TonyInAtlanta

I have been writing friends and family since I was a kid. But, since they have nearly all moved to email or Facebook or texting, I miss the good ol' art of handwritten cards and letters. I guess it all started when my mother would take my sister and me in tow with her to the local Hallmark store. While we waited for her to make her selections, there was nothing else to do but quietly browse and read the cards displayed. I am pretty sure this is where the seed of my love of cards began. Before the advent of email, it was all about sending and receiving mail. Waiting for the postman and checking to see if there was anything with my name on it. And collecting stamps. I joined every one of those stamp ordering clubs back then and spent my hard-earned newspaper route money on whatever I could afford. To this day, I get a little jolt of excited anticipation when a mail truck drives on my street or I spy the latest commemoratives on display in the Post Office. That's my tale. What's yours?

Adele, Alice Smith, Amy Winehouse, Annie Lennox, Aretha Franklin, Bananarama, Barenaked Ladies, Black Eyed Peas, Bruno Mars, Chemical Brothers, Christina Aguilera, Chuck Berry, Coury Palermo, Creatures, Crystal Bowersox, Cyndi Lauper, Darren Criss, David Bowie, David Cook, Dead Can Dance, Depeche Mode, Devo, Dolly Parton, Enrique Iglesias, Enya, Etta James, Florence and the Machine, Freddie Mercury, Garbage, Greyson Chance, Harry Connick, Jr., Il Divo, Imogen Heap, James Alan, James Blake, Jewel, Joe King Carrasco, Katy Perry, Kristin Chenoweth, Lady Gaga, Leonard Nimoy, Liz Longley, Madonna, Mano Negra, Manu Chao, Maroon 5, Moby, moloko, My First Earthquake, Nine Inch Nails, Of Monsters and Men, OK Go, Ozomatli, Pink, Queen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ricky Martin, Sade, Shakira, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Steve Ouimette, Styx, Sufjan Stevens, Talking Heads, The B-52’s, The Beatles, The Carpenters, The Cars, The Chemical Brothers, The Cranes, The Cure, The Doors, The Monkees, They Might Be Giants, Tish Hinojosa, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Vino-Tinto, “Weird Al” Yankovic and many more.

A Wrinkle In Time; Dragonriders of Pern; Where the Sidewalk Ends; The Giving Tree; any Far Side comic books; Stranger In a Strange Land; Foundation; Where the Wild Things Are

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence; Airplane!; Alien; Andromeda Strain; Blazing Saddles; Boogie Nights; Breakfast Club; Christine; Creepshow; Dogma; Dune; Fight Club; Gattaca; Logan's Run; Memento; Noises Off!; Pet Sematary; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Planet of the Apes (all original movies); Raiders of the Lost Ark; Risky Business; Rocky Horror Picture Show; Sixth Sense; Star Trek movies (the newest remakes); The Fifth Element; The Game; The Matrix; The Stand; The Truman Show; Twelve Monkeys; Westworld; Young Frankenstein

Alice; All In The Family; Archer; Arrested Development; Bar Rescue; Barney Miller; Battlestar Gallactica; Bewitched; Big Brother; Breaking Bad; Caprica; Designing Women; Dexter; Doctor Who; Dr. Who; Family Guy; Fantasy Island; Fawlty Towers; Firefly; Firefly; Frasier; Fringe; Game of Thrones; Giligan's Island; Golden Girls; Heroes; Hill Street Blues; House of Cards; I Dream of Genie; Jeopardy; Justified; Keeping Up Appearances; Kitchen Nightmares; Laugh In; Lost; Mad Men; Mama's Family; Mission Impossible; Monty Python; Mork & Mindy; Mythbusters; , My Three Sons; Newhart; News Radio; Northern Exposure; One Day at a Time; Oz; Prison Break; Quantum Leap; Quantum Leap; Reno 911; Seinfeld; Six Feet Under; Sliders; SOAP; Space: 1999; Star Trek: Enterprise; Star Trek: OS; Star Trek: TNG; Star Trek: Voyager; Survivor; Taxi; Terra Nova; The Big Band Theory; The Bob Newhart Show; , The Brady Bunch; The Carol Burnett Show; The Colbert Report; The Daily Show; The Flintstones; The Gong Show; The Good Wife; The Mary Tyler Moore Show; The Odd Couple; The Office; The Sopranos; The Walking Dead; The West Wing; Third Rock From the Sun; , Twin Peaks; V; Weeds; Whose Line Is It Anyway?; Will & Grace; You're Being Served

• clean jokes that I can repeat to my nieces and nephews
• clever word puzzles
• board games (UNO, Risk, Stratego, SceneIt!, CatchPhrase)
• puns and other word play
• postcards with scenic photos that portray the best of the locale
• comic strips or panels (Non Sequiter, Foxtrot, Calvin & Hobbes, Dilbert, Far Side, Peanuts, Close To Home, Brevity, The Argyle Sweater, Rubes, Maxine, Some Ecards, The New Yorker, Kliban, Life In Hell, Barták)
• Stand-up comics and improv comedy
• photos of beloved dogs and babies
• rollercoasters
• aerial views
• trying new family recipes
• Shel Silverstein
• sci-fi
• inspirational quotes
• dystopian movie/TV show plots or themes
• one-pot recipes
• Bed Bath and Beyond 20% Off coupons (even if expired)
• homemade Christmas tree ornaments. I hosted a Christmas Tree decorating contest the first year I had a tree up in my own place. Guests each brought something to hang on the tree. Over 20 years later, I still have their ornaments!
• unique Christmas songs or fun covers of classics

I see that some swaps utilize a wish list. As I am new, my wish list may be very ho-hum boring. But, it's mine. =)

▄ Washi tape. (I had never heard of it until I joined here in August 2013. So, I am way behind y'all in stocking up on this magical tape. - grin) ▄ Bandz. (Those colorful rubber bands that retain the shape of an animal or object. My nieces and nephews love those.) ▄ Sheet Protectors. (The 3-hole punched kind where you can slide a page in for frequent reference.) ▄ Christmas tree ornaments. ▄ Day-At-A-Time desktop calendars (Comic strips or single panel comics are best.) ▄ Unused or lightly cancelled postage stamps. ▄ Post-It note pads in unique shapes and/or colors. ▄ Chess boards. ▄ Well-preserved dried flower arrangements or small topiary type plants that can sit on a shelf for decoration. ▄ Magnetic picture frames. ▄ Staples EASY buttons. ▄ Lint-free clothes for wiping glasses or monitor lenses. ▄ Legos (for the nieces and nephews) ▄ Decks of playing cards including UNO. ▄ Dice. ▄ Votivo brand scented candles or traveling tins candles. ▄ Febreze Car Vent Clips (any scent) ▄ Febreze Home Collection Flameless Luminary Refill Shades (any scent) ▄ Craft bar soaps (surprise me!) ▄ New or gently used childrens' books (to stock the kids' bookcase) ▄ Any Scott's Stamp Catalogs ▄ Paper CD Envelopes (new or gently used) ▄ Red, green, blue or purple Sharpie pens - any thickness. ▄ MAD Magazines or paperbacks. ▄ Anything Far Side or Dilbert.

I think giving ♥s is how we can help each other distinguish between the good swappers and the grrrrreat swappers. So, I do think carefully when I give a rating to make sure heart-deserving swaps are rated that way.

If you don't receive a swap from me, please contact me. Postcards are small. They can get mixed up in mail en route. They can be easily damaged. I will always resend if something doesn't make it. And, if you eventually receive both postcards, just promise to pay it forward in your next swap with someone. =)