It was way the hell back in March of 2007 when the United States Postal Service announced the impending limited release of a sheet of stamps commemorating the pure AWESOMENESS of Star Wars. Fitting, then, since 2007 marked the 30th anniversary since the original film's release and the birth of an unparalleled cinematic icon. The R2-D2 mail boxes were pretty frikkin' sweet, too.
(We won't go into discussion here on the wide array of opinions stemming from the re-release of the doctored original trilogy, nor the subsequent prequels and the descent of George Lucas into the depths of merchandise-induced lunacy. That is a talk for another time.)
No, here we will mention how badly I wanted to find a reason to venture into the gool ol' US of A back then. My Star Wars fandom is a deep-seated thing, not often stirred by the latest plastic gizmo issued for mass consumption. It borders on the sacred for me, and to sully that with cheap, throwaway toys from McDonalds just ain't my bag, baby.
But when something unique comes along, something rare, something that's offered for a Limited Time Only!, well then, I'm piqued. And when it's affordable? Even better. Thus my fleeting consternation at my Canadianinity and the stamps' obvious American-ness. Procurement might have been a problem.
Luckily, through the wonders of the internet, I have, over the years, acquired a small but useful menagerie of American friends, scattered through several strategic states in the union, a good number of whom share at least part of my passion for Star Wars. When I made my lamentations known, there was one who said something like, "Dude, like, I'll totally get those for ya. Chah!"
And I was appeased.
And then months passed.
And it was the winter of 2007, and also that of mine own discontent.
Then I realised, you know, I'm planning to meet up with this guy (along with one other guy) in the first guy's home town for what we colloquially coined The Blogfather Bash, in the spring of 2008. And he's probably planning to give them to me then. For sure.
And again I was appeased.
May of 2008 came to pass, I flew down to St. Louis to partake in a geek-filled weekend with two men I'd never met in the flesh before, and of whose flesh I only witnessed a heterosexually appropriate amount. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And I finally scored the stamps!
So I took them home and they sat there. For months. I forgot what they looked like. When I found them again I was all, like, Hey! These are cool! I should really do something with them.
So I finally did.
The frame job cost at least 10 times what the stamps themselves are worth, but it's all about the perceived worth, you know? I had the frame guy leave the back open (also covered with glass) since each stamp has accompanying text on the reverse side and I didn't want to cover it up. But that picture's really boring so I'm not posting it.
Instead you get this second picture:
Declan has (apparently) reached the point where his little brother's intrusions into his bedroom are causing him all sorts of consternation and general gnashing of teeth. Having a little brother of my own, I can relate. (Amy did the lettering to complement Dex's fine drawing.)
When Dex drew that up today Amy told him, "You know Dex, Tavish can't read any of this." To which our eldest boy gave the pragmatic reply, "Yeah, I know Mom. When he wakes up from his nap I'll bring him over here and explain what it means, 'K?"
(Dex can't read it yet either, but I don't think they got into that. He has all the words memorized.)
