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I’m reading a book by Paul Auster called book of illusions, where this guy David is depressed for more than a year, but gets kicked out of it by a trivial mute movie, just because it made him smile – nothing else had worked for him. Everybody has his own small set of simple little things, everyday small details, which have the power to bright up the day. David’s, was Hector Mann’s films.

Mine, it’s postcards (among other things). Doesn’t matter how was my day, having postcards on my mailbox always makes me smile. From family, friends, acquaintances, picture postcards or even silly propaganda ones, has long as they have something written by someone, they all turn my mailbox into a little surprise box. And that doesn’t work just me, as I found out that there are more people with this healthy-kinda-silly-but-inexpensive addiction.

So what does a computer geek like me? Yet another electronic postcards website? Well, no. E-cards don’t have anything to do it – doesn’t have half of the fun nor interest, imho. That’s not how IT should come in, about postcards. I believe the correct approach should be like the bookcrossing project which used the internet, to bond together thousands of individuals and make their experience richer, not the oposite.

Since last December I’ve been working on this idea I had, inspired precisely on the bookcrossing, but to allow anyone to exchange postcards with random people on the world – I’ve called it postcrossing. How does it work? Well, it’s a website and you can find all the information about it at www.postcrossing.com, but the main line is: if you send a postcard, you’ll receive one back. The more you send, the more you receive, but always from different, unknown people that also joined the project.

The website is online since yesterday and it’s still growing so if you like postcards or just want to browse around, jump to www.postcrossing.com and leave some feedback, I really would like to get some comments and suggestions about it.

29 strings to “www.postcrossing.com”

  1. Joana says
    18/Jul 09:54

    waw, que excelente ideia!;)

  2. Sarah says
    20/Jul 04:18

    I love stuff like this, even though I’d ruin it because I’m totally not concientious enough to keep it going by doing my part and actually sending stuff out.

    By the way, Antonio, (my Portuguese husband), is currently reading the Book of Illusions too! (em Portugues, claro)

  3. KooKa says
    24/Jul 00:34

    Parabéns pela ideia!
    Já me inscrevi e só agora descobri que, afinal, o “mentor” do projecto é português, o que me deixou muito contente =))
    Parabéns (outra vez lol)
    Pode ser que seja desta que retomo a minha colecção de postais ;)

  4. cristina says
    25/Jul 00:44

    Olá…
    Achei a ideia muito interessante, e melhor que o iso o facto de ter sido concretizada !!É que ideias há muitas, mas pô-las em prática já é outra história, então quando verifiquei que o autor era um patricio não pude deixar de sorrir para o monitor. Também achei piada á ideia do bookcrossing mas ainda não estou preparada para “largar” os meus livros, autenticos amigos queridos…
    Já tenho três moradinhas para onde seguirão uns postais de Odeceixe, para onde sigo amanhã. Vivo em pinhal Novo, sou uma senhora com idade para ter juízo mas com gostos e vontades que se aceitam (apenas nos adolescentes, acho que este dos postais, da comunicação sincera e fácil com pessoas distantes, deconhecidas e decerteza divertidas, é uma delas, por isso parabens pela ideia.
    Cristina

  5. rititi says
    27/Jul 13:41

    Devido ao roubo da minha morada blogger (rititi.blogspot.com), Paulo, peço-lhe que actualize o meu endereço actual: http://www.rititi.com
    Muito obrigada

  6. yvonnep says
    27/Jul 20:04

    Hello Paulo, I love your idea. Of course I registered. I also made a log about postcrossing to get you more Dutch contacts. Hope you like it.

  7. Helen says
    28/Jul 17:20

    Great idea! I registered today and my first postcard is on its way to Germany :-)

  8. Olivia says
    31/Jul 16:27

    hi!

    it’s a great idea. vargas posted in the austrian forum for bookcrossers about this postcrossing. i’ve just written 3 cards (Brazil, USA and Netherlands). i’m sure it will be funny!!

  9. Marloes says
    01/Aug 17:54

    I so love this idea. I signed up and wrote a log so more people will get involved. I have allready send out 3, but still waiting for my first.
    A little bit of kindness goes a long long way!

  10. Ingrid says
    03/Aug 16:14

    A great idea, I signed up, wrote a log and hope more people will get “infected” :-)

    You don’t regret what you do, you regret what you don’t do.

  11. LSantos says
    03/Aug 19:03

    Great Idea !:) Just signed up, and this friday a postcard to Netherlands will be on its way :) Just nee to choose the perfect postcard after all itt’s the first :)

  12. Diamondlucy says
    04/Aug 08:00

    Postcrossing was a brilliant idea! Thank you! I love getting and sending old- fashioned cars all over the world!

    did you know that there allready exists a postcrossing forum (english and german)?

    http://arts-states.7to.de/postcrossing/index.php

  13. futuredreamer says
    04/Aug 16:24

    De facto, desde que a internet se massificou, que se perdeu qualquer coisa. Na minha opinião, um postal de papel, escrito por alguém, terá sempre muito mais valor, que um qualquer postal digital. Acho que a internet tornou as comunicções mais “frias”. Um grande obrigado, caro Paulo, por esta fantástica ideia! Now let’s translate the thoughts to english: Since the massification of internet comunications, something was lost. In my opinion, an old fashioned postcard, that you actually have to write and send, by he so called “snail mail”, will always be more valuable, than any electronic postcard (e-card), with lots of animations, and flashy effects. I believe internet made comunications “colder”. A big “thank you very much” to you Paulo, for this funtastic project! (I added some things in the english translation).

  14. Mania says
    07/Aug 19:29

    também já me registei :)

  15. Magullo says
    11/Aug 16:19

    I subscribed a week ago and sent my first postcard. In your faqs, you talk about a delivery timeout: how long is it?
    Oh, sorry, i didn’t tell you one thing: GOOD work, i like the idea a lot.
    Bye from Milan

  16. ana lucia says
    12/Aug 01:53

    adorei a idéia e estar participando de uma comunidade de cartões postais agora tenho uma boa maneira de retornar a minha coleçao.
    eu troco fb´s.alguém quer trocar??
    o seu site deveria ter duas línguas para incluir o português….
    beijos

  17. Genek says
    13/Aug 20:38

    That was something I really needed. Loved reading your comments even in Portuguese which I do not understand. And postcrossing … BRAVO !!! Standing ovation ! Hugs – Genek/Denmark

  18. Spiff says
    16/Aug 11:43

    Ideia excelente! Parabéns! Não só já me inscrevi, como estou a divulgar nos meus blogs, e a passar a palavra!
    Mais uma vez parabéns!

  19. Hugo Batista says
    16/Aug 20:24

    postcrossing.com : how simple ideas can become success projects

  20. Polliejean says
    22/Aug 22:50

    Eu já me inscrevi e já mandei 3 postais! Acho uma excelente ideia. Nao só também adoro receber postais, como assim recupero um hábito antigo: escrever à mao, comprar um selo, colar o selo (com cuspo, claro!) e pôr o postal no marco do correio. É que sabe mesmo bem!
    Obrigada, Paulo! :)

  21. PT says
    25/Aug 18:06

    Estou a ver que isto daqui a bocado vai ficar infestado de brazukas que nem o ortkut e wikipedia ;(

  22. sofialisboa says
    26/Aug 12:34

    adorei a ideia. posso contar que sempre que viajo, envio um monte de postais para os meus amigos, que por sinal adoram. habitos que tenho. vou aderir
    sofialisboa

  23. Inky-Zebra says
    29/Aug 00:00

    I love Postcrossing! I’ve always enjoying writing snail mail. Last Sunday I requested my first 3 addresses and already have received an email from one of the receipents saying they received my card and it was their first from my country. Thanks for all you do!!

  24. Alessandra says
    01/Sep 12:42

    Genial! A idéia é ótima, poderia ser também em português, os brasileiros iriam invadir rs.
    Bjs
    Alê

  25. Kaa says
    03/Sep 15:10

    Paul Auster’s book of illusions is one of my favourite books. If you like Paul Auster you can also read the New York Trilogy, which is an absolutely fascinating book I think.
    Bye,
    Kaa from Austria ;-)

  26. serennablack says
    04/Sep 20:43

    Agora que és famoso o que é que vais fazer?lol Parabéns pelo sucesso!Tu mereces!

    um beijo

  27. Undantag says
    12/Oct 23:12

    I love that book by Paul Auster. A great comparison you have made.
    The Postcrossing project has already got quite a many eager fans in Finland, as you know. I’m happy to be one of the “victims”. It’s so great to know that almost everyday there’s a postcard waiting for me when I come home from school. Not quite the same as having a cat or a special someone waiting, but almost. Plus this way you never know what you get. One day it’s Greece, another it’s Brazil. One day it’s a single dad with a skydiving hobby, another it’s a 6-year-old girl who likes frogs and pancakes.

    Thank you Paulo.

    Love,
    Undantag, Finland.

  28. split screen madness says
    30/Nov 09:21

    Postcrossing

    First I was surfing 43things when I stumbled upon a goal ‘to collect more postcards’. There was a link to Postcrossing so I took a look to find a great idea of swapping postcards randomly and internationally. I get excited and registered right away =…

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    02/Aug 21:08

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