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I love getting mail. It's one of my favorite things. I send folks letters, but very rarely get replies (at least through the post). I remember getting magazines when I was little. Highlights. Mental Floss. Plushie Pals - a magazine of tips for playing Webkinz that I still have most of my copies of. I love getting subscriptions in the mail.

I remember asking each holiday for a subscription box to Evil Supply Company - which has recently that it is coming back as Netherworld Post Office! - and loving backing Kickstarters. (I haven't backed any Kickstarters other than one since they announced their crypto bs. It feels like my favorite creators on there have been scattered to the wind. Really too bad, and fully greed's fault. I'm looking forward to my Indiegogo, crowdfundr, and zoop deliveries, but it feels different.)

For a little over a year, I was subscribed to Bon Appetit. I loved watching videos with my dad: Claire Saffitz lose her mind or Sohla El-Waylly run circles around almost everyone else. My dad's favorite was Gaby Melian. I canceled my print subscription when all the racism was revealed to the public. I've heard they've taken steps to improve, but I haven't watched any of their videos since then either. (I regularly watch both Sohla and Claire still and am subscribed to Gaby's newsletter.) I have a notebook that I stick on the fridge that I am filling out with ingredients for recipes I want to make from those magazines - of course I still have them - and am chistling my way through it.

Most recently - and arguably least read out of all my mailed literature - is the Nib. They are closing this August, less than two weeks, and the anthologies I recieved in the mail, that now sit next to my bed, are available for free online now. I do recommend donating, as their comics are stellar and should be archived.

So now I do not get mail, on a regular basis or otherwise. I've considered subscribing to Current Affairs, but I often do not fully read those articles, so though I appreciate and want to support their reporting, buying print copies feels like a bit of a waste. It's hard to justify bringing in more paper into a house that I am relentlessly trying to purge of excess. So I'm at a bit of a crossroads. What could be mailed to me that I want more of? Should I buy tape and prints from The Washi Station? Pick up the Netherworld Post once they open?

I'm not sure.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy my email newsletters (Tom Scott, Dean Spade, TESTEROTICA, various Patreon posts) and my multitude of RSS feeds (Waxy.org, Wikipedia media/picture of the day, shousetsubangbang, and too many more to name). I hope I find something worth receiving soon.

Written for Blaugust 2023. Thank you to Aywren's Nook for the shoutout and warm welcome!