Monday, April 1, 2013

Addresses

Happy First Day of the A-Z! :)

I'm going to start my Snail Mail themed challenge off with a few words about mailing addresses- how I have gotten them from pen pals, how I handle my own, etc.

Internet Databases
First, the LetterMo event in February was just spectacular!  I made so many new friends, reconnected with old ones, and generally had a ball.  By participating in LetterMo and logging into the forums as a member, I could find pages and pages of biographies with addresses of people to write to.  The rules are the same as any other social setting: only post your personal info if you are comfortable with people seeing it and using it to write to you.  Some participants didn't want to post their stuff for the world to see, so we had the option of sending them a friend request and private message first to introduce ourselves.

LetterMo introduced me to the use of a site called Postable.  It's completely secure and encrypted.  You send a link which takes whomever to a short form.  They fill in the info and TA DAA!  Now you can send out Christmas cards, graduation/wedding/birthday/your cat's baptism/Marvel comic book reading party/whatever invitations with ease!  I really love mine and it has been super useful.

Another online tool I have used to meet pen pals is a site called Maarten's Snail Mail Pen Pals Online.  I found it around 2 years ago.  Again, people can list their info if they want to, or they can ask that prospective pen pals email them personally for it first.  I have sent and received some of the most fantastic letters to people from this site.  You can search for pen pals by age, gender, country or state.  The site is updated every few weeks with new and current listings.

Street Address VS P.O. Box
I've been pondering whether I should change over to a Post Office Box for all of my letter writing, instead of my street address.  There is added security in a P.O. Box, as people can't just Google Map it and start knocking on your front door one day.  But to the rest of the world who hopefully aren't weirdo stalkers live really far away, I think a street address is like a little snapshot of you and your corner of the globe and is therefore more fun than a P.O. Box.  I don't know.  I DO know that I tend to over-think things way too often, and this is probably one of those times/things, but I just can't seem to make up my mind.  What's your opinion, fellow bloggers?  To P.O. Box, or not to P.O. Box??

Posting Photos (especially concerning other people's addresses)
One thing that has come up often in discussion among those of us who not only Snail Mail, but then Blog about said snail mailing, is that if you are going to post photos of your incoming and outgoing mail, even if you care nothing about hiding your own address for privacy, for Pete's sake, hide the other person's info!  Some of us cover over the addresses with a scrap of paper, others take the photo before adding the info, and still others use image editing software to cover the addresses.  I do the last one, like so:


Other Fun Address Stuff
Two of the longest street names in the world:
Bolderwood Arboretum Ornamental Drive, in the UK
Northeast Kentucky Industrial Parkway, in Kentucky, US

Arguably the longest town name in the world:
Llanfairpwllgwynllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, in Wales

Two "longest place names" of the world (as found here):
Tetaumatawhakatangihangakouauaotamateaurehaeaturipukapihimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuaakitanarahu, a hill in New Zealand

Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokphopnopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharnamornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit, the official (native) full name of Bangkok

Whether your address is an Avenue, Street, Boulevard, Road, Route, Drive or anything in between, I think it's simply amazing that a letter gets from one place in the world, to the intended recipient- very often on the other side of this planet we call home!  I'm not even sure what's the furthest away I have gotten a letter from.  Probably Australia.  But I've received some from China and Hungary too!  What's the furthest away you've ever gotten mail from, readers?

18 comments:

  1. Hello lovely-
    I do like to have a personal address from my penpals- mainly because they are so far away, like you said I can get a snapshot of their lives
    I would never post my address online though...
    The furthest? You and China I think. I love receiving and this year, my sending is going to be much better than last year!!!
    Lxxx

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    1. Hi, Sweet! I know, right? It's like why would you direct long distance friends to a government building rather than a warm welcome at your front door?? Although, I guess that may have worked much better in, say, the 1950s rather than in today's mental society!

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  2. I'm not sure if New Zealand or Malta is farther away, but I got letters from both places, as well as Australia and Germany! I enjoyed the Month of Letters and made some new friends, too.

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  3. I've gotten mail from both Denmark, and India lately. Bought myself a new pad of paper last week, as I've got a letter to write THIS week! Happy Monday, Jenny - Tanya

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  4. Letter writing is, truly, a lost art. Nice to see people are still doing it, even in this electronic age :)

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  5. Great post. I love your A-Z theme and will be checking back often. I think the letter that came the farthest to reach me was from Doha, Qatar, when I had a friend living there.

    Jenny at Choice City Native

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    1. Wow, Qatar! Happy A-Z from one Jenny to another! :)

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  6. I might totally have to look into Postable. I love sending fun little snail mail surprises to friends and family. I look forward to your theme this month and hope I pick up a few neat tricks. Have fun and be seeing you around!

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    1. Welcome! Jumping on the "I now have a Postable" bandwagon during LetterMo definitely made me feel like one of the cool kids. LOL!

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  7. Just recently I received a package from Italy (I'm in California) for The Traveling Yellow Skirt post.

    I am still a fan of snail mail and send cards and/or letters at least once a month.

    Popped in from the AtoZ Challenge.

    thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com

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  8. I haven't thought about the joy of letters in years. The furthest away place I've gotten a letter from is Australia while living in Oregon. I'm really glad I don't live on Bolderwood Arboretum Ornamental Drive, in the UK
    Northeast Kentucky Industrial Parkway!

    Donna at Donna's New Day

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    1. I know, right! Think about how crowded the return address labels would be! :)

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  9. Wow, so glad I dropped by. Firstly, learned so many new 'long' places and 'new' websites to connect. Secondly went down memory lane with snail mail. Thank you.

    The furthest I've received mail from would be Canada/US considering I live in India. Email has made everything so convenient but at times I really do miss the scent of freshly delivered mail. Great post!

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    1. Welcome! There really isn't anything like a letter on paper to make a person's day, is there? :) Thanks for visiting!

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  10. I love all of these ideas. I love snail mail, but I'm so bad about making myself go to the post office. Lately though I've been trying to get better about at least sending birthday cards. :-)

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  11. I used to correspond with people in Germany, Yugoslavia(til I found out he wanted me to send him money), and the UK. I divorced, moved, went to work, homeschooled, entered into a new relationship(still going after 13 years) and lost touch with them. I am sad about it but cannot reconnect.

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  12. one of the most remote locations from which i've gotten mail was from Baker Lake in Nunavut.

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