nerd’s eye view

The Postcard Revival Project

May 17, 2008 – 2:46 pm | by nerd's eye view

The postcard, that cheap and venerable souvenir for the last 120 years, is slowly but inexorably fading from the scene.

Blame it on the surging popularity of digital photos, text messages and those 5,000-word dispatches e-mailed to weary friends and family from Internet cafes the world over.

Source: SF Gate: Perceptive Travel

Nooooooo! As much as I loves me some blogging and some digital photos, I still adore postcards, getting them, writing them, sending them off. I love them so much that I’m going to send one to you. But you have to send ME one, too. Tacky, gorgeous, vintage, just plain used, a picture of some place you’ve never been or went 12 years ago and still have postcards from, send ‘em my way and I’ll send one to you.

In a nod to technology, we first have to trade addresses via email: [pam (at) nerdseyeview (dot) com] Send me yours, I’ll send you mine. Don’t be shy; I won’t send you anything inappropriate and I’m not stalkerish or weird. (Well, not weird in a scary way.) I have some postcards that we’ve made ourselves over the past view years, some that I never sent out, and, if I run out, well, who knows what I’ll send you.

Long live the postcard!

National Geographic Dreams

May 16, 2008 – 8:10 am | by nerd's eye view

I don’t qualify for this - too creaky around the knees, oh, let’s face it, I’m OLD - but you might. National Geographic will soon be accepting applicants for overseas writers, photographers, storytellers… between the ages of 18-30. I think it’s totally unfair that I can’t apply for the program, but rather than grousing about that, I’m going to tell you, young whippersnapper that’s handy with the camera or the written word, to sign up and go get ‘em.

If you are a talented storyteller; specialize in writing, photography or video; and will be living or studying abroad in Fall 2008, this is your opportunity! As a Glimpse Correspondent, you will receive a $600 stipend, a professional editor, and the opportunity to be published in National Geographic Glimpse. The application will be ready in mid-May–register your email address today to be notified when the application goes live!–Glimpse Correspondents Program

Now, I’m off to wash down my bitter envy with black coffee.

Fish Wednesday: Leeks in White Wine Edition

May 15, 2008 – 1:33 pm | by nerd's eye view

Leeks are a tricky vegetable. I do like them but I’m not always sure what to do with them. I had them oven roasted at my friend’s place in Tuscany - that was damn fine - and in vichyssoises (leek and potato soup) but I rarely cook them at home. We received a bundle of them in our CSA box last week, so there was no getting around it, I was going to have to cook them. I cracked Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and picked a recipe that sounded like it would do double duty with a nice white fish.

Essentially, you simmer the leeks in white wine with a handful of herbs until they’re done. That’s exactly what I did and when the leeks were cooked through, I lifted them out of the pan and put in a hefty Marlin steak. Marlin, if it’s wild caught Hawaiian marlin, is considered a sustainable fish though I had a moment of crisis at the fish counter. I like marlin a lot, it’s meaty and dense and goes great on the grill. Steamed in wine it was moist and tender, but could have supported something a little less subtle. I probably should have let the sauce reduce a bit more before adding the fish- that would have made for a more intense flavor. No complaints, though, it was a nice springtime plate of food, mild with a little bite if you happened to get one of the peppercorns floating in the sauce. Yum.

A short side note: Lately, lots of people have been saying tremendously nice things about Nerd’s Eye View, both online and off… the good people of TravelPod, TravBuddy, Uptake, the folks that buy the links on my sidebar… just to name a few. To those folks - and all of you that bother to spend your valuable time reading this blog - I just wanted to say thank you. Look me up if you’re in my part of the world. I’m likely to invite you over for fish dinner. No, really. There are people out there who will confirm that I totally mean it.

File Under: Always Carry Your Camera

May 13, 2008 – 9:15 am | by nerd's eye view

My photo won the prize for “Most Unusual Object” in West Seattle Blog’s Garage Sale Contest. No, smart guy, the unusual object wasn’t ME, it was two huge bags of duck decoys.

Me: How many duck decoys does a person need?
Duck Decoy Guy: About a dozen.
Me: And how many do you have here?
DDG: Oh, about three dozen… do you want one? You can take one home…
Me: [Selecting a duck decoy]
DDG: Everyone knows the Mallard.

What did I win? A 20 dollar coffee card from Hotwire at the Junction. Mmmmm. Coffee. And a duck decoy!

Cap Hill Garage Sale Day is June 14th.

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West Seattle neighbor and travel goddess Beth Whitman of Wanderlust and Lipstick has asked me to help judge her travel photo contest. The fabulous prize? An X-Shot Monopod. I’m not familiar with the gadget, but it looks like it could be a fun thing to have. You’ll need to register on Beth’s site, upload some pics, and send your absolute best to her. Details are here.

How to Keep Your Travelblog Alive When You’re Not Traveling

May 12, 2008 – 8:15 am | by nerd's eye view

The web is a graveyard of travelblogs, musings of gap year students, summer road trippers, one time round the worlders who thought it would be fun to share their stories while they were wandering. Travelers return home, cull their photos, flood the Flickr stream one last time and then… nothing. That’s fine for most, but what if you want to keep the travel enthusiasm going when your wallet is empty and your adventures limited to to the backyard? There’s plenty left to write about, even for the travelblogger at home. Here are a few suggestions that will keep your blog alive until the next time you’re off.

1. Go local. It doesn’t matter where you are, people live there for a reason. Take your readers on a tour of your hometown as though they were your houseguests or you’d just arrived.
2. Read and write. Many a traveler seeks solace in books. The travel journalism section at the book store or library is a great place to find adventure, even if it’s someone else’s. Don’t overlook the classics, after all, Huck Finn and Alice in Wonderland are travel stories too.
3. Seek the exotic at home.We’re lucky in that if we go south just a bit we find Vietnamese communities, to the north,there are Korean and Indian neighborhoods… ethnic diversity is right out side our door. A few years back a friend and I attended the Scottish Highland Games, a mere 1/2 hour drive from here, and earlier this year, we attended the Cambodian New Year’s Festival, just two miles away.
4. See it all as a trip. Even the shopping mall suburb has a story. Find the tiny community museums and learn about the place before the townhomes.
5. Find the festivals and fairs. A quick search of my local paper’s festival calendar turns up a Norwegian Festival, a Native American cultural event, something called Viking Fest (horns and helmet, anyone?) and that’s just on the first page. Spring and summer are here; what’s on near you?
6. Travel on your stomach. Think about how much the food you eat defines a place. Food and travel are excellent companions, why not try to write about your dinner. Seafood is an inseparable part of Seattle, as are the Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants in the International District. Food that’s distinctive to where you’re from can be as interesting as food from far away places.
7. Plan your next trip.There are a few travelbloggers I read who published the exhaustive details of their planning phases before they even stepped foot out the door. I can think more than one blog where I found the reading at the planning more compelling then the travel writing.

Just about anytime you go from A to B, there’s the potential for adventure. Keep your eyes open. Remember the details you observed when you were in Buenas Aires or Stockholm or Hanoi and look for them at home. Think of writing about travel as writing not so much about the act of being in motion, but as writing about PLACE. Then, look at where you are. If you’re still a traveler at heart, you’ll have no trouble bringing that enthusiasm to continuing your blog, even if you’re standing on your own front porch.

Sort of related:

• Survivng the Suburbs on Vagabondish

The Two Dimensional World Traveler

May 9, 2008 – 7:37 pm | by nerd's eye view

He arrived a bit travel worn, but he sat quietly until we could spend some time with him and the weather improved. He’s not really set up for rain, and we’ve had too much of it. Then, I was too busy to show him around, so he just hung out, not asking for much. I felt kind of guilty, I’d said I would host and then, the work I’d been waiting so long to get finally started, so there was little time. I took him with me to Ukulele Sunday and out to the software ranch, but I couldn’t really pay attention to him and do what I needed to get done at the same time.

Finally, we had a beautiful afternoon and I was able to clear my desk. We all got in the car and headed down to admire the view at the waterfront.

We check out the view from Alki Beach, West Seattle

We’re delighted to have the easiest house guest in the world hanging out with us, Flat Stanley. We know he was in Germany before he came here, though he had a stopover somewhere in Minnesota on his way to our house. He arrived with a short explanation from his home in Worthington, Ohio. It’s our job to show him around, take some pictures of him seeing the highlights of our city, and then, send him on to somewhere new. We’re hoping to get him off to Hawaii, of course.

I love the idea of this, it’s a little bit like the garden gnome in Amelie, though more educational. We’ll scribble a little writeup about Seattle, print our photos, maybe toss in some postcards, and send a trip report back to Flat Stanley’s host school. The kids learn about new places from the people that live there, which is a great idea because individuals see their homes so differently than encyclopedias do. It’s geography made real, what’s not to like about that?

Truth be told, I am outrageously envious of our 2D friend. Off he goes, on his cheap postal service fare, carrying nothing but his sleeping bag (a manila envelope) and his letter of introduction. He arrives at the welcoming home of strangers who show him around and then, whoosh, where he goes next is anyone’s guess! I find the whole idea so thrilling that I would like nothing more than to BE Flat Stanley. The human Flat Stanley, going to wherever my hosts deem is the next destination - what an awesome adventure that would be!