Albert Einstein: Self-Portrait

Albert Einstein, c. mid-1920's
Photograph courtesy of American Institute of Physics - Niels Bohr Laboratory
US-1897546, Sender: Gina, Sent: 3 Oct 2012 from Williamsburg, Virginia
Received: 17 Dec 2012, Traveled 13,972 km in 75 days

"One doesn't need to understand the world, it's enough to find one's way around it."
DE-1388891, Sender: Alare, Sent: 21 May 2012 from Cologne, Germany
Received: 8 June 2012, Traveled 10, 339 km in 18 days

Mass-Energy Equivalence
FI-1544668, Sender: Plp, Sent: 22 Sep 2012 from Espoo, Finland
Received: 5 Oct 2012, Traveled 8,952 km in 12 days

August 2013 is Inventor's Month. Before it ends, I wish to share some of my Einstein postcards and also one of my favorite essays of him from the book, Albert Einstein: Out Of My Later Years. --

Self-Portrait

Of what is significant in one's own existence one is hardly aware, and it certainly should not bother the other fellow. What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?

The bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one's own efforts. For the most part I do the thing which my own nature drives me to do. It is embarrassing to earn so much respect and love for it. Arrows of hate have been shot at me too; but they never hit me, because somehow they belonged to another world, with which I have no connection whatsoever.

I live in the solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

The English translation of the quote on the second postcard was by the sender. Thinking deeper of it, I believe it's a shorter version of the essay I found on the book.

Sharing these postcards for Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday. Wishing every one a relaxing weekend.

~maria

Paris vs. New York 2

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Terry
Sent: 3 May 2013, Sent from Sherwood, AR
Traveled ~12,288 km

My first Paris vs. New York post made me hungry, now I'm thirsty. 

The title for this comparison is l'apéro - the colloquial form of l'apéritif. According to Uncle Wiki, "This name is given to a drink, usually alcoholic, taken before a meal. It also relates to the 'social event' that happens alongside the actual drinking, for example going over the days/weeks events or just keeping up to date with friends/family events also involving little munchies, crisps, pastries, etc."

On the French side, of course we have bordeaux, which refers to grapes used to make the wine. Bordeaux is a place in southwest France notable for producing wine. It has a rich heritage of wine production and wines produced using Bordeaux grape varieties have registered names or are trademarked. For easy reference and for universal parlance, the wines are referred to as bordeaux.

On the American side, we have cosmo, or cosmopolitan. It is a cocktail made of vodka, cranberry juice, triple sec, and lime juice. It's served in a martini glass, garnished by a lemon twist. It became popular because of the HBO show, Sex and the City. This cocktail is light and fruity, a good choice for a casual night out with girl friends as seen in that tv series.

Personally, wine drinking appears to me as classic and relaxed, while cosmo (cocktail) drinking is hip and bubbly. I was first introduced to cosmo drinking; it's more of a feminine alcoholic drink. Now with the French beau who has a sommelier friend and housemate, I got to try different bottles of good wine. My taste has since preferred the more refined sensations of drinking wine. On a second thought though, both wine and cocktail drinks make me dead sleepy so I guess the difference doesn't really matter in the end. 

Yesterday is a 'Be An Angel Day' -- it's all about making the world a better place through acts of kindness, care, and support. I would like to note that in my deltiology and philately world, Terry - the sender of this postcard is one of my angels. She often sends me extra/surprise card with the cards arranged for swap. Also, the sisters Clytie of Random Hearts and Beth of The Best Hearts Are Crunchy are my angels, too. They allow me to share my postcards and stamps collection to a bigger audience.

Sharing with Beth for the Postcard Friendship Friday and Paulita for Dreaming of France, cheers for the weekend and for next week, everyone! 

~maria

...et l'amour

Private Swap, Sender: David Russell
Sent: 27 May 2013, Sent from Lyon, France
Received: 4 June 2013, Traveled 10,765.82 km in 8 days

I am truly grateful that postcard swap friends give it an effort to fulfill postcard preference requests. At the back of this card, David wrote: 

I looked around and finally found a postcard with hearts. It wasn't easy to pick just the right card. I hope you will enjoy it. :) 

-- and of course, I enjoy this card a lot! My favorite heart from this set is the one on the top row, to the right of the letter 'O'. 

There's a phrase in French at the bottom of the card. I asked Mr. Google to translate it for me, and he said it means, "...and love goes around your hearts." I wanted a more comprehensible translation, and from the beau, I got: "...and love is filling up your hearts". It's really complicated for me learning the French language but I hope I can at least comprehend the basics by trying to understand words and phrases.

I would also like to share, that this postcard is double heart-y treat for me. David sent it with a heart-shaped stamp. This is Hermès contribution to the annual 'Heart' collection of the French Postal Service (La Poste). The design is from the brand's iconic scarves, illustrated by Zoé Pauwels. The stamp was released 28 January 2013. I cropped the stamp to show the overlapping postmarks from the Lyon and Manila postal offices. I think they look nice.

For more Francophile posts, Paulita is running 'Dreaming of France' at her page, An Accidental Blog, click the icon below to proceed to her blog.

~maria

Philippine Wild Ducks

This is a souvenir sheet issued in 3 August 2007 for the 20th Asian International Stamp Exhibition. It was held at the Siam Paragon, Bangkok, Thailand from 3-12 August 2007.

The ducks featured on this sheet are the following:

Northern Pintail (Anas Acuta). Uncommon in wetlands from marshes to lakes. Males are unmistakable with long thin neck, brown head with white stripe up neck. Female ducks are surface-feeding and has greenish-brown speculum with white trailing edge, long slender neck and longer more pointed tail. 

Common Shellduck (Tadorna tadorna). Numerous species of shell duck are widely distributed in temperate and tropical regions of the world. It is a large surface-feeding duck, sometimes known as a Sheldrake. Common shellducks are found in estuaries and fishponds
 

Northern Shoveler (Anas c/ypeata). All shovelers have a large, shovel-like bill. Uncommon in freshwater marshes and shallow lakes, in pairs or small groups often with other ducks. It has a distinctive large bill which gives a top heavy look and is best field mark for female. Females are also noted with brown belly and give a typical Mallard-like quack look. Males have white breast and chestnut flanks and belly. Males are silent when not breeding. 
 

Greater Scaup (Aythya Marl/a). Usually found in brackish and saltwater bays and estuaries but also in freshwater lakes. It has rounded head and large and broad bill. White in wing extends well into primaries. Male has black front and rear, separated by grey back and white sides is indicative or diagnostic. Females are well-defined white face that differs from female tufted ducks. 

I'm sharing this for Viridian's Sunday Stamps theme today, mini-sheets.

~maria

Source: http://www.philippinestamps.net/RP2007-Ducks.htm

Beauties of Paris

Bookmark
Sender: The future
Sent: 2 Aug 2013
Rcvd: 12 Aug 2013

Today's post is inspired by last Postcard Friendship Friday's entry of Grace. She's French, a marketing strategy consultant, who also loves postcards. I can't exactly remember how we bumped into each other here at bloggers but ever since then, I've always loved visiting her page.

Her entry, 'Three Faces of Paris Beauty' shows postcards with the Eiffel Tower, a mix of French attractions (Montmartre, Mona Lisa, Arc de Triomphe, etc.), and Pont Alexandre III arch bridge. Following her post, I'm sharing here a bookmark, which I saw in my study table today, upon returning in my apartment from fieldwork. 

I got a message at the back of it: Someday in the not so far future, you will be sitting where this woman is, reading a book with your lover beside you. It was signed: Yours faithfully, the future -- Today is "Tell A Joke Day" and if the muse of destiny is gonna play a beautiful joke on me, may it be that this message of the future becomes a reality.

Still following Graces' lead, my second card is the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre -- the famous church on top of a hill at the heart of Paris. On a separate post from the past, I posted a postcard with the steps leading up the church. The name of the church means "mount of martyrs" because many saints visited the hill. The church is dedicated to the Heart of Jesus.

Facebook Swap, Sender: Ulla
Sent: 26 Nov 2012, Sent from
Marly, France, Rcvd: 28 Dec 2012
Traveled ~10,900 km in 32 days

If you checked Grace's entry, you can see that my third card is another view of the Pont Alexandre III arch bridge -- which is also the third card on her post. This historical monument spanning the Siene River connects the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower quarter.

Together with the bookmark from Paris above, I also received 9 other postcards from France today. I'm so excited to share them all here but will save them for future posts. I have two views of Avignon, two views of Le Mont Saint Michel, a postcard of raclette, one view of Saint Emilion, one of Le Pont du Gard, a card of La Grotte De Lascaux, and of Conques.

I am also very excited because Ulla, the sender of the 2 postcards on this post, has just agreed to send me two postcards of Alsace.

I am happy that I'm getting postcards of France from private swaps because I seldom get one from the official postcrossing website.

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Ulla
Sent & Received dates similar to the one above

I am sharing this with Beth's PFF. Check out her blog roll at The Best Hearts Are Crunchy for more postcards to enjoy reading and viewing for the weekend. I am also sharing with Paulita at The Accidental Blog for the Dreaming of France blog roll. 'The future's message and the France postcards I got today have truly made me dreaming even more of France.

~maria