PinkPengin

Profile last updated/reviewed: June 29, 2024

June/July 2024 update: Hi, Swap-bot pals. I just had surgery on my left (dominant) hand/wrist and elbow and so cannot write for a bit. I had a bunch of swaps prepped and my wife is mailing those out for me, but I'm not joining new ones at this time. And, please be patient with me on ratings, as I can only "do computer" for a little at a time. I believe I am caught up on all ratings for things I've received up til today, but anything new that comes may take a few days.

After I heal from this surgery, I'll be having my right elbow and hand worked on, so I expect to be a bit quiet for most of the summer. I cannot wait to be through with all of this!

February 2024 update: Well, this is a first - I was rated a 1 in February 2024 by a swapper for a swap in July/August 2023 that I followed up on after not being rated after more than a month.

At that time, I received confirmation that they received and liked the card, as seen here:

I've tried contacting the swapper; I contacted Swap-bot Admin; and I have been in touch with some group owners regarding upcoming swaps and ratings requirements. But, if you were expecting me to join an ongoing swap series outside of a group and it has a 5.0 rating requirement, unfortunately I cannot until I get this resolved! I'm very sorry and hoping it was a mistake that gets corrected shortly.

Hi! I'm Joan, a 41-year-old nonbinary person (they/them) living in Florence, Arizona, USA, with 3 other humans and a stunning number of cats. I've been doing postcard and greeting card exchanges through Postcrossing (where I'm jconcilio), Reddit (primarily r/randomactsofcards, where I'm also PinkPengin just like here), Instagram, Facebook and private swapping since 2021 and have sent more than 2,500 cards between all those. I've recently gotten into swapping stamps, junk journals and other fun ephemera-type stuff as well, largely thanks to Swap-bot.

I love penguins, and my wife and I run a small nonprofit called Pengins for Everyone that gives away plush penguin friends (or, as we say, "pengins") to people who need a pick-me-up. We've given away about 1,300 since 2017.

I am happy with almost anything other than the few things listed in "Prefer to Avoid" below. But, if you want to extra-much make my day...

Colors: All shades of blues, teals, purples and grays

Animals: Penguins (!!!), owls, cats, capybaras, snails

Themes/interests/hobbies: Stuffed animals, anything rainbow or Pride-themed (my whole family is super-queer, and I am nonbinary so I especially love enby stuff), cute monsters, cute robots, the beach/ocean, tarot, abstract art, anything bright-colored, martial arts, jigsaw puzzles, logic puzzles/crosswords/sudoku, things that are neat and well-organized, interesting postage stamps and stamp-based art

Stuff I watch/listen to/read: Ted Lasso, Below Deck, David Byrne/Talking Heads, Meow Wolf, Winnie the Pooh, Wreck-It Ralph, Studio Ghibli (especially Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro), all kinds of books (especially YA and queer romance/lesfic)

Postcards I'm particularly extra-interested in: Anything from Hoogerheide (a small village in the Netherlands); anything related to Australia, Nigeria, or Pennsylvania (the US state); Blue Cats, LouPaper, Raspberry Paper and Blue December Art cards; Tausendschön; maxicards; World's Fair-related items; obviously penguin cards; anything tied to my other interests listed above

Stamps I'm particularly extra-interested in: Any that have penguins (I'm a proud member of the Penguins on Stamps Study Unit of the American Topical Association, which is probably the geekiest thing I've ever written), cats (domestic or wild), rainbows, Pride/LGBTQIA+ themes or queer people, World's Fair, computers, math themes, bacteria/viruses/microscopic imagery

Anything religious; anything fragranced or that smells like smoke; loose glitter or confetti; horror or gore; clowns; babies; the word "moist"; anything too feminine; I especially don't really prefer pink, despite the username (my namesake "Pink Pengin" plush friend is actually purple, ask me about that, LOL)

I love swapping, and I have never flaked on a swap, or sent one late.

As such: If you do not receive a swap from me 2 weeks after the deadline (if you're in the US) or 4 weeks after (if you're in other countries), please let me know and I will gladly resend.

I do not go tracking down ratings, so if you don't rate, I am not going to assume, "Oh, they must not have gotten it," I am assuming that, like most of us, life got busy and you needed to focus on in-person people and commitments and not the random nonbinary penguin-lover who mailed you that whatever-it-was!

I do rate every card I receive as promptly as I can, but due to regular travel, you may not get rated the day or even the week your card shows up in my mailbox. I do commit to posting in the "what's new" section of this profile if I will be gone and not picking up mail for more than a few days, so that senders will know!

Also, as long as what you send me isn't, like, actively hateful, you're going to get a heart. Arrives 3 months after the send date from the next town over? Heart. Ugliest card in your collection but it wasn't an ugly card swap? Heart. Didn't feel like writing anything but the swap name today so you threw some old, completely-unrelated-to-anything-I-like stickers on it and called it good? Heart.

I like all mail. All mail makes me happy. I don't like telling people that their mail didn't make me quite as happy as the next person's. I don't expect anyone else to use this system, but I do want to be clear that you don't have to do anything special to "earn" a heart from me. I just love you for taking the time and the cost of postage to send me something other than a bill.