Category Archives: Miscellany
Reflected image; June 2013
I use a cropped version of this for my Gravitar on HankinsonHolmes.com. This image is an evening photograph of the reflection of the vase and cut flowers in our French Door glass – not the actual objects themselves. The overhead light illuminates the vase and flowers giving a transparent effect while allowing the dark background of the night not to be affected.
A watercolor for today
Thematic Philately Topic – World Stamps Received on Personal Mail
Perhaps my favorite way of collecting stamps has been to collect the letters, airmails and postcards sent to me and/or my spouse from countries around the world. I find that the more remote or “exotic” the country of origin the greater the thrill, but sometimes the sheer esthetic appeal is all you need. Unfortunately, the ability to practice this type of collecting has been significantly diminished in the last decade or two with the advent of electronic communication. I was fortunate to be publishing in the scientific literature for many years before pdf’s of scientific papers were available, and the only way for someone to receive a copy of your paper was to request a reprint through the mail. Consequently, I received, and collected, many of these postcard requests – a favorite example is shown below from the “CCCP”. A larger collection of these can be seen on the pull down menu under Thematic Philately on this blog.
Mars Attacks Cards from the 60’s
As kids in the 60’s we use to love collecting these gruesome cards – the more gory the better. The whole collection can be found here. Never had a single bad dream….
Great Aunt, Aunt, Mother
American Cars in Cuba
Visiting Havana, Cienfuegos and Trinidad, Cuba in January was a wonderful experience: many sights and sounds to remember – but just one aspect of the experience seen below are amazing 50’s American cars that the cuban people maintain. Here are just a couple of examples, but please visit my blog page “Coches Americanos en Cuba” to see many more.