to clarify: this is still open. i'm officially leaving it open for all of 2020. you can sign up and i'll draw new matches 1x a week for the rest of the year. because we could all use a little joy in the mail right now.
faster link (with the knowledge that bc this is secret santa software and we are the largest exchange elfster has ever had, the site breaks often. but it comes back up in a few hours if you check back...): elfster.com/gift-exchanges…
also some resources for you if you are getting started
on writing letters:
things i've received in recent letters that i found super inspiring: old black and white photos, laminated recipe cards, tear sheets from old design coffee table books, vintage ribbon, an ice-dyed mask, homemade film trading cards, a martin scorcese sticker set, pressed peonies
also a lot of people ask what my typewriter is + it is a nakajima AE-170 electric; investing in an electric typewriter (and by investing i mean i bought it $40 used on ebay) has been THE single best thing i've done in the last 5 months and i think singlehandedly keeps me bouyant
i also got super tired of printing my address out, and ordered a custom self-inking address stamp (there are about 100 places to do this online); it makes a delightful clacking noise like an old-school library check out stamp, high rec
also if you already signed up and want a second pen pal -- you can DM me. i get to all messages. in time! xo
lastly, the tag is #penpalooza and i love to hear how it is going; so keep me...posted
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i don't want to tell you how to live but this is the perfect weather in which to begin the eight part pbs documentary about nyc
episodes 3 and 5 are the real bangers but lately i have a soft spot for episode one and the ways it digs into how terrible lord cornbury was at everything
i do love that he went in drag to his official portrait sitting
ok doing a flash perfume genie while this site still exists. here's how you play: tell me a specific memory or feeling you want to evoke (the more specific the more likely you will be to get a reply!). i'll find you a perfume sample to evoke it. ok go.
again just "woodsy" or "fresh" or "happy" isn't going to help me as much as specific places, photographs, scenes from movies or novels you wish you were in, time periods, vibes
need to take a break here but i'll be back if you drop your requests?
something a mentor of mine once told me that i will pass along: a great way to stay curious/stretch yourself into something new is to pick a new-to-you obsession every season -- can be a word, a genre, an actor, a color, a place -- and curate your own little festival around it
and suddenly you start to refract the world around that thing -- so if you pick, say, opera, or F1 racing, or emily dickinson, or diana ross, or ANYTHING + start reading books about it + listening to podcasts/albums + doing double-feature movie nites new patterns will emerge
and suddenly the world is bigger and more open to you than you imagined, because things you didn't even expect have resonance just because you are trying to shove them into your seasonal obsession; you start to see connections that weren't there before. anyways!
Had never seen Magnolia so watched it last night and a) it rules b) julianne moore’s best performance maybe???? c) pta was 29 when he made it….what have I done with my life
also melora walters should have an oscar and so should tom also when donnie said “I have a lot of love to give I just don’t know where to put it” I cried
learning that Aimee Mann lost the best song Oscar the year she wrote “Save Me” to a song from Tarzan ruined my day