Real Mail Week, Part 2: Hemingway, Che, and a Bagpiper Go Into a Post Office ...

It's International Real Mail Week! I decreed it so, even if I'm the only one observing it (I sent letters to 104 heads of state, but they all must've gotten lost in the mail ... which is mighty ironic, if you think about it). Yesterday was all about the epic Pantone Postcard Conspiracy that has been filling my mailbox for over a year. 

Today: More postcards. Here are some of my favorites, as many as would fit onto my coffee table (about a third to half of the cards I've received since the last postcard gallery update). 

Click for larger version.

Now, the main reason I love postcards is that they're art plus narrative in one compact package that you can hold, feel, put on your refrigerator, or arrange on your coffee table. Beyond that, though--and I'm gonna get all writer-nerd on you here--I also love how they force you to tell a story succinctly and even give you a writing prompt on the other side. I particularly enjoy sending postcards from places OTHER than what's on the front, and then tying that image into my commentary on the real things I'm seeing around me. But then, I'm weird.



Also, I am a writer and a tad obsessed with finding stories and Intrinsic Oddness everywhere. As I was arranging these postcards on the coffee table, I amused myself by looking for narrative threads that tied the images together. As I type this, I find myself doing the same. What story involves Gaudi architecture and mosquitos and a bathtub full of ukuleles?

Or what joke begins, "So Ernest Hemingway, Che Guevara [just below and to the left of Papa H.], and a bagpiper walk into a bar in Savannah ..."?

Actually, let's do this. For real. Tell you what: if you can finish that joke, and have a reasonably funny punchline--or do the same using the images of at least four of the above postcards--I'll mail you a signed copy of my book. Your choice of languages: English or Chinese. International shipping included. If there are multiple entries, I'll pick my favorite(s).

Tomorrow, we'll get into the some of the most creative letters and packages I've received. There's some pretty stellar stuff here. Preview: