"Sincerely," Stamp

I feel it only appropriate to publish this post fresh off the second part of PNT's series on valedictions.

A few weeks ago, I found myself trapped inside of a Michaels during a power outage. While waiting for the power to come back on so that I could pay for my items, I filled my time by looking around the store's dollar section. And wouldn't you know it, as is almost always the case with dollar sections, I found some fantastic little goodies! Among them, this "Sincerely," rubber stamp. Being as I purchased it at Michaels, I'm sure that it was intended for scrap-booking, but I, of course, bought it with the intention of using it in the context of letter writing.

Since acquiring the stamp, I've discovered that I have mixed feelings about it. Is it too impersonal to literally rubber stamp a valediction? For weeks, I couldn't decide, so I erred on not using it. But, then I wrote a black and white letter to a pen pal, and I decided that this pal would surely understand that I was using it as a creative flourish rather than as a brush off. I think it worked.

What about you? How do you feel about stamping a letter closing?

Market Watch: Empty Ink Bottles at Pear Tree Pens

After scouring the internet this summer for the a desktop inkwell, I concluded that there were no more economical, and few more attractive, alternatives to the empty ink bottle, sans paper label. At that time, I had to search all around for an almost empty container of my bottle of choice, the Iroshizuku.

I only wish, at that time, that Pear Tree Pens had been having it's empty bottle sale! Priced from $3-$6, there are ten different bottle styles to choose from. The bottle in the above picture is a Caran d'Ache. There is a limited supply, so if you're interested in a class-tacular inkwell, I recommend hurrying over to check out the sale.

Everyday Correspondence has no affiliation with Pear Tree Pens or any of the products that the online retailer sells.

Valedictions II: Five Ways to Leave Your Letter

This is the second post in a three part guest series by PNT.

Last Sunday, I ruminated on the beauty of a well-chosen valediction. Sure, email obviates the need for a signature, and many workaday emails don't benefit from cleverness. But when writing goes beyond mere communication and becomes correspondence, a little more flourish is appropriate. The challenge is to take a few extra moments, play with ideas, and see if you can't surprise yourself and you reader with something clever. Here are five ideas to get you started:

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The Formal Closing

When doing the professional thing, I find that “Sincerely,” is workable, but, if read literally, could be too touchy feely, particularly when you’re cold calling. “Cordially” is a another accepted standby. While its denotation feels a bit cold, it’s become as standard as a black suit and just as safe. Sometimes “Thank you” can feel like a way out of a closing, but to me that can feel informal, even presumptuous. What you really want is something that conveys an unambiguously positive and acceptable sentiment. How about respect? I find that “Respectfully” is very appropriate, and helps get out of the rut.

The pledge:
It’s not often that we get the opportunity to be dramatic, so we should seize it when it comes. The pledge asserts common bonds, background, or endeavor between reader and writer. PostMuse saw this one coming last week.
In fraternity,
In solidarity,
Yours in struggle, (Title of a book on the feminist perspective on racism and anti-Semitism)
Yours in Christ, (Common priest's valediction)
Yours in service, (Order of the Arrow, Boy Scouts of America traditional valediction)
Yours in friendship,

~ (“The Squiggle”)
The squiggle is a useful non-answer with a tendency to be abused. Found just before the perpetrator’s name, it’s a denotation-free anchor to keep the signature from floating around in the blank space at the bottom of the page. The squiggle is the equivalent of telling reporters "no comment." While suboptimal, it can get you out of a jam.

The unfinished sentence:
For a touch of drama, construct the last sentence so that your signature ends the letter. I appreciate the approach used by Miss Margaret Hukill Taylor in her letter to her Goucher college former classmates in 1921:

“...We like a certain class of tramps, so you will find a warm welcome from

Margaret Hukill Taylor”

image via

The verbal flourish:
Rapidly becoming my favorite, another way to close is with a clever or inspiring quasi-non-sequitor that relates to the context. Discussing paintball plans with my brother ended with "Lock and load," and an email submitting a manuscript at 4:15 am ended with "Daylight come and me wanna go home,". It needn't really be related in topic, only in tone. To me, done right, the reader of the verbal flourish will hear the writers voice in their head. Letterclosings.com actually has a whole mess of letter closings (really?!), and many of them under "With a Twist" (informal but SFW) and "On the Edgy Side" (would make nuns blush) fall into this category. My letter submitting this to Everyday Correspondence--after long delay--ended "Not dead yet, feels happy, and doesn't want to go onto the cart,". Some ideas:
Alive and kicking,
Asking that you treat me no differently than the Queen,
Exit stage right,
May the wombat of happiness snuffle through your underbrush, (Ancient Aboriginal blessing)
May you live in interesting times, (Chinese curse)
Never surrender,
Strength and honor, (From Gladiator; respond with "Courage and Wisdom,")
Straight, no chaser,

Next week, Part III: Historic Valedictions; Letter closings from those who know best and those who should know better.

PNT is a full time law student, part time gentleman adventurer, and inveterate logophile who currently hangs his hat in Washington, D.C.

Friday Night Favorite Reads

3rd Batch of Stationery at All-My-Hues

Bat Punch Fun at The Missive Maven

Notebook Review: The Habana from Quo Vadis at Rants of the Archer

Contrary at Goodnight Little Spoon

Have Art Supplies-Will Send Mail at Make Every Day a Good Mail Day

Ink Swatch: Sailor Red Brown

Mmmmm... I love red-browns and red-blacks. I find myself really attracted to dark inks with colored accents, like Montblanc Racing Green, a green-black, and this Sailor Red Brown.

What's your favorite base color/accent color combo?

A Very Bubbledog Thank You

To express my appreciation to Karen at Exaclair, for the nifty gifties she send me last week, I sent her a thank you note written one of the fantastic Bubbledog cards I won I while back.

I think that all the pieces for the card went together really well. Obviously, the card is a powder blue with a polar bear on it. But then, I wrote my message and addressed the envelope in J. Herbin Diabolo Menthe, a frosty blue-green.


And, to top it all off, I remembered reading on the Quo Vadis blog that Karen has some connection to Alaska... the commemorative stamp for which recently arrive in my mailbox and goes perfectly with this card-ink-envelope combination!

I was really quite pleased with the whole thing. Don't you love it when things just happen to fall into place?

Everyday Correspondence Community Project Proposal

Dear Readers,

These last few days, I've been giving serious thought to producing a zine for and from the Everyday Correspondence community. For those of you unfamiliar with the medium, think of mainstream magazines like Newsweek and People as the big studio movies of the periodicals industry. A zine would be like a student art film, shot on a camera phone and edited on her parents' computer.

The idea is to put out a call for submissions around a TBD central issue theme. And then for me to put them together, add whatever necessary elements for the zine to be cohesive, and then publish it at my local FedEx Kinkos. Distribution would be by mail.

Why? Because while the internet is well and good, sometimes it's nice to have something to read on a road trip, to place on your coffee table, to write on with a pen, to cut out an amazing picture, and to hold in your hands as you to say, "I helped make this."

So, before I get too far with this idea, is anyone interested in participating?

Itching for collaboration,

James