting design. The postcard reads “Snail Mail: Not Dead Yet” alongside a black-and-white graphic of a skull holding a letter, accented with a red seal on the envelope.
I have always adored this quote by Lord Byron -- in fact, it’s the very first item I put on this website when I was designing it a few years ago! -- and decided it was high time to design a postcard that featured it. The quote is at the bottom in
white script on black, below a photo I took of three wonderful vintage stamps from the 1974 “Letters Mingle Souls” issue.
“i jumP for joy over snail mail!”
When I found this graphic of a girl dancing on a
snail, I knew I had to put it to postal use.
Does a good letter bring you joy? Do you jump up and down with excitement when you pull promising snail mail out of your mail box? Okay, maybe there aren’t too many of us who are THAT geeky over mail, but you can show your
PHOTO BY Missive Maven
PHO
TO BY M
issive Maven
PHO
TO BY M
issive Maven
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“to get a letter... Write a letter”
The phrase “to get a letter, send a letter” predates my generation by many years, but it is a great motivator for anyone who wants to receive more
mail. If you want it coming in, send it out! I have seen this on vintage labels as far back as the 1950s. The slogan on this postcard is slightly modified to match the vintage graphic of writing hands; it reads “to get a letter, write a letter.” I hope it motivates some letter writing and postcard sending!
“email: When you care enough to send the very least”
For this design, I have faithful blog reader (and etsy customer!) Joe Chapman
to thank. He suggested this pithy phrase in a comment after I debuted my Snail mail: not dead yet postcards.
So ... in response to all those who have fallen into the habit of emailing thank-you notes, or corresponding via email instead of proper snail mail, this postcard thumbs its nose! The postcard reads “E-mail: when you care enough
to send the very least” set inside an ornate
PHOTO BY Missive Maven
baroque frame, with the email “@” symbol highlighted in the internal frame.
All the postcard backs have the vintage postcard graphic design as shown above ... ...and the frame on the back is a perfect fit for the current design of 29-cent postcard rate stamps, the correct postage rate if you’re sending domestically within the USA. (I realize a lot of the readers of Sandbook are from outside the USA, so I hope the frame fits some of your
own postage stamps nicely, too!).
By the way, I used some of my own fountain pens and stamps to “pose” in photos with the postcards... the etsy listings include only the postcards, and not any fountain pens or stamps. All the postcards measure 4.25 x 5.5 inches, and they are sold in packs of 5 for $5 USD; shipping rates vary by country. Each design has a high-gloss image side, and the writing side has a more matte finish that is great for writing
with any kind of pen, including fountain pens. They are also available in combination packs of postcards so you can mix and match your favorite designs. You can get any combination of the 6 designs:
• Snail mail: Not Dead Yet
• Vintage Postman• To get a letter...
Write a letter• Email: when you
care enough to send the very least
• I jump for joy over SNAIL MAIL!
• Solitude and
good company: Lord Byron letter-writing quote
Just make sure to specify in “notes to seller” how many you want of each design. I hope some of you have as much fun with these as I did - I have certainly been enjoying sending them off myself! Thanks to Raia and Sandbook.net magazine for this opportunity to crow about my postcards. I hope Sandbook readers might check out MissiveMaven.com, and my blog readers might take a look at the great Sandbook blog, too!
PHO
TO B
Y M
issi
ve M
aven
PHOTO BY Missive Maven
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A little while back I worked on a creative that was shown on Oh So Beautiful Paper and The Wedding Co. I thought it was high time that I showed it on my own blog.
Tanya, owner of Snap + Tumble, printed some gorgeous letterpress invitations that were then addressed by the talented calligrapher Barbara Kua and stamped up with my stash of vintage Canadian stamps. I love how all of the elements work together.
SEND MORE MAIL
by jaime maddalenahttp://sendmoremail.blogspot.com
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Since I started really mailing things
(I have been mailing things since
forever, but never as much as now)
I have become more fascinated with
stamps themselves. And really who
hasn’t? I mean there is so much effort that
goes into making postage stamps (this would
be an awesome topic in and of itself wouldn’t
it?) and not many people take the time to look
at them.
Well..now that I am a postage stamp fanatic I
keep up to date on all the news surrounding
the stamp releases. I read about the artists that
take the time to create such masterpieces. I
even have a poster on my bedroom wall that
shows all the stamps releasing this year. And I
try to buy the new ones when they come out.
Now after that SUPER long beginning lets get
down to business. The 2012 stamp program is
releasing previews of some stamps that will
be released next year. One stamp for each day.
You can find this information in various places
(Facebook, Twitter and Beyond the Perf )...OR
you could just tune in here for a quick overview.
United
StateS2012
stamp
program
by misty d
avishttp://pen-thief.blogspot.com
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The first is this GIANT pair of goofy glasses from Kelly P.! How funny is this? Would you like to know something even funnier? I had a pair that I picked up at Target that I was saving to mail to someone. ( I did actually mail my pair today to someone who needed a pick me up. =) ) Next was this lovely package from Limner Cade. I honestly, no lie stared at the package a good 10 minutes before even attempting to open it. I just didn’t want to ruin the wrapping. (and I didnt.) Once I got it opened though I found.... How cute is that fish?!?! I wish it would photograph better (but the flash distorts it) because that picture SOOOO does not do it justice. I haven’t named it yet. Though I am going to. I am also going to do as Limner suggested and attach a bit of string to the back to hang it.
If either of you are reading this...THANK YOU!! Such wonderful gifts to find waiting in my mailbox.
I love fun mail! Have you gotten anything fun in the mail recently?by misty davis
http://pen-thief.blogspot.com
It’s almost too hot to think today, but I thought it would be the perfect day to share some of my “fun” mail that I received lately.
Confessions
of a pen-thief
Fun MAil
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big duck, little duck So if you have read this blog for a while...or perhaps you took the time to read back (yeah right) you would have read about the GIANT rubber duck that I send off to Illinois. Well, I finally have a few pics to share with you of the duck (being that I forgot to photograph it
before I sent it).
look at hoW he fills
uP kelly’s mailbox!! but hoW about this shot?? That my friends would be a regular duck sitting in front of the GIANT one I sent. =) He is massive!
And while I was uploading those pics, another little duck decided he would like to travel. So he may just end up in YOUR mailbox. =)
on air since march 20, 2011
georgia’smusic shoWpenpals
PenPallling finally has its oWn soundtrack!
on her PenPals music shoW exPeriment, georgia Will be blasting music uP to 11 from as diverse genres as the World We live in! send in your comments, requests, questions for the shoW!! as georgia sums it uP: “you are the music, your Wish is my command!”.
get in touch on [email protected] and on the fb Page of the shoW!
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by judith b. landry [email protected] http://bit.ly/goodmailweek
I’m one of t h o s e p e o p l e w h o
measure a good week by what they find in their mailbox. And this week has been a postal bonanza! I’ve received letters from California, Texas, and New Jersey; post cards from Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Peru, and a birthday card from north
Louisiana. Of course, I did my part to brighten other people’s mail boxes by sending letters to California and Hawaii; post cards to Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Australia. I’ve had even more than post cards and letters in my mailbox. My Noodler’s flex fountain pen arrived yesterday! It lives up to all the good reviews. It produces quite a range of line width and is a nice looking pen, too. Since it’s a piston filler, it holds a lot of ink. All this goodness for $14.00! Unbelievable! I’ve loaded it
with Noodler’s Iraqi Indigo ink and plan to put it to work writing a letter before the day is out.My membership packet from the Letter Writers Alliance arrived, too. It included a membership card, a cool pin with the LWA logo, and LWA stationery. Membership in LWA also allows you to download nifty notecards, stationery, etc., from the website and print them on your own paper.I’m off now to write a letter to the 2011 Letter Project - with my new Noodler’s pen, of course.
WEEKgoodmailA GOOD
photo by technicolorgirl.deviantart.com
This is a group only for swappers of 18+ from Asia and Europe.
You can swap anything really here like FB’s, slams, decos, lyrics, bags, address labels, postcards, stamps,
stickers, stationery goodies....
httP://uk.grouPs.yahoo.com/grouP/asian_euroPean_sWaPPers/
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This even happens all across America as well as in many other countries. On Monday through Friday, in hundreds of county jails, state prisons and federal correctional institutions, they have “Mail Call”. These men and women prisoners come from all walks
of life and are serving prison sentences that typically range from a few years to the rest of their natural lives. Their crimes run the full range of criminal activity from simple habitual drug possession to murder. For many prisoners, a letter from a pen-pal is the only contact they
have with people from the “outside”. Often their families and friends have given up on them, have passed away over the years, or just plain moved on with their lives in an attempt to leave the sadness of “what was” behind them. To a
prisoner, a letter from a pen-pal becomes the lifeline to save a drowning man, something that gives them hope when their surroundings seem designed to crush their very dreams and destroy their carefully nurtured aspirations.Throughout America,
as well as around the world, writing is quickly becoming a lost art. Our society is filled with laconic text messaging and terse emails. The ability to quickly convey a titbit of information in as few words or letters as possible is an admirable skill. However, with this technological shorthand we are losing the ability to write complete sentences. For example, try vividly describing what you see out your nearest window in a text message. With this loss of ability to convey the significant developments in our lives, the emotional impact of the trials, tribulations and joys we are experiencing, or to be able to fully express our thoughts, we are losing our ability to communicate on an interpersonal level. Spells has been tossed out the
window, replaced with abbreviated versions of words, some that are often so obscure that they only make sense if you are of the same generation and culture as the sender. I had once read an article that was discussing this exact point I am trying to make. It showed the difference between a letter written by a Civil War soldier to his wife and one written by a soldier in the Gulf War to his wife. Beyond the dismal spelling issues in the Gulf War soldier’s letter, it was tragic to see how much creativity, poetry and sheer artistry has been lost in the last two hundred years with the decline in writing letters to people who are distant to us, but close in our thoughts and hearts. A decline that is rapidly accelerating with the advent of texting and
PRISON PEN-PALSCORRESPONDENCE WITH THE CONFINED
By don gerhart
Nearly a hundred men dressed in drab, matching outfits stand in close quarters around a much abused table. A man in a uniform with a distinct military bearing calls out names, occasionally referring to someone by an assigned number. A name is called, a reply is given, and a colorful envelope is passed from person to person, eventually reaching the person called. A variety of stickers adorn the envelope, as well as a distinctly foreign stamp, indicting it is from an overseas address. The often sullen man suddenly is smiling upon receiving his long anticipated reply as
other look on with envy. Some ask if he can hook them up with a pen-pal. For those whose names weren’t called, they return to their cells, some fighting depression or low self-esteem and, for the majority, the all too often extreme boredom.
For many prisoners, a letter from a pen-pal is the only contact they have with people from the “outside”.
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brief e-mails to our family and friends.When a friend or family member of a prisoner is asked why they don’t write, often the answer is “that they don’t have time”. While
this is more likely a true statement, it’s also a sad statement about our lives and society. It says to a prisoner – a friend, father, brother, sister or mother – that
“you aren’t important enough for me to make the time to write”. For those who can find or make the time to write to a prisoner, they elevate themselves by helping a troubled and lonely person through a rocky time in their life. For a prisoner, a pen-pal’s letter becomes like a gift at Christmas, something eagerly look for, it becomes a table topic at mealtimes, and an often badly needed chance to improve
their own ability to communicate with others. A skill many prisoners lack. Your letter, your sharing of your life and interests, even the sharing of your problems becomes a learning experience for these people that society would like to lock away and forget about.Like pen-palling, learning is not a one-way street. When you write to a prisoner and develop a friendship, you also
get to learn from them. These people have made serious, often heinous, mistakes in
their lives, which you can learn from as well as help them learn where
they went wrong. I don’t think there is a prisoner alive who doesn’t have some
seemingly bizarre, yet surprisingly truthful story about their lives.
Some of these stories are horrific, some are heartbreakers, some are comical, and some can be so easily related to yourself or someone you know. Add in the differences in culture and lands when writing to someone overseas, the things you can learn and the experiences you can share become simply amazing.So how do I find a prisoner to write to, to learn from, to help,
you? There are several ways to do this although by far and away the best is through the internet. There are several companies that offer prisoners, for a few, the ability to post online profiles for developing pen-pal friendships. P r i s o n P e n P a l s .com (http://www.prisonpenpals.com) and Inmate-Connection.com (http://inmate-c o n n e c t i o n . c o m ) are two such services that readily come to
Like pen-palling, learning is not a one-way street. When you write to a prisoner and develop a friendship, you also get to learn from them.
When looking for a prison pen-pal it’s always best to try to find several common interests with which to start things off.
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mind, with several others available just by searching for “Prison Pen Pal”.
When looking for a prison pen-pal it’s always best to try to find several common interests with which to start things off. Many pen-pals will exchange a variety of questionnaires to develop a well of topics and facts that they
can dip into to spur on conversations. However, with all that in mind, don’t limit yourself to people whose interests precisely match your own. After all, variety is the spice of life, and discussing your differences as well as your coming interests will greatly enhance your letters and growing friendship.
Personally, I am in my 15th year as a prisoner and I have had extensive pen-pal friendships for most of those years. I have written to people from Australia to South Africa and many places in-between. Male, female, black, white, Asian; none of that matters to me. I start with looking for common interests, take things slow and happily seek out where we differ to discuss and debate in our letters. I make it clear that I’m looking for long-term friendship, not money or anything else (more on that later) and
mostly I try to be a good friend. I have shared the horrors and joys of my life, my successes and failures. I have helped pen-pals deal with major life changing issues such as deaths and major illnesses, celebrated their joys and shared their tears. I try to be as real as possible, yet remain upbeat and not overwhelm someone with the issues in my life. Something that is often difficult to do, but is accepted as being the bad with the good. When a situation in my pen-pal’s life prevents them from writing any more, which has
happened on a few occasions, I thank my friend for the time they have shared with me, wish them well and hope someone will fill the void they have left in my life. To me, pen-pals are the hope left in Pandora’s Box, a bright light to help guide me through these dark days, and friends who I hope will be with me long after I leave these cold walls and walk out into the sunshine of freedom.
There can be, however, a dark side to prison pen-pal relationships, just as there can be with an on-line or real life friendship. Often people, when they first meet, want to present a façade that they are something they’re not. This is especially true when it comes to a prison pen-pal friendship, as many people who have committed crimes fear further rejection and humiliation from society,
or are ashamed and embarrassed for where they are and the messes they have made of their lives. It’s very tempting for someone ashamed of their past to create a fictitious, a less heinous crime, and a brighter future than reality will allow. Much like one can find the false identities of people in chat rooms all over the Internet. There are also some prisoners who have
not given up their criminal ways and try to run scams from prison to gain money, gifts, or other things they cannot normally get where they are. So, as with chatting on-line or the development of a face-to-face friendship, going slow and being cautious in the development of this friendship is well advised. Don’t offer money or give in to attempts to get
postage stamps, books, or other minor expenses until you feel confident that your pen-pal is honest and sincere.Frequently, doing a simple background check on the prisoner to which you are writing will tell you what the courts and newspapers have to say about their crimes and past and thus let you know if they have been truthful with you.First, a bit of advice on Googling someone you are writing to. Although it’s generally expected by a prisoner that a pen-pal will do this, give the person a chance to feel comfortable with you and to convey this information on their own. It’s a big step for many to face the fear of losing a valued friend after losing so much in their lives already. So if they are vague or hesitant, give your new pen-pal your support and a chance to let you know what they did to mess up their lives without pressuring them. For many prisoners, explaining about their past and crimes can be traumatic and their fears of rejection difficult to face and overcome.
Whether you write with a prisoner or someone in the free world is a matter of personal preference. There are some people who have been victimised by criminals and feel nothing but hate and contempt for what they term the “dregs of society” and thus are unlikely, as well as unsuited, for pen-palling with prisoners. No matter who you write to, developing a pen-pal friendship provides a lot of benefits for both parties. Writing a prisoner can allow you to look into an often misunderstood, and frequently over dramatised, world, broaden your horizons, and help someone who may not have anyone in their lives. Use a little caution, but give prison pen-palling a try. You might be wonderfully surprised at what you can find behind bars.Should you wish to contact Don, you can do at the following address:don gerhart #14884-006,Englewood Federal Correctional Institution,9595 W. Quincy Ave,Littleton,CO 80123-1159,USA
Whether you write with a prisoner or someone in the free world is a matter of personal preference.
No matter who you write to, developing a pen-pal friendship provides a lot of benefits for both parties.
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by alex iwasa
The first time I saw a Friendship Book (FB), I remember being somewhat surprised by the number of people who asked for prisoners not to write them. I understood that some people might be worried for their personal safety, but I had written various prisoners of conscience in the past, people who have been imprisoned directly because of their political beliefs, for crimes they might not have even committed.
I also knew my denomination had a prison ministry, and it was something I haddonated money to. Pen palling was part of the ministry, and though I hadn’t participated in that aspect, I supported it and thought about how I should write prisoners, at least the ones I shared beliefs with. In April when I was still in Tucson I attended a monthly Political Prisoners’ Birthday Party at the Dry River Radical Resource Center, an Infoshop currently located
in the Dunbar Spring neighborhood. Every month the Chapel Hill Prison Books Collective puts together a poster with the birthdays, contact information and brief descriptions of various Political Prisoners (and I would write Prisoners of War [POWs] for clarity, but that’s me). At Dry River we made and signed cards, took pictures to send a long, smashed a pinata and snacked. It was a great deal of fun! Though I can’t really do anything like that where I’ve been farming, I’ve still made a point of
going to prisonbooks.info to keep updated and make sure I could download the posters for May, June and July, and keep up with the writing.Two more online resources for writing Political Prisoners and POWs are: prisonactivist.org/ and zinelibrary.info/political-prisoner-and-pow-support-resources.For those of you interested in writing prisoners but new to it, here’s a great article, TIPS ON WRITING TO A PRISONER: http://www.prisonerlife.com/tips.cfm.
I n t e r n at I o n a l I s tprison books collective
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by rachel [email protected]://lillypadgraphics.wordpress.com/
I had the wonderful opportunity to interview my pen pal from Lithuania, Gabrielė. We chatted via IM on SKYPE.
rachel for the lime green
giraffe: “Where
is
lithuania on the maP?”It is in central – East Europe, near Poland, Belarus and Latvia. There were some calculations and it is certified that the centre of Europe is in Lithuania!
What is school like in lithuania?Um. Our classes start at 8 am and we have from 5 to 8 classes everyday which last 45 minutes. After each class we have 10 minutes break. Unfortunately, our school system tends to be more theoretical, if you understand me? We don’t have a lot of practical works. In my school every
year students are directing a big musical! This year it will be ‘Grease’. I’m very excited about it.
What do you mean by you “don’t have Practical Works?”Gabrielė: It’s just that we learn from the books and not from the practice.
ah, okay. What is your favorite lithuanian food?It has no translation to English but it is a cold beetroot soup. It is in such a lovely pink colour! We call it “šaltibarščiai”. It is eaten with hot potatoes. In fact, all our traditional
dishes are from potatoes.
What are some of your favorite sPorts/hobbies?That’s a tough one! I’m really a huge fan of everything. I love watching basketball! I love playing ping-pong! This year I started to attend photography and guitar classes. I also love music, movies and hanging out. There is nothing I wouldn’t love!
many countries have some sort of ‘coming of age ceremony.’ is there anything like that in lithuania?It would be a nice story. But we don’t have it.
is there any kind of traditional clothing attire Worn in lithuania?No. We are simple European people!
What Would you like to say to the readers of lime green giraffe?So! I wish you all a good and fruitful school year, enjoyable flashes of adolescence…and visit the Lithuania one day!
Pen Pal intervieW With Gabrielė
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hello there! hoW are you doing? tell us more about yourself, your hobbies, Personal life, interests.Thank you for asking. I am a bit warm today because the temperatures are in the mid-90s, but I am enjoying the fan here on my desk. I am Bev Sykes, retired from medical office
management but writing theater (not movie) reviews for the local newspaper here in Davis, California. Walt and I have been married 46 years and raised 5 children.
We have 1-1/2 granddaughters (baby due in September). I love writing, reading, TV, movies, theater, p h o t o g r a p h y , PhotoShop, mucking around on the
computer, travel and giving friends tours of my hometown, San Francisco.
if you have to describe yourself in only
PenPal Interview: Bev [email protected] user: basykesTwitter: beverlyasykesBlog/website: I have kept a daily journal for the past 12 years that can be found at http://www.funnytheworld.com, with a mirror blog at http://airypersiflage.blogspot.com (since Funny the World is not set up for people to subscribe to new entries). I also have a blog devoted to penpal letters at http://tonsofmail.blogspot.com
A sample of envelopes I’ve made–two of my favorites.
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5 Words What Would they be?Fat, funny, sarcastic, loyal, affectionate.
tell us something
about your toWn, city or country.Davis is a medium sized town, 60,000 people (it has doubled in size since we moved here nearly 40 years ago), located about 80 miles
e a s t of San Francisco
and about 20 miles from Sacramento, the capitol of California. It is a university town, with one of the best veterinary medical schools in the US. The terrain is very flat and bike lanes are very
wide, so lots of people
bike and we are known as the City of Bicycles.
hoW did you start PenPalling? When Was that? and Why did you decide to start PenPalling?I had my first penpal, a
girl in England, when I was in grammar school. I think I just read an ad from a Mrs. Chegwidden (seriously) who offered to find penpals for girls who wanted to write to someone of the same age in England. Sadly, I no longer remember my pen pal’s name. I have always written letters but kind of switched to e-mail for a long time, being a person who likes instant gratification. But I miss the actual writing of a letter (though I type, rather than hand write my letters because even I can’t read my handwriting). I went search on the internet last year, to find out about connecting with penpals and discovered this whole huge community, which I am enjoying exploring.
What do you like / dislike about PenPalling/orresPondence?I love the interaction with people, learning about other lives and other countries. I haven’t been back into official “penpalling”
My whole family at my mother’s 90th
birthday, 2 years ago.
Peggy, This is my Australian pen pal.
The photo was taken at her home
in Western Australia
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long enough to have made it past the initial “getting to know you” phase and into perhaps deeper discussions. But I am enjoying the whole process. Nothing, really, that I dislike about it. Yet.
hoW do your friends react When they discover you are into PenPalling? are they also into it or they give you
the “strange” faces?My friends and family always think I’m a little strange. Do you still stay in touch with your first penpal? Tell us about your first penpal even if you have lost touch with them. We might be able to help you locate him/her. As I said, that was a long time ago–maybe 50 years and I don’t remember her name.
We probably wrote to each other for a year or so.
hoW many PenPals do you have? Where are they from?At this point too many to count (I always was an overachiever), but I can sense that some of the ones I have will
fall off the radar in the foreseeable future. I know that some will remain and it would be nice to have a couple of dozen good penpals to keep indefinitely. There are probably more from the US than anywhere else, but also from Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Canada and perhaps one or two
other countries. I have a few email penpals who are from Germany, England, and Russia.
are you searching for neW PenPals? if yes, Please give us some contact information that We can Publish in the magazine so that PeoPle can Write to you back. I would never say no to someone who wanted to exchange letters
with me. My address is: Beverly Sykes, 539 Villanova Dr., Davis, CA 95616 USA
What are you looking for in a PenPal?Someone who will write regularly, without too horribly long a gap between letters, who is open to exchanging ideas, even when opinions differ, who won’t try to convert me to any sort of ideology,
but who can respect my ideas as I would respect hers (would prefer not to correspond with men).
Where do you find neW PenPals from? do you rely on fbs or facebook or other Websites/blogs.I don’t think I’ve
found any from FBs or Facebook. They have come either from Sandbook, from SendSomething, from LWA (Letter Writers Alliance) or from one of the many penpalling blogs I follow. I also write to two soldiers in Afghanistan, with whom I connected through Soldiers Angels.
Davis is rather plain vanilla in the scenic department, but the campus does have a number of “Egghead”
sculptures by sculptor Robert Arneson.
Our dog Lizzie entertains the neighborhood with her leaps at the front window
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tell us a funny/interesting story from your PenPalling exPerience?
The only story I have is perhaps more odd than funny. I got a couple of names from a site for people who like to write long letters.
My letters usually run about 3-4 typewritten 8-1/2x11 sheets of paper, which I think of as relatively long. But I was not prepared for
the thirty typed page letter of introduction that I received from one of those long-letter people! I responded (4 pages) but have not
heard back from her. Not sure if I will!
hoW do you keeP track of your mail? share your tiP on hoW to organize ourselves.I do everything on computer and type my letters, so I have copies of what I have written. Each person has a separate file and I keep track of the dates of incoming and outgoing letters, what stationery and/or envelope I used, and what (if anything) I sent off to each person. Incoming mail right now is kept in a plastic sleeve in a binder. Each pen pal has one sleeve and I just put all the mail from that person in her plastic sleeve. I can see that as I keep at this, I will have to switch to a better system, especially for incoming mail!
do you sWaP things? do you like sending gifts to friends? if yes, What is the most funny gift you have ever sent/
received?I have sent a few things along with letters, like postcards and stickers and occasionally some stationery. I sent one penpal a book because she was interested in the subject matter.
have you met a PenPal? if so, let us knoW hoW the meeting Went.I had an e-mail relationship with a woman in Australia, starting in about 1999. She was a friend of a friend, but we clicked and began writing to each other daily. In 2000 she came to the U.S. and spent 6 weeks with us (she said “if it doesn’t work out, I can always get a bus tour somewhere”). It worked out better than either of us expected and 3 years later, I traveled to Australia to spend six weeks with her. We still remain in contact.
What do you usually like Writing/reading about in the letters?I write about what’s
going on in my life (like everyone else) and especially like to write about oddball things that have happened, like something unusual that I saw in the theater or read in a book, weird things the dogs have done, places we have visited, etc. I love hearing that same kind of thing from other people, and I sometimes ask questions that will help elicit a response. I also like being asked questions because it lets me know what the penpal is interested in reading about.
When it comes to making cute and Personal letters, everyone has his/her oWn style. tell us your trick hoW to make a letter/enveloPe unique? do you decorate it? if yes, hoW? give us some tiPs on hoW to make the letters more interesting.I just learned how to make envelopes and am going crazy turning every oddball
piece of paper into an envelope. My favorites were a Trader Joe’s shopping bag, a coffee bean bag from Peet’s coffee, and an air sickness bag from China Air. Theater programs are great material for making envelopes, as are old calendars and I always seem to have an inexhaustible supply of both. As for the letter itself, I don’t have much of a creative gene, so I often use pre-printed stationery, or decorate plain pieces of paper with stickers. Nothing really creative.
Where do you buy your stationery suPPlies from? do you Prefer traditional shoPs or e-shoPs? if so, give us some links. I have a ton of stuff leftover from other projects many years ago, so I haven’t had to shop much, but have bought things from Etsy, mostly from sites that I read about on blogs. And of course, I’m a sucker for Michael’s.
hello there! hoW are you doing? tell us more about yourself, your hobbies, Personal life, interests.
Hi everyone! My name is Marta and I am 29. I was born, bred and have lived all of my life in central Italy.
This is me, in Ireland a couple months ago.
I am a freshman at the university again,
studying Education part-time. I have always wanted to be a teacher, I was a kid and already forcing my younger sister to attend my lessons, but I studied social work instead as my first university choice. Still wondering why though. I love to work in the social field, but don’t much like the social worker job, too much bureaucracy and papers to fill in daily and too little face-to-face contact with people, with their
real life. After a few temporary jobs with children, I decided to try my luck and apply for Education. I did it and have just finished my first year at the university. Studying wasn’t easy at first, after 4 long years since I graduated last, but I am now starting to feel at easy with text books again and I have two more exams to sit in September to call my first year done with. I am also a part-time worker, because uni fees are high and because I have to start saving up for my own house and for a future. I work for my parents, that would drive anyone crazy, I tell you! We deal with tourism and sell religious items and souvenirs to some resorts not far from where we live. It’s crazy job from March to October, but it’s almost relaxing during late fall and winter months. I am a dog owner, a proud one, and in my spare time I walk around or play at the park with my dog Rolly. He’s a bundle
of joy and a great companion to my days! The rest of my spare time is very limited, I volunteer at church together with my boyfriend. We are chief to a group of 11 year olds, our group meets on Saturdays from 3 to 4 pm. It’s hard job but I love it! Volunteering has enriched my life in the last couple years. I also like to relax, of course, and my best way to do it is writing letters to my pallies (of course I am an avid penpaller, have always been one since my youngster years) and reading: I am a bookworm! Ihave a thing for TV-series and watch way too many, but I am being sensible and try to limit my addiction.
if you have to describe yourself in only 5 Words What Would they be?
I am a stubborn person, I would never give up a goal of mine and if I want to get something I will
get it sooner or later. I am caring to those I love, I worry for my overworking parents and I am the one who cooks and cleans for the family. I can’t go without worrying everyone is ok, even when I am not at home. I must add picky to my description. I am picky with friends, I am picky with what I eat (mostly because I am lactose intolerant, so I have to be picky...), I am picky with my education. I am understanding, my friend Ilaria says it’s the social worker in me. I tend to see a good side in everyone and hardly judge people from the “cover”, but try to see things from their point of view, so as to feel empathy to them. Maybe Ilaria is right, deep inside I am still a social worker. I am sarcastic, even if italians don’t appreciate sarcasm that much and often take my sarcasm for snobbery. tell us something about your
toWn, city or country.
I live in Perugia, a city in the heart of Italy, in a region called Umbria with no outings to the sea, but with an amazing landscape to fall in love with! The city counts some 170.000 inhabitants, mostly living in the suburban areas. Our old city hosts students coming from all over Italy and worldwide (I am proud to say that Perugia hosts the University for foreigners, so if you want to study Italian you have to come here and get your Italian Language Certificate here). I love to walk around the old city and I am proud of the history that old Perugia shows to the tourists that come every year, especially in July for the Umbria Jazz Festival.We have a mean of transport that is pretty unique here, it’s called Minimetro and it’s a sort of an elevate metro. Tourists are enthusiastic with it! What I love the most
PenPal Interview:Marta [email protected]: http://www.facebook.com/marta.sargentiTwitter http://twitter.com/#!/mugglemeBlog: http://listography.com/martj82http://littlecornerofmyworld.blogspot.comhttp://www.interpals.net/martj
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of minimetro is that each stop hosts a “book-stop” green desk where people can leave their books for others to take home and read, following the real bookcrossing philosophy. You never know, great books may cross your way when catching minimetro to university!
Another event that’s worth mentioning is the Eurochocolate, nothing less than a real chocolate festival, where you can taste and buy chocolate of all flavours and shapes! They even hold a competition of statues made from big blocks of chocolate!
hoW did you start PenPalling? When Was that? and Why did you decide to start PenPalling?
My experience with penpalling started when I was 12 years old, when our English teacher at school introduced us to foreign c o r r e s p o n d e n c e , giving each one of her students an English correspondent to exchange letters with. I was matched to an English blonde girl called Beth who sent me a first letter in purple stationery decorated with flowers. I was absolutely excited with her first letter and would show my whole family the photos she had exclosed, with her house and family! I guess my English skills must have been almost non existant because the girl quit writing after my second letter. Can’t blame her, I could hardly say much more than my age and a few phrases about my family! And that was already talked about in
my first letter... I tried it with other few foreign girls because I loved the idea of being friends with someone from another country, but had to temporarily give up foreign correspondence because my English was a real disaster and no one would go further than letter number 2! Back then I was member of a book-club. We got a magazine every second month and in the magazine there was a penpalling section: kids could place an add there for pals. That’s what I did. I received 20-some replies to my advert, but only a handful of those girls who replied the add were to stay and became reliable pals. With one of them I wrote letters untill a few years ago when we lost touch when she left to Africa for volunteering. I was 15 when I went back to international penpalling. I got 4 addies from IPF service based in Turku, Finland. I wrote to those pals for years, and still have them in my contacts list on Facebook, even if they no more do penpalling. In 1997 I received a fb from one of my italian penpals and I seriously started penpalling and swapping! There was
a moment when I had almost 40 pals! I am not proud of those days, because I was not a quality over quantity person back then, but then I was a teen and of course stationery and many letters would catch my attention the most. Over the years my attitude to penpalling changed a lot. I am now one of those who puts quality over quantity and I am now corresponding with a small group of 8 reliable girls living in Europe, Canada and the States. I consider them all dear friends and write them long letters stuffed to the brim with my life and hopes. I can no more think my life without them friends!
What do you like / dislike about PenPalling/corresPondence?
I love penpalling because I feel completely at ease with a paper in front of me, rather than having to talk face-to-face with someone. I am a shy person and find it terrible to open up with new people. Instead through letters the whole friendship building process
is easier for me. Of course I also love to meet my pals, once we are close enough to trust eachother. I already met a few of my pals. One wasn’t a pleasant experience, to tell you the truth. It was with a male pal of mine and it made me say “no more male pals for me from now on”! But it didn’t keep me from meeting pallies again! I met twice my former italian pal and we exchanged summer holidays at eachother places for some years. I also met my bestie once and we’ll soon meet again, in November, when we’ll go on holidays together in London. Penpalling means a lot to me. My penpals are my friends, my penpals are with me on good and bad days, my pals support me, they love me for the person I am with good sides and faults. I think that’s enough said to explain why penpalling means that much to me!
hoW do your friends react When they discover you are into PenPalling? are they also
Minimetro rail and a minimetro cab.
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into it or they give you the “strange” faces?
This one makes me giggle, indeed! Of course some of my aquaitances know that I am a penpaller. And very few of them pretend it’s something they consider normal. Most of them just make pity faces toward my direction and I am sure they think I am wasting my time and being childish. That’s what my dad used to tell me. There was a period when I only wrote letters
when alone at home, so that parents wouldn’t see me and blame me for wasting my time! Now I no more hide, of course. I think they got used to letters being delivered to me and to my habit of sitting down at my desk with paper and pen and staying there for hours writing. My boyfriend also didn’t get it, how I could find it funny to write letters. But then I introduced him to Bonnie when she was here in my city studying italian and told him about my meeting with penpals and he’s now more understanding about it. Still he says it’s something he would never consider doing himself. My sister tried to start penpalling when a teen herself, following my example, but she didn’t like it enough to go on with the years. I think there are not many italian pals around nowadays, we are rare species here!do you still stay in touch With your first PenPal? tell us about your first PenPal even if you have lost touch With them. We might be able
to helP you locate him/her.
I am no more in touch with the English girl Beth. And I would not be able to locate her nowaday anymore, because I don’t remember much about her. I was able to locate most of my old pallies thank to Facebook and I am in touch with them again thank to it. My eldest pal is my best friend Eva, from Hungary. We have been writing letters to eachother since 2001, that makes it quite a long time. Our letters are long and detailed, full of questions and we also send eachother books we read and want the other one to read. We met first time 3 years ago when she was in Italy for a collector fair and I reached her in Verona. It was our first time in the city and we enjoyed sightseeing and talked a lot! We were like old friends and we grew even closer after our meeting! We’re now ready to meet again in London in November. We’ll be sharing a room in a hostel there and spend 5 days together sightseeing and browsing through second hand bookstores.
hoW many PenPals do you have? Where
are they from?
I am writing to 8 girls at the moment. They are around my age, some are younger than me, a couple aged 2 and 3 years more than me. All of them are bookworms like me. All of them love to write long letters. With some I share my love for some tv-shows and writers, with some others we share our love for travelling. Each one of them is special for me, everyone gives me friendship and shows me a part of the world through their letters. My pallies are from Hungary, Finland, Germany, England, Denmark, Scotland, Illinois and Canada.
are you searching for neW PenPals? if yes, Please give us some contact information that We can Publish in the magazine so that PeoPle can Write to you back.
Even if I am very tempted to meet some new long letter pals I can share a lot with and become good friends with, I know I cannot take on more pals than those I already write to. I am busy all day both with school and job and
I would not be able to keep in touch regularly via snail mail if I had more pals. That’s is why I have to say “no, thank you. I am not looking for new pals right now”.
What are you looking for in a PenPal?Of course I am looking for real friends in my pals. I want to share the same idea of friendship with my penpals. It is not necessary to be sharing all hobbies or favourites, but it is useful to share something at the beginning, so that the conversation keeps going from the very start and it’s easier to grow closer then. When looking for a penpal I am asking for them to be reliable, regular with their replies and caring with me, as much as I am with them. Friendship is a mutual feeling. And friendship is what I look for in a penfriend.
Where do you find neW PenPals from? do you rely on fbs or facebook or other Websites/blogs.
Eating out with my pal Bonnie, together with my friend Ilaria.
My letters box.
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I already said that in the past I used to look for new pals via IPF penpal service or books magazine and, later on, trough Fbs. Nowadays I am no more into swapping Fbs and mostly look for pals through Interpals, where I have got a profile and where I met most my present pals. I used to think as reliable long letter ladies also. And that’s where my bestie Eva and I found eachother 10 years ago. I am member of Penpal l ing&Letters group of Facebook, a group that’s too fun to be part of and that I kindly reccomend to any pal who’s reading this and is on Facebook. tell us a funny/interesting story from your PenPalling exPerience?
I think the funniest thing that happened to me recently with penpals is when I met online my pal Bonnie. She is an american girl, whose profile I was amazed with. I kept checking her profile again and again but couldn’t come up with something interesting to say to catch
her attention. Finally she moved the first step and contacted me. We exchanged a few private messages and agreed to be pals via snail mail. She said we’d to still go on with email for a few months longer because she was moving to Italy soon. We agreed we’d have exchanged adresses when she knew her new adresse in Italy. Well, to make a long story short: she moved to Italy and guess where exactly! Yes, she studied italian in Perugia, of course we met and had some chances to hang out together and I introduced her to my mates here also. She’s still in Italy and now travelling around the country, so we’re not penpals technically, but we did start as potential pals.
hoW do you keeP track of your mail? share your tiP on hoW to organize ourselves.
I keep track of my received and sent letters thank to listography, where I update my page everytime I get or send a mail to my pallies. It’s a useful place where to place your lists and keep
yourself organized and neat, without worries of wasting your paper lists! I also keep a journal where I write a list of topics I talk about in each letters, so that I know where my previous mail stopped at and can easily update my pals with my latests without missing anything or writing something twice. I keep all my letters in a box, and number them as they come.
do you sWaP things? do you like sending gifts to friends? if yes, What is the funniest gift you have ever sent/received?
I love to spoil my pals and send them the odd gift with my mails. Nowadays that postage insanely increased in Italy (as if the service offered had improved at all!) I send gifts on special occasions mainly, such as Christmas and birthdays. The funniest thing I ever sent to a pal was a handmade cheese pie we traditionally eat on Easter day. My grandma made and baked it and I wrapped it carefully and sent it in the mail. We were lucky that the pie got delivered safely
and it was still good when my pallie opened the parcel. She even liked it! That was the most original gift ever sent. Doubt I could do it now, as they check parcels often now and I know you’re not allowed to send food.
have you met a PenPal? if so, let us knoW hoW the meeting Went.
As I already said I met a few pals in the years. I met my Finnish pal Outi in Italy when she was here on holidays. We agreed to meet in Rome and spend a day together there. We met at the train station and it was easy to find eachother there, thank to our mobiles: we’d been texting eachothers all the way to Rome. We spent the morning walking around the city, and trying to save ourselves from the heat by hiding in some bookstores and dvd shops every now and then. Finally, we gave in and spent the rest of the day sitting in an amazing park, on a bench under a tree, talking. We had fun together and it was a lovely meeting!
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What do you usually like Writing/reading about in the letters?In my letters I write about my everyday life, my hopes and dreams, my projects, my sorrows and disappointments. I write about my studies and job, about my family, my boyfriend. I write about books I read and tv I watch. I talk about my travelling and I write about italian traditions. I ask my pals to be as open with me as I am with them in our letters. They of course can talk about anything and
everything. There’s no particular topic I love to talk about and some that I can’t really stand. Whatever comes to our minds soon becomes a favourite topic to talk about.
When it comes to making cute and Personal letters, everyone has his/her oWn style. tell us your trick hoW to make a letter/enveloPe unique? do you decorate it? if yes, hoW. give us some tiPs on hoW to make the letters
more interesting.My letters are pretty colorful I think. I mostly write on lined or squared paper because I am useless without lines. I like to write in black ink or purple sometimes. I underline questions, so that it makes the letter colorful and it makes it easy for my pallies not to miss any questions when replying. And I sometimes decorate my letters with stickers, especially the back of stationery, that’s usually blank.
Where do you buy your stationery suPPlies from?
do you Prefer traditional shoPs or e-shoPs? if so, give us some links. Most of my stationery comes from Janet Store, that is absolutely cheap and selling quality stuff. Yet postage grew for Janet as well and it is now worth it only if you place bigger orders, that I cannot afford at the moment. I have got stationery enough to still go on for a couple years still. I have some Diddl pads left from my 2009 trip to Germany and a Hello Kitty pad I bought in a shop downtown before it closed down. Not that I am nuts for Hello Kitty but it’s an ok pad still. I think I will buy my stationery when travelling abroad from now on. Unluckily you can’t find quality paper in Italy and not at all in Perugia, so I am quite unlucky here.
I thank you for giving me the chance to take part to this penpal interview! I had big fun writing about my pal experience!
Greetings from Marta!
do you run a business? Would you like to generate more interest and income for your business? if so, glass comPletely emPty Productions is looking for you! once the Pen-Palling film is finished We're going to take it on the road for a global tour. We're looking for Pen-Pals Who run businesses to join us by running stalls at the exhibition. it doesn't matter if your business isn't letter Writing related, We Want to invite everyone to take Part!
if you'd like to take Part, Please email rae With the nature of your business and she'll Put you on the list: [email protected]
hello there! hoW are you doing? tell us more about yourself, your hobbies, Personal life, interests.Hey everyone! My name is Anna Tang, I’m 17 years old and I’m live in North Carolina, USA! I was originally born in China, I moved to the US when I was four. Since then, I’ve been back two times, once in ’06 and in ’08. Life is never dull as I have a beagle named Elmo and a goldfish named Mister, I call him Mister Goldfish. My life revolves around green tea, and I swear by the Green Tea Frappuccino at Starbucks.
my hobbies include reading and Writing, listening to music, sleePing (it’s an ePidemic in high school), Writing to my PenPals (of course!), and fashion!My life revolves around my journal, it looks about as old as the Dead Sea Scrolls, and my books. I write and I write and then I scribble in my journal. My books define
ANNA [email protected]: lolanna21
who I am so I try to buy new books as often as I can (I have boxes of books in my attic!). I read a lot of different books: last week, I started reading Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, before that, I was worming my way through Dante’s Inferno. Two completely different books, but both were interesting in their own way. I don’t think I know a single teenager who doesn’t listen to some kind of music, everyone has an iPod or some
music making gadget stuck in their ears on full blast these days! Anyways, I listen to music from a lot of different countries from Ayumi Hamasaki in Japan to Katy Perry in the US and Yulia Savicheva in Russia. I enjoy hearing music from different countries, it’s like being able to listen in on a different culture. Probably my favorite hobby, sleeping. During the school year, it’s from August till June here, sleeping is something
I wistfully wish for (and occasionally do) in class. It’s a symptom of senioritis, don’t worry, it’s not a terrible disease, it’s a state-of-mind that all rising seniors experience because they are just so happy to be leaving high school. I’ll be writing about my penpals throughout this interview, so I’ll go ahead and skip that right now. I feel no guilt about it. Fashion! Fashion! Fashion! I’m not a slave to fashion (it means I don’t wear it), I’m
simply a follower. I have always loved clothes that are provocative and inspiring. Designers like John Galliano and Salvatore Ferragamo are my favorites, and Chanel and Ralph Lauren are classics. I have tried to design my own clothes, but in the end, they always look nothing like how I want them to look. I sketch my designs out and once I finish them, I like to send them to my penpals and ask for their approval. I read Vogue, W, Teen Vogue, Elle, and Allure.
Pen Pal intervieW
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if you have to describe yourself in only 5 Words What Would they be?Only 5? I had to think really hard on this one, but here is my top five:Parenthetical: I use parenthesis as a means of my “background voice.” It’s my way of
telling the world that I talk a lot, because I have to use parenthesis to express my “opinion” on everything I write. Oh! And I almost forgot, there’s another meaning for the word parenthetical, I’m using my own definition of parenthetical (it means opinionated) here,
the real definition has something to do with punctuation marks. Genuine: I am not another version of anyone else; I’m the first (and only, I hope) version of me. On-the-Go: Ok, that’s actually three words, but for the sake of this interview, let’s just
pretend that it’s one word. I’m always doing something at
every
m o m e n t of every day
of my life (like now, I’m writing this interview).
Foody: I don’t think that’s actually a word, but I use this to describe myself. I cook and I cook and then I eat. I believe that food is a way to a person’s soul (hence: Soul Food!), so I always try to cook the best dishes for my friends and family (it’s not because I want to see into their souls, I can already
do that, I just know that they are really hungry.) Cheddar: Ok, another thing related to food. The truth is: my life revolves around cheddar, so I eat a lot of cheese. I guess this is my way of saying that I’m unique because this one time, I wrote a paper on the history of Gouda and the English
teacher said that it was the only paper she didn’t fall asleep reading. (You should’ve seen the class’ face…)
tell us something about your toWn, city or country.I live in a small college town in North Carolina called Chapel Hill. It’s a
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relatively small town with some 30,000 people and 3,000+ college kids. Right in the heart of Chapel Hill is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and even though it is a public college (not private like Duke or Yale), kids come here to learn from all over the US and all over the world. Chapel Hill is mostly famous for its basketball team, the UNC Tarheels. They got their name from all the tar pits that used to occupy NC back in the old days (and soldiers complained
about their boots getting stuck in tar when they tried to move a r o u n d . ) Then, there’s the age-old rivalry between the UNC Tarheels and the Duke Blue Devils. Duke is another famous university that’s located near Chapel Hill. Basketball season is very popular among the locals (that’s me) and college kids alike. Aside from all the colleges and sports, Chapel Hill has delicious Southern comfort food.
I ’ m talking about fried chicken (very fatty, very delicious!), mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits and gravy (we eat a lot gravy down south!), sweet tea, and fried okra. There’s a lot more, I’m just naming my favorites! Most of the tourists are here for the food, and the fast food restaurants (think: McDonalds) don’t do nearly as well as the
southern fast food restaurants (say it with me, Bojangles!).
hoW did you start PenPalling? When Was that? and Why did you decide to start PenPalling?I first started penpalling when I was a sophomore in high school. I started out wanting just one or two penpals from Russia because I had recently become fascinated with
slightly) is reading a letter in which the person put in absolutely no effort to write. It leaves the reader (you, me, and all who read their penpal’s letters) with a very down feeling followed by a period of resentment. I spend on average three hours (and counting!) writing and working on each penpal’s letter because I believe that every letter should be special and of some significance. I’m not too picky, am I?
hoW do your friends react When they discover you are into PenPalling? are they also into it or they give you the “strange” faces?My friends are neutral when it comes to my penpalling habits. Two of my friends have their own “version” of penpalling, they write to their friends that live in other states (as in, they moved and communicate with their friends through letters). I was actually the first one to mention to my friends that I did penpalling. They were shocked at first
because I told them that I met them on the Internet. There was (and still is) this big policy at my school about Internet safety and this elaboration that no one online is who they claim to be. I think that’s probably a big reason why my friends were cautious about my penpalling, because of how I met them. But after I showed them pictures of my first (and current!) penpal, they calmed down a bit and started doing their own penpalling.
do you still stay in touch With your first PenPal? tell us about your first PenPal even if you have lost touch With them. We might be able to helP you locate him/her.YES! I am still in touch with my first penpal! We have known each other for over two years now, and there’s never been a dull moment. She’s from Russia and five years older than me but we still have so much to talk about. We met on a language exchange website called italki. Most people on
there are looking for someone to practice a language with, I don’t think anyone on there is solely concentrated on penpals. Anyways, I sent her a message commenting on how exotic her profile picture was, she replied, and we’ve been friends ever since. We talk to each other about everything: her university, my beagle, her love for languages, and my outrageous scribbling abilities. It’s only been about a year and half since my first penpal and I started exchanging letters. I was a bit nervous about the idea at first, but I learned that it was just as good, even better, than sending messages to each other all the time through email. We also recently started using Skype to communicate. We send each other instant messages through Skype and (with the permission of my grunting parents) we also have video chats. I have a fondness for video chats because it feels like you are actually meeting your penpal since it feels like as if they are in the next room talking to you.
hoW many PenPals do you have?
Where are they from?Don’t laugh, but I only have 5 penpals. Two are from Russia, one is from Italy, another from Hungary, and the last one is from England. I am really close with all my penpals as we have known each other for over a year now (save the first penpal, that’s two years), and I write letters to them on a daily basis (once or twice a month, depends on the mood of my local post office). Back when I first started penpalling, I went wild. I had met a lot of people, and we agreed to write letters to each other. But after about a letter or two, someone usually lost interest, and for that reason, we stopped sending letters to each other. At one point, I had over 30 penpals that I wrote to. It was really hard to keep track of all of them, so if one or two didn’t reply, it took a while to notice. I had penpals from Brazil, Argentina, Spain, France, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Finland, Belarus, Austria, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Israel, Qatar, Thailand, Australia, and Scotland.
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the country. But I would’ve been fine if someone from another country, say Finland, wanted to be my penpal. Looking back, I didn’t really know much, if anything at all, about penpalling. But now I know there’s more (a lot more!) to just writing letters, it’s about making a connection.It was a bit scary at first because I didn’t really know how I would start. Typing the introduction to my profile at a penpalling website alone was harrowing. But after a while, I got
used to the idea of messaging people and introducing myself. It got easier and finally, after a lot of trial and error (and some time in the Spam Box), I did find penpals whom I’m still friends with today.
What do you like / dislike about PenPalling/corresPondence?I like writing the letters to my penpals and frantically searching the aisles at stores for presents to put in my letter. I HAVE to include something in my
letter; I’ve been doing it ever since I started writing to my penpals. It’s a tradition with me that has never (never ever ever!) been broken.When I’m writing a letter to my penpal, I feel like as if time has stopped. I can write as fast as I want or as slowly as I want, it doesn’t matter. It’s very low-stress and low-key. On the other hand, when I search for the “perfect gift,” that’s when the stress begins. I always want every gift to be special and a representation of something special.
What I don’t like about penpalling is when I’m writing the address on the envelope and halfway, I mess up on a letter (or once in my case, a whole line!). I don’t want to send the letter that way because it’s got a huge blotch of white out on it and when it’s on a manila envelope (yellow!), you can so totally tell. So I have to get a whole new envelope and rewrite the entire address over. That’s my ultimate pet peeve of penpalling. Another thing that bothers me (ever so
It was fun while it lasted and if I could do it all over again, I would.
are you searching for neW PenPals? if yes, Please give us some contact information that We can Publish in the magazine so that PeoPle can Write to you back.Haha, that’s a good question. I think that I am still looking for penpals because I’m always looking to learn about new people, their lives, and their cultures. I like getting to know new people, and for that reason, I always try to find new penpals.My email address is [email protected] finally, my Skype is lolanna21.
What are you looking for in a PenPal?Oooh, another tough question! I don’t have anything specific that I look for in a person. I’m looking for someone who is willing to share their culture openly with someone else, who is a loyal friend, who loves to talk and make new friends, and who has an insatiable appetite for
knowledge. Well, maybe not the last part so much, I just like people who are inquisitive. Really, I just look for people who are adventurous, that’s what penpalling is all about, it’s an adventure.
Where do you find neW PenPals from? do you rely on fbs or facebook or other Websites/blogs.When I started penpalling, I found several penpals on the language exchange website, italki. I found my first penpal there. I still use italki, but I also like to use studentoftheworld, it’s my #1 website for finding a penpal. I would definitely recommend studentsoftheworld to anyone new to penpalling, there are so many nice people on there! I met the majority of my penpals on there! Other than those two websites, I don’t really use any other websites. I rely on Facebook for keeping in touch with my friends when we aren’t sending letters to each other. For my penpals who don’t have Facebook, I like to use email, it’s as good as Facebook, and even though I have had more
than my share of time in the Spam box, I enjoy communicating by email.
tell us a funny/interesting story from your PenPalling exPerience?I think the funniest thing that ever happened was the one time I sent my driver’s license to my penpal. (In the US, it’s possible to get a license at 17, some have gotten theirs at 15.) I had to deliver a huge box to my penpal (it was a Christmas present), and the lady at the post office asked to see some ID. At the time, the box wasn’t sealed, so I handed her the driver’s license and when she was done, she put in on the box. At that moment, I was getting cash from my purse so I completely forgot about my driver’s license. After I finished paying her, I shook the box a little (don’t ask why, I don’t know!) and behold! The driver’s license fell through the crack and into the box! I didn’t know that I had sent my driver’s license to my penpal until she called me and ask why I had sent it to her! I had to get another one.
hoW do you keeP track of your mail?
share your tiP on hoW to organize ourselves.I have a set of decorative boxes that I use for the letters that my penpals send. I try to create a special box for my penpals and I keep the boxes in special place in my room. It was a lot of work making and decorating the boxes at first, but it was worth it in the end. Now, I don’t have to worry about misplacing or losing a letter because I put lids on the boxes. Then I stack them on top of one another so they don’t take up too much space in my tiny room. So in one corner of my room I have these really wacky designs practically shooting from the floors.
do you sWaP things? do you like sending gifts to friends? if yes, What is the funniest gift you have ever sent/received?From the first letter that I have ever sent to my penpal, I always put some little gift in the letter. It’s like my tradition and it’s never been broken. I guess because it’s a tradition with me, I like sending things to my penpals. The funniest thing that I have ever sent was a board
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game. I sent the game “Mouse Trap” to a penpal for her birthday. She wrote back and told me that she had a good time setting up the mousetrap and playing the board game.
I once received a report card from a penpal. It was really funny to see that in Italy, the grades were in numbers (1-10) while here, the grades were letters (A,B,C…).
I could just imagine an American kid going home afraid that their parents would see a bad grade on their report card only to open it and find that it was a number
instead!
have you met a PenPal? if so, let us knoW hoW the meeting Went.Unfortunately, I have not met any of my penpals! I will definitely try to visit all of them, sooner or later. I love to travel, so I think I will meet all of them.
What do you usually like Writing/reading about in the letters?I like to write about my life, my highlights, my dooms, myself, and my increasing desire to get my hands on a box of calissons, a delectable French candy made exclusively in Aix-en-Provence. I write about daily happenings from a cute boy that I saw in the hallway at school to the upcoming presidential elections. There’s no one specific topic that I focus on, I try write about as many different things as possible. Sometimes, I would have endless conversations about one specific topic with a penpal, other times, I would just mention it and they would comment on it and that
would be the end of it. Reading-wise, I like to read about everything that the penpal has to say. There’s no limit as to what to talk about, I’m really interested in knowing about a new lifestyle, custom, or just a different opinion. Who knows? I may find a new topic refreshing and exciting and new! But most importantly, I think that the idea that I’m reading something from someone who is so far away and at the same time so close is enough for me.
When it comes to making cute and Personal letters, everyone has his/her oWn style. tell us your trick hoW to make a letter/enveloPe unique? do you decorate it? if yes, hoW. give us some tiPs on hoW to make the letters more interesting.Oooh (I do that a lot!), was I supposed to decorate the letter? I believe that while we should not judge a book by its cover, we also should
not judge a letter by its envelope. I usually mail my letters in a plain manila envelope. I guess that’s my unique trademark: an ugly envelope in the mail.I don’t really decorate the outside of my letters nor the actual letter itself. That’s another trademark: a letter written on notebook paper. I like to keep it simple because it’s distracting (to me) to read a letter that has
flowers and puppy dogs swimming all over it. My “style” comes in when I make the gifts that I send to my penpals. I love fashion so I sketch my clothing designs on
paper and I send those to my penpals and ask for their approval and what they think. Also, I like to include things in my letter from my daily life like school newspapers, fashion magazines, sketch books, fruit roll ups, Jello and pudding mix, and origami paper. And of course, I try to be extravagant and spoil
my penpals when I send
things like teddy bears (Build-A-Bear!) and perfume (D&G anyone?). My goal is to always keep my penpals guessing on what I will send them next.
Where do you buy your stationery suPPlies from? do you Prefer traditional shoPs or e-shoPs? if so, give us some links.I can usually get most of my supplies from a local office supply store. I get my art supplies from a specialty crafts store called Michaels, they have everything from stone to cotton balls! In this sense,
I’m a traditionalist when it comes
to shopping for things for my penpals. Of course, I get my gifts from a multitude of stores, department
stores and boutiques. It
all depends on how I’m feeling
(and how much money I saved up
from my allowance.) I have never bought anything online before for my penpals, not yet. Currently, I have my eyes set on Janet Store, they have the cutest things, and I’m coveting their things right now!
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emilio de la tejera (age: 6) from Mexico / USA Emilio loves to read books, draw, play video games, climb trees, watch TV. He is very friendly, speaks both English and Spanish and would love to have a penpal from any country in the world!!! Email: [email protected]
Wilona bäckman (age: 4)Wilona draws her letters and loves to send and receive small gifts. We also make her letters with different craftings. She loves to dance and does gymnastic. Email: [email protected]
vikki lawson: My daughter raven is 9 years old and is looking for more pals. She loves stationery, stickers hsm and lots more. Email: [email protected]
sally courtney:My daughter is 14 and would love to write more people her age. Boys or girls. Just e-mail me for info.Email: [email protected]
My 11 year old daughter is looking for new penpals from anywhere.She recently got a few postcards but none had a return address, so she is sad cause she could not write any letters or cards back to anyone....Please if there is anyone out there willing to become her penpal or have a child that would like to write here, feel free to drop her some words on paper :-)Her details are:darylaine kransenP.O. Box 2487San NicolaasARUBADutch Caribbean Thanks in adavance :-)Contact: Topasio Dv Dv (on Facebook) http://www.facebook.com/Topasio998
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PENPAL OF THE MONTH CONTEST
To vote for your favorite nomination go to our website www.sandbook.net.
It all starts with fill-ing out an applica-tion that’s available on our website and your nomination is done in no time. And one day, you are a Winner!
julie Priest, england
hoW long have you been PenPalling?I have been penpalling since the age of 12 (21 years ago).
do you still Write (stay in touch) With the first PenPal With Whom you started PenPalling?Unfortunately, we lost touch many years ago, but i do still have a couple of penpals from 19 years ago and we still write letters.
do you Prefer tyPed or hand Written letters?I prefer hand-written letters as they are more personal, however i don’t mind receiving typed letters from time-to-time or if that penpal has difficulties in hand-writing letters.
give some tiPs/idea hoW to make a letter more interesting?Decorating a letter with stickers and using expressions (i.e. smiley faces).
salomé biver, france
hoW long have you been PenPalling?I began penpalling 13 years ago when I was 16.
do you still Write (stay in touch) With the first PenPal With Whom you started PenPalling?No, unhappily all the penpals I had at that time stopped writing.
do you Prefer tyPed or hand Written letters?Handwritten letters, they’re more personal and beautiful. I like seeing people’s handwriting.
give some tiPs/idea hoW to make a letter more interesting?For me, a letter is more interesting if the person writes about her/his feelings, who she/he’s deep inside, her/his opinions. I like deep letters, there’s nothing more boring than a list of things people did without anything about their feelings. I need to know who are my penpals deep inside. Then, decorated letters are a bit more exciting to read.
June 2011bernadette umer(usa) nominates adela neduha (canada)
“My penpal Del has been by my side since 2001. She has been there for me through the good and the bad in my life. She stood by my side when all of my other friends left me. I was going through some tough times and my mother got in a car accident and fell ill. Through all of that she still remained my best friend. Even though I do not get to see her as often as I like she did come to meet me once in 2003 and it was a very nice time for us both. I really wish that there were more sincere people like her in this world! She truly is unlike others and my best friend forever! :-)” Votes: 371
congratulations, bernadette and adela! you are our PenPal of the month july 2011 and you Won so With over 300 votes!!!
July 2011
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tina jacobs (nieman) ,[email protected] had a pen pal from Greece who I wrote up to 5 years ago and we just lost touch. Her name is Helene Anastasopoulou. I have wrote her old address a few times and no response. I have searched her on the internet and still no success. She is 39 and lived in Patras as her last address I had. I’m hoping we can reconnect.
katharina nöhring (Was: melter), [email protected] I am looking for a couple of former pals: Nike van Heeswijk from the Netherlands, Josephine (Joyce) Camilleri from Malta (Gozo island), Vivienne Hunter from England, Zenildo Rosa Jr. from Brasil. We lost contact a LONG time ago, and I would love to get back in touch. Does anyone know about them? Any help is appreciated!
theda, [email protected] Sonia Hardoin (born 08-08-1973)461 Rue de la TrapinièreF-50000 Saint-LôFrance (address valid until 1993)
Maria Nieves (or Maria Neus) Estébanez Gutiérrez (born 29-03-1974)Carrer Briquets 1, entlo primeroE-Barcelona 08033Spain (address valid until 1991)
Nanda S. Gaikwad (born 24-02-1973)26-A-SarnathAnushaktinagarIND-Bombay (now Mumbai) 400094India (address valid until 1993)Additional information: her father worked at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Bombay (Mumbai).
LOST PENPAL
HAVE YOU LOST A PENPAL? YES?
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marlene miller, ohio, usa, [email protected] Hello, my name is Marlene Miller, 55 and I am in Ohio in United States, have a favor to ask, am looking for friend I wrote to about 8 yr s or so ago, we lost touch, when she divorced. Her name was Jennie Smith. She lived in Australia, has son and daughter ,grown now, We wrote and taped letters on regular bases. We were doing email then lost my computer( blewup) and lost contact as well as her addy as never had it when she moved. Anyone able to help, please email me at [email protected] and put in message about her,thanks for any help you can give.
samia oumohand, france [email protected] all! I’m looking for my former penpal Jerry Lynn Daniels. She was a huge fan of French supermodel Laetitia Casta and is from the USA (from Tennessee, if I’m not wrong). If you know her, please let me know at: [email protected]
beverly kuttler ramPero, usa (via facebook)I’m trying to find a good friend of mine. Her name is Aimee Plunkett. We have been writing for about 17 years. She use to live in Tracy, California but then moved away to another state and I lost her new address. I havent heard from her since.
tammy albertson duPont, usa (via facebook)I have been looking for a friend of mine who I lost contact with along time ago and I really miss her. Her name is Kim Bear and she lived in Texas. I would love to get back in touch with her. Her maiden name was Heiliman.
jules muni (via facebook)My penpal of 15 years Jacqueline Mcinnus who last known lived in Kingston, Jamaica.I hope that I will be able to get back in touch with her.
then this is the section for you. Place your story about your lost PenPal and We Will try to helP you
reconnect!
tom todd, [email protected] from Wichita Ks. We wrote for about 10yrs in the eighties. Queen fan.
katarina långdahl, [email protected]'m looking for two lost pen friends. Mauy Burr who used to live on Taylor Avenue in East Brunswick, NJ. She's born 1973.I'm also looking for Ellen Blaze who used to live on Kane Street in Lackawanna, NY.
sarah treWhitt, uk [email protected] , This is not really for any one in particular .. but i used to pn pal about 5-6 year ago and had to give up for many many reasons .. i have started pen palling again over the past year and if there are any of my old pen pals out there that would like to get in touch then please do so.
michelle [voyles] loWe, [email protected] Santos - she was living in Chicago, IL, if I remeber right. I miss her letters and would love to find her!
mary [email protected] I am looking for my lost penpal, her name is Winnie Ho Shuk Fan. She lived in Hong Kong and we stopped writing in 1998 after 20yrs of wonderful friendship.
mallika karunatilleke, sri [email protected] am looking for my two pen pals with whom I have written for a long time. Lena Gepilango from Hongkong (She is originally from Philippines) and Heather Mace from England. Please send me a msg to my inbox if you ever get any details about them.
grace, [email protected] me here, [email protected]
mallika karunatilleke (abeysinghe), sri [email protected] I am looking for my lost pen pals - Urara Arametta - Germany Regine Tetu - France Aminah Ibrahim - Singapore Hannah Darling - India Hope I will be able to find them.
hoW to Place an ad in the magazine?Go to www.sandbook.net and click the Magazine section. Then simply select “Place an Ad” and you will have to fill out the form that loads on your computer screen. Ads placed on pages/groups/walls on Facebook will not be printed. Please note that the ads on our website are ads for the website itself. Unless you fill out the form under Magazine --> Place an Ad, you won’t see your ad here.
our ad Policy:1) We are not a dating site/community - write appropriate ads to have them published.2) No inmates - we have kid members in our community! 3) No money requests - such ad will result in your permanent ban from our community.4) Snail mail addresses - if you want you can leave your snail mail addresses but please note that the SandbookNet Team is not responsible for any spam (junk) mail that that may generate. We urge you to submit only digital contact information to protect your privacy!5) Religious, racial or discriminative materials would not be tolerated.6) Any form of abusive or rude language is forbidden and will result in your ban from our community.7) Ads are printed as they are submitted. We are not going to correct your messages, so please note to write them in “clean” way.
What is the Policy on commersial ads?If you would like to place a commercial ad for products or services, you will need to get in touch with us (email us at [email protected] ). These Ads are going to be reviewed and negotiated with the respective companies.
PenPal & Swappers Ads
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July 2011 ADs:name : barbaraemail:[email protected] : 22country : PolandAd : Hello everyone! My name’s Barbara and I’m a student from Poland. I’m looking for a devoted pen-friend who loves long letters and won’t stop writing after few weeks/months. I’m a talkative and open-minded person. I love writing long letters and put small somethings into the envelope. I have lots of hobbies, so I’ll list just some of them: books, musicals, languages, history, fantasy, culture and swapping . I’m a huge bookworm and I spend most of my time writing reviews.I also enjoy watching TV shows like “Supernatural”, “Glee”, “Bones” and “Criminal Minds”. I collect and swap: letters, cards, letter sets, stamps, stationery, stickers, bookmarks, photos and drawings. I’m especially looking for pen-friends from USA, Canada and Spain, but any country is welcome, except for Africa/Ghana. I’m sorry but I had enough of bad experience with them. If you’re interested, feel free to write! I have just one,
small request – put the word penpals into the subject line of the message. Thank you!
name : jenniferemail:[email protected] : 35country : PeruAd : I am looking for female swappers I would l can send stamps, postcards, kawaii stuff, fb’s in return I would like kawaii stuff (sanrio, san-x, crux, kamio).
name : [email protected] : 39country : guyanaAd : Hi everyone my interest here is to make long lasting friends. My hobbies are cooking reading pen paling and meeting friends.i have lots more hobbies but will mention in my letters to any one that would write me.
name : farid [email protected] : 31country : algeriaAd : My name is Farid, I’m an Algerian, I’m looking for pen pals from all over the world to exchange ideas and to know what and how people in other parts of the world are living, because I adore
knowing about other ways of life, cultures, and traditions, so I am very interested in communicating via snail mail with anybody, I don’t mind if you are a male or a female, and age doesn’t matter. I love Pen paling, Sports, Reading, Writing, TV (reality shows, documentarie s, news), Animals, Geography, History, Nature, Cultures, Traditions, Languages, Books, Religions, Postcards, Stamps, My address is: Farid AnouneLa Pharmacie AnouneRue 05 juillet,Merouana 05300 Batna, ALGERIA
name : elizabeth overduinemail:[email protected] : 41country : canadaAd : Hello from CANADA! I’m looking for swappers from all around the world. I am especially interested in people who like to collect magazine pictures and articles on celebrities. Which celebrities do you collect on? Is there anything else you’re looking for? Here is a list of things I love to collect: 1- Stickers 2- Stationery 3- Madonna
4- Gerard Butler 5- Matt Passmore (actor from the tv show “The Glades”) 6- Buttons (sewing) 7- Seed beads 8- Cross-stitch patterns, magazines, books and kits 9- “The Outsiders” (movie from 1983 starring C.Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon and Ralph Macchio) 10-Jigsaw puzzles (100-300 pieces) 11-Pink 12-Pictures of women with nice short hairstyles 13-F.B.s & Label Bags 14-Insence 15-Scented candles 16-Burned cd(s) of your favourite songs 17-Nice Soaps 18-Decorative bobby pins 19-Zach Galifianakis (comedian with big beard – super funny!) 20-Ribbon (any kind, colour, size) 21-Paper / cardstock (any colour, plain or patterned - pieces must be AT LEAST 5 x 5”) 22-Fabric (any colour, plain or patterned - pieces must be AT LEAST 6” x 12”). Please send me an E-mail with your Wish List, if you would like to make a trade with me. Hope to hear from you soon!
August 2011 ADs:name : [email protected] : 35country : singaPore
Ad : Hi, my name is Wen Dai Guo, I come from Singapore, I like post cards very much and I need a map postcards from all countries and city around the world. I will send you any post card from Singapore as introduction and my token, so for this reason, would you give me your address and I will send a post card for you. If you need specific postcard or stamp you can mention it in your reply message. If you do not have map postcard, I would like to receive any city or region specialty from your country or you can ask me for it. I like the communication and friendship, not only postcard collections If you like post card like me you also can join to the postcrossing.com and you can send me a message at http://www.postcrossing.com/user/wen_postcrossing For your convenience, please write down my address with this format: Agus 18 Rose Lane Singapore 437378 SINGAPORE So, what is your address ?
name : Patti [email protected] : 46country : usaAd : I am looking for people to write to. I will answer all who
write. I collect angels, tiger, stickers, postcards and hello kitty stuff. I love to scrapbook, wooden rubber stamps, love to go to thrift stores and yard sales. I love friendship books. I can trade postcards from Phoenix, Arizona. I hope that you will write. Thank you.
name : [email protected] : 33country : united kingdomAd : I’ve been pen palling for years at one stage had about 60 due to moving lost touch with quite a few. I’ve got about 30 now but could do with a few more. Would like to hear from other pen pals from all around the world. No men or prisoners. I like photography, going to concerts, walking my dogs, going to the cinema, watching TV, listening to music, I swap FBs either one time FB swaps or regular swaps also make FBs. I collect merchandise on my favorite band. I will write back regular as well. No hanging around. I also like the following cute stickers, disney or anything shiney, glitters, Hello Kitty, Diddl. I’m also getting in to Scrapbooking. I like cute Stationary. I don’t write huge longs letters but I can welcome them.
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PenPal and Swappers Ads
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name : liz crastenemail:[email protected] : 49country : usaAd : Hi from Liz Crasten in New York. I’m 49 years old, B.D. 12/13/61 and I’ve been snail-mail penpalling since February 1975. My hobbies include penpalling, swapping FBs and other envelope tuck-ins, reading, listening to country music, watching TV, going to the movies, renting DVDS, playing computer games and surfing the Internet. I’d love to correspond with long letter snail-mail gals near my age with similar interests in the USA, Canada, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South America, Guam, Guyana, Australia and New Zealand.
name : christina tilleryemail:[email protected] : 41country : usa arizonaAd : Hi I am a working mother to 3 kids ages 20, 16 and 11. I live in Arizona and work at a family doctor practice. I love pen palling and swapping Fbs. I am looking for pen pals that love snail mail, swaps
and a true friendship. I enjoy writing letters, reading, cats, online sweeps, traveling, music, surfing the net, and much more. Please email me for my address. My 11 yr old daughter would also like pen pals around her age.
name : subrata deyemail:[email protected] : 40country : indiaAd : I want penfriends worldwide. Also like to exchange mint stamps & un-circulated Bank-notes worldwide. Honest exchange partner wanted worldwide. I also publish an International Penfriend/Hobby/Mail Order magazine named ‘Global Contact’. Latest issue by Airmail for US$5 or EURO 5. Listing is FREE. Mailing address: SUBRATA DEY, OPP. IRRIGATION COLONY, RUBBER BAGAN, TEZPUR-784001, INDIA.
name : [email protected] : 42country : PakistanAd : Looking for nice friends from around the world.
name : [email protected] : 19country : ukAd : Hi all! I’m looking for pen-pals across Europe and America, also Japan too! I’m Ellie, I’m 19 and I live in Exeter in the UK! I’m fun, easygoing, quirky and eccentric, and I’m a devoted pen-pal! I love to make letters chatty and long, and I’d love to exchange small gifts along with letters! I’m looking for only female pen-pals, though, please! :) So just email me if you’re interested, and I’ll get back to you :)
name : nadja Paes [email protected] : 25country : brazilAd : Hi everyone! As you can see above my name is Nadja and I’m from Brazil. I have always penpalled and simply looove it (Im working on an article about how I started so you can all read!). I love swapping, reading and writting my own stories. Traveling is also something I eager to do more and more and I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to visit some of the most amazing places in Europe and the USA, but I don’t want to stop here! I look
for all kinds of people who would be willing to write me and have a meaning friendship with, exchange an occasional gift, card, photos and postcards. I don’t mind age or gender, though I must admit I normally feel more comfortable writing to women, but if you are a man interested only in friendship, then I could be a great penpal for you too. I speak portuguese, english and dutch, so feel free to write me in any of these languages! Write soon ;) Nadz
name : autumemail : [email protected] : 36country : usaAd : Hi I am a married 36 yr old mom of 5. I like penpaling, taking photos, reading romance novels, watching soccer & futbol, cooking, baking. Looking for female penpals around my age and of course moms, from overseas would be great to also find a spanish speaking mama out there too. Only females no men please.
name : dorieemail : [email protected]
age : 18country : hungaryAd : Hello~ I’m Dorie and I live in Hungary. I’ve been learning Japanese for 4 years, so apart from English, I’d be interested in writing letters in Japanese too. I love writing letters, sewing, drawing, reading books and watching Asian dramas. I’m also a big fan of language-learning. I’ve just graduated from highschool (I’m 18), I’m going to college in September, majoring international business. Can’t wait to have lots of cool penpals ;D
name : ashWin rameshemail : [email protected] : 19country : indiaAd : I am an animal lover, Painter, Photographer (product, fashion, nature & wildlife), Philatelist cum Numismatist..... Bird-watching, Wildlife conservation, Herpetology, Ornithology, Ichthyology, Photography, cartooning, Gymnastics are some of the things I am obsessed with. I do have special interest in Modern arts as-well as impression art, animals & wild-life, Clay modelling,
Sufi music (with néy), Archaeology, Music n Movies, cooking, Snail-mailing, and sports like Boxing, cricket, soccer, pool, chess, Black jack etc....n yeah, I live my life for the people who love me......n I hang around with them...24X7.... I love to have penpals who are real, open, Caring and Transparent (just like me). I am here for a long-lasting friendship. Penpals who quit after 2 or 3 mails are not welcome. I love to have healthy talks on almost all subjects. I befriend people of all age, sex, country, religion etc. In fact I am someone with a secular heart. Everybody up there I am the perfect dude you’ve been looking for. I promise that I’ll not make you regret your experience with me ;-).
name : jenniferemail : [email protected] : 35country : PeruAd : I am looking for female swappers I would l can send stamps, postcards, kawaii stuff, fb’s in return I would like kawaii stuff (sanrio, san-x, crux, kamio).
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PENPALLING CONNECTIONS:
Pen Pal bookC/O Kimberly Garigin3726 Green Pond RdGray Court, SC 29645One issue is $12 black or $18 color. Subscription for 4 issues is $20 black or $25 color. Its like buying two and get-ting two FREE. Comes out Jan. Apr. Jul. & Oct. I take Cash, checks & Money or-ders in my name. It is non-profit!! Pen Pal ads to be put in is FREE starting with Jan 2011. Business ads r 5 cents per word/symbols & count your name & address. Add $2 more for Canada or $4 more for Over seas. I use quick print to see the darker print its $4 per issue or $16 for 4 issues. No Inmates!!! For more information contact: Kimberly at [email protected]
PenPal directory and neWsletterHi! I am Tracy. I sell stationery address and stickers. I also have a penpal Directory and a newsletter. Take a look at my links if interestered. My new thing is making a catalog of all my designs:http://tracyscreationsstationary.shutterfly.com/http://addresslabels4sale.shutterfly.com/ For more information contact:Tracy Sanders, [email protected]
c-r-a-f-t-s (or crafts r a fantastic time stealer)http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/C-R-A-F-T-SA craft link ‘bucket’ with links organised by craft and sub-categories of Holidays or item.
l-i-n-k-s (or links in no kind (of) system)http://groups.yahoo.com/group/L-I-N-K-SAs for CRAFTS above but non-specific links (i.e. not recipes or crafts), organised by type.
live for lifehttp://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Live_for_LifeInfo on health issues, links to articles and recipes for diet specific illnesses and weightloss.
multicultural sWaP shoPhttp://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/MultiCultural_SwapShopSwap or get rid of stuff you don’t want. Sell handmade stuff.
Pgmt (or Postcard Pals groups management training)http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/PGMTLearn to be a moderator or manager of yahoo groups.
recycling is funhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/Recycling_is_Fun/
Hints and tips on throwing out less and re-using things.
Postcard Palshttp://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/PostcardPalsDespite the name we swap “anything which can legally be sent thru the mail”!
Pure Postcard Palshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pure_Postcard_Pals/Swaps of Postcards only.
uk_Pands_official group (uk Penpallers and swappers)http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/UK_PandS_Official_Group/This group is for UK based penpallers and swappers to swap within the UK only!
long letter ePistlershttp://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Long_Letter_Epistelers/Penpal group for LONG letters and occasional swaps.
little angel raokshttp://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Little_Angels_RAOKs/We fulfil flaked swaps, wishes and Random Acts of Kindness.
the cauldron bubbleshttp://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Cauldron_Bubbles/Pagan, Witchcraft, Wicca and mysticism with aromatherapy, herbology and a few other things thrown into the um… cauldron for good measure!!
r-e-c-i-P-e-s (or recipes eating cooking ingredients People and extraordinary sites)http://groups.yahoo.com/group/R-E-C-I-P-E-SLike CRAFTS above but for recipes, organised by occasions, type of ingredient etc.
WWfbdo (or Worldwide friendship booklets and decos only)http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/WWFBDOFriendship books, Decos, Label bags, and that genre of swapping
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PenPalling & letters:WWW.PenPallingandletters.blogsPot.com
find PenPalling & letters on facebook: httP://on.fb.me/PenPallingandletters
PenPalling and letters is a blog dedicated to corresPondence. you can find many interesting articles there together With Polls, so feel free to voice out your oPinion.
there is also a section With interesting links that you can folloW and learn more about the Wonderful hobby of PenPalling!
hello kristel and Welcome to PenPalling & letters! it is great you are visiting us today! maybe you’d like to tell us a bit about yourself and your PenPalling exPeriences?
Hello! I am Kristel, a 37 years old female living in Belgium as you already know! I started penpalling many years ago, about the age of twelve, I guess. In fact, it had been “suggested” by my language teacher to improve our learning of French. Further on, I started to learn English and German and I tried to get in touch with people who spoke those as native languages, too. As this was in pre-Internet times, it wasn’t always so easy. Some teenager magazines had a little ad section and it was most successful to put one ad myself, usually. After trying ads, I got to know Friendship Books through my American penpal; I put my name in it and I sent it back to her again, as none of my other pals used it, hehe! Years later I am still into FBs exchange, and I think it is still fun! Through Internet I have found different penpals who aren’t into swapping, but I don’t mind. I like those friends, too! I like to decorate my letters. I think it is nicer reading a cute paper than a blank one. My letters are handwritten and typed and I don’t mind typed letters from my penpals. In fact, I prefer typed when people have a difficult-to-read handwriting, if you know what I mean. I collect all sorts of cards (viewcards, greeting cards...) and special stamps worldwide. Once I made an account at Postcrossing, but I only used it a few times. Maybe
WafflestastingAAre you preparing your
summer holidays these days if located on the Northern Hemisphere? Perhaps you can do a little stop at Travelling around the World sharing Cultural
Heritage, Folklore and Background to be able to land in Western Europe. Three official languages are spoken in this land: Dutch, French and German and it shares borders
with France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. This country takes its name from the ancient Roman province called “Gallia Belgica”, in the northernmost part of
Gaul that, before Roman invasion, was inhabited by the Belgae. So, this is the name of the country we are visiting today, “Belgica” in Latin or Belgium in English, as we all know!
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sin the future I will be back to it... Sometimes I participate in Swap-Bot: you can find me there as kristel1974. So, you can say, I am first of all into the penpalling thing and I mostly swap things with people, depending on our interests. However, I don’t have e-mail penpals, as I do love the spirit of real letters!
And right now I would like to share two recipes with all of you. It is of my favourite sweet snack, which represents my country, too: Belgian Waffles!
The best way to make a basic Belgium waffle recipe is to use yeast. Yeast will make Belgian waffles fluffy, soft and yummy. You could also use baking powder or cake flour but you will get the best result with yeast. If you use yeast, then eat them when they are done - they are not that good the next day.
tools you’ll need to make Waffles:
- Iron waffle maker - Measuring cup and spoons - Whisk or hand mixer - Small sauce pan - Large mixing bowl and spoon - Heat safe spatula
ingredients:• Three 1/4 cups (1 lb. -
500g) all purpose flour• One sachet (7g) instant
dried yeast• Four medium eggs• Whole milk (you can
also add some sparkling mineral water and make them even fluffier)
• Two sticks (1/2 lb. - 250g) butter
• Vanilla sugar• Some salt
and noW, the directions to do the basic belgium Waffle reciPe are:
1. Take a cup of milk and heat it until it is warm. Then mix it in your yeast. You can now leave the yeast standing for a while.2. In the mean time melt the butter, but stop as soon as it melts. Don’t over heat it or even burn it as you will lose the taste.3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and beat the egg whites until you get snow.4. Now take a big giant huge bowl and throw in all the flour, vanilla sugar (one sachet) and some salt. Make a whole in the middle of the flour and fill it with melted butter, dissolved yeast and egg yolk.5. Mix while you are adding milk (and some mineral water if you want). You should mix it really well so there are no
lumps. The question you might ask yourself here it is how dense should the dough be and how much milk to use? It should be thick as you should think they are like pancakes.6. Gently mix the beaten egg whites into the dough.7. Leave the dough resting and rise at room temperature for a while. How long? Until the volume of the dough doubles or even triples! That is why a really big bowl is needed. If you are in a hurry then wait for thirty minutes to one hour, but if you can, make the waffle dough in the evening and leave it overnight.8. Use the oil to grease the waffle iron (which should be very hot) so your waffles don’t stick to it and pour the dough in it. Bake until they turn golden brown.
And the basic Belgium waffle is done! Now it is time to put the topping as they are strawberries, chocolate, sugar, honey, syrups, ice cream... whatever you can imagine which fits the waffle. Also decorate it as wished!
the tyPical brussels Waffles reciPe:
ingredients:
• One 1/2 oz. of yeast (40 gram)
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• One pint of tepid sparkling mineral water (4 dl)
• One lb of flour (500 gram)• A pinch of salt• One pint of tepid milk• Eight eggs• 1/2 lb of melted butter
the directions to do the brussels Waffles are:
1. Dissolve the yeast in tepid water.2. Shift the flour into a bowl and make a whole in the middle.3. Mix the dissolved yeast slowly with the flour, add the salt and the milk. 4. Add the egg yolks. 5. Whisk the egg whites and scoop them carefully with a slice through the tough.6. Cover the dough and leave it to rise until its volume has doubled (about 15 to 20 minutes).7. Use the oil to grease the waffle iron (which should be very hot) so your waffles don’t stick to it and pour the dough in it. 8. Bake them until they turn golden brown.
They are served with butter and vanillated sugar or powdered sugar. You need a bigger waffle iron for this variant. The light structure is due to the use of sparkling water. As topping you can use any of the elements told above. Also, use your imagination to decorate it!After so much hard work baking, it is time to enjoy some Belgian Waffles now!
Thanks for participating in Penpalling & Letters, Kristel! Let’s try your recipes in our homes to taste the typical Belgian waffles! Whenever you feel like participating again you are welcome to visit us again!If you are interested in reading more articles featuring characteristics of our homelands don’t forget to check: Travelling around the World sharing Cultural Heritage, Folklore and Background.I am always looking for people who would like to take part in this section of the Blog: Travelling around the World. If you would like to write about any aspects of your homeland don’t hesitate to contact me at:npallingandletters[at]gmail[dot]com and we will work on it!
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And, with those words, flight STS-135 kissed gravity goodbye.
I was two days short of being two months old when the first Space Shuttle launched. It was April 12th 1981, and she was manned by astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen. The Shuttle has never had an unmanned flight, which is a normal procedure for new craft so they really were making history. The first manned space flight of an untested vehicle. With it, the Space Shuttle carried the dreams of many, dreams which had only existed in science fiction.
Conceived long before man even stepped onto the Moon, the Space Shuttle has allowed us to expand our knowledge of the universe. Able to carry large payloads, it was thanks to this ingenious
machine that the Hubble Telescope and the International Space Station were able to be realised. Without it, we would never receive some of the mind-blowing and beautiful images which Hubble has sent back to Earth. Without it, we would not have been able to interplanetary explorers into space.
While Enterprise (named for the USS Enterprise from Star Trek) was only used for test flights within Earth’s atmosphere, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor completed 135 space flights between them. They’ve taken 355 astronauts into space since 1981 and have flown 870,000,000 kilometres. Each shuttle and its boosters have 2.5 million moving parts and, at take off, weigh a staggering 2.04 million kilogrammes. This final mission is carrying 3.5 tonnes (one year’s worth) of supplies to the International Space Station.
GOflight!
And the final lift off of Atlantis. On the shoulders of the Space Shuttle, America will continue the dream.
By Rach Gee
shuttle quick facts
shuttle fleet: Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavor cost of endeavor: $ 2.1 billion total Weight at lift-off: 2.04 million kg (4.5 million pounds) maximum Payload Weight: 26,786 kg (59,000 pounds)shuttle system length: 56.08 m (184 feet) orbiter length: 37.19 m (122 feet) orbiter Wingspan: 23.77 m (78 feet)shuttle system length: 56.08 m (184 feet) orbiter length: 37.19 m (122 feet) orbiter Wingspan: 23.77 m (78 feet) engines: 2 solid rocket boosters, 3 main engines, 2 orbital thrusters
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shuttle quick facts
solid rocket boosters: • 454,000 kg (1
million pounds) of propellant
• Each provides 1,194,020 kg (1315 tons) of thrust (sea level)
• Burn time - 2 minutes and 2 seconds
• Reusable main engines: • Utilize 547,524
kg (603 tons) of liquid oxygen and 91,708 kg (101 tons) of liquid hydrogen in external tank
• Each provides 154,360 kg (170 tons) of thrust (sea level)
• Burn time - 8 minutes
• Reusable orbital maneuvering system engines: • Each delivers
2,452 kg (2.7 tons) of thrust
• Hottest Skin Temperature on Re-entry: 1650 degrees C
• Electrical Power System: Fuel cells generating 7,000 - 12,000 watts
Other than Enterprise, the other five orbiters were named after famous ships.
Tragically there were two Shuttle disasters, resulting in the loss of fourteen lives. On January 28th 1986, Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after take off, while on February 1st 2003, Columbia disintegrated during re-entry. I remember watching the Columbia disaster as it happened
and the tales of how the crew could have still been alive as they fell to Earth haunt me to this day.
For me, the Shuttle has been a poignant piece of engineering as I grew up with it. Coming from an engineering family, it has a special place not just in my heart, but in the hearts of many of those I’m related to. As a kid, I remember dreaming about learning to fly the Shuttle and
see space for myself. I wanted to be there, sat atop what was essentially a very large bomb, waiting to be blasted to the outer reaches of our knowledge. I wanted to see if there really was life on the dark side of the Moon. I wanted to watch the sun set and then rise again. Most of all, I wanted to fulfil what has been the childhood dream of so many; to go to space.There is something amazing,
something astounding, about this fire-breathing creation which manages to leave the Earth’s gravitational pull and head for the stars. There’s something mind-blowing about a machine which, while carrying humans, can move at over 4 miles per second. I know that it’s been not just us who marvel as it hangs seemingly motionless in space, capturing breathtaking images of the Earth below it. An Earth which we wouldn’t have seen had it not been for one of mankind’s greatest creations. Some may call the mobile phone or the computer the pinnacle inventing and engineering but, without the Shuttle to take help take some of the satellites into space, you wouldn’t have that connectivity. Because of it, we have a world which is faster and far more beautiful than you can ever imagine. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at some of the stunning images
returned by astronauts and the Hubble telescope.And, on July 8th 2011, at 16.30 GMT the Space Shuttle Atlantis took off for the last time. As they departed after final checks, flight crews issued heart felt messages for the 30 years of service that the Shuttle program has given them. The words “Godspeed Atlantis” were heard over and over, while banners featuring the words “Best Wishes Atlantis” were seen hanging in the Space Center. I cried, and I’m proud to say that I did. It is most certainly the end of a very iconic era.hubble Photo galleryhttp://hubblesite.org/gallery/space shuttle mission Photoshttp://www.space.com/12104-10-amazing-space-shuttle-photos.htmlshuttle quick facts:http://www.frontiernet.net/~docbob/shuttle.htm
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Well from my perspective I have had a lot of family members that had been in prison and all they had was to sit there and write. Well, my Uncle Tommy who was in prison when I was a baby until I was 5 years old, wrote my mom and nanna all the time. We were real close. He got shot
when he got out of prison a few months later and for 8 years he lived paralyzed from the next down. July 13th was the day he died in 1997 I was 13 years old and I want to share a few parts of some song lyrics of his favorite songs as a small tribute if that’s ok.I am just taking snippets of certain songs and I will add who sings them also. (Here I am, on the road again
There I am, on the stageHere I go, playing star againThere I go, turn the page
Well you walk into a restaurant all strung out from the roadAnd you feel the eyes upon you as you’re shaking off the cold
You pretend it doesn’t bother you, but you just want to explode) ( Turn The Page- Bob Seger)
(One and only rebel child,From a family, meek and mild:My Mama seemed to know what lay in store.
Despite all my Sunday learning,Towards the bad, I kept on turning.‘Til Mama couldn’t hold me anymore.And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole.No-one could steer me right but Mama tried,
Mama tried.Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied.That leaves only me to blame ‘cos Mama tried.) (Mama Tried- Merle Haggard)
(Oh, mirror in the skyWhat is love?
s a m a n t h a ’ s Th o u g h T s
What do you really enjoy the most about penpalling? What is it about pen and paper and a simple stamp or so that makes us crazy about enjoying this hobby?
by samantha stroy
www.facebook.com/angelbaby916http://[email protected] book review blog I share with beauty britehttp://beeskneesreviews.blogspot.com
photo by manuela balocco
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Can the child within my heart rise above?Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides?Can I handle the seasons of my life?Well, I’ve been afraid of changing‘Cause I’ve built my life around youBut time makes you bolderChildren get olderI’m getting older too) (Landslide- Fleetwood Mac)
We had a good
relationship. He was my father figure, my best friend, like a brother, my life. I miss him so much.Anyways, penpalling goes back to earlier then the 1700’s when mail was delivered in sadlebags and horses carrying them. Maybe that is what makes it so interesting. The person you are writing to you don’t know and get to know and soon enough they become your best friends or maybe even family. There are
a selected few that I consider like sisters to me or best friends. So, how many letters do you write to someone before you open up and confide in them? Me, about 5 or unless I feel that I can confide in them sooner or having contact via phone or Facebook and get to know them better. You can always message me or follow my blog and answer my questions. What do
you think will make my column better? In August here and other parts of the states we have Hot August Nights where people show off old cars from the 1900’s or the 1950’s, lots of good food, dancing, music, poodle skirts, hair held up by a strand of ribbon, roller skating, lots of fun. My dad used to take me as a kid. Well, here is where I end. Hope you enjoyed my article.Love Always, Samantha Stroy
labels designs
www.antslabels.gr
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THE WORLD TRAVEL
In this series I intend to (briefly) visit each area of the UK working from North to South. If popular I will continue with other countries and
work our way around the world. Even if
you don’t collect postcards, to travel the countries from the comfort of your own home without the need for passports or the high cost of travel tickets will be interesting I’m sure....
By Paula [email protected]
WORLD HERITAGEWorld Heritage (UNESCO) sites play an important part in not only historical and geographical senses, but also for postcard traders it’s a ‘niche’ which a lot of us try to get at least one postcard from each place.
ironbridge gorge, shroPshire The Ironbridge Gorge is a deep gorge formed by the river Severn in Shropshire, England. Ironbridge Gorge became a World Heritage site in 1987. The area made a big contribution to the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. Pioneering industrialists like Abraham Darby, William Reynolds, Thomas Telford and John Wilkinson led to the Ironbridge Gorge becoming the most technologically advanced area in the world at the end of the 18th century. The eponymous Iron Bridge of 1779 still exists today - it was the first bridge in the world to be made of iron.Ironbridge contains all the elements that fueled the Industrial Revolution. Mines for the iron, coke for the blast furnaces,
sand for moulding cast iron, limestone to flux the slag in the blast-furnaces, and clay to make tiles and bricks, railways and rivers for transport. Plus men with ideas, and the ability to push those ideas to fruition. It was originally known as the Severn Gorge, but now takes its name from the famous Iron Bridge. The iron bridge was built to link the industrial town of Broseley with the smaller mining town of Madeley and the industrial centre of Coalbrookdale.It all started in Coalbrookdale with Abraham Darby’s invention of coke smelting for producing high quality iron. Broseley, Coalport and Jackfield, developed their own industries and made the whole the area a new industrial centre.The gorge was formed during the last ice age. Materials for industrial production had left
either been exposed or close to the surface. Coal,
iron ore, limestone and clay, were available for
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the manufacture of iron and porcelain . The deep, wide River Severn allowed easy transport to Bristol and the sea. Ironbridge Gorge developed around mining, iron and ceramics, but these industries have all disappeared from the area by today, and the gorge has returned to its peaceful pre-industrial days.The Iron Bridge Opened in 1781 to a design by
Shrewsbury architect Thomas Farnolls Pritchard and cast at the Coalbrookdale ironworks of Abraham Darby. In 1773, Thomas Pritchard suggested to a local ironmaster, John Wilkinson that a bridge made of cast iron could span the gorge. The volume of river traffic meant that a bridge with a single arch was necessary. Pritchard proposed a revolutionary
iron structure that would span 120ft.In 1775, Pritchard commissioned Abraham Darby III, an ironmaster from Coalbrookdale to cast and build the bridge. Darby carried the risk of overspending, and ended in debt for the rest of his life.The whole project was on a massive scale and embraced completely new technology. The bridge
was made of more than 800 castings. The largest parts were 70 ft long and weighed 5.25 tons. The construction method was based on woodworking joints like mortise and tenon, and blind dovetail joints. Bolts were used to fasten the half-ribs together at the crown of the arch.As early as 1784 there were reports of cracks in the Southern abutments
caused by ground movement. There were cracks in the cast iron which may have been casting cracks. These cracks were pinned with wrought iron straps.The miscreant southern stone abutment was demolished in 1802 and replaced by iron arches. The bridge was over-designed, and therefore very heavy. Designers learnt from Iron Bridge, and later bridges like as those built by Thomas Telford used much less cast iron. His cast iron arch bridge at Build was used less than half the weight for a greater span, but it did suffer from movement problems too, and was replaced in 1902. The cast iron bridge at Coalport built in 1818, is even lighter, and is still in use today.Iron Bridge’s foundations were strengthened in 1972 by the creation of a ferro-concrete counter arch under the river. The bridge was renovated again in 1999-2002.
the museum of the gorgeOn the bank of the Severn close to the Iron Bridge. Ten Museums spread along the valley beside the River Severn.
Tells you all about the Gorge. An audio-video presentation and scale model showing the area in Victorian times are among the exhibits.
enginuityIn Coalbrookdale on the same site as the Museum of Iron. Enginuity is an interactive design and technology centre telling you how things are made and how they work.
museum of iron & darby housesIn Coalbrookdale. On view is the original Darby furnace where he first used his coke fired iron smelter. Abraham Darby I’s discovery of the use of coke, rather than charcoal, to fuel blast furnaces, was one of the most important technological breakthrough’s ever discovered. Charcoal, even in prodigious quantities, could only fuel output of a few tons of iron a day which was made from timber, was the only source of fuel used by the iron industry, which had resulted in large areas of deforestation. In order to fuel a single blast-furnace that produces only a few
tons of iron each day, several tons of timber was needed each day. The coke fired process produced substantially more high-quality iron than traditional charcoal smelting. This process formed the basis of the industrial revolution.
blists hill victorian toWnA living outdoor museum where all the staff dress in period costume. You can visit restored Victorian buildings, shops, factories, schools.
the coalPort china museumThe former Coalport china works has now been converted into an exhibition area to display the National Collections of Caughley and Coalport china. D e m o n s t r a t i o n workshops and shop.
the tar tunnelA short distance from the China Museum, the tunnel is a source of natural bitumen.
jackfield tile museumDisplays of decorative tiles, geological exhibitions, workshops and shop.
broseley PiPeWorksRestored tobacco pipe-making works
blenheim Palace, World heritage site Blenheim Palace is located in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, a few miles north of Oxford. Uniquely is the only country house, in England, to hold the title “palace” that is not the seat of a bishop. Blenheim Palace is one of England’s greatest houses and was built between 1705 and completed about 1722. Its was originally built as a gift to the 1st Duke of Marlborough from a grateful british nation in recognition of his military victories against the French. However its construction became embroiled political infighting which led to the Duke of Marlborough’s exile, the fall from grace of his Duchess, and diminution of the reputation of the architect Sir John Vanbrugh. The palace is also notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.The plaque above the East gate gives the
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family’s view of palace’s construction:“Under the auspices of a munificent sovereign this house was built for John Duke of Marlborough and his Duchess Sarah, by Sir J Vanbrugh between the years 1705 and 1722. And the Royal Manor of Woodstock, together with a grant of £240,000 towards the building
of Blenheim, was given by Her Majesty Queen Anne and confirmed by act of parliament.”The truth is that the building of the palace was a minefield of political intrigue, with scheming on a Machiavellian scale by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough.John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, was born in Devon, to a family that
gentry rather than aristocracy. He joined the British army in 1667, and soon was promoted to colonel. In 1678 he married Sarah Jennings, and seven years later, on the accession of King James II, became Baron Churchill. On the accession of William III Churchill was further elevated
to Earl of Marlborough, a title which had become extinct in his mother’s family. Then during the War of the
Spanish Succession he gained series of military victories: Blenheim in 1704, Ramillies in 1706, Oudenarde in 1708,
and Malplaquet in 1709. By n e u t r a l i s i i n g the danger of French invasion of England, he became a national hero and was elevated to Dukedom of
Marlborough. His wife had become Queen Anne’s closest friend and confidante. And it was
Queen Anne who decided to gift Marlborough the former royal manor of Woodstock to site a new palace and Parliament voted a substantial sum of money towards its creation.However the relationship between Queen and Duchess later became strained and following a final quarrel in 1711, the money for the
construction of Blenheim ceased. The Marlboroughs were forced into exile abroad until they returned the day after the Queen’s death.The architect was a controversial choice. The Duchess was known to favour Sir Christopher Wren, famous for St Paul’s Cathedral. The Duke however, following a chance meeting with him, is said to have commissioned
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Sir John Vanbrugh. Vanbrugh was an untrained architect, who usually worked in conjunction with the trained and practical Nicholas Hawksmoor. The duo had recently completed the first stages of the
baroque Castle Howard. Marlborough had obviously been impressed by Castle Howard and wanted for something similar at Woodstock. However shortage of money led to problems for Vanburgh.- accusations of extravagance and impracticality of design. The Duchess of Marlborough, having been foiled in her wish to employ Wren criticised Vanbrugh on everything from design to taste The palace was eventually completed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, his friend and architectural associate.The precise responsibility for the funding of the new palace has always been a debatable. Queen Anne wanted the national hero to have a suitable home, but its the exact size and cost were never actually specified. A warrant dated 1705, signed by the parliamentary treasurer the Earl of Godolphin, appointed Vanbrugh as architect, and outlined his remit. This warrant did not mention Queen, or Crown. This error provided the escape clause for the state when the costs escalated. From the start funds were spasmodic. Queen
Anne paid some of them, but with growing reluctance, following her frequent quarrels with the Duchess. After their final argument in 1712, all state money ceased and work came to a halt. £45,000 was owing to workmen. The Marlboroughs were forced into exile on the continent, and did not return until after the Queen’s death in 1714.On their return the Duke, now 64, decided to complete the project at his own expense. In 1716 work re-started, but the project relied completely upon the limited means of the Duke himself. 1717 the Duke suffered a severe stroke, and the thrifty Duchess took control. The master craftsmen Vanburgh had used, such as Grinling Gibbons, refused to work for the lower rates paid by the Marlboroughs. Following the Duke’s death in 1722, completion of the Palace became the Duchess’s ambition. The Duchess finally completed the great house as a tribute to her late husband in 1722. Blenheim Palace is today open to the public, with an atmosphere still that of a large country house. Concerts and festivals are
staged in the palace and park. The Duke retains final control over all matters in the running of the palace, but has out-sourced to Sodexho Prestige, the commercial running of the house.The family still entertain in the state rooms, and dine on special occasions in the saloon, around the great silver centre piece depicting the 1st Duke of Marlborough on horseback. Blenheim Palace remains the tribute to the 1st Duke which both his wife and the architect Sir John Vanbrugh envisaged. Today a World Heritage Site, features to note areThe Great Hall. The ceiling, painted in 1716 by Sir James Thornhill shows Marlborough victorious, with his troops at Blenheim spread out for battle. Long, vaulted corridors running from the north and south sides of the Great Hall are typical of Vanbrugh. The staircase is concealed by the arcaded eastern wall. The complicated lock for the hall door was copied from a lock found on the gates of Warsaw. The Saloon. The state dining-room is used by the family once a year, on Christmas Day. The table is laid with a Minton service with silver gilt. The
silver centre piece shows Marlborough on horseback after the Battle of Blenheim. The murals and painted ceiling are by Louis Laguerre (1663 - 1721). The marble doorcases by Grinling Gibbons, the overdoors are emblazoned with the two-headed Eagle crest of the Duke of Marlborough as a Prince of the Roman Empire.The Long Library. Originally designed as a picture gallery, this 55 metre long room has a fine stucco ceiling. There are full length portraits of Queen Anne, King William III and the 1st Duke of Marlborough. Plus a magnificent Willis organ at the north end. Two marble sculptures of Marlborough and Queen Anne are also displayed here.The Formal Gardens. 9th Duke of Marlborough created the formal gardens in the 1920’s.The French landscape architect Achille Duchêne, redesigned the previous gardens to provide the Palace with the formal gardens seen today. Water Terraces, designed around the Bernini river-gods’ fountain; beautiful Italian Garden centering on the Mermaid Fountain designed by Waldo Story; the beautiful Secret Garden water features, bridges, ponds and streams.
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by beauty briteMy husband and I are addicted to the Caramel and Mocha frappes from McDonald’s and when I realized we were buying one at least once a day, I decided to look online for homemade recipes. I found one that I have been using for the past 4 weeks or so and love it! It’s really easy to make, although my homemade version isn’t as sweet as McDonald’s, I am happy with the taste!
I barely made it 4 days without a homemade mocha frappe because we were out of vanilla almond milk. I made myself my mocha frappe this afternoon and forgot how delicious it tastes! I am not sure how much money we are saving by making it at home, but I do know that I can have one anytime I want without leaving home and I can have as many as I want!If you are as addicted we are, I am posting the recipe below.
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caramel/mocha fraPPe reciPes
ingredients:½ cup strong coffee (I use cold-brewed coffee concentrate-recipe follows)½ cup milk (I use vanilla almond milk and it works fine, feel free to use any type of milk you have on hand)1 Tbsp chocolate syrup for mocha frappe; Hershey’s caramel ice cream topping for caramel frappeOptional: 2 tsp. sugar (you could probably omit this if you wanted, would save 15 calories)1 cup ice cubes
PreParation*Put into blender and blend until smooth. Top with whipped cream and drizzle with syrup.
* This coffee concentrate can be used in several coffee recipes that call for strong coffee, or mixed with equal parts water and heated to drink as regular coffee.
cold breW coffee concentrate ingredients1 Cup ground coffee32 ounce container (1 quart)Strainer, Large basket type coffee filters
PreParation *Place ground coffee in container, fill with cold water. Cover and let sit on kitchen counter for twelve to fifteen hours. Place strainer over large bowl and put coffee filter inside. Slowly pour over about half of the coffee and let sit until strained. Replace filter and repeat. Store coffee concentrate in fridge.
Addicted to McDonald’s Frappes!
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My Review:by beauty britewww.beautybrite.com
I first started working out in 2003 doing pilates three times a week and I still have my first yoga/pilates mat! Over the years, I stuck with pilates until I found another workout program called Turbo Jam! I have now upgraded to Turbo
Fire. Throughout the week, Turbo
Fire includes
a stretch, tone, and sculpting class which usually requires the use of a yoga mat. When I found Aurorae Yoga, I knew their product would be perfect for me! Their yoga mats are made with eco safe material, biodegradable, and phthalates free. Besides the beautiful bold colors of my yoga mat, I noticed that my mat doesn’t have that chemical smell that other mats have. I received the Northern Lights Yoga
Mat in Sunset (orange and yellow) and love the colors! They are so bright, uplifting, and positive to me. The extra length of my yoga mat is an added benefit too, especially during my long stretches that I don‘t have to worry about slipping off my mat! I may be short, but the extra length gives me the extra space to work with. The Northern Lights yoga
mat has a nice texture to it and is sticky enough to keep me grounded during each stretch and pose. The mat feels soft and thick enough to give me the extra cushion on my bottom for my toning and sculpting classes. The mat may be bigger than the average mat, but it’s light when rolled up! I just love it! You can find Aurorae Yoga on Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon.
AurorAe YogAreviewby beauty brite
Aurorae yoga mats include illuminating colors, focal point icon, extra long and extra thick yoga mats as well as yoga bags, and yoga accessories. Browse their best reviewed yoga mats, yoga bags and yoga accessories for all your yoga needs.
Our goal at Aurorae yoga company is to make your shopping experience pleasant and memorable. We want you to feel like you are amongst friends and to feel comfortable recommending our yoga company to others. Let us know what we can do for you and we will do our best
to meet or exceed your trust and support. We currently have the best yoga mat reviews on Amazon. We pride ourselves in our long yoga mats, thick yoga mats and highly reviewed yoga accessories. Our yoga mats reviews are some of the best on the web.
BIRTHDAY TWINS:
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august celebrity birthday tWinsBy rach gee
August is here but the summer is far from over! If your birthday falls in August, check our your birthday twins. And we wish you a very Happy Birthday and a happy new year to you! For more famous birthday twins, go to: www.famousbirthdays.com
1st August 1963 – Collio (Rapper)2nd August 1977 – Edward Furlong (Actor)3rd August 1950 – John Landis (Film Director)4th August 1961 – Barack Obama (44th US President)5th August 1930 – Neil Armstrong (First man on the moon)6th August 1928 – Andy Warhol (Artist)7th August 1884 – Billie Burke (Actress)8th August 1866 – Matthew Henson (Explorer)9th August 1968 – Gillian Anderson (Actress)10th August 1928 – Jimmy Dean (Singer)11th August 1953 – Hulk Hogan (Wrestler)12th August 1931 – William Goldman (Screenwriter)13th August 1930 – Don Ho (Entertainer)14th August 1966 – Halle Berry (Actress)15th August 1912 – Julia Child (Chef )16th August 1972 – Emily Robison (Singer)17th August 1892 – Mae West (Actress)18th August 1957 – Denis Leary (Comedian)19th August 1871 – Orville Wright (Inventor)20th August 1966 - “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott (Guitarist)21st August 1929 – X.J. Kennedy (Poet)22nd August 1920 – Ray Bradbury (Author)23rd August 1946 – Keith Moon (Drummer)24th August 1890 – Duke Kahanamoku (Surfer)25th August 1961 – Billy Ray Cyrus (Singer)26th August 1910 – Mother Teresa (Nun who cared for the poor and sick)27th August 1988 – Alexa Vega (Actress)28th August 1965 – Shania Twain (Singer)29th August 1958 – Michael Jackson (Singer)30th August 1982 – Andy Roddick (Tennis Player)31st August 1936 – Marva Collins (Teacher who encouraged children to excell)
birthday tWins! What’s more cool than finding someone Who shares the same birthday date With you? no matter hoW far aWay you live from one another an instant connection is made. on one and the same day, you Party together to celebrate your oWn sPecial day!
The Team of Sandbook.Net would like to
say a very Happy Birthday to:3rd August 1957, Caroline French from Australia11th August 1963, Teresa Uriarte from USA,13th August 1958, Alice Fenerty from New Zealand13th August 1957, Nancy from USA24th August 1974, Tonya Cassell from USA,27th August 1981, Alisa Evers - van Eck, Netherlands
29th August 1978, Jennifer from Mansfield, Ohio, USA
May you all have a wonderful day!
To join our birthday twin section, send us your birthday, name, country and email to our email: [email protected]
To contact any of our Birthday Twins, log onto our website and look at the Birthday Twin Section.
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NEXT ISSUE
coming out: sePtember 11, 2011
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What can I do to help with the magazine?
1) Promote us - tell your penpals and swappers about the magazine. 2) Give us feedback - by contacting us.3) become a Guest writer -contact us with your idea of an article. We need to make sure that the topic is still not taken by someone else. We don’t want to print out articles with similar content. There is no word count for the articles! There are no deadlines for submitting them! The ar-ticles are going to be published in whatever is-sue we are currently working on. If you decide to send any pictures with your article, you will need to have the rights to that image and the image needs to be with a minimal resolution of 800x600.
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