Memo: As it goes, i have hundreds of snapshots of postboxes, post offices, and “postal still life” (meaning scenes of scattered pens, papers, postcards, stationery, stamps – all spread over a table while in a session) and i use these for Postcards from Gravelly Beach podcast “episode art” and made a book from many of the artifacts.
Of late, some Instagram/Twitter folks have a #postboxsaturday campaign/project rolling so i’ve used this as encouragement to start trickling out my stash. Slowly and intermittently (because i have too many projects on the go!) with minor annotations.
Archives mailed to an invalid address, delayed upon transition, relevance no longer relevant, however, archive as needed if needed affectionately assembled
Remembering shelter from the storm every possible kind in San Francisco, “here are the keys tie use anything you like“
Postcard, written last year, was waiting for an address, now acquired - as such, sent this curious chap on his journey from the scotch and cigar "Drawing Room" at the Majestic Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to a mountain town across the Pacific. Red Velvet jacket not included.
Also: “I find that postcards require something quite beautiful between countries beyond politics and governments In that that little slip of paper touched so many hands making its way from me to you. It carries so many memories and so many intentions…
At first glimpse it’s just a goofy picture scribbled up but that original photo came from me on a meandering healing journey, not all that long after we sat together in San Francisco or I hid out at your house… in the “drawing room” at the Majestic Hotel in kuala lumpur, I made friends with a barman named Sunday (wrote a poem about him), wore a red velvet smoking jacket, drank hot toddys as i picked up a terrible cold on an overnight train from Thailand where i shared a cabin with a Buddhist monk in his saffron robes, a suitcase full of cigarettes and gold watches.
From one Leo to another, we carry-on, gently, kindly and intrepidly”
My Doctor – who is a practitioner of seitai (a Japanese healing modality, not quite Reiki, shiatsu, acupressure, chiropractic nor massage – but a little bit like each of them for lack of a better explanation) has become a very pleasant friend as we bond over a mutual affection for vinyl. In fact he gifted me the magnificent Yamaha GT 2000 turntable. He also seems to enjoy my art projects and displays a few of my pieces around his otherwise serene office.
I’ve wanted to spend some time with him just listening to records so he can see the beautiful machine in action in the now tidied up, electrical and cooler-equipped kura storehouse studio – and today was that day.
Commemorative postcard, view 2
We listened to parts of seven different records (Debussy, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Jerry Garcia, John Coltrane, Nat King Cole), gently looked through several scrapbooks (Shimane, Kyoto, Nepal), enjoyed coffee and gelato and he enjoyed at least seven cigarettes.
He signed the guestbook (again as he is a two time visitor) and I made him a commemorative card for the occasion involving elements connected to the various conversations we enjoyed together.
Commemorative postcard, view 3
If you’re curious, the reverse side is a print of an oil pastel painting of a brilliantly orange (like the envelope) house near my Ayurveda hospital in Kerala, India. Not my best painting but it was the first time I’d made a painting in several years after the “illness“ started and my brain started firing again. Thailand and Nepal are also included as they were part of my healing ramble #Ongoing
Also sent him home with a bunch of table grapes and a Corona melon, yes really.
Painting, magnifying glass, hat and poster – not necessarily commemorative
I should’ve snapped a picture of the both of us together but here is a hat purchased in Port Townsend Washington instead (with a Jean Smith painting and a Tintin Expo 86 poster behind).
While assembling diaries about hospitals and massages in Phitsanulok Thailand, as well as general “field notes“, sorta rounded-up a variety of documentary images of post boxes (both outgoing and incoming), a few payphones, parking ticket dispensers, and other oddities. So, here they are for historical record, with little/no further annotation although the payphone may be included in existing archives.
Note: to be clear, some *may not* be in Phitsanulok (Chiang Mai?) and i may add some more later as i come across, as such, consider this a “Thai bucket” so to speak. Oh snapped with iPhone 4/5 and Lomo Sardine can camera for the most part. Lousy photos, interesting items.
As I’m stumbling along on my “healing ramble” series (please watch the intro video for overview and disclaimers, not unusually, finding myself a little bit overwhelmed with all the artifacts, memories, items, even data, to share. So, rather than obsess over it just putting it all out there, even if it’s a bit redundant.
The next “real” dispatches from the series include my “tips for travelling with a chronic illness” (which is rather practical and logistical stuff), plus another entry from Sri Lanka, another from Nepal, a tough one from Pacifica California, more from other places i forgot and maybe I’ll even fill in the missing gaps from Adelaide Australia, Austin Texas, and crossing Canada looking for a home.
In the meanwhile here are the fronts of some notebooks and a postcard which allude to some of the above.
While I’m here >> while in bed I did scribble & stampify a batch of lovely postcards. This month’s offerings features payphones around the world. Each unique capturing variations of pinnacle of practical utility & design
Aside from the payphone postcard series, were a few other incidentals that went out in this last batch. Note: When I decide to send a postcard to someone, I consider which postcard (theme, paper, metaphor) would be *just right*, kind of my way of doing Tarot cards I guess.
Including New Year’s cards, sent out about 500+ last year (includes my “postcards as a service“ members, art dossiers, packets, presents etc.) but it never feels like *enough* >> I always have a stack half finished i’m meaning to finish & send, especially to kids.
Related: my friend Cathy Browne (now on CBC) sent me this in replay to my payphone snaps – its a beauty!
"Oh that’s a beauty! I see hopes, waiting, being lost, being found, unidentified bacteria, debris never to be collected, a pin on a map at a maintenance shed no one looks at, pockets full of coins that’s never quite enough, figuring time zones & what to say when it’s been so long."
By the way, my adorable wife mailed me a postcard from a museum she visited recently for work. Such a treat to receive! And my friend @atomicpoet mailed me a cassette mix tape with custom J sleeve. two items of quality indeed!
While I am sharing postcards, this New Year’s card was on its way to a Tzouras player in Greece but Greece & Japan’s postal systems arent getting along right now so it came back. Pretty though.
However: Re-considering my little slacker “postcard shop” as @buymeacoffee changed their payment options/workflow and my meagre little funds are captured in limbo. Admin hassles kind of takes the fun out of it :(
So my choices as I see it are:
1) Set up a “proper” shop with Shopify or Woo #hassle
2) Set up a cheap and cheerful Etsy shop #cheesy
3) Move to Patreon #Patronizing & pressure
4) Shut it and go back to sending postcards ad hoc for no reason in particular Thoughts/advice?
Ok, one more envelope to address *and* this month’s “postcard as a service” postcards are printed! Gotta figure another/different/better system than current though.
Newest Postcard series for the “daveo postal club” members and other free radicals. Snaps come from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Australia maybe, other places as well but mostly tall slender red unit except the blue one, and the ones that are red but not post boxes.
such elegance and utility in the designs which somehow feel universal and unique at the same time
completely unrelated, half finished and lost painting (that was changed entirely) in Jamaica which appeared on a robot and posting here so i don’t forget it
An omnibus round-up for lousy photos of logistical considerations and personal memories in Phitsanulok, Thailand. Please watch the “Healing Ramble, introduction” video for context on this series.
you knew there would be a post box, yup, Hip Inn had several – my kind of place!
Finding Rest & Calm
On my visits to Phitsanulok (aside from a few transitions and late night arrivals), i stayed at Hip Inn and Coffee because they have typewriters and cappuccinos and all manner of quirky decor (Vespas, VWs)…
clean, quirky, low-key, convenient – love this place (3+ visits so far)
It’s not in the “thick of town”, a little outside but still walkable in a pinch to market and hospital. Nearby was a larger hotel so could get a tuk-tuk or taxi when needed.
all-time slobber champion
Plus this dog lives at Hip Inn and good for a pet after a tough day.
Here’s my no-longer-secret -but-otherwise-public review of Hip Inn at: 39/5 Sanambin Rd, Tambon Nai Mueang, Amphoe Mueang Phitsanulok, Chang Wat Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand
Could Live Here for a Month
i know it was my room because there was a typewriter at hand
on the massage mat, so exhausted and disheartened by life but… doing it
What follows comes from my erstwhile “Healing Journal” – written/compiled on a foggy meandering journey to various countries (Pacifica, Phitsanulok, Cochin, Pokhara, Dikwella/Galle…) visiting all manner of hospitals, clinics and exploring various healing modalities and techniques.
Shared here more-or-less unedited for posterity (whatever that is) and to shed light to those struggling who might come across this riff. Please watch the “Healing Ramble, introduction” video for context on this series.
Importantly, this is not meant to be a travelogue or creative writing exercise, just laying out my experience as it came to me. I may include some links to other projects or creations that came out of this, maybe… I’m not there yet.
This entry, from Phitsanulok, Thailand over 4 extended visits in 2016-18. It’s now June 2021, i live in Japan, am stable if far from “normal”. No comments, sympathy requested or accepted. Carry on.
kind ladies at the massage clinic on one of my visits (looking better here)
On my healing journey, i was introduced to Kamalasom Traditional Thai massage ศูนย์ส่งเสริมสุขภาพแผนไทย กมลาศรม (สาธารณสุขจังหวัดพิษณุโลก) clinic in Phitsanulok, Thailand after the magical Mrs. Athaya made arrangements. Since Oct. 2016, so far i have spent 4 extended treatment sessions at this facility.
always catching a “good bye” photo (including me in my disposable clothes)
This is NOT TO BE confused with ubiquitous “tourist massage” or the abundant s3xy massages, this is traditional “royal court massage and i’ll tell ya, its not gentle, relaxing or delicate – but Oh so great!
I’ll explain how the routine goes: Usually,… first starts with a blood pressure and pulse rate check (keep in mind all this happens in Thai so i just play along with smiles and they are all so nice to me), and brief consult (again, in limited common language).
starts with blood pressure test and whatnot
Then, after changing from street clothes to sorta pyjamas/shorts, i receive 1-1/2 hours of Thai “Royal Court” massage in which all my muscles, joints, ligaments etc are stretched and bent to the very outer limits with elbows, knees, feet as well as hands involved. Continue reading Healing: Story of Kamalasom Massage ~ Phitsanulok, Thailand→
a view of bathtub at Rainforest Boutique hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand – this time phot’d with a slice of papaya
What follows comes from my erstwhile “Healing Journal” – written/compiled on a foggy meandering journey to various countries visiting all manner of hospitals, clinics and exploring various healing modalities and techniques.
Shared here more-or-less unedited for posterity (whatever that is) and to shed light to those struggling who might come across this riff. Please watch the “Healing Ramble, introduction” video for context on this series.
Chiang Mai, Thailand (3 visits various times between 2016-2018)
Along my healing journey, I’ve traveled to various countries seeking treatment and relief. In my condition with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome / myalgic encephalomyelitis, my energy is very low and I’m easily overwhelmed by the lights, sounds, commotion… and then i crash and am stuck in bed with pain and delirious exhaustion (which depletes neuro-transmitters leading to mood ummm swings).
me, bathmode
All of these conundrums make travel by conventional means very difficult. As such, I strategically rely on quiet, calm rooms with bathtubs for recovery after long periods of travel. And, importantly, I travel with various items to make my self-care more effective and pleasurable, particularly during these hot, therapeutic baths.
These items often include (as described in caption) :
You must be logged in to post a comment.