Bluejaypost

The obverse of Roy Arenella's card (from 28 September 2004 or so) reports the blue jays were prevalent "this week" in his area of the world (Long Island, New York).

This calligraphic card is a rarity among Arenellanisms. Made up of five letters and a hollow tittle over the i, the word "biRdS" is a visual pwoermd. In some way that I cannot express, the look of each of these letters is birdlike. The S is definitely birdshaped: an avian swoop. The bellies on the b and the d suggest the carriage of a pigeon (though not quite a bluejay). The R, with its right leg swooping low and away, is a walking bird. The tittle is maybe an egg. And the b, the p-like R, and the d in a row suggest something of the bobbing of an ambulatory bird. Over the past few weeks, I've been drawn back to this imagetext, but I still cannot quite explain why. I've just tried, but I'm missing something, or much.

The side of the card includes Roy's occasionally-seen Japanese-style signature stamp. Look closely, and you will see that the stamp is not in Japanese characters of any kind. Instead, the stamp spells out "ROY" in Latin letters given a Japanese look.

This card is mailing 419C (a card and the 419th mailing of the year), and it is another maximaphilist adventure. The card concerns blue jays, the pseudo-cancellation includes a rubberstamping of a bluejay, and the card is postage stamped with a 20-cent blue jay and a 3-cent bluebird. Will wonders never cease?


Roy Arenella, "biRdS" (28 Sep 2004)
un violon d'ingres