u got m@il

much as email is something i hate to be without, i love getting stuff in the the snail mail (other than bills, not fond of those). i was an ardent letter-writer as a teen and a student, and still like to send things to friends just for the hell of it - but there is only one who does the same for me :-(

we hung out together for six months as students while she was on a semester abroad scheme more than a decade ago and have seen each other an average of ten days every two years since. without email we may not have talked in so much detail - i said at her wedding the reason we are such good friends may be because you can't interrupt over email - but it's the letters and cards, even if only to say 'hey, what's up?' or 'saw this and thought of you' that i love most in some ways.

i sent her some birthday gifts and pre-baby gifts recently; this is the envelope that carried the thank-you card all the way from st paul, minnesota to edinburgh. all hail james chalmers for inventing the self-adhesive postage stamp.