Another Kind of Desktop

Budapest

I can work almost anywhere -- which is good since my studio is still all torn up. I have a plan for setting up my Gelli block in my kitchen in Saturday and letting those paints fly...or drip..or whatever.
Here are some desktops where I've worked during the last year or so....
I like the way they look.

Portland, OR

A cappuccino or coffee is always nice to have on hand. And paper ephemera. Lots of ephemera.

Prague

I actually don't pack up much to bring with me on my travels about town (or far away). I like to tear paper rather than cut and mostly I bring glue sticks and double stick tape....and madly pick up stuff as I move through the day....

Santa Barbara

St Petersburg, Russia

There wasn't as much paper around to pick up in Russia...but what I did find was super cool since I loved the way the Cyrillic writing looked.

Portland

Istanbul, Turkey

The Turkish writing is very cool too. And so was writing while listening to the Call to Prayer coming in through the open windows.....

Washington, DC

Los Angeles, CA

Palma, Italy
Sitting and writing by the fireplace in Parma was wonderful until the bug bit me!

Boston, MA

New York City

Seattle, WA

Pasadena, CA

Milan, Italy

You can always get coffee in Italy --  Grazia Dio!

Budapest, Hungary

I like taking it on the road. Packing my mail art kit is a lot more fun than packing clothes. And I love picking up every scrap of ephemera I find and tearing it up and pasting it in to my travel journals, collages and postcards.
I love the look of a happily messy desktop while on the road.

Am I alone on this?
How many of you cut and paste while traveling?
Keep a travel journal?
Make mail art?
Set up a work table in every hotel room?
Anybody taking a trip?

Tell me what your desktops look like!

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL

Peeking into the Travel Journal

RUSSIAN PAGES
Here are some peeks into the travel journal. I make one for every (big) trip I take and they are among my favorite souvenirs. 

RUSSIAN PAGES
I like to put everything I can get my hands on inside...you know...brochures, business cards, stamps, menus, napkins, train, plane, tram and bus tickets....
Packaging, ads torn from poles, maps, postcards, photos...

RUSSIA
I never saw a cocktail like this one before!

RUSSIA (left) & HELSINKI AIRPORT (right)

KRAKOW PAGE

KRAKOW page

BUDAPEST
Don't these look like little stamps on this postcard?

BUDAPEST PAGES

BUDAPEST PAGES
(hello to Monika at the Stamp Museum)

BUDAPEST PAGES

BUDAPEST PAGES
I cut open a package of paprika and poured the paprika into a jar and added the package to the journal -- along with a goulash recipe on a postcard.
Smells pretty good too.

TRANSFER DAY -- rail tickets and forms and a lunch on the train photo...

I like adding LISTS to the journals. This is a list of what I saw out the train windows.
In France I made a list of what was in my frigo. And in Istanbul and France I made lists of the sounds I heard outside my window.

PRAGUE
Tickets from the boat ride on the Danube along with the "gingerbread" wrapper they gave us along with "free beer". There was a lot of beer in Prague. (But I don't drink beer).

                                                                                 

PRAGUE PAGES
Tram and subway map and tickets..

THE END

Budapest seems to have a lot of pages but actually I divided up the journal into equal sections before I left so each city has the same number of pages. Anything that wouldn't fit I just found another way to add it inside. I'm still working on this one...I do most of the work on them during the trip, adding in the photos after I get back home. A great way to extend the fun of the trip is to work on the travel journal before and after.

Have I missed anything? You guys have any other ideas? What do you stick in your travel journals?
I am always looking for new ideas.

Postal in Prague

Fall was an especially nice time to be in Prague and seeing all the gold and orange leaves and the orange postboxes.
This one was outside the Prague Postal Museum.
No, they didn't allow photos and everyone was watching me closely. (I can't imagine why. Do I look sneaky?)
Yes, they did have a shop.

Some Prague Post Boxes came in pairs like this...

And here are some triplets.

If you're going out all day to hunt down post boxes and Postal Museums and go to the flea market, it is a good idea to have a BIG breakfast first.
They don't mess around when it comes to breakfast at the Cafe Louvre in Prague.
If three eggs with bacon and OJ isn't enough, you get apple cake with meringue on top too.
And, no, I did not eat all that...
But really, cake for breakfast? What's wrong with that?

Prague seemed to have more graffiti than the others places we visited.  I liked that bird.

I love the pink of this old stone with the the grey and the orange pop of the PO box.

I can't read Czech but I do know what posta means.....

Indeed.
Another PO that doesn't allow photos. This is killing me.

Well, there is always the outside to photograph.

The PO boxes are orange but the Postal trucks are blue. This one pulled up in front of a little PO and there was a frenzy of picture taking, much to the amusement of the driver. I amuse quite a number of people.
Even myself.

Nice. 

Lunch time!
Loads of outdoor food venders all over Prague. Very tempting.  

I jumped out of order with this post -- after Russia, we went to Krakow, but since that post isn't ready I thought I'd show you this one instead.
And I didn't have time to photograph the haul of ephemera from the flea market in Prague either......do you want to see it?
I'll work on all that next.

The worktable is covered with stuff, the food frenzy (here in the US) has begun, the travel journal is being worked on, I have about a million projects going on...
And, what are all of you guys doing?
Do Tell.

Happy Thanksgiving to the USA readers
and
Happy Mail Day to all.

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL
(and eat pie)

I'm Back! And I've got Mail. And Photos.

INCOMING

I'm back and finally shaken off most of the jet lag. Thought I'd check in and say hello and share some photos from the trip.
And -- there was lovely incoming mail waiting for me on my return home to SF.
Thanks everyone!
(Too many to name but Dori, Connie, Polly, Sarah, Kelly, Millicent, Test Tower, Cuan, Vizma, Melissa, Kathy, Red, Maureen are only a few....)

INCOMING
The only small problem being that I know owe everybody mail..... patience you guys...
I'm working on it.

INCOMING
From Miss Polly -- isn't this a great card?

INCOMING
I got "Moosed" as Charity wrote on the...well...moose....This guy was waiting on my doorstep and he flew in all the way from Alaska.

SF OR BUST

St Petersburg, Russian Republic
Church of the Spilt Blood
I can tell you I stopped right in my tracks when I saw this baby. One of the coolest buildings I've ever seen. Inside and out.

St Petersburg, Russian Republic
The vast scale of some of the Russian buildings is really amazing. And being there in October the crowds have gone, as you can see. We saw no tourists and no Americans.
But lots of lovely, friendly, helpful Russian people.

It just seemed like there was beauty everywhere we looked on this trip. And we were looking UP a lot. The ceilings were amazing.

Krakow, Poland
Another terrific city with a great big market square. We stayed right on this square which was filled with outdoor cafes. There was a centuries old market arcade to inspect and lots of outdoor venders selling local products and food.
My kind of place...oh yeah...

Krakow
Our hotel lobby. I loved the real candles all lit and up and glowing every night in the lobby and on the floors. I'm sure here in the USA there are some sort of fire laws against it but it was
charming.

Krakow
Some baked goods to sample. And, sample we did.

ST Petersburg
These dolls were absolutely everywhere -- in all four countries we visited.

And these hand painted eggs were very popular as well. These are real eggs but in Poland we bought hand painted wooden eggs.
I figured the wooden eggs had a much better chance of making it home.

BUDAPEST, Hungary
The New York Cafe in Budapest. I have never seen anything like this in New York.
I just couldn't get over these old, magnificent cafes....

After walking miles every day I could also eat dessert without any guilt every day.

Prague, Czech Republic
I hate to say it but there are bookstores and more bookstores in all these countries.
Made me more than a little jealous since we have lost so many here in SF.

Prague, Czech Republic

OK, I may have had a little too much fun. I admit I didn't want to come back home. The cities were all lovely and the people kind and friendly.
And there were flea markets and Postal Museums and a fabulous Stamp Museum and really cute post boxes all over.....I have stories to tell you.
But first I have to work on catching up with all the mail I owe everybody because as you all know

SEND GOOD MAIL ---  GET GOOD MAIL

and I haven't gotten any the last few days since I owe everyone. Sigh.
So, what do you think, are you all going to book a flight to eastern Europe?
Not sure yet?
Wait till you see the Postal Pictures coming up soon.
And BTW, if not eastern Europe, who among you are coming in February for the fabulous
Ex Postal Facto
mail art event? I have heard a lot of rumors of people coming from near and far and I highly suggest it. This is something you won't want to miss. Check out the link on the sidebar.
Hope to see a lot of you in February in SF.
Stay tuned!