April LEP Challenge

We know that books and letter writing can go hand-in-hand, so the April LEP challenge was to write a letter to any fictional character that you would love to be penfriends with.

And if the letters that resulted from the challenge are any indication, there are just so many cool fictional characters out there that would make wonderful penpals!

However, only at LEP would you find such an eclectic group of letter recipients. Hobbits, ghosts, fairy tale characters...! In the words of George Takei: "Oh Myyy!!" 

Here are some of our favourite April challenge letters from LEP's extraordinary members:

Venus, AKA Voracious V, wrote to the intrepid Hobbit who went There and Back Again. "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

GAH! Put us out of our misery Voracious V! What does go around the world but stays in a corner?

Ann-Marie, AKA Ninny Numbskull, wrote to Marissa Falco's Parcel Ghost

Click here to see more photos of this awesome spooooky letter!

Eva, AKA Hawwa, wrote to Little Red Riding Hood!! She also gets 4,000 bonus points for using matching stationery!

Click here to read Eva's way-too-cute letter to Red Riding Hood.

Also, Eva has an important request for LEP members: please contact her if you know the postal address for Little Red Riding Hood.

On that note, if anyone knows the postal addresses of Raylan Givens, John Thornton, Fitzwilliam Darcy, Jackson Brodie, or Jo March, please let me know!

GREAT work, superheroes!

It's your time to shine!

This week, we decided to let some of our extraordinary LEP members do the talking for a change! Here's what they had to say...

Katherine AKA Wonder Kitty in the USA

The League of Extraordinary Penpals is the greatest thing since spandex onesies! I’ve been a member since day one, and each month I look forward to the amazing newsletters chock full of unique challenges, cool projects and articles that keep letter writing fun and fresh. It’s a really great feeling to be a part of a group of wonderful Supers who take time from their lives battling crime and defeating evil-doers across the world to write to one another and share their lives. The Facebook page is fantastic! I’m honored to be included under the same marquee as these other stupendous writers, crafters, mail art makers, and delightful people. It feels great to be with people who are so open and welcoming – you never feel out of place or strange for your hobbies and interests. Everyone has been so kind and so genuine – something the world seems to lack at times. I’ll shout it across the ‘verse! The League of Extraordinary Penpals is simply the best group of people I’ve met in a long time. It’s wonderful just to be a part of this League, and I look forward to many years of new pals and new surprises. Onward!

Frida AKA Twisted River in the Netherlands

When I first heard about LEP I had to run a few laps around the living room table because I had no other way of expressing my joy without screaming too loud. Thanks to that this wonderful Flying Dutchman a.k.a my boyfriend, bought me a year subscription as a surprise! And with full intent on trying to be cheesy, it truly was one of the best surprises someone has ever surprised me with. This is my fourth month as a member and I never want to leave! LEP has so many wonderful people hiding in its headquarters and there is never too much crazy, never too much kindness, so much nicety and just an overall great place to hang out! It is just so great to see that there is a place where everything wacky, weird and funky fits right in and then melts down into this lovely mash of awesome! Superherosalutes and supermany thanks to Super Sushi and Super Squirrel!

Denise AKA Hot-Z in the USA

I joined the LEP with zero expectation, I was new to the world of pen-paling. I have been blown away by the sense of community and friendship this group has offered. I have received so much fun mail, and I’ve participated in lots of fun swaps. I truly believe that the superheroes of the LEP are friends that I’ll carry with me the rest of my life.

Jennifer AKA Indigo in Germany

“League of Extraordinary Penpals”, now my first thought on it has been: “Wow, pen palling is great, but what does make an extraordinary penpal so very extraordinary that it needs to get mentioned in this name? Will I ever be good enough to just join the league?” I decided to give it a go and it pulled me into a stream, which dragged me out of my former world and threw me straight into a new world. Granted, this world is way more colorful with all its washi-loving and creative mail art-heroes. So, why should one become a penpal superhero? Because everyone can fight the biggest villain from the capital of Boredom: an empty mailbox. And it’s so easy to do it. You just have to have fun in order to make this villain wave a white flag. What do those penpals in the LEP make so extraordinary? It’s not that we share the love for sending and receiving mail. This is something every penpal does. It’s much more of the love and care shared in this community. I’ve been able to meet a lot of great people thanks to LEP. It’s so easy to make friends in here, because there’s a common interest all members share: pen palling. But the love and care showed among those members makes the league such a great company to hang out with. Share your interests, get feedback on what you do, become encouraged by others; help your new friends… No one’s left alone in the league, unless he or she decides to be (and even in that case it’s very possible someone will worry and care for you). What is another great point about the league? It’s international. No matter what color you prefer to get your washi tape printed or which colors you like your pens to write in – the LEP doesn’t discriminate. L to the E to the P - that is just the place to be.

Britty Luna AKA The Lunatik in the USA

LEP has seriously changed my life. No joke. It's a wonderful group of people who are with you in spirit, and in post! We have a busy Facebook group. And a GoodReads group too. A Pen Pal Book club! And there are other things inside the group, for photographers and people who love pens. I don't know what I would do without these guys, seriously. They are so nice, and so caring. And I have learned a lot from them. And this group has gotten my creative juice going. Plus, the mail is good too. Haha. Join LEP. You will not regret it!

Stéphanie AKA Nimble Fingers in France

I'm the kind of woman who usually sits and watches in groups. I don't like to put myself on the line but I feel comfortable within the LEP. I like the spirit of it, it's fun and challenging AND I can finally share that part of my life with my husband! If I only had to say one thing about the LEP, it's that it's not the average penpal club. It's more than that. It's a community of people who like to have fun together and experience new things. I mean, the worldwide movie night (well, night for me lol)? Awesome! I can't wait to see what Julie and Laura will come up with next!

Jonathan AKA Big Yawn Hippo in the UK

Like the Madonna song I was like a virgin (Pen Pal Writer) for the very first time! Until I discovered the amazing group LEP. I recommend joining LEP for any person who is new to the world of pen palling as you will have access to a huge resource of pen palling knowledge via the LEP members who took me under their wing and guided me on a path to be a pen palling guru!

Sara Jean AKA Squishy Owl in the USA

I jumped on the LEP bandwagon pretty quickly. I have been a follower of both Julie's and Laura's blogs for quite some time! So when they announced that they were not only starting a pen pal community but a super hero themed one I thought to myself "this is some kind of awesomesauce genius-ness" and I had to join in on all of the fun. I have met Super pen pals in the League who will not only squeal with you over a full mail box and encourage your hoarding of all things crafty (including offering to share their own beloved stash) but FRIENDS who will also cheer you up when you are down or having a sad mail day and answer your call when extra birthday mail to a loved one is requested. This group has been more fun than I can convey in such a short little amount of space and I don't wanna sound any more sappy than I already do. The LEP rocks! There, that sounded more Super Hero-esque...

Sandra AKA Super Sandy in the Netherlands

I've never thought LEP would be so much fun! The newsletters are always great to read and full of fun stuff! I loved the book and movie suggestions in the latest newsletter!!! :) The Facebook group is a wonderful and almost necessary addition! It's a great place to meet fellow snail mail lovers, to share ideas, photos, even videos! I haven't participated in any of the swaps yet, due to lack of time/energy... but from what I've seen... the swaps are amazing! I'm glad that I signed up for a year! 

Lisa AKA Super Purple Pal in the USA

I'm a life-long pen paller here, so I know my stuff, LEP is the best place to find a group of people who are passionate about the art of letter writing and anything mail related! I'm having so much fun, joining swaps, making friends and laughing! Well worth the investment because the return is priceless!!

Rena AKA Dark Flower Power in Germany

Being a superhero isn’t easy. And finding mates is even harder. You can’t just walk up to someone and say "I noticed you have the habit of sudden disappearance, so do I. Are you by any chance a fellow superhero?" It might be the contrary and you got yourself in trouble. LEP does really help with that. You have something in common immediately. And usually even more then being a superhero, like snail-mail - easy to find at LEP, too.

Rachel AKA The Tooth Fairy in the UK

I've always enjoyed reading Julie's blog and when she announced that she and Laura were setting up an exclusive penpal club I knew I wanted to support the enterprise. Wow. Am I glad I did. Not only have I helped support the club from the start but I've made a group of amazing new friends. I've also been able to indulge my love of fountain pens further with my dear friend Arjen in the Fountain Pen group. The Facebook group has made me smile and laugh out loud every day. Where else can you look at people's paper shopping trips, see everyone's mail calls and, through these new friendships, see two people discussing mailing a chicken?? So thank you Julie, thank you Laura and THANK YOU to all the LEP members!

 

Athanasia AKA Tiny in Greece

I've been pen paling since my teenage years, it started off as a hobby but in time it became part of my reality as I've made friends that stuck in my life for years to come. When I came by the LEP announcement on Julie's blog I have to admit I was more curious than anything else and decided to take part in this project. 3 months later I have to say that I am happy to be part of this little community of people who, like me, love mail, anticipate the mailman, get excited to enter a stationery store and get creative when seeing colors, tapes and paper of all shorts. I enjoy our daily interaction on the Facebook group and even though we might not all know each other, once we say we are a LEP member we're part of the family… yup we are the penpaling mob :D In a few words, we are all so diverse, yet much alike, we're a small part of the world in one group… yet we make our own friendly little world.

 

Thank you guys for coming on the ride with us!

A little more starch in my tighty-whities, please!

Imagine this:

Clark Kent dons his superhero tights and cape and saves the world from evildoers as Superman. But along the way, he gets some grass stains on his outfit as he gets thrown across a football stadium; he gets some dirt stains on his cape when he stops a speeding train from running into a bus full of children; he maybe steps into a pile of dog poo when he comes in for a quick landing.

Sadly, this kind of scenario happens to superheroes all over the world! But you never see them bent over a tub scrubbing out the stains from their superhero outfits, now do you?

Of course not!

Why? Because of dry cleaners. Now they are the real, unsung heroes behind superheroes.

I mean, dry cleaners are obviously in on the hidden identity secret. It's hard not to put two and two together when someone brings in a red and blue spandex suit that has a giant "S" on the chest. That "S" definitely doesn't stand for "Sarsaparilla!!"

But they do their job, don't tell anyone our secrets, and never put up a fuss—even when they have to clean out slime remains from our capes. And man, are we superheroes ever thankful for them. Because not only is it a pain to get out grass stains from spandex, it totally sucks when you accidentally throw your spandex into the dryer! It gives new meaning to the term "TIGHTS." And trust us, supervillains don't take you seriously when you've shrunk your spandex and can't pull it above your knees.

So let's give a hip, hip hooray for dry cleaners. Because we can't trust just anyone with important garments like this:

Now can we?

Pass the popcorn, please!

The League of Extraordinary Penpals (LEP) is hosting a global movie night for everyone who loves snail mail and you are invited! Basically, if you're reading this and breathing: WE WANT YOU TO PARTICIPATE! So join us for fun, popcorn, a movie, and great conversation!

Why should you participate? Because it's a movie party and there ain't no party like a LEP party (HEY! OHHHH!)!

What's a global movie night, you ask? Well, basically it's a special event where everyone watches the same movie at the same time. And not just any old movie... we're watching the best penpal movie ever made!

Mary and Max!

The party is on Saturday, April 13 and starts at 1 pm MST, 3 PM EST. If you need help converting this to your local time, use this handy time zone converter!

And the best part? You don't even need to leave the comfort of your own home to join the party because we at LEP have harnessed the power of social media to bring the party to you. In other words: we came up with a Twitter hashtag.

Watch the movie, and join the party on Twitter by using the hashtag #extraordinarypenpals. Tweet your comments and thoughts as a whole community of snail mailers around the world watches the same movie. Be sure to use #extraordinarypenpals so that anyone participating in the movie watch can follow your comments!

That's it! Participating is as simple as that.

So, now you know about LEP's movie night and have more than a week to rent, buy, steal, and/or borrow a copy of the movie in preparation. In fact, you have enough time to read a detail synopsis of the movie and reenact it with sock puppets or build your own claymation set if you're so inclined! Do whatever you have to do to get a copy of the movie (within reason, we don't condone criminal activities here at LEP... well, maybe a little bit criminal is okay...), and we'll see you on Saturday, April 13!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us! See you there, mail enthusiasts!

Dear Superhero,

March's LEP challenge was to write a letter to your favourite superhero, telling him/her about snail mail, and asking him/her to be your penpal.

Of LEP's almost 180 members, only 1 other member (other than myself, Super Squirrel) participated in this month's challenge. C'mon superheroes, that isn't very superhero of you!

The only thing that can be concluded by this is that no one else wants a superhero for a penpal. That's insane! Why not?! Because check out this awesome letter from Jinnee, AKA Craft Enchantress:

How can you not want to partake in such fun?!

Well, I suppose your loss is our gain. With The Flash and The Incredible Hulk as penpals, I guess we're the only LEP Members who received the top secret mail invites to the End of the World Super Party. We rubbed shoulders with Captain America, exchanged numbers with Nightcrawler, did shots with Gambit—you should have been there, it was AWESOME!

Seriously though: since LEP is a new initiative and we're learning as we go along, it helps to know what you guys think about the swaps and the challenges. Are you enjoying them? Is it activity that you want to see and participate in? Did you not participate in this month's challenge because you didn't like it or because you didn't have time? Do you have ideas or suggestions for improvement?

We really enjoy the challenges, but if LEP members don't find value in them or don't want to participate, then perhaps it would be better for us to re-route our energy to other activity. But we need you to talk to us. Any feedback you provide goes towards improving LEP. We've said it before and we'll continue saying it until the flying cows come home: Let us know what you think!

UPDATED: Thanks to everyone who has left feedback about the challenges so far. It's much appreciated!

It's difficult to please everyone with the challenges. Some people sent us feedback that we should incorporate the superhero theme more; others are less keen about the superhero theme. But we're trying to achieve a good balance between "regular" challenges and superhero-themed ones so rest assured, there are less superhero-y challenges coming up.

That being said, how you define "superhero" is entirely up to you. We use the term superhero because we're a superhero-themed penpal club. But heroism comes in many guises and forms. It's not simply spandex and attacks by radioactive spiders. In other words, a superhero isn't just someone from a comic book who wears spandex and fights crime. If you're not a fan of comic book superheroes, then adapt the term to something that fits with your personality and likes. For example, your hero might be someone who knits and volunteers and adopts cats from the animal shelter. So when that month's challenge/swap asks you to talk about a superhero, write about a hero that works for you. We want you to be creative and inspired, so don't feel restricted by the standard definition of the word "superhero"; challenge the norm and redefine superheroism for your purposes!

In the meantime, please keep the feedback coming!

Penpalling in the future

Imagine this:

It's the year 2513.

Paper no longer exists. There are no more post offices. No one knows how to write anymore. Except for a few dissidents... Members of a super secret, hidden society: The League of Extraordinary Penpals.

Doesn't it feel good to know that the great-great-great-grandchildren of our great-great-great-grandchildren will still follow our letter writing traditions in the future?

It won't be easy to keep the art of letter writing alive then. They'll have to make sacrifices, try to salvage stationery stashes, start growing their own trees and eventually learn how to make paper by hand. They'll have to teach their kids how to write, and have to train robots how to deliver mail...

But it'll be worth it.

Because unlike everyone else around us, we were able to form true bonds with people across the ocean and share something deeper with our penpals. These will be lessons that we'll pass down to future generations of letter writers. We'll teach our grandchildren that patience is a virtue and that good things can take time. We'll show them that meaningful relationships aren't instantaneous and that a handwritten letter is a real treasure.

Oh, some people think that we were foolish. Sure, most humans laughed at us at one point. They said that we were wasting our time, that we weren't being productive, that we were childish. But we knew something that they didn't: penpalling would save us. Writing letters would allow us to be introspective and connect with other human beings in a significant way. When civilization becomes disengaged from everyone and everything, we remain united.

We are proud members of the League of Extraordinary Penpals today. And in the year 2513, it'll be our descendants who continue our mission.

Health benefits for Superheroes

If Hollywood and comics are to be believed, being a superhero appears pretty glamourous. I mean, the superhero always swoops in and saves the girl/guy/small animal at the last minute and all observers want to BE that superhero.

But movies and comics never talk about the hazards, and as real superheroes (without publicists and stylists) we all know that those hazards are plentiful.

For example...

How many of you have fallen into a vat of toxic slime after chasing a supervillain? Euch, that slime is impossible to get off! You'll be finding it in your ears for weeks afterwards. There's only so many times your doctor buys the "I accidentally walked into a vat of slime because I wasn't looking" excuse before he/she starts getting suspicious.

How many of you have had to make emergency visits to the dentist because you've had your teeth punched out in a fight? Whew, the money that comes in from the tooth fairy doesn't even begin to cover those dental fees!

And how many times have you had to rely on fast food for dinner because you've worked late and can't be bothered to make a home cooked meal? We know spandex suits have some stretch to them in case of weight gain, but even spandex suits have their limits! And take it from us: nothing is more embarrassing than having your spandex suit rip as you're scaling a building. Whew, we're still trying to live that one down.

We don't even have laser vision to help us cook eggs!

The League of Extraordinary Penpals is there to help. In addition to creating a community where you can talk openly about the dirty consequences of saving the world, we're also looking at how we can provide health benefits* for those times when you fall into toxic goo or need a fifth false tooth. Rest assured, Sushi and the Squirrel are looking out for you! We've got your backs! We want to ensure that you don't end up looking like this:

*For legal purposes, let us make it clear that LEP will not provide real health benefits. We do still encourage you to visit your local doctor and/or dentist for your health needs. But try to keep the superhero thing under wraps, because we've found that admitting you're a superhero in public tends to get you strange looks.

**Big thanks for LEP Member Stupendous Kay for inspiring this post.