The Lost Art of Letter Writing

I love to write letters. I love to send notes and cards and postcards. I often send them for no reason at all. I always send Christmas cards. I always have two sets. One is of the more traditional variety that I send to most people and then there is the second set that are obnoxiously funny that I send to a select few. However, every year I find fewer and fewer Christmas cards in my mailbox. I guess with social media and email many people don't feel sending actual cards is necessary. I guess people figure a general Merry Christmas! post on Facebook covers it. It is too bad, because I would wager people still enjoy receiving a card or letter among the bills and junk mail that they receive.

Because I enjoy letter writing and would enjoy receiving some letters as well, I set out to find some good old fashioned pen pals. Once, a few years ago I tried a couple of online pen pal sites. Meaning you just sent messages through the site. It was most definitely not the same and unfortunately some people on there seemed to view it as a dating site. It was more difficult than I though it would be at first to find pen pals. One person rejected me because she had enough pen pals. I was bummed because she had a guinea pig sanctuary. Really. But, I digress. One of the first groups I joined was the Letter Writers Alliance. I like them because they have various things about letter writing in addition to finding pen pals. But, I was in search of pen pals and so I asked to be matched. They match you according to interests. You are given a name and address and someone else is given your info. I was so excited when I received the information for the person I was to write. She lives in Canada. Unfortunately, she never wrote me back. I didn't hear from the person that had my name either. I asked to be matched again and this time it was a score. I have received a letter from the person I sent to and someone that had my info sent me one.

While waiting for this I joined two other sites. Swap-bot and Postcrossing. Swap-bot has all kinds of things to swap via mail. I have mostly done postcard swaps so far. Some you just write a little note, some you write a quote, it all depends on the swap and there are a ton of them. I have also done a Pinterest swap on there and am currently doing a note card swap. If you are into mail art then this is a site for you. You can also swap items. It is worth checking out. Postcrossing is a bit different in that it is primarily international and is postcards. You check that you want to send a post card and it gives you an id number to put at the top of your postcard and then the address of the person you are to send to. Once, it has reached it's destination the receiver registers it and your name is then given to someone to send you a card. It tracks the miles the card traveled.  I don't do this one as often as I would like because it is $1.20 to send a postcard internationally. I did have one that was national and she asked to be pen pals so I hope to hear from her soon.

I found another pen pal on a site called Pen Pal of the Week. I also found some from finding snail mail or pen pal groups on Facebook. I just sent a letter to someone in England, to someone in Arkansas and to someone in New Jersey. I am waiting to hear from about three others. I love opening my mailbox now. There is something cathartic in talking to someone you have never met.

If you love to write letters and would like to receive some as well, I would recommend checking out some of the sites I have mentioned. Who knows, maybe you will get lucky and find a pen pal that has a guinea pig sanctuary.

When I Became a Crazy Cat Lady

I actually don't know at what point I crossed over from cat owner to Crazy Cat Lady. I have always loved cats, even though growing up we always had more dogs than cats. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs and maybe if I lived in a house with a yard rather than a condo without one, I may even have a dog. But, I have always felt more of a connection with cats. As an adult I appreciate the fact that they are much lower maintenance. I only have to ask friends to pet-sit if I am going to be gone for more than two days. Two days or less and I can just make sure I leave out plenty of food and water and make sure they have clean litter boxes. I am sometimes asked to pet-sit for my friends that have dogs, which I am happy to do. It involves not only getting there to let them out by certain times, but also staying the night. When I see people in the winter out walking there dogs, I am again reminded how easy cats are.

I guess it first started when I was single and had two cats, Taz & Midnight. I had them for many years and they were awesome.

Taz (on left) & Midnight

I lost Taz first. He just curled up for a nap and never woke up. Midnight I had for a couple more years. Her loss wasn't as easy or swift. She had cancer, was treated and was good for almost a year before it came back. Before the cancer reared its head, I went to the local humane society, determined to get her a companion so she wouldn't be lonely. Three cats would be adopted that weekend. Two by me and one by a friend of mine. My intention was to only get one. Her name was Gretel. Her cage card said she was a member of the " Lonely Hearts Club" because she had been there a while. Well, that convinced me. While there a tiny little black kitten was meowing at me as loudly as he could and grabbing at me through the cage. Of course, I had to have him too. Because Gretel already had a name and because I can be a bit cheesy I named him, you guessed it, Hansel.

Hansel ( on right) & Gretel

So now I am a single woman with three cats. THAT is the moment I think I officially became a Crazy Cat Lady. Two is acceptable, three pushes you over the edge. When I got married in addition to a husband I got a fourth cat. Her name is Sophie. She thrived around the other cats, because she spent a great deal of time alone before.

Sophie

It wasn't terribly long after I married that I lost my sweet Midnight. Even though she had a nice long life it is never easy to lose them, especially when you have to make the decision that they have suffered enough. We were back to a three cat household. Interestingly, I never really had the Crazy Cat Lady stigma while I was married. I guess it only applies if you are a single female. We didn't remain a three cat household for long though. I made the mistake of going into a horrible, local pet store. I should have known better. I want to take home everything I see. My dream would be to have enough land and money to take in any abandoned, unwanted animals and give them a loving home at my animal  sanctuary. The day we went into a shop there were no cats or dogs except one. A tiny little white kitten. They hadn't even bothered to put a blanket or anything in the cage with him. He was just laying on the cold metal. They didn't know anything about him, didn't know if he was male or female (we found that out at the vet) and they wanted $80 for him. He is not a pure-bred, pedigree cat. He is just an American Long Hair. Money was very tight and we left that day without him. I was very upset. This was in late October or early November. I kept bringing up the cat. It was our first Christmas as a married couple, I asked my husband to please get me the kitten as my Christmas present. He did. His name is Jingles.

Jingles

Once again, we were a four cat household. Unfortunately, my marriage didn't last and my husband left. Sophie stayed. So just in case three cats as a single lady wasn't enough to push me into the Crazy Cat Lady realm, four most certainly did. One way to tell, is people start buying you cat related gifts. The picture frame that shows Hansel and Gretel is one. Here are a few others.

Cat themed gifts

I don't mind I like and appreciate all of them. Of course my cats are spoiled rotten with more toys than some children as well as scratching posts and cat towers. I talk to them, have given them nicknames, and when talking to them refer to my self as mama. I love that they greet me at the door when I come home. I love how different their personalities are. Something many " not cat people" assume is that cats are all  alike. That is not true.Every cat I have owned has had a unique personality and they have all been affectionate in their own way. So if I am a Crazy Cat Lady so be it, because they make my life better for having them and I absolutely adore them.

A Heartmonger Meets Her Idols

Heart became my favorite music group in 1987. I was 18 years old and their album Bad Animals was on the charts. Particularly, the song "Alone" was on the charts. I fell in love with the album, but more importantly, I fell in love with Ann Wilson's voice. I went out and purchased every Heart album ever made.

Ann & Nancy Wilson St. Louis 8/2013

When I started listening to all of these records I realized I knew a lot of these songs. I remember being 7 years old, living in Jacksonville, Fl, riding in the car with the windows down and "Magic Man" coming on the radio. I just never put two and two together and recognized that Heart of the 1980s was the same group that put out all those great songs in the 1970s. I think that is still the case today. I think Heart is one of the most underrated groups of all time and not just because they happen to be my favorite, but for some reason, people just don't seem to retain their name with all of their music. They may remember "These Dreams" or "What about Love", but when you start rambling off their catalog, people are like "oh yeah, I love that song". As great as their songs are, my favorite being "Crazy on You" by the way, it was always Ann's voice that got me. It still does. I truly do not believe the group would have made it without her. As I have gotten older I have come to really appreciate Nancy for her songwriting and musical abilities. I have just now, at the age of 46, begun to try and learn to play the guitar. I aspire to one day be able to play the intro to "Crazy on You" which I think is my all time favorite piece of music.

I have seen Heart live 5 times. The first was around 1990 during their Brigade tour. I saw them in Orlando from the cheap seats. They were filming a video and Giant was the opening act. They were fantastic. I never for a moment thought they would suck live. How could they with Ann's voice? It would be 21 years before I would see them again. This time it was during their "Red Velvet Car" tour (awesome album btw) in Topeka, KS. I was in the cheap seats again, the Edgar Winter Group opened, and Heart once again was fantastic. In 2012 they performed "Stairway to Heaven" with Jason Bonham on drums at the Kennedy Center Honors for Led Zeppelin. It hit huge numbers on YouTube and iTunes. This led to the Jason Bonham Experience opening for them when they went on tour to promote their Fanatic album. This also led to me seeing them for the 3rd time. This time it was in St. Louis and the seats were not so cheap (either 3rd or 5th row). The above picture was taken with my friend's cellphone. His camera was much better than mine. If you have never have seen Heart live,one thing you should know is when they do their encore they do not do Heart songs. They do Led Zeppelin songs and they are fantastic at it. During this particular tour Jason Bonham would come back to drum Heart's encore set.

It was at this point I decided to become an official Heartmonger and join their fan club. For $30 bucks a year I get access to the website, a tee shirt, but most importantly concert pre-sale codes. I learned that they would be playing in a fabulous old, restored theater in Salina, KS in October of 2014. I was excited. I could buy a pre-sale ticket and get a fabulous seat. Unfortunately, I had the date wrong for when the pre-sale started. When I realized it I was stuck with a third row seat on the wrong side of the stage. That is the side where Nancy isn't. Still, it was a beautiful venue complete with ushers in uniform. There was no opening act or merchandise on sale. It was all Heart and was fabulous. You must remember that both Ann and Nancy are in their 60s now. They look and sound amazing, but you never know when they may get tired of the road. I despaired of not getting to see them again.

As fate would have it,in January,dates were announced for the Love=Music tour. They would be playing in Sioux City, IA on 3/25/15 and Joan Jett and the Black Hearts would be the opener. It is a 4 hour drive to Sioux City. This time I knew exactly when the pre-sale tickets were available. I got a front row seat right in front of Nancy.I still have a phone that does not have a great camera, so I had a harder time getting a decent picture of Ann as she was moving around quite a bit

Nancy Wilson Sioux City 3/2015

Ann Wilson Sioux City 3/2015

As fantastic as getting a front row seat was imagine my delight when they later announced there were add on VIP packages going on sale. I must admit it was a bit of a financial stretch for me. After all, I had already purchased my seat, plus I had to figure in gas, and I had gotten a room for the night as well. The package was an additional $250, but I knew if I didn't do it I would always regret it. So once again, I get my pre-sale code and literally counted down the minutes until they went on sale. Afterwards, I was very nervous. There would be a meet and greet and I was honestly afraid I would burst into tears. 

The day of the show arrived and I picked up my ticket and checked into the hotel, freshened up a bit and then it was time to head over to the arena to begin the VIP experience. We had to be there at 5:30 and their were about 15 of us. The VIP Coordinator was named Amy and she was wonderful. After signing in and receiving some of our swag ( ball cap, vip badges, little metal case that contained about 5 different Heart guitar pics, a limited edition poster we received later after the sisters signed them) we headed up to purchase any merchandise we wanted without the hassle of the crowds and as an added bonus we got to hear Joan Jett doing a sound check. 

Next we headed to the VIP room. It is done up in rich colors with candlelight. Food and beverage was served. Next on the agenda was the stage tour. The broke us into two groups. I was fortunate enough to be in the group that was led by Heart's Stage Manager. He answered any and all questions and gave us some real insight into what an operation it is to make something seem effortless, when it really isn't. Next came the best surprise of the night. We were introduced to Nancy's guitar tech Jeff. Not only were we introduced, but he had the guitar cabinets open. I was thrilled. Imagine my surprise when he asked if any of us wanted our picture taken with a guitar! I have always coveted Nancy's 1963 blue and white Telecaster. I asked if I could have mine taken with it and lo and behold he pulls it out and puts it one me. I couldn't believe it!

Me with Nancy's guitar tech Jeff and the Telecaster

We got to try and win a different guitar pick by answering a couple of trivia questions and yes I did win one. Now it was time to go back to the VIP room and await the arrival of Ann and Nancy. Amy advised us that they were pretty quite, Ann in particular as she was very aware of her voice and not wearing it out. She was told on a radio that the sisters were on their way. We were told to line up. I was strangely calm. They came in and of course we clapped. They sat at a table and we took turns going up to them, saying what we wanted to say and then going behind them to have our photo taken. They were very nice and polite, if somewhat subdued. I am sure they feel like animals on display during these things. They were not in their stage wear yet. When it was my turn I shook their hands and thanked them for taking the time to meet with us. Then I had my photo taken.

Me with Ann & Nancy Sioux City 3/2015 #heartvip15

It is a strange thing meeting your idols. On one hand I would have liked for there to have been a little more interaction, but I know that these women had a show to prepare for. Also, do we really want to hang out with our idols? Both of these ladies have been a huge force in rock and roll, particularly in showing that women can rock too. They seem very cool in interviews, but the reality is we don't know these people anymore than they know us. They may hold very different views on somethings than I do. I believe we think we want to hang out with our idols because we have formed an opinion of who they are in our minds. I think Ann and Nancy do it right,short and sweet. Think how horrible it would be to finally meet your idol and learn he is actually a jerk. I am sure that these are two of the coolest ladies on the planet, but I am glad I didn't spend much time with them. They as women and their music have come to mean so much to me over the years and I don't want anything to tarnish that. 

Were given our signed posters right after our photo was taken and then it was time to head to my front row seat. I loved seeing various generations in the crowd. I sat next to a family of four. The mom, dad and two teenage daughters who were huge Heart fans. I love that! I was sitting next to one of the girls and she had a little sign asking Nancy to throw her a pick because it was her birthday. Nancy did, it fell in the security barrier, we finally found it with the help of our cellphone lights and a kind security guard. Nancy even came back over and asked the girl is she got it. Once again, Heart put on a stellar performance. Will this be the last time that I see them? I don't know, but I do know it is one big thing I have marked off my bucket list.

Oh to be Crafty....

Here's the thing. I want to be artistic, creative, and crafty. I really do. For some people it seems to come so easily, my mother for example. She has made lamps, she use to make pottery, she can paint and her latest endeavor involves etching on wine bottles and then turning them into wind-chimes, lights and various other things. The irritating thing is she is actually good at these things. When she made pottery it was sold in stores. She has had numerous requests from people and businesses to make them something from wine bottles.

It isn't as though I haven't tried over the years to learn how to do crafty, creative things. Before the internet, I didn't really research things. I just decided I was going to do something and then went about spending a ton of money on the supplies I would need to create my masterpieces. I think it began  with painting. I was never any good at drawing, so I don't know why I thought I would be any good at painting, unless it was abstract. Of course, I don't care for abstract. So I bought all the supplies needed to begin my life-long artistic journey in water-colors. Had I done, even a little research I would have learned that water-colors are one of the more difficult painting mediums. My life-long journey ended after three weeks.

Next came crochet, yet another thing my mother can do. The only thing I can make is one long string that continues until I have used up all of the yarn. Next came cake decorating. I should have known this wouldn't work as I do not like to cook or bake. That didn't stop me from purchasing the pans and supplies though. That one may have only lasted two weeks. I really don't like to bake.

All of those things were a long time ago. I am older and wiser and now have Pinterest. Some recent forays back into the arts has shown me that being older and wiser doesn't mean you are any more artistic than when you were young and stupid. I recently had an evening out with some girlfriends at a local place called Paint Therapy Uncorked. It is a neat concept. You pay and byob, they supply all the art supplies and you leave with a painting of your very own. I was very excited. I was the first to get there. You see, you pic out one of their paintings and reproduce it. I wanted to have the full selection to choose from. Anyone that knows me knows my favorite music group is Heart, and I found a great painting of a heart. Perfect! Yeah...no. I was so frustrated that mine was not turning out like the original I was near tears. I have seen photos of our group painting away. Everyone is smiling except me. I will show you the end result and you may think it looks okay. I would like you to keep in mind that the "helpers" that worked there had to pretty much outline everything for me and fix my screw ups as best they could. If you look at it you will figure out my screw ups. I wish I had taken a photo of the original so you would have something to compare it to.

Next I thought okay, maybe decoupage. I bought a cheap small glue gun and some Mod Podge. I mean isn't that all you need? Now I have "collected" stamps for the past few years and by collected I mean I see a pretty or cool one and I will save it. To me they are like fun stickers. So what I did next will make true stamp collectors cringe. I decided I would decoupage my stamp book with, you guessed it, stamps!  Here is the end result of this stroke of genius.

This last one is were I burned myself with the glue gun within the first hour of using it. Now maybe the book doesn't look too bad, but no matter how many coats of Mod Podge I put on it, it isn't smooth. Maybe I need shellac. Anyway, I do not have any photos to share of my brilliant idea to glue pebbles to an old LP. Lets just say it sounds much cooler than it looked. I would like to mention I am also pursuing my life long dream of learning to play guitar. While, that is great, I don't anticipate writing my own songs. I just want to be able to play other people's songs. So my itch for some sort of creative outlet is still there, when I attempt something else I will be sure and share it with you, but in the mean time, this is going to have to do.