Read from mashable.com - HOW TO: Jump-Start Your Career by Becoming an Online Influencer. Also, dorincards that I created with folded cards ('greeting cards') and my personalized stamp from zazzle, featuring The Grey Wolf (Canis lupus).

Please read this very interesting article: HOW TO: Jump-Start Your Career by Becoming an Online Influencer

Online influencer and promoter (that involves e-learning, too, in a fascinating way).

I try to do that with philately, and especially with maximaphily. :) 


Be the blue fish, in your School of Thought.

Find good places and times for action, and good places to relax/ chillax.

Then others will follow, for their own benefit.

Alpha male, alpha female...it's a natural thing.

These wolf maximum cards/ maxicards/ dorincards will probably remain the last batch that I have ever sent for postmarking, without scratching the plastic-coated zazzle stamps.

The stamps may appear to be affixed OVER the postmarks, but in fact the "not superior"-quality ink (unlike StazOn ink) was not absorbed by the plastic coating of the zazzle stamps.

In subsequent batches, I carefully scratched the zazzle stamps with hard dishpad, where the postmark was supposed to come and the ink to be absorbed satisfactory enough.

Whose [not who's] fault is it that the postmark was applied upside-down?

"I don't care -  I just work here, in the Post Office" - was that the line of thinking?

Aw, come on! Considerate thinking goes a long way...

Don't just postmark absent-mindedly, people!

The absence of the mind is a terrible thing...:)

1) I could postcardize these anytime by cutting them in two; the image below is from before I sent it for postmarking:

2) Or, I can glue the two parts of the folded card to qualify it as a "postcard".

3) Or, I could unfold the folded card and stiffen it with one or several large mailing label(s), creating a non-folded big postcard.

I could even send it then by mail, for USPS to validate it as a "real postcard", really circulated by mail to whatever destination in the world I chose, including the Amundsen-Scott Base in Antarctica! :)

At this point, all I would need for international mailing is to affix 98 cents worth of stamps on the address side (the back side of what you see here with my zazzle stamp).

Sunday Stamps (meme)! Look at these superb animal stamps from Burundi! What is the 'Be my Valentine [mate for life?]' attitude of these 48 different species? How many of these choose their 'Valentine' for Social monogamy, or Sexual monogamy, or Genetic monogamy?

Do animals mate for life? How do they go about..."Be my Valentine"?
Animals don't technically get married, so they have (IF they have) only one (or a combination) of the first three types of monogamy that humans can have:

"Aspects of monogamy

• Social monogamy refers to two persons/creatures who live together, have sex with each other, and cooperate in acquiring basic resources such as food, clothes, and money.
• Sexual monogamy refers to two persons/creatures who remain sexually exclusive with each other and have no outside sex partners.
• Genetic monogamy refers to two partners that only have offspring with each other.
• Marital monogamy refers to marriages of only two people."

"Whatever makes a pair of animals socially monogamous does not necessarily make them sexually or genetically monogamous. Social monogamy, sexual monogamy, and genetic monogamy can occur in different combinations."

"In animal sexuality, serial monogamy often means that an animal will have a different, but exclusive, breeding partner each mating season. Generally, any animals that do not mate with one partner, for life, but do mate exclusively with one partner per mating season can be considered serially monogamous, including those who find a second mate only upon the death of the first."

"Mating system

Main article: Animal sexuality

Monogamy is one of several mating systems observed in other animals. The amount of social monogamy in animals varies across taxa, with over 90% of birds engaging in social monogamy but only 7% of mammals engaging in social monogamy. With birds the locomotion method has meant that the sharing of genetic material with non-local sources is far less difficult, and reproduction is far more successful when both the male and the female contribute food resources to the offspring. The incidence of sexual monogamy appears quite rare in other parts of the animal kingdom. It is becoming clear that even animals that are socially monogamous engage in extra-pair copulations.[1]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monogamy

====================

Click, and click again to zoom in.

One of the most beautiful wildlife stamp series in the world, from Burundi!

I have two versions, as they were issued, so I was able to separate one set into individual stamps and place them accordingly, in my taxonomic stamp collection, by species. 

At the bottom, you can see the zebra stamp from the separated set, which set is of larger size - even more beautiful! :)

The other stamps at the bottom are for comparison purposes: they are nice (but not AS NICE), and of regular size.

The CCCP/ USSR one has a forced, unnatural juxtaposition of American Bison and Zebra -  I don't like that! Yes, it was done to cram more species featured on a stamp series with few available slots - they doubled the number of species featured.

That American Bison stamp from USA, unlike newer stamps from USPS, is too simplistic for my taste - "look what brown can do for you!".

Since USA and some other countries are such global economic powers, WHY shouldn't they also be philatelic/ stamp design global powers?

Why let the stamp design excellence be a competitive advantage of much smaller countries, such as Burundi, Bhutan and Serenissima Reppublica di San Marino, for example?

The Romanian one (POSTA ROMANA) is a famous EFO = Errors, Freaks and Oddities.

The Grevy zebra stamp should have been denominated 1,55 Lei, meaning 1 Leu and 55 bani (like 1$ and 55 cents). Instead, the whole print run went out with 1 55 bani. They did not issue a recall.

The Romanian Post may have pulled a proto-chronistic ceelogreen on this, like "Forget you!". :) 

"I'm not gonna recall you." So the stamps remained all out with that error.

http://www.zazzle.com/yes_thats_an_euphemism_postage-172784866997600135?rf=238693463283865848

Burundi has done a great promotional job for wildlife and for Burundi, even if these stamps may have been created by some foreign contractor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Drummers_of_Burundi

"Burundi (pronounced [buˈɾundi]), officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its size is just under 28,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,700,000. Its capital is Bujumbura. Although the country is landlocked, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika.

The Twa, Tutsi, and Hutu peoples have occupied Burundi since the country's formation five centuries ago. Burundi was ruled as a kingdom by the Tutsi for over two hundred years. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Germany and Belgium occupied the region, and Burundi and Rwanda became a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi.

Political unrest occurred throughout the region because of social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu, provoking civil war in Burundi throughout the middle twentieth century. Presently, Burundi is governed as a presidential representative democratic republic. Sixty-two percent of Burundians are Roman Catholic, eight to ten percent are Muslims and the rest followindigenous beliefs and other Christian denominations.

Burundi is one of the ten poorest countries in the world. 

It has the lowest per capita GDP of any nation in the 

world.^[5] Burundi has a low gross domestic product largely due to civil wars, corruption, poor access to education, and the effects of HIV/AIDS. Burundi is densely populated, with substantial emigration. Cobalt and copper are among Burundi's natural resources. Some of Burundi's main exports include coffee and sugar."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundi

Another set, almost as beautiful to me, is this (click, and click again to zoom in):

Happy Valentine's Day!

==========

Happy Sunday Stamps!

Please visit http://viridianpostcard.blogspot.com/

BBC: 'The birds and the bees'. 'Quiz: The surprises of animal sex'. Be my Valentine, in the (other) animal(s) world. To the heart, thru the body (language). Guest Heart Thursday meme. Black heart on the giant panda cub Tai Shan.

Guest Heart Thursday #44

Welcome to Guest Heart Thursday -
A place to share YOUR heart!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

My entry for the Guest Heart Thursday meme http://clytie-randomhearts.blogspot.com/ : the black heart on a hind leg of the giant panda cub Tai Shan, in the postcard AND ALSO in the stamp!!!.  See, I made it easy for you, not to waste too much time searching throughout the image...:)

The postmark is more visible here, on a different postcard:

The front side of the above postcard is this:

Please read this from BBC (viewer/reader discretion advised, although 'Naturalia non sunt turpia' = 'What is natural is not shameful'): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12409270 Take the quiz.

Also: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/sexual-nature/index.html

"Adult £8, Child and concessions £4, Family £21

Free to Members, Patrons and children aged 3 and under.

This exhibition contains frank information and imagery about sex."

Child and concessions? If you make your child a concession/compromise, they charge you for the concession, too? [must be another word meaning...]

"The exhibition gallery is adorned with sepia and black-and-white images depicting animals in sexual congress like this one".

Sexual congress? Aah, so that's  why so many politicians from around the world make certain...trans(con)gressions.

"Some of these displays may raise eyebrows."

ABC Wednesday meme. Letter D is also for DORIN, my name. Maxicard (USA) showing DARLING WOLVES - these two obviously like each other, don't they?

Please visit this meme! :)  http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/ 
Scroll down once you arrive at the above link.

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/
Scroll down once you arrive at the above link.

Egypt, Israel and a Strategic Reconsideration | STRATFOR. Also, a visual metaphor of the relationships (intended? perceived? real?) between two countries such as Egypt and Israel: mailed maximum card (USA) with my giant panda personalized stamp and a postcard with dog-drawn trumpeting (or releasing WickedLicks?) panda

Egypt:
Egypt (ⁱ /ˈiːdʒɪpt/; مصر, Miṣr, Arabic: [mesˤɾ]; Egyptian Arabic: [mɑsˤɾ]; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, Kīmi), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt


Israel: 
Israel (ⁱ /ˈɪzriəl/; Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל‎‎, Yisrā'el; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل‎, ʾIsrāʾīl), officially the State of Israel (Hebrew:  מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medīnat Yisrā'el; Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل‎, Dawlat ʾIsrāʾīl).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel


War and Peace...How Much Land Does a Man Need...The Living Corpse...The Power of Darkness.
All these are NOT about Egypt and Israel (or are they?), but they are titles of  literary works by Lev Tolstoi:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolstoi


Please read: Egypt, Israel and a Strategic Reconsideration | STRATFOR

Let's say, shall we, that this could be (or is, if we so decide) a visual metaphor of the relationships (intended? perceived? real?) between two countries such as Egypt and Israel.

Feel free to comment ("Would it kill ya' to comment?") about how you interpret it.

Who's The Dog, and who's The Dawg (some human mastermind of this)?

Who's The Bear (giant panda bear)?

Who's [not whose, you grammar-averse students - you know who you are :) ] The Master, and who's The Servant here...if any?

Is that "team" going anywhere? Or just wherever The Dog finds a more compelling smell?

Are they at peace, or they could start a fierce fight at any time?

Is The Bear trumpeting, or just... releasing WikidLicks?

Who are The Puppet Masters, The Directors behind the scenes like this?

:)

===========

Please visit the newly started Postcard Exchange meme. "For the meme, we do it every Wednesday and the Linky is open until Friday. We'll start again tomorrow. Hope you can join us."

http://www.thelearningcenterbkk.com/2011/01/postcard-exchange-meme-starts-tomorrow.html

=================

For my giant panda bear and the German shepherd dog - is it "romantic" or "practical" to team up?

Or neither, nor?

:)

Please visit the Two 4 Tuesday meme:

http://www.two4tuesday.com/home/two4tuesday/

Read from AOLNews: "Argentine Woman Survives Fall From Hotel's 23rd Floor". Also, a personalized stamp about how life is.

http://www.zazzle.com/messi_stamp_misspelling_of_messy_postage-172267884447570079?rf=238693463283865848

Read from AOLNews: "Argentine Woman Survives Fall From Hotel's 23rd Floor". 

The 23rd floor...is that a tall story? Keyword: crash-landing.

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/26/argentine-woman-survives-fall-from-hotels-23rd-floor/

Argentina, the land of Messi passion, and sometimes messy happenings.

This unfortunate suicidal woman filed her TAXI RETURN to life.

Location, location, and timing, too.

Curiosity did not kill the driver, who was intrigued about the policeman looking up.

Luck may not be up to you, but at least you can be alert. Observant of your surroundings and happenings.

Read from BBC: "FBI charges 127 alleged mobsters in north-east US". Also, a personalized stamp with a mafia cultural reference (The Sopranos)

Read the whole article here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12243086#

"Officials said alleged leaders of the all five major crime families in New York were arrested, including the entire leadership of the Colombo family not already in prison. In addition, the arrests hit the Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno, and DeCavalcante families."


Superior detective work, a la Lieutenant Columbo, culminated in a cavalcade of arrests. A novel wave of arrests of those who forced their Lucc at Gamb-ling with the law - 2011 will be a bon anno.


Is that gonna definitively eradicate THE MAFIA?

http://www.zazzle.com/fuhgeddaboutit_postage-172290341172830415?rf=238693463283865848

Winter Garden Postage Stamps from Zazzle.com, mosaic artwork by Cristina-Mary Buzamet (Romania)

http://www.zazzle.com/winter_garden_postage-172800864997904047?gl=CristinaMaryBuzamet&rf=238693463283865848

Winter Garden Postage Stamps from Zazzle.com

To see more of her cool mosaic artwork ("gestual mosaic"), please visit: http://www.zazzle.com/cristinamarybuzamet

cristinamarybuzamet's Store at Zazzle

Best wishes to you, Cristina-Mary! You found your vocation and your job, all in one! That's very rare! :)

Un An Nou Fericit - 2011! [A Happy New Year - 2011!]

More links:

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/cristinamary-buzamet.html

"From Nazareth, with love". From Nazareth "the Arab capital of Israel" ? No, from Nazareth, Kentucky, USA. I created this non-traditional maximum card with a folded card ("Christmas card") received from Romania.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazareth

Notice that I found an American stamp where Mary has the same color scheme as in the card: red robe with blue mantle.

The pictorial postmark is matching, depicting Baby Jesus.

The reason you can see pretty much the entire postmark on the picture side is because I have used an Avery transparent mailing label, to counteract the glossiness of the card.

http://www.zazzle.com/c_am_sayin_postage-172331084925934503?rf=238693463283865848

"BBC: African elephant is two species, researchers say". Also, Part 1: zazzle personalized stamp that I created, depicting The African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)

http://www.zazzle.com/african_forest_elephant_loxodonta_cyclotis_postage-172841520443678126?rf=238693463283865848

"The African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is a forest dwelling elephant of the Congo Basin. Formerly considered either a synonym or a subspecies of the African Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana), a 2010 study established that the two are distinct species^[2][3]. The disputed Pygmy Elephants of the Congo basin, often assumed to be a separate species (Loxodonta pumilio) by cryptozoologists, are probably Forest Elephants whose diminutive size and/or early maturity is due to environmental conditions.^[4]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_elephant}

Please read: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12054343#

"WAGSTAFF: A Voice vs. An Echo." Also, a set of dorincards with Audrey Hepburn, a most classy Lady of the silver screen

I like and I follow this screenwriting blog, by Stephen Hoover:
WAGSTAFF: A Voice vs. An Echo

"True artists have their D.N.A. imprinted on their masterworks.   You can recognize the work of a master painter immediately.   Same with a writer.   Rare are unique voices -- distinct and resonating -- in any artistic field."


We should work at finding and expressing our voices.
:)
============================

This is a traditional maximum card, but can you decipher the postmark?

Out of sheer desperation, I decided some time ago to also create (occasionally) maxicards with labels (either white or transparent) so we can see the dam(ned) darn postmarks.

http://www.zazzle.com/what_stamp_postage-172780532697535446?rf=238693463283865848

You think that's CURSING?

http://www.zazzle.com/i_dont_think_so_postage-172747464236221795?rf=238693463283865848

http://www.zazzle.com/now_where_was_i_before_i_got_interrupted_postage-172442505130559121?rf=238693463283865848

Oh, yeah - Audrey Hepburn.

Here she is:

http://delcampe.com/page/item/id,45129971,var,BEAUTIFUL-CLASSY-AUDREY-HEPBURN-non-traditional-maximum-card-maxicard-6,language,E.html

Can YOU see the postmark now?

http://www.zazzle.com/yep_sure_thing_postage-172043653061207202?rf=238693463283865848

http://delcampe.com/page/item/id,45129745,var,BEAUTIFUL-CLASSY-AUDREY-HEPBURN-non-traditional-maximum-card-maxicard-2,language,E.html

http://delcampe.com/page/item/id,45129962,var,BEAUTIFUL-CLASSY-AUDREY-HEPBURN-non-traditional-maximum-card-maxicard-5,language,E.html

http://delcampe.com/page/item/id,45129949,var,BEAUTIFUL-CLASSY-AUDREY-HEPBURN-non-traditional-maximum-card-maxicard-4,language,E.html

http://delcampe.com/page/item/id,45129768,var,BEAUTIFUL-CLASSY-AUDREY-HEPBURN-non-traditional-maximum-card-maxicard-3,language,E.html