If you break the chain....

Harper, aged 4 1/2, recently received his first chain letter. According to the letter, if he sent a sheet of stickers to the person at the top of the list, added his name to the bottom of the list and sent it to 6 friends, he would receive 36...count 'em, folks!...sheets of stickers within 2 weeks.

I remember receiving chain letters as a child, long before ordinary people had access to photocopiers, so each copy of the letter had to be rewritten.It took forever to write those damn letters. But I never once considered not sending the letter on, because I was terrified by the sinister threats of what would happen if I broke the chain. 

In my twenties, I took part in a chain letter called the 'pretty panty exchange'.  I sent off 1 pair of undies, and was promised 36 pairs of undies in return. Now this was not like e-bay. They could not be very good condition or even new without tags. These had to be brand spanking. Sounded okay. The threat in this letter should have been "If you DON'T break the chain, you will most likely receive a whole bunch of G-strings (aka thongs) which you should never wear because they go up your bum (aka butt) and are frankly, uncomfortable." Lesson learned.

In the movie, Chain Letter, released last year, a maniac murders teens when they refuse to forward chain mail.Yikes!

Harper didn't receive any death threats with his chain letter. Nor did he receive any G-strings. (That would have been weird, no?) He had fun choosing who to send them to, signing the letters with his name, which he has just learnt to write, decorating the letters with stickers, and in one case covering the entire envelope with stickers, including the address and the stamp. I wished for a grown-up sticker club to take part in. Huzzah for the chain letter!

Frankie Goes to North Perth

Have you got the latest Frankie? Did you have to go and BUY it? How passe! Mine just landed in my mailbox, as if by magic.

Actually, my husband bought me a subscription to Frankie for my birthday. I think magazine subscriptions make wonderful presents. Because they're really a series of presents, throughout the year. Do you know someone who loves trashy gossip and fashion aka trashion? You could buy them a gift subscription to Grazie and that would be like giving them a present EVERY WEEK. And who wouldn't want a present every week? 

Or maybe you know someone who loves really really good books. You could buy them a subscription to The Paris Review. (My husband did this for me, when we first met, and he's faithfully renewed it every year. Did I mention that he is a truly excellent husband?) It's a quarterly journal, so they would have to wait so long between issues that they would forget all about it. And then it would be a marvellous surprise, which would make them think of you. And because it's really a very classy little number, they would start think of you as a classy little number (if they didn't already), and what's not to like about that?

When it comes to magazine subscriptions, there is something for everyone. So next time you need to buy a gift, get online, click, click, click and voila! Somebody's mailbox will be really really delighted again and again, all because of you. And won't that feel good?

One Killer Fish Pie

Have you ever sat down to write to someone and then been paralysed by the blank page? Maybe you just wanted to say something short and punchy. Pow!

that was one killer fish pie

or

sliding across your kitchen floor on that rug was the most fun I have had this year BAR NONE!

Sort of like a txt, but on paper. Keepable.

Designer Sarah Neuberger of The Small Object likes little notes with a predetermined amount of space to say how do you do, I love you to bits and see you soon. Not too much space that the task seems to soak up an hour trying to figure out how to fill up the space. Nope, just the right amount of space. The kind of space where you have to flip it over to write on and your enthusiasm is contagious. That’s the kind of note I want to send. These are it.

 

You can download the business-card sized template, print and pretty it up with some stamp action. These little matrioska dolls are pretty darn schweet. Or you could go crazy 8 bonkers and freestyle it. Yeah! You could just cut a piece of paper into little bits, and draw something at the top. Don't think about it too much. Jusdoit.

Pop-Up Excitement!

I just saw these beautiful 3D cards by Lovi over at Mr Sparrow. You can mail them just like any other flat, envelope-sized card and whoever you send them to can turn them into a beautiful hanging ornament. Pop-up excitement for grown-ups!

If you're not lucky enough to be able to visit Mr Sparrow, you can still get lucky at their online shop.

Musical Interlude: Simon & Garfunkel

My lovely friend Eliyos posted me a link to this classic Simon & Garfunkel song "Why Don't You Write Me?"

Why don't you write me? 

I'm out in the jungle, I'm hungry to hear you.

Send me a card, I am waiting so hard

Why don't you write me? 

A letter would brighten my loneliest evening.

Mail it today

Monday morning, sitting in the sun, 

Hoping and wishing for the mail to come.

Tuesday, never got a word, Wednesday, Thursday, ain't no sign, drank a half a bottle of iodine.

Friday, woe is me, gonna hang my body from the highest tree.

Why don't you write me?

How's that for a guilt trip? Do you have someone who you're really hanging out to hear from? You could try sharing this song with them. Send them the receipt for the bottle of iodine you bought, just so they know you mean business. I have a friend who's seriously overdue to send me a mixtape he allegedly made me (yes, Swifty, I'm talking about you).

Eliyos and I have been bantering on FB but I had been feeling the urge to write a full report of goings on. Alas, because he is such an international gadabout, I didn't have a current address for him. So I wrote him a very long and juicy email. Now, I'm the first to say that an email can't compare to a letter. No sirree. But, if it's a choice between an email or nothing at all, an email can occasionally pass muster.

Yes! I hereby give you permission to write someone an email instead of a letter, if you satisfy one or more of that following criteria:

1. You have your arm in plaster and can't hold a pen
2. You are down to your last 60 cents and would rather not spend it on a postage stamp
3. You absolutely know that you won't ever get around to writing to someone, even though you've had the best intentions and been thinking of them constantly

Are you at work right now? Are you supposed to be enaged in something productive? Well, I'm giving you a 'hall pass'. Stop whatever you're doing, and start writing an email to someone you love. They're out in the jungle; they're hungry to hear you. And you surely don't want them to hang their body from the highest tree...

Mexican Wave!

There's a saying that 'flattery will get you nowhere'. Well that's just plain hogwash if you ask me! Everyone loves to be told how simply super they are and a sincere compliment will always be appreciated. That's why I was so excited to find this free compliments poster at kind-over-matter.

You can download it and print it out and stick it up somewhere public. People can tear off a compliment and give it to someone they value. It's simply dreamy! I stuck one up on the noticeboard at my local shopping centre and one in the bathroom at work and I was thrilled to go back and discover that all the compliments had been taken within a couple of days. It made me so happy to think about all the compliments people were going to be getting.

You could double the fun by taking up my mailbox of joy challenge. Print a copy out, tear off one of the compliments and put it inside a letter/card for a loved one. When you send them the card or letter include the poster with the remaining compliments and ask them to do the same for someone they love. 11 compliments = 11 mailboxes of delight. It's a mexican wave of compliments! I'm bursting capsules at the thought of it.

Squashed Tomatoes and Stew

Happy birthday to you

Squashed tomatoes and stew

Bread and butter, in the gutter

Happy birthday to you!

Have you ever rung anyone up on their birthday and left them a birthday song like this? Or what about this one?

Happy birthday to you

You live at the zoo

You look like a monkey

And you smell like one too!

Okay, so maybe it's just me. But these variations on the great classic were the business when I was a kid. And I like having a trill into someone's voicemail on their birthday. But more than that, I like sending cards. 

Have you ever been guilty of the birthday Facebook post? Or the text message? Oh my golly gosh. Hearing you admit that breaks my heart a little bit. After all, what is a birthday for, if not for saying, I'm so happy you were born! My life just wouldn't be the same if you weren't in it. And how can you say those things by pressing buttons? You just can't!

Do you always mean to send a card but somehow things don't come together? Well, those days are over! Here's how:

Step 1: Put your loved ones' birthdays on your calendar, or in your phone, or on one of those birthday reminder websites.  Whatever works best for you. Get the reminders sent to you  a week or so before the birthday so you can make sure your card (and gift?) arrive on time.  

Step 2: Buy a bunch of stamps. Local and international, if, like me, you have those annoying jetsetting-type friends who live overseas, seemingly just for the purpose of making you envious of their fabulous intercontinental lifestyles.

Step 3: Keep a stack of cards handy. If you're crafty like a fox, you can make your own cards. Here's one I made recently:

If you're not even the slightest bit crafty, you can buy any one of 85 million or so cards, quicker than you can say Jack Robinson! Yes, my friends, I speak of online shopping. For something pretty and a little bit kooky, I love the cards at Oh My Cavalier.

Or for something irreverent and tongue-in-cheek you never need to look any further than Able and Game. 

 

So then, no more excuses now. Think of all those mailboxes of delight you'll be creating. Way to go!