And one more ..... (been doing this all day!) .....

I just spent all afternoon uploading and writing posts for the last five blogs you'll see here...actually, the last six. And now I still have ONE MORE to do....because blogger gave me such fits in the beginning, I neglected to upload 10 cards. And this is worth it, because this grouping shows you some of my favorite cards, including the best-ever card in my collection!

So...here they are! :)

1. Jalan Thamrin, Jakarta, Indonesia. Awesome busy city street view!



2. Guanajuato, Mexico. My first card from Mexico, from a private trade. Awesome image!



3. Punchbowl Crater, the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific in Hawaii. Architecturally striking, emotionally moving. From an organized group swap.



4. It's Geico! This is an ad card that came in my mail after I gave Geico my name at Bele Chere in Asheville over the summer :) Even though I hate the lizard's voice and accent, I like this card. Very cute :)



5. MY FAVORITE CARD OF ALL TIME. From McDonald's in China! In honor of the Olympics, of course. :) This was sent to me unexpectedly by Yan as a birthday present! Which makes it even nicer! I wish you could see the back of the card. I cannot read the Chinese text, but it has the Golden Arches and "I'm Loving It" both in English and in Chinese. And it says, "Issued by the State Postal Bureau." This is the prized card of my collection now. Thanks to Yan for his generosity!



6. Call for Coherence, the EU Presidency Project. This card is from a private trade. From what the sender tells me, Finland is the EU's president country right now. And they have all these initiatives going on, like this one. Part of the back reads, "Policy Coherence for Development is achieved when development objectives are integrated in all EU policies, so that the policies contribute to sustainable development and poverty eradication." I think they need a marketing writer :)



7. Greetings from Kenya. I love this ad card, from a private swap. The back says, "Hello! I am Sharon. I live in Meibeki, Kenya. World Vision helps my village. we have enough water now and I go to school every day. I have a kummi in Finland. His name is Juha. But some of my friends don't have a kummi. Can you help them?" Cute :)



8. Anhembi, Exhibition Park, Sao Paulo, Brazil. This awesome view is from a private swap with Karla. I am amazed at the size of that city; I don't think I've ever seen a city so large...and I'd never even heard of Sao Paulo before I started collecting and trading postcards!



9. Pan Dragon, Tychy, Poland. Take a gander at this most unusual building! I love it! :) From a private trade.



10. Call for Coherence, EU Presidency Project. This is the second EU card I received in a private trade. The back says the same thing as on the back of the last one. If you can't read the text on the front, it says: "There is no development without security. Arms trade to conflict areas in developing countries drains resources that should be used for development, education and health care. European Union is the world's largest donor of development aid and at the same time the third largest exporter of arms." (So...are you saying you're doing exactly what you say you shouldn't be doing? You guys need some marketing help! Please e-mail me; I will be glad to clear my schedule to help you!) :)

One of five posts.....

Well, after wasting a good 20-30 minutes alternately cursing blogger and then uploading pictures over and over, I finally figured out how it's working now. Now, I can upload 5 images, then upload 5 more...then nothing. Then I need to create a new post. And believe you me, it took a while to figure this out. So despite my grouch-i-ness after dealing with this lousy blogging service, I hope you enjoy the next 5 or so posts of postcards :)

And since I could upload five here this last time, I uploaded five, even though I only had three postcards. Just think of it as a little bonus :)

1. My kids during our recent visit to Cherokee, NC. Cherokee is just outside the southern/eastern entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We live about an hour-and-a-half drive away and love to get out there as often as we can. Cherokee is sad in a way, seeing Native Americans on display to capture our tourist dollars. But hey...they're making money! :) By the way, I bought lots of postcards to trade during this trip; check them out at my Yahoo album, here! If you see anything you'd like, e-mail to arrange a trade!



2. Art card from Estonia. This came from a private swap with Kadri. The colors are so lovely, the scene so peaceful...I would love this blown-up many times and hanging on my wall for everyday enjoyment :)



3. Polksi Folklor from a private trade. My grandparents are 100% Polish. My mom was born in Germany. So I love anything to do with my roots. I remember going to catholic school when I was a girl, a very POLISH catholic school! We marched in the Polaski Day parade wearing black velvet dresses decorated with multi-colored ribbons and beads and bows. I also remember that the horses in front of us always did their duty and stunk us out...and that one of my friends inadvertently slipped in the doo and had to leave the parade suddenly.... Ahhh...childhood memories! :)



4. Budapest, Hungary. This large, beautiful card is from Lili in Budapest. I would really love to travel through Europe (and other continents!) some day! :)



5. Entering Maggie Valley, NC from Cherokee. We vacationed twice in Maggie Valley before we moved here to North Carolina. Our cabins both times were located on the other side of those mountains you see.

Two of five posts....

1. Moscow. Building of the main Telegraph Office in Tverskaya Street. Is this too cool, or what??? All the images of Moscow I've ever seen have been those huge, stately buildings, which really says nothing about life there. THIS, however, does! Look at the Samsung sign on the building...the colors...the vehicles...the people...the size of the street...MOSCOW! :)



2. Pretty flower, from Finland. This is from a flower tag...not sure why I selected this for my blog, other than perhaps because I want to be able to take photos like this someday :) (This card arrived and was set aside for blogging in early October!)



3. Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. This shows the cog railway at Mt. Washington State Park, also home of the Mt. Washington Observatory. At more than 6,000 feet, this is one of the higher peaks on the East coast of the U.S.



4. Getting her hair moosed. I got this from a swapbot unusual card swap....thought it was pretty funny :)



5. Chile. A very exotic location from which to have postcards. The front said, un pais de ensueno...a country of....? I don't know. Very pretty images though!



6. Paul Klee Center, Bern, Switzerland. This, I believe, is from a private trade. I love everything about this card (except that maybe the images are too small :) The shape of the building....(I've never seen anything like it)....the outline of the streets and the jammed-in houses on the little islet or whatever it is....and the lovely, old street with boldly sized and colored flags! Beautiful :)



7. The University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida. My sister is a professor here. It's lovely...a beautiful campus (or at least what I've seen of it)!



8. FBI Building in Washington, DC. My sister, the college professor, sent this to me as well. She often travels to DC as an advisor to the government on many important issues. I always imagine that behind all the windows are all these spys on computers, hacking away and furiously trying to break codes and all that spy stuff :)



9. Map of the Metro, Washington, DC. The Metro is really an awesome way to travel around DC! Just hop on the train and wind your way around the city...stopping at locations all around! Love it!



10. Salt Lake City, Utah. This view is awesome. There's something about airplanes that amaze me (and scare the bejeebers out of me!)...and with those buildings and mountains in the background...ahhh! What a picture!

Three of five posts (I hate Blogger....)

See, blogger, this is all I really want to do. I want an easy way to share my photos and text about them with...well, whomever is interested. But you make is sooooooooo hard to do. Your way takes way too long. I can't wait till someone else figures out how to provide what I need...it'll be C-YA! :)

Now, on to the cards :)

1. Pictorial map of Japan, from my sister. As a professor at the University of Tampa, she took a group of students to Japan this past summer. And she brought back lots of postcards for us! This is such an interesting map; the text on the back says, in several languages: May this be a good guide for your trip. :)



2. Map of Maryland, also from my sister from one of her many trips to DC. Perfect for my map-card collection! :)



3. Maiko at Golden Pavilion. This is so beautiful! Back of the card says, "Maiko dancers on wooden clogs share a paper umbrella. Hanging down on their back are silk obi sashes with elaborate embroidery." Thanks agin to my sister....



4. Nanzen-ji Temple, Kyoto. This shows what looks like monks -- or their Japanese equivalents :) The card is wrapped in its own little baggie, which also has text and a price tag. The baggie says, "A collection of beautiful picture." It was purchased at ITO-YA for (I guess!) 158 yen? Very beautiful :)



5. Osaka. Back of card says, "Dontonbori in Osaka." I assume that means downtown borough, or something like that :) The card is also in a little baggie, but without the price tag and text on it. But that's ok..the image is spectacular! I love busy street scenes, and this sure is one! Look at all the lights and signs...and the moon in the sky and the canal or river or waterway. I even see a Coca-Cola sign on one of the buildings in the foregroup on the right :)



6. Minato Mirai 21 with Mt. Fuji. What a spectacular view! I would love to see this with my own eyes someday. Lovely!



7. Hiroshima package 1: A-bomb Dome and River Cruise, Hiroshima. My sister was lucky enough to be able to attend a special Hiroshima anniversary celebration at which the Prime Minister of Japan spoke. And she and her group lucked into seats right up front! This card comes from a package of 4 Hiroshima cards she sent me, all pacakaged together in a lovely envelope. My husband scanned everything...but because I can only upload 10 at a time...and because moving things around here is so painful (thanks again, blogger!)...I'm not going to be able to show you them altogether. You will see two of the Hiroshima cards from that package in this post, and then the other two, PLUS the envelope, in the next post (or so I hope!). I have labeled them so you know which go with the package. As for this image, this dome is apparently all that was standing after the bomb went off in Hiroshima.



8. Japanese ad card. I have no idea what it's for or what it says... but I like it anyway :)



9. Hiroshima Package 2: Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima Island. I'm not sure of the significance of this. But it is lovely.



10. Japanese ad card, "Transient Flowers." For "Morita Bungo illustration exhibition, "Girlfriends of DOUGHNUT PLANT vol.4" Check it out on the Web, here! This is an awesome, colorful card :)

Four of five posts (almost there....)

1. Greetings from Philadelphia. I was born here. Lived in Philly till I was 12. Then we moved across the river to Cinnaminson, New Jersey, where I spent my most formative years :) Thanks to my sister Astina for this card!



2. Hiroshima Package - The Envelope. This is the envelope I mentioned in the previous post; it contains four cards from Hiroshima that my sister brought back from Japan. It is published by the Hiroshima Convention and Visitors' Bureau :)



3. Hiroshima Package - Card 3: Hiroshima Dreamination. My sister was fortunate enough to be present for this awesome, moving event during which paper lanterns (homemade, I believe) are set asail down the river in remberance of all those souls who died during the awful tragedy that was Hiroshima.



4. Hiroshima Package - Card 4: Dream Fireworks at Hiroshima Port. Another part of the anniversary celebration. (You will find cards 1 and 2 of this package in the former post...which I guess is BELOW this one on blogger. Another great blogger feature: if you want to follow my logic, you have to start at the bottom of the page and read UPwards.



5. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. The Ben Franklin statute. Franklin established the university in 1750; here, he's seen reading The Philadelphia Gazette, a magazine he began publishing in 1729, and which is still published by the university today! I was once here with my uncle--he was attending the university and took me, an impressionable, young high school student, to the library there with him for the day. I was duly impressed--and still love libraries to this day :)



6. Airports of Washington, DC. From a private trade; shows images from Dulles and Reagan National.



7. St. Petersburg, Florida. This is also my old homestead, where I lived for 20 years after we moved from Jersey/Philly. I drove by the dome many, many times...and went to the University of South Florida at St. Pete, which is located right on the water over by the small airport you see on the right in the background. The small planes used to zoom in right overtop of campus...I never really got used to it!



8. UCLA in LA. I got this from a private trade--it's not exactly what I meant by a University card, but at least it isn't a sports card. This is from the Conferences and Catering department--so it's likely a free ad card. But still, the only one I have from UCLA.



9. Akha Hilltribes, Thailand. This is either from a private trade or a round robin...I can't recall being this far removed from receiving it! But I love the image of the happy women in their native outfits....lovely!



10. Thailand. This is a nice multi-view; I especially like the map :)

Five of five posts! Finally!

I just found out this is not actually the "finally" post I thought it was. I apparently have another 10 or so cards that didn't get uploaded thanks to blogger's fantastic service--thanks again for even more work, blogger!

For this load, however:

1. Lapp girl in traditional costume, from my postcard pal Johanna in Finland.



2. Tatooing in the village fair, India. This comes from my penpal Ram. Fascinating and exotic image!



3. Hebron, Israel: The Tombs of Isaac and Rebecca. This comes from my penpal Leeba, who actually lives in an Israeli settlement--one that's often in the news due to the Arab-Israeli conflict! But that is another story.... For now, I have to think that these cannot possibly be the REAL tombs of the Israeli patriach and matriach...they must be for respect purposes or something! The tombs are HUGE!!!



4. "Experience Music Project" Seattle. This comes from my postcard pal Ruth. What an ugly, but interesting and photo-worthy building! :)



5. Le Grand Louvre, Paris. This comes from my pal Therese from Ireland! She's studying in Paris for a year and tells me that this is her absolute favorite card of all :) I can see why...this must be a "must-see" view if one should be lucky enough to visit Paris :)



6. Israel, multiview from Leeba.



7. Panorama of the Sword Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam. This awesome, exotic view came from a private trade.



8. Finnish funpark, Linnanmaki! Looks like fun, too :)



9. Itakeskus, Ostra centrum, Helsinki, Finland. This, from a private swap. I love the look of the mall....looks like a place where I'd enjoy shopping :)



10. Art card by patient in Finnish psychiatric hospital, in the mental health rehabilitation center. This comes from my penfriend Satu, who says it speaks of the power of coffee :) I agree! And I really like this unique card; it will be appreciated much in my collection :)