Make Your Own Postcard

I recently received these postcards and several other beautiful pieces of mail art from Susanna Lakner in Germany.  These are some of her fascinating original designs.

Her cards reminded me that National Postcard Week (May 1-7) is just around the corner. Although you don't need to be as talented as Susanna to participate, you do need to be dedicated enough to produce and send about 150 postcards of your own creation.  It's actually pretty easy. The card can be based on a photograph, a drawing  - whatever you like - and there are lots of printing services that can print your postcard for you. You email them your design and they send you a box of cards.

Then, you have your name added to the directory, so all the other people can send you their postcards. You can find more information at Postcardcollector.org. And if you don't want to make that kind of a commitment, you can always just have a dozen or two printed and send them to friends and family.

National Library Week

National Library Week is an annual celebration of the contribution of our nation's libraries and librarians.  Celebrate libraries every day, but especially during the week of April 10-16, 2011.

Not all libraries are beautiful, but they all have books.

Streetcar Sunday - Karlsruhe, Germany

Karlsruhe is located in southwest Germany near the French border. Karlsruhe translates roughly as Karl's rest - and indeed the Margrave Karl Wilhelm rests right under that pyramid shown in the middle of the postcard.

Karlsruhe has seven tram routes and an interconnected tram/train network that has served as the model for other German cities. The trams and trains share tracks throughout the region, allowing for seamless integration and convenient transfers. I guess it's no surprise that it works well. The question is why other countries don't adopt similar systems.