ashleythompson

Hi! My name is Ashley. I am 34 year old mail enthusiast. I am a social worker and work with people who have serious mental Illness. I love this work! I am married and my husband and I like to listen to podcasts, watch TV, or read next to each other. We talk and leave the house too ; ) I don't have kids or pets, but I've got some nieces and nephews I think are the bees knees and I like to fawn over them and talk about how special and awesome they are.

I like making fun mail (though I hesitate to call it mail art). I love paper crafts of most all kinds. I draw and paint a little bit and do some block printing.

My favorites are a little all over the map, but some of them are: Prince, Neutral Milk Hotel, Cat Power, James Taylor, Louis Prima, Billie Holiday, Dean Martin, Jim Croce, Carly Simon, Cat Stevens, Tony Bennett, Blossom Dearie, Anthony and the Johnsons, the Killers, R. Kelly, Paul Simon, Bon Iver, The Weeknd

I read a lot of non fiction, much of it related to my work in mental health, as well as a bit of biography and history. Some of my favorite non fiction books are: -Love's Executioner by Irvin Yalom -The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk -Anything by Tich Naht Hanh

My favorite show of all time is Murder She Wrote. Recently I have enjoyed BoJack Horseman, Baskets,

It Happened One Night, The Philidelphia Story, Harold and Maude, Moonrise Kingdom, Midnight in Paris, Sabrina (the old one) Roman Holiday

I collect elongated pennies. So far I have only collected pennies from places that I have been, but I am excited to swap pennies in the mail! I am excited about all pressed pennies, but my favorites are: - the ones that don't say "pennycollector.com" - ones from historic places or strange attractions (amusement park types less so)

I love, love, love vintage stamps! I am working on building my collection!

Postcards: I love postcards of all kinds. I enjoy naked postcards but am especially fond of postcards sent blank in an envelope. I have found that what I love best about swapping, is looking through someone's profile and finding the perfect something in my collection to send them. Receiving blank postcards helps me build up my collection so I can send people the perfect swap. : )

I had a thimble collection when I was younger and I have recently decided it would be fun to swap thimbles! I'm trying to build up a stash of local ones for swapping.

-Postal (USPS, mail people, mailboxes, stamps, airmail, etc)

-Astronomy (stars, constellations, planets, space exploration)

-Flowers (especially magnolias and dogwood blossoms)

• Anitomical and botanical images

-Art, especially Impressionism, modern, post-modern

-Social Justice (images & quotes from social justice movements or activists)

-Mindfulness

-Buddhist quotes & images (I'm not exactly Buddhist, but I enjoy the philosophy and aesthetic)

-Old photos (my favorite are candid photos from 1950's and earlier)

-Frank Lloyd Wright

-Midcentury modern

-Blueprint images (archetectural, aeronautical, etc)

-Animals: otters, pandas, whales, jellyfish, polar bears, giraffes, elephants, betta fish, snails, foxes, hedgehogs, various birds, sharks