Ni How?

When I was on a layover in Taiwan last month, I was excited to see that Taoyuan Airport had a vending machine for postcards and envelopes with stamps already attached for instant mailing. However, my postally devoted heart sank when the only English word I could find on the machine was "Stamps" and nothing else. It didn't have English instructions for non-Chinese travelers to avail of the pre-stamped postcards. The only slot looks like it only takes coins, not bills or credit cards. Therefore, it probably doesn't print out receipts like an Epson receipt printer would. MTA card vending machines all over New York City's subways would print out receipts, but then those allowed credit/debit card transactions.

I ended up buying postcards and Jimmy Liao stuff at the Duty Free giftshop. I was utterly lost in translation with that postcard machine.

In other stamp-related news, today the US Postal Service is issuing these "Sunday Funnies" stamps! (Being the stamp geek that I am, I just bought a sheet!) It has Comic Strip Classics like Beetle Bailey, Calvin & Hobbes, Archie, Garfield, & Dennis the Menace! Which one is your favorite? As a cat-lover, mine would have to be Garfield! I even loved watching the cartoon series.

I recall how a friend bought a bunch of Archie comics on Ebay three years ago, and I had shipped it to her. Last time we met in Manila in May this year, she confessed that she hasn't finished reading half the lot.

As a kid, I remember how an aunt kept a big scrapbook of Dennis the Menace comics clipped from the newspaper. Today, I clip comic strips with jokes or themes I can relate to from such titles as "Mutts," "Rhymes With Orange," "Non Sequitur," "Get Fuzzy," "Heart of the City," just to name a few. Hmm, actually, that "short list" seems a bit long already. I absolutely love getting the Sunday paper, because that's when these comic strips come in their full colored glory!

 [stamp image from USPS.com]