Amyncognito

3/20/18 I'm taking a break here for a while to get caught up on penpal letters and enjoy the gorgeous spring weather. I'll be checking in weekly to check my mail and rate any outstanding swaps. See you soon!

I'm 43 and live with my husband, parakeet, cockatiel and a fish tank of freshwater fish.

I'm slightly obsessed with parakeets/budgies. My 4-year-old parakeet Minion is blue - send me budgie/parakeet things and I will do a happy dance!

I also love cockatiels, especially the "lutino" (white and yellow) ones. My adorable cockatiel Sophie is 8 months old!

I love:

The Weepies, Paul Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson,

I also love top 40, indie pop, hip hop and 70s/80s "soft hits/Yacht Rock" (think Jackson Browne, Cat Stevens, Al Stewart, Hall & Oats etc)

Movies

The Others, The Awakening, Mama, The Conjuring, The Orphanage, Lights Out, Blair Witch 2016, Annabelle 2, Sixth Sense

What If, The Big Sick, Begin Again, Juno, For a good time call, We're The Millers, Olive Kitteridge, Best In Show, Pitch Perfect, The Hours, When Harry Met Sally, Age of Innocence, Lars and the Real Girl, The Duchess, Marie Antoinette, A Ghost Story, The Station Agent, Young Victoria

Documentaries

Helvetica, Blackfish, Finding Vivian Maier, Bill Cunningham New York, The September Issue, Somm, Unzipped, Anne Leibovitz: Life through a lens, Very Semi Serious, Everything is Copy

Actors & Actresses

Zoe Kazan, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Ryan Gosling, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Catherine Keener, Peter Dinklage, Adam Scott, Adam Driver,

Top:

Station 11 by Emily St John Mandel,

Handmaids Tale by Atwood

Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Elison

(see a theme?)

Favorite authors

Elizabeth Berg, Tracy Chevalier, Chris Bohjalian, Geraldine Brooks, Phillipa Gregory, Alice Hoffman, Anita Shreve

Animals, especially owls, hedgehogs, parakeet/budgie, cockatiels, foxes, birds, and sloths

cute cartoons

funny / silly / weird cards

kawaii

art cards - any artist

flowers/gardens

food & drink

anything from my obsessions list below

(also see below regarding postage stamps)

not a huge fan of touristy or multi view postcards

If you could use the following stamps on your letters/postcards OR include them in stamp swaps I would LOVE it. I collect these categories of postage stamps:

*Food/drink - including fruit, vegetables, coffee, wine, traditional foods, anything edible!

*Reading - books, reading

*Letters, stamps & mailboxes on stamps

*parakeets / budgies

*gems & mineral

I also love stamps from Scandanavia, the Netherlands and Japan

Reading! I've loved reading my whole life. I'm not too picky about books, but I tend to like character-driven books, post-apocalyptic (not sci fi), and non-fiction. Reading has been my favorite thing my entire life. I'm really into short story anthologies at the moment.

Birds! I love my pet birds, my patio is a wild bird haven,and I go on bird walks!

Genealogy! I'm obsessed! My people came from England, Ireland, France, Germany and Switzerland.

Embroidery! I love making baby onesies, pillows and tea towels!

Art! I love museums, abstract expressionism, Frank Gehry, Manet, Jackson Pollock, Rothko, still life paintings (especially by the "Dutch Masters"), Chihuly glass, Vermeer, Frank Lloyd Wright

History! I love the Tudor era, Queens (historical English royalty, esp Queen Victoria, Tudor Queens, Queen Charlotte, Marie Antoinette), old cemeteries, documentaries, the Gilded Age (Vanderbilts, Astors, etc)

Eating (but not cooking)! Cheese, cheese Pizza, Sushi, Pad Thai, Eggs Benedict, Gum, Haribo raspberry candy, Indian food, Mashed potatoes, Jelly Bellys. I’ll eat anything that isn’t guts or super spicy.

Gardening! I want a large flower cutting garden. Love dahlias, moss, ferns, streams, glads, tulips, hyacinths, and flowering vines.

Travel! Fav places are: Oregon, Seattle, NYC, East coast leaf peeping, Japan, Paris, London, Italy, Napa, northern California, Costa Rica, New Orleans

Mindfulness and Meditation "Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know" Pema Chodron