Friday, September 21, 2012

The 80s called. It wants a letter.

I spent this week thinking about the 80s. I love the 80s. If I had a time machine, for example, and the whattamajig broke and the hardware store was perpetually out of stock of the whatchamacallit and I had to be stuck in a recent decade forever, it would be the 80s. Okay, I admit the clothes and the hair styles are a bit unfortunate, but bad sartorial choices notwithstanding, it was a great decade for pop culture. John Hughes movies, fantastic music (Depeche Mode and The Smiths baby!), TV (Saved by the Bell, Wonder Years, Full House), and so much more. But above all else, there was my absolute favourite 80s music instrument:

 

THE KEYTAR. 


I'm obviously a fan of combining words and dudes, it's a keyboard guitar. Is it a guitar? Is it a keyboard? IT'S BOTH. I'm not above admitting that the keytar is one of the best inventions ever. Who needs cars, duct tape, or microwaves when you can play two instruments at once?! I'm inordinately excited by keytars. I figure that I only have enough of this kind of excitement for one more go round, so I'm saving the remainder of my enthusiasm for the inevitable day that a company announces the creation of the xylobone. You know, the xylophone that is also a trombone? Oh, the possibilities! Music will be forever changed.

Incoming:


Not a lot of incoming this week—the "to get a letter, write a letter" adage is completely, 100% true—but it was still a great mail week. I'm calling it the Week of Marissa.

First is this package from... you guessed it, Marissa.
Marissa is exceptionally talented and carves her own stamps. She's been telling me how carving your own stamps isn't too difficult, and sent me this awesome stamp carving kit so I can try my hand at it. At my request, she even included bandaids. Though I think she underestimated my inability to wield sharp objects (there's a reason why my husband only lets me have safety scissors) because those bandaids look mighty small for my uses.... Note this post, dear readers, it might be the last time I type with two, intact, functional hands. Next time we meet, I might be Laura of the 1.5 hands. I figure carving off 50% of one hand seems like a reasonable estimate. If I have at least one stamp I can use at the end of it all, I'll consider it a success. "Hey Laura, is that a blob creature stamp?" "Blob creature?! IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A SWAN RIDING A DRAGON!!"

Second is this letter from Marissa.

I don't normally show the contents of my incoming envelopes, but I think you would all appreciate Marissa's stationery. I'm fairly certain it's handmade.

Isn't it beautiful?!!! As I mentioned above, Marissa says that "carving stamps isn't too difficult." Of course it isn't if MAGIC COMES OUT OF YOUR HANDS. I think she has mini unicorns in her hands!




Outgoing:

A rainbow letter for the wonderful Kay


Outgoing to Patty at Just Letter Rip


A letter for Katri of Hipster Curious

A letter for Jessica who recently relocated to Malaysia and now lives by a beach. I'm not jealous at all...and who am I kidding? I TOTALLY am.

And that's it! I'm off to unintentionally gouge parts of my hand out. Wish me luck! Have a great weekend everyone! 

16 comments:

  1. Have you ever wondered that your friend Marissa may actually be Edward Scissorhands? Just wondering...

    I love ALL your envelopes, so I won't spend time choosing a particular one for a compliment. May them all feel loved.

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    1. Ooooh, that's a good point. I've been trying to come up with a nice, polite way of finding out if Marissa is, in fact, Edward Scissorhands. This is what I've got so far: I'll write her a letter that says "Who has ten fingers, raise their hand?" and then if and when she doesn't raise her hand, I can accurately declare: "A HA! EDWARD SCISSORHANDS!!" It's an idea in progress. I can fine-tune it later.....

      They do feel loved! Thanks!

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  2. Look like you got some really good\great super mail. I love the food post card super much it look's really yummy.

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  3. Wow, your friend Marissa really is talented. This stationery is stunning.
    I like a lot your envelopes too:)
    Good luck with the stamps. Maybe it will actually work out and you'll create something nice:)

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    1. Thanks! I'm hoping I can at least create something I can use. So far I've got something that might resemble a bear--you know, if I was near-sighted and didn't have my glasses on and was squinting. :)

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  4. I would TOTALLY go back to the 80's with you. But was sushi easy to come by then? Hmmm, I don't think so. Shit!

    I too love Marissa's stationery! Beautiful... Not to ruin her reputation or anything (you know I'm good at that, what with me calling you a liar and everything), but I think it's pretty easy to make with a border punch. I saw some that I liked at Michaels last week and thought about purchasing one to make my letter sets more interesting... But they're quite expensive.

    Oh and Marissa is so thoughful for enclosing some bandaids! Friends don't let friends drive drunk... Or something like that.

    Have a fabulous weekend, my dear! It's Martin's birthday tomorrow... And I'm watching the UFC with the guys tonight!

    xox

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    1. And it's OK if you end up with a few missing fingers as long as you can still write letters... So please use your left hand to carve your stamps, OK? (You're right-handed, right?) Your swan riding a dragon might not even look like a blob creature but who cares, the world needs your letters more than your stamps!

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    2. AW JULIE! Why you gotta do that? It's like how you watch a magic trick, where the magician pulls the dove out of the hat. And then someone tells you that he didn't pull the dove out of the hat, the dove was just in his sleeve (poor dove!) and POOF! The magic is gone. There is no border punch. I prefer to believe that Marissa has unicorns in her hands so I'm just going to be over here doing that fingers-in-the-ears while loudly yelling "NANANANA! I can't hear you!!" thing. That incredibly mature I-refuse-to-listen thing. :)

      Friends don't let friends drive drunk, or visit the 80s without some contingency plan for sushi (which is that we go back to the 80s and introduce sushi to the unsuspecting masses. Though, does that create a time paradox? That whole butterfly effect thing? I'll have to check my time traveling manual. Note to self: check index for "can I bring sushi to the 80s.")

      In order to keep writing to you, I'll learn how to write using my nostril if I must. Do not fear, my dear.

      HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTIN!

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  5. Mmmh now I have "Brother Louie" stuck in my head ;)
    I should also do something about my pile of to send letters, the moment I finish & send al letter more come in ;) and should also update my blog *blushes*

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    1. My post was motivated by the fact that I had A Ha's "Take On Me" in my head all week.

      Take on me, take me on
      I'll be gone
      In a day or two

      YAY for great 80s songs!

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  6. I have had a jonesing for the 80's all week! Thank you somebody else for mentioning what has been floating around in my head. I may have to watch Flashdance tonight after reading this post! Thank you for the inspiration and the chuckle.

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    1. Thank you for the comment! :) My 80s go-to movie is Sixteen Candles. You just can't go wrong with Jake Ryan....

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  7. I love the 80s too! :D Hence my blog name --> http://www.80sgirl.com ;-)

    Beautiful mail!

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    1. Thanks Alex! And great blog name! 80s girl--a girl after my own heart! Shall we get together, watch Babar, and tease our hair? :)

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  8. Hahaha, keytar! I didn't know it was called like that! I loved Parker Lewis Can't Lose! Or maybe that was the 90s?

    And that stationery definitely rocks!

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