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Post by allanorn on Apr 14, 2024 19:56:33 GMT
Used up the last of an A5 pad of paper for half of stormymorning's letter; had to switch to hotel paper to finish the letter. Looks like I'll use up the last of a sheet of ten-cent pears, and those rolls of washi might finally meet their demise tonight.
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Post by allanorn on Apr 12, 2024 2:35:01 GMT
Good grief! That's a bit of an increase.
Wonder if the review board will go with it as that is above inflation.
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Post by allanorn on Apr 3, 2024 14:57:10 GMT
I don't get a lot of opportunities to browse shops with good stationery locally, so what are your favorites? They can be anywhere in the world as long as they are actually brick-and-mortar shops, so nothing like JetPens, Goulet, or Jeff Bezos's Big Bazaar. If I'm in the area I'll try to make a stop in the following shops: Patrick & Co., San Francisco. Oblation Papers and Press, Portland, Oregon. Though I'm there more for the typewriters.... MUJI, various locations, for inexpensive paper and pens. Stylo in Montreal. (There are other places that are worth a visit too!) Mastnak in Vienna, Austria. (For postcards and pens, look no further than Mayr & Fessler which is by the State Opera House.)
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Post by allanorn on Apr 3, 2024 3:44:50 GMT
If I have slow months it's probably December, January, and May. I'm usually writing holiday cards in November and December, and if I'm participating in a February writing challenge I will slack off in January to rest up.
As for May, I usually take a two-week vacation during that time so my output usually goes down that month. I tend to make it up in postcards.
Summer writing varies with me as it depends on how good the weather is. In Southern California it can just be too nice to stay inside to write, so my output can suffer. If it's unusually warm, my writing may increase as I head into air-conditioned coffee shops, or get out of the apartment earlier in the day to write.
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Post by allanorn on Apr 3, 2024 3:37:51 GMT
I typically use lined paper (left-handed underwriter). Mead Writing Tablet in 6x9-inch works really well for me and it's inexpensive, plus I can use standard No. 6-3/4 envelopes. If I want to go more upscale I'll go with Clairefontaine Triomphe (unlined) or Rhodia (lined).
One thing I do when I'm in Europe and have space in the suitcase is buy A5 paper if I can find it at a decent price. I'll usually skip places like McPaper (Germany) but if I can find a good shop I'll stop in and browse. Brunnen Block is inexpensive and a go-to, though I've also had other success finding different various pads. There's some linen paper from a paper factory in Dresden that I really like, but I try to conserve on its use.
I have written letters on hotel stationery if it's around. It's near impossible in the USA to find these days in any usable size. I haven't had much luck with Accor-branded hotels or any US-based hotels in Europe, though I have a couple of sheets of A4 from a Holiday Inn Express in Zurich still around, plus a few pads of A5 from the long-gone Swissotel Zurich I picked up from an estate sale.
I generally don't buy stationery sets, but I'll pick up packs of note cards if they strike my interest. I need to use them though!
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Post by allanorn on Mar 23, 2024 1:43:46 GMT
The Contacts app on my phone is my primary address book but I use a Rolodex as a physical backup.
I won't add someone to either unless I've traded at least a couple of pieces of correspondence.
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Post by allanorn on Mar 18, 2024 18:01:29 GMT
One pad of A5 paper from a visit to the Bombardier airplane factory in Montreal finally bit the dust after twelve years; I wrote a number of letters on it over the past month. (It was a surprisingly large pad of paper.)
I have two rolls of washi tape (one MT, another of unknown provenance) that are in their death throes.
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Post by allanorn on Mar 14, 2024 17:13:47 GMT
motsamicaux and I had a PBM chess game going for a while. It lasted maybe a year. I was losing by a significant margin when we finally gave up I bought a couple of books on correspondence chess - one "how to get started", and the other is a history of games played and the US correspondence chess associations. I'll probably donate them to the local chess club unless someone wants them.
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Post by allanorn on Mar 13, 2024 16:00:13 GMT
I still haven't treated myself to any of the games. I'm not sure I'd have any room in many of my letters for it. I still have the ones I purchased. For me, it's about the time investment. I could probably do it now - but I would need someone willing to exchange letters this way and time to think about my responses. I would need to work on the part of my brain that handles creative writing a little before I could write letters in that way. On second thought, maybe doing a journal-based game first would get the creative juices flowing. I think it would be easier to do if I had about half as many correspondents as I do today.
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Post by allanorn on Mar 9, 2024 21:59:07 GMT
There's a "confessions" social media account where people submit via a google form, anonymously... one was about someone who, on visits to his grandfather, would eat jigsaw puzzle pieces. The grandfather didn't know and complained to the manufacturer about the missing pieces! There must be better ways of getting your daily intake of insoluble fiber. I’m just saying….
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Post by allanorn on Mar 1, 2024 15:35:00 GMT
Friends and enemies, don’t privatize your postal services.
Those price increases hurt.
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Post by allanorn on Jan 15, 2024 16:35:21 GMT
The sessions hosted by Montblanc are also recorded so you can click on "Past Sessions" and view the course if you can't make the live session.
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Post by allanorn on Dec 30, 2023 20:07:08 GMT
I've read a few books on correspondence but I don't think I've read anything from that list.
I've taken an interest to reading books on correspondence from famous people. "Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track" was about Richard Feynman's correspondence and I really liked that one. I know there's a book on JRR Tolkien's letters and another book on John LeCarre's letters, but they are both massive tomes.
I also have a book on the shelf about correspondence chess, specifically focusing on the organizations - but that's exceptionally niche and likely not of any interest to letter writers.
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Post by allanorn on Dec 23, 2023 22:21:16 GMT
I wouldn't think the use of personalized stationery was bourgie... I would think "ooh! fancy!" That being said, I also rather like Crane paper... It is kind of pricey though. I mean, if you are writing a letter with a multi-hundred (insert preferred unit of money here) pen, why not use fancy expensive personalized paper? I certainly enjoy writing on more expensive paper with a fountain pen. I usually don't, because I have a number of correspondents and the cost adds up on some of the really expensive papers like Crane or G.Lalo. 50 sheets of 32-lb. blank A4/letter runs $21 at Crane right now, not including shipping. 100 blank correspondence cards with matching envelopes is $120! Even Clairefontaine Triomphe or Rhodia can get expensive if I'm feeling verbose. My usual pens and inks are rather basic so I don't feel upgrading my paper is "worth it", but I'd do so if the situation called for it. I looked into some of the etiquette around personalized stationery: the accepted standard is to use personalized stationery only for the first page of a letter. This makes a lot of sense; not only is it cheaper but it's less annoying for a reader to see your name at the top of every page. I don't know that I would break out the personalized stuff for every letter though.
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Post by allanorn on Dec 10, 2023 16:34:10 GMT
One booklet of Snow Globes (2023) stamps used up plus another few for this year's holiday cards.
One roll of holiday washi tape bit the dust, then I pulled another one out and that died on the first half of an envelope!
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