riftvegan

Yay Vegan! Being vegan is the best and most important thing about me! I love being vegan!

I'm a reader: science fiction, animal fiction, mainstream, and random non-fiction: mostly science and nature, and some autobiographies.

I keep a paper journal. And a blog, occasionally.

I'm a photographer and I print my photos up as postcards.

I enjoy art in many forms. Mail Art is awesome... And I especially love handmade cards and postcards!

∞ Photography My focus is urban wildlife. I go for walks every weekend and take pictures of nature; I love trees, birds, flowers and any kinds of animals that I find, including a wide variety of bugs! Photography is definitely my passion, and I love sharing my photos with the world as postcards...

∞ Postcards I've been involved in a (5 card) monthly postcard exchange since July 2008. It's mostly defunct, but it got me started! Now I send out 100 to 150 postcards every month! I use desktop publishing software to turn my photos into postcards, which I print at home on a (very temperamental) high-end printer.

∞ Gardening I'm a terrible gardener, but I still end up with more cherry tomatoes than I can eat! I'm mostly there for the photo opportunities. ;)

∞ Drawing I started a daily drawing project at the end of 2019, and I'm still at it now in 2021! For the most part, I sketch birds or animals in pencil on ATC sized paper. I'm not sure I'm getting any better, but I'm proud of my collection!

∞ Rarely: Crochet, Book Making, Making Bookmarks

I don't watch much tv, but there are a few shows I like... Doctor Who (I love the new, but it all started with the old!), and I'll watch Firefly over and over!

Movies: Legend (the one with Unicorns!), LadyHawke, The NeverEnding Story, Ever After, The Secret Life of Pets, Serenity

∞ 2022 Feb/March... It's starting out to be the Year of the Hawks! For a while I was seeing a hawk or two most every time I go out walking!! Mostly Red Shoulder Hawks, but I've also seen a couple Red Tail Hawks and even two Cooper Hawks!! Not hawks, but still exciting: a juvenile Bald Eagle and a Turkey Vulture!

∞ 2021 It's taken a while to figure out who this year's critter is, but the Raccoons have definitely made an appearance in my l life!! 🦝🦝 It has been years since I've seen raccoons down at the little creek. But now we have a family of 4 kids (or 5?) who hang out near their den about 1/2 mile away. and there's a pair with one partner missing a tail (??!) And then there's just random sightings, not sure who they are, except they make me happy! :)

∞ 2020 Last year was my Year of the Lady Bug... and this year, seems to be the Year of the Roly-Poly! (also called Pill Bugs!) When they sense danger, they roll up into a sphere... if only humans could do that. Instead we are stuck with masks and social distancing!

∞ 2019 🐞 I keep coming across Lady Bugs! They are a symbol of good luck, and I need it. :)

∞ Postcards and Notecards I'd love to receive nature, animals or art. But I'm not picky! I just like to get mail: send me anything, and then write something interesting in the text block! :) Also love handmade postcards and cards!

∞ Other than Nature and Animals, I am also interested in * Ocean themes * Skies, Clouds and Rainbows * Astronomy, Star Gazing and Outer Space themes

∞ Animals I truly love all animals, even bugs, but here are a few of my most favorite! Bumble Bees & Beetles, Chickens & Turkeys, Crows, Dolphins, Elephants, Equines, Foxes, Frogs, Guinea Pigs, Humpback Whales, Mice & Rats, Octopuses, Raccoons, Sea Horses, Squirrels!

Oh my gosh, I love to read! I also love to buy books, both dead-tree books and Kindle books! I tend to buy more than I have time to read. The words I live by: I can't die until I've read all my books! ;)

I enjoy reading science fiction, but lately I'm reading a lot of non-fiction. I love to read about nature and animals. And also an autobiography here and there.

Favorites in Random Order:

• Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
• Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis Series
• The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
• Ancillary Justice and the Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie
• Anything by James Tiptree, Jr
• I think To Kill A Mockingbird is the perfect novel
• I seek out winners of the Burroughs Medal (nature writing), the Tiptree Award (gender identity), and occasionally Hugo and Nebula winners.
• Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men This is such an important and informative book, I think Everyone should read it! And fortunately there's an easy solution to all the problems listed... more women in leadership positions, and more men Listening to women!
• 2021 addition... Murderbot!!!

crochet amigurumi

stamp carving

drawing and colouring my own postcards

Yay, Mailbox Joy! I love to create and send mail! I enjoy sharing my nature photography as postcards and notecards. I like to read profiles and figure out what I have that will make my mailing partner happy. I enjoy challenging myself occasionally with different kinds of swaps.

∞ 500 Swaps!

500 Swaps completed on 28 April 2019

750 Swaps on 30 August 2021

∞ 1000 Swaps!

1000 Swaps completed on 30 January 2024 with an email swap for bird photos! How appropriate!

Whee! And I can't wait for the next 1000!!

∞ Hosting

All of the swaps I create are International and Newbie Friendly. Both of these things are important to me, and I'm especially passionate about International swaps.