Do You Still Write Letters?

I still write them. Just random things about the weather, passages i've read and that i like, and once in a while some emo-confessional letters.

Because so few people write these days, the rarity has made my letters a hit with friends.

I miss letters. When I was a college kid, I did the whole back-packing through Europe thing for 6 months. That was way before the days of email, so almost every day I'd write real physical letters to my girlfriend back home (my future wife), detailing everything I'd been up to (leaving out certain naughty bits).

I sent them off in those classic old little blue air mail envelopes. She kept them all in a shoe box and they're such a treasure, the closest thing I have to a diary of the trip. I leafed through them one day last summer and discovered to my shock that I'd forgotten probably 3/4 of the cool stuff and colourful people I'd encountered on the trip.

What are today's young backpackers going to have? Nothing but a bunch of very temporary emails (probably web-based emails at that), text messages, maybe the odd blog post. Nothing they'll be able to look back on in 20 years. It's all rather sad...

...But, of course, that's what they said about the horse-and-buggy, steam ships, zeppelins and silent movies, so whaddaya gonna do?

tk--i bet they are a hit with your friends. i hope they know how lucky they are. :)

lyle--that is so cool. i have got a lot of letters saved from back when i was in college, mainly between my mother and myself, and they are precious to me now, even though a lot of them consist of "hey, ma, i need money" and "here's the money you asked for, honey." but i also have love letters my mother saved from her first serious boyfriend. they were engaged and he went to serve in world war two and he wrote her all these glorious, love- and longing-filled letters and, unfortunately for him, she broke it off while he was still there. very sad. but a piece of history.

maybe the people who saved letters are the ones who save all their emails as well. let's hope so, for posterity's sake.

I was never a prolific letter-writer, so when email became the next big thing, I wrote lots of letters to send to old friends/family. I've trailed off on that front, too, and now find myself sending quick text messages or making a phone call.

Sad, since I think the art of letter-writing is really being lost.

And, marcy, LOVE the Mountain Goats!

i'm still a prolific emailer. i think better when i'm writing things down. and thanks re: the mountain goats. i loved your whole thing, i swear, i laughed out loud on the elliptical machine during your song--people were giving me funny looks--and of course that was before mentok's intro. :)

I so don't write letters anymore, I don't even like the mail because I get so much junk. But I do miss the whole hand writing aspect of it all, the personal feeling you got when you got a post card from someone on a trip. But it is the digital age.

Nice pick from The Mountain Goats, tis getting a lot of attention :-)

And thanks for the tip on Vanderslice

i like postcards, too. certain friends of mine always send them when they're away, and it's really nice to get them. i know what you mean about junk mail--i throw half of it into the recycling bin before i even get in the house!

thanks re: the mountain goats. i wasn't too crazy about get lonely. hopefully the new album will be more reminiscent of letter to belgium-type tunage.

Not "letters" but I write cards and postcards. Everyone loves mail. Sending and receiving it.

teep--couldn't agree with you more. everyone loves real mail. :) p.s. i just checked out your blog and see that you mentioned jez from innersounds. i love his stuff.

i send Christmas cards with notes. i think they qualify as letters of some sort; cards for all other occasions are from greeting cards sites (the free ones). i faxed a letter to the editor of ny times (so no postage - i have since found a site called publishaletter.com to send letters to the editors -no postage). i am doing my part to save the trees and postage.

ron--i definitely think notes with christmas cards count as letters. that's part of my problem and why i haven't sent them recently. i can't make myself send the cards without a note of some kind, but then i think it's too much work! :)

I LOVE to write the old fashioned letters. to me they mean more when they are hand written. I make my firnds still write to me and they love it too. Also my husband when he is away since he is military that is the sometimes the only way he and I can communicate.

crazdwriter--i bet your husband LOVES getting letters from you! something he can hold in his hands and re-read anytime he wants. there's definitely something more substantial about paper. which is not to say that email isn't significant--god knows, i've been just as seriously affected by stuff written in emails as in real letters--but it is different. :)