Tag: Mailings 2016

Looking back over 2015, it feels like a pretty "okay" year... not the best, not too exciting, actually maybe a bit boring, but nothing horribly tragic happened, either. Here's what I accomplished:

in 2015, I read 35 books. The average book was 314 pages and GoodReads tells me my shortest book was 97 pages (84, Charing Cross Road) and my longest book was 973 pages (The Cider House Rules). I read 211 pages a week (I read 211 pages a week in 2014 as well, but 221 pages per week in 2013).

in 2015, I sent exactly 1500 postcards and letters. Wow. The average is 125 per month which is a huge increase over previous years. 2014 = 98 per month, 2013 = 78 per month.

The GoodReads Postcard Exchange group that I host, really kept me happy and focused. The monthly membership started at 45 and ended at 63 and averaged 54 players every month! I started working on a much needed FAQ, but haven't uploaded it yet. I also need to think about other time saving measures: the GR PCs are fun, but time consuming, I think I might like to work on other projects in the future!

I wrote and sent 13 Amnesty International cases. and I wrote letters of protest to all of the 12 Write for Rights cases, plus 1 solidarity card. In the past, my goal has been to write an AI case every weekend, but just 13 regular cases in 2015 makes 1 a month. My goal for 2016: 2 Amnesty International cases a month, plus a good effort at the Write for Rights, including especially solidarity letters.

I also re-activated my PostCrossing account, which had been mostly inactive since 2011 (with brief activity in 2013). I sent 33 postcards this year, bringing my lifetime total to 292 (I joined in sept 2008). PostCrossing is simple and fun, despite the heathens who say they don't like homemade or handmade postcards. I'd like to continue in 2016.

At Swap-Bot, I participated in 49 exchanges and hosted 3 of my own vegan group swaps. This brought my lifetime total to 191 from when I joined that site in May 2011.

in 2015, I took 4499 photos, averaging 375 per month. 2014 avg was 394. 2013 avg was 555. Maybe I'm taking better quality photos, so I don't have to take as many? uh huh. Maybe I need to get out of the house with my camera more often!

in 2015, I wrote 23 entries here and had 10 updates, which has been my normal average for the past many years. I enjoy crafting a post with words and photos and it's a lovely creative outlet for me. I don't know why I don't do it more often, maybe I can shake things up here in 2016?!

in 2015, SO and I kept gardening... but I think I'll put that in a separate post.

In last year's New Year post, I wanted to take on some vegan projects for 2015. I did host a couple swaps at my Vegan Voices group, but I never engaged with the Veganic Gardening project I was thinking about.

And I wanted to do some drawing in 2015... which I did: I started (but didn't complete) a Horse Drawing online class in November.

In 2016, I would like to do another Space Clearing year. I worked on a year-long online class about Space Clearing in 2014. I got some stuff done that year, but the clutter has not improved since then.

Not only do I want to tackle the clutter, there are also some home improvement chores that need to be done. I need to buy a new mattress and bed frame, a new couch would be nice, as would a new entertainment center for the living room. And it would be nice to adopt a new computer before the old one crashes in a permanent way.

Obviously I spend a lot of time and effort on postcards. But I had a "Reply To" pile that got overwhelming and completely "unaddressed"! That's okay, but I need to find a better system, one that actually works.

I am not sure how I would like to express my joy at being vegan in 2016. So I will be on the look out for some projects which excite me.