Stamp collecting rocks! There, I said it. Stamp Collectors live long and productive lives and our hobby helps perpetuate sustainability. Think intellectual recycling. We also build legacies for our families and sometimes come across rare gems that can help reduce our mortgages. But we’re not in it for the money. Ahem. It’s about the joy of finding beautiful pictures on wove, pelure, laid, or even granite or silk paper (to name a few of the materials).
Many collectors love to fill their acid-free pages with topicals. There are societies dedicated to this endeavor, the ATA American Topical Association being the largest and one of the most venerable orgs. Maybe you caught them at the World Stamp Show 2016 at the Javits Center. Trains, Ships, Butterflies, and Cats are some of the most popular topicals. I myself enjoy locomotives from foreign countries. Also Coat of Arms, Chess, and Great Apes.
Recently, I’ve begun to put my topical acumen from stamp collecting into my blog building. My list keeps blooming like those sea monkey packets from way back when. Remember those? Sometimes you only get seedlings. Most of the time though I get a slew of ideas from a few concrete images. Here’s a few of been working on:
1— Cats (You didn’t think I’d let them astray?)
Such a broad topic but ripe with possibility. I’ve been working on literary essays where cats play a strong part in stories. So far I’m exploring some Murakami short fiction, Ursula Leguin’s The Other Wind, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone. Emily Ruskovich’s “Owl” (a 2015 O. Henry Prize Story) is absolutely brilliant and will knot my main thread.
2— Chess
“All The King’s Horses” by Kurt Vonnegut is, bar none, my nes plus ultra favorite chess story. There’s Brad Leithauser’s novel Hence, which is pretty interesting, a man-versus-machine take on the game. For a breezy read, there’s Anthony Glyn’s The Dragon Variation kind of behind-the-scenes peek into the world competitive chess circa the 1960s. Of course, I’d be replete if I didn’t throw my own Shades of Luz into the mix. You recall those street chess hustlers don’t you?
3— Fishing and Fisherman (and not Bobby Fischer)
Anton Chekhov has to top the bill for this category, but I find the novels of Craig Lesley to be some of the best fishing fiction ever. Check out his The Sky Fisherman which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1996. You also can’t go wrong with Rick Bass. I’ll be culling through some of his collections right now.
4— Baseball
The Natural by Bernie Malamud tops my list, but one of my favorite shorter stories is T.C. Boyles’ “The Hector Quesadilla Story”. How could I not include Stuart Dybeck’s “Death of a Right Fielder.” Michael Chabon’s “Smoke” is also not too shabby. One of my writing friend’s, Jon Sindell, has an excellent, politically-charged baseball novel called The Mighty Roman.
These are some broad brushstrokes. Certainly, you can tinker with your topicals. In terms of stamp collecting, stuff like stamps on stamps, coins on stamps and famous stamp personalities (Sir Rowland Hill) on stamps have always been great categories. That mimetic juice has a lot of pulp.
5—Books about Writers on Writing
Of course I’m a card-carrying Malamudian so I have to top another list with my maven. The Tenants is an amazing, later work of the great writers’ writer. It’s about the Sisyphean struggle to write and also about race and humanity. A truly brilliant work. Add it to your TBR. I mean like right now. Philip Roth seems to have this as an ongoing thread is much of his work. Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon is worth a read.
So friends, I’ve hit my word count for the day. I’ll leave you with this golden nugget. Keep writing. Try stamp collecting. It’s not a hobby. It’s way of life. It’s thoroughly engrossing, and, it’ll give you plenty of topicals to consider. It’ll load up your basement too.
