a cool project that tests the limits of postal workers’ patience, one strange object at a time.

check the interview with the artist on wired magazine for some more insight on the project. a small preview:

Wired.com: You have previously published books of letters, for example one where you sent letters with odd ideas to authorities, like asking a Swedish municipality if it could host a North American Indian tribe. Why are you so fascinated by letters?
Ericson: Sending things is a fun way to communicate, and I love the seriousness in letters. I mean, you would never receive a lawsuit by e-mail. There is something about letters, especially nowadays when they are getting more and more rare, and we’re communicating in other ways instead.

every now and then, we get an email from a teacher thanking us postcrossing, and telling us about their own projects that use the site. it makes me super-super happy to know that somewhere out there, some kids are excited to be receiving postcards and learning about new cultures through them.

maybe some day the world will be a better place because these kids understand a bit about other cultures, can point the countries on a map and remember one or two things about them.

more about this happy class, here.

on monday i return to portugal for the christmas holidays, and i can’t wait to marvel at the blue, unphotoshoped skies of home. :)

lately, i’ve been obsessing over stationery. all kinds of small envelopes, writing tools, letter sets, stickers, postcards… i love them, i just can’t stop myself! i found a nice shop on fuzhou road called keyroad (very close to dunkin’ donuts) that is filled with korean goodness, and well, disaster ensued. some of the stuff in the picture is actually for a swap but the rest is just sitting here, waiting for an excuse to write a letter :)

speaking of recent korean discoveries, when browsing for video podcasts on itunes store, i found maangchi who makes cooking traditional korean food look fun! in small funny episodes, she will make you a master of kimchi or bibimbap. i can’t wait to try the egg side dishes, simple and yummy!

these 2nd world war “keep calm and carry on” postcards, a spin of the original poster. wise words.

so finally, after 1 year or so on the works (and the meter getting close to the “1 million postcards received” mark), there’s a fresh new face on postcrossing.com, and a ton of new features.

(congratulations!, maybe now we can enjoy a bit of free time? :P )

lately, p. and i have been talking a lot about bali, more exactly, about spending a week or so there, in the sunny beaches.

anything to take our thoughts away from this cold weather. i don’t know who told us shanghai would be cold and dry in the winter but so far, it hasn’t been true. there’s cold allright, but there’s also a sort of silly rain falling every now and then, just to keep the levels of humidity high enough. our stomach might have already adapted itself to the food but our body is still struggling to understand this permanently wet new weather, with little aches here and there…

anyway, i digress. what i wanted to say was that today i got this card, sent to me from a taiwanese girl living in malaysia who spent her new year in bali:

so bali again, gently sneaking into our lifes. sounds like a good omen. :)