EricB

Hello! My name's Eric, and I live in Connecticut with my wife and two cats. I found my way to swap-bot in 2013 after exchanging postcards through Postcrossing and looking for new ways to liven up our mailbox.

This Month (January 2022) - It's been a long time since I've updated! I've been off swapping postcards elsewhere but thought I'd try getting back into some of the swaps here that I enjoy so much. Since joining swap-bot, I've moved from Vermont down to Maryland and then up to Connecticut. I'm enjoying our area--lots of nice restaurants and beautiful hiking trails--but we'll see what the future holds!

If for any reason you haven't received a swap item from me, please let me know. I'm pretty conscientious and organized and would never flake. I always rate the day I receive a swap (unless I'm on a rare vacation), though I've been remiss in the past about rating down for swaps not received. In general, I enjoy sending at least as much as receiving swaps, so why penalize someone for missing out on the chance to send me a postcard or other swap item? Hasn't he/she suffered enough:) However, I know others may not have the same view, so I'm trying to stay on top of that. . .

Where to start... While working, I usually prefer to listen to music with lyrics in languages other than English, lots of French pop music, especially from the 1960s--Brigitte Bardot, Françoise Hardy.... Also albums that I know well enough to not be too distracted by them. Some favorite standbys are Aimee Mann, Freedy Johnston, and Ryan Adams. Otherwise I listen to a lot of indie rock, 60s rock, classical, world, and instrumental music. Favorites include (London) Suede, Billie Holiday, Fred Astaire, the Decemberists, Radiohead, Anais Mitchell...When I was little I'd listen to the Beatles constantly...

I first learned to read largely by following the adventures of Charlie Brown and Peanuts and grew up reading Signet Classic paperbacks--lots of Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, George Eliot, Dostoevsky, Mark Twain--and continued enjoying them even when I had to read them for school. I also got hooked on Lord of the Rings after a third grade teacher had me read The Hobbit in lieu of the reading textbook. Now I read a lot of nonfiction but have recently been reading a few novels by George Gissing that I never got to before during my Gissing Phase of 2008. I'm a sucker for history that reads like a novel.

Most of the movies I've seen the last few years are from 1950 and earlier. Favorites include Sunset Boulevard, Remember the Night, Pandora's Box, It, Metropolis, Piccadilly. . . I really enjoy getting to see silent films with live musical accompaniment. My wife and I are planning on going to a 1940s weekend next year. (She's been kindly knitting part of my wardrobe.)

Mostly, I watch old movies and baseball games (I'm an Orioles fan). I'm glad to be living in the Orioles tv area again, but I still end up listening to games or just reading about them more than watching them

I'm happy with pretty much any postcards (I usually just glance at the picture side anyway), though I especially like

• fun stamps
• your local area, landmarks, scenery
• ships, trains, planes
• black and white
• book-related, literary landmarks
• drawing, illustration
• maps
• science, education
• paintings
• vintage travel
• advertising
• films, actors (especially b&w/silent stars)
• musicians
• history, geography, or unusual places
• holidays, festivals
• text in other languages
• animals
• bread, baked goods, tea/coffee, other food and drink
• vintage

Oh, and of course, handmade ones. Especially if from outside the U.S., I'm always interested in whatever stamps you use. I used to collect stamps and postmarks when I was a boy, and now the stamps I buy are mostly to post and/or decorate mail I send out. I still find myself hoarding stamps but tell myself they'll all go out in the mail eventually...