I have been catching up on snail mail, and really enjoying myself, futzing around with my stationery exuberance. While I have been, as always, sending out letters on fun Japanese correspondence, enjoying the detailed illustrations and overall warm and fuzzy aura, I tend to return to my favourite correspondence stationery by default, which is the blue G. Lalo Verge de France.

I love the feel and texture of it, the weight of it, the thickness of the paper, the liner in the envelope. It feels like you’re sending something nice in the mail, and it’s even heavier when you have a few sheets inside, maybe a little something extra, a few more stamps or a wax seal. It’s French.

There is also something about the nature of blue stationery, standing out in all of the industrial white envelopes housing bills and your war amps key chains and your insurance papers. There is something about the blue that just draws your eye to it and says hmmm. Something special today.

The verge lines give it a bit of texture, which does not make for the smoothest writing, but the recipient will likely (hopefully?) appreciate the quality. If they don’t, please promptly chop them from your correspondence list.

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I’ve been pondering this stationery in particular right now because I’m queuing myself up for another pen pal match up. While snail mail is inherently slower, there are obviously limits to the slowness, especially when it’s on the part of the match maker and there are a couple for hundred would-be pen pals, some occasionally beginning to email into the shop or the live chat and then the staff start saying hey-liz-just-checking-in. I just want to make sure I have all my pieces in place before people start sending in their letters of introduction, which includes having enough postage and stationery for several hundred letters to go out.

I’d been putting off doing one, being somewhat limited in time, but baby Junia can only be used as an excuse for so long. And to be honest my fingers are also itching again for that familiar thrill of stacks of letters, coming in and going out.

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March 26, 2023 — Liz Chan

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