Eye-of-the-beholder maximum card: what do YOU see?

The painter is Salvador Dali.

I did not create this maximum card; somebody else created it "in violation of the laws" [OMG!] of traditional maximaphily, since it's an abstract subject and connection.

Well, I say that abstractions, (visual) metaphors and subtle mental encryptions should be encouraged in maximaphily, not prohibited.

Fragment from http://www.squidoo.com/dorincard, translated from English into Arabic

An Egyptology page from my Showcase Collection (at least 1 stamp from every topic/theme/subject)

A First Day Cover (FDC) from Libya, 1977 - can you spot one design mistake?

A First Day Cover (FDC) from Libya, 1976

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English to Arabic translation

جزء من http://www.squidoo.com/dorincard ، ترجمت من الانجليزية الى العربية
maximaphily = جمع بطاقات الأقصى (طوابع بريدية + + ختم البريد)Maximaphily
Maximaphily هي فرع من الطوابع ، أو جمع الطوابع ، وهذا يعني جمع بطاقات كحد أقصى.عموما ، وهو الحد الأقصى هو بطاقة بريدية ، مع طابع وخاتم البريد على الجانب صور. من الناحية المثالية ، ينبغي لجميع هذه العناصر تكون متطابقة 3 ، ولكنها ليست متطابقة.الطريقة التقليدية هي الامتثال لقواعد فيب (الاتحاد الدولي لهواة الطوابع).http://www.maximaphily.infoوبطريقة غير تقليدية ، كما أسميها ، هو اتباع القواعد لا أحد! إلا إذا كنت تريد ذلك ، بطبيعة الحال.أعطي الكلمة DORINCARD أي بطاقة بريدية التي كانت مخصصة بإضافة طابع وختم البريد ، وعلى الجانب صورة من بطاقة بريدية. الطريقة التقليدية ، أم لا. :)

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Fragment from http://www.squidoo.com/dorincard, translated from English into Albanian

maximaphily = collecting maximum cards (postcard + stamp + postmark)

Maximaphily

Maximaphily is a branch of philately, or stamp collecting, that means collecting maximum cards.

Generally, a maximum card is a postcard, with a stamp and a postmark on the picture side. Ideally, all these 3 elements should be concordant, but not identical.

The traditional way is to comply with the rules of FIP (International Philatelic Federation).

http://www.maximaphily.info

The non-traditional way, as I call it, is to follow nobody's rules! Unless YOU want it, of course.

I call DORINCARD any postcard that was personalized by adding a stamp and a postmark, on the picture side of the postcard. Traditional way, or not. :)

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Philately (stamp collecting), as a confluence of domains: learning, writing, web design, business administration, etc.
http://dorincard.blogspot.com
http://dorinco.webs.com
http://www.squidoo.com/dorincard
http://www.delcampe.com/stores/dorinco
http://www.zazzle.com/dorinco*/
http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll201/dorincard/

Postcard sent as maximum card, from France: Mont Saint-Michel

Today, Feb 25, I have received, after 6 days, this great (perhaps unique in the world in this exact configuration?) maximum card, from my friend E. in France. Merçi beaucoup, Madame! :)

I specifically asked her the favor of finding a Mont Saint-Michel stamp and affix it solidly (not just "salivating" at it, if it's not self-adhesive) on the PICTURE SIDE of a matching postcard. Not to fall off, in the mailstream.

Instead of sending me just a normal postcard, franked and stamped on the address side, she managed to create a maximum card for me, while she was "at it".

Normally, a French maximaphilist obtains a normal (or pictorial), round handcancel/postmark on such a Mont Saint-Michel maximum card project.

Well, I got a clean, non-smeared, non-smudged, spray-on inkjet, linear, machine postmark.

I like it very much! :)

She did (almost) exactly what I suggest all my partners and friends from around the world to do, as explained here:

http://dorinco.webs.com/canyoudothisatyourpost.htm

After you read the above web page, please click on Home, to see more.

Normally, I ask my friends to try to get a handcancel/postmark, because there is only a small chance that an automated postmark will end up being clear and clean of ink excess. Or the machine might skip it altogether.

The same kind of maximum card sent as postcard is possible in USA, if you deal with open-minded postal associates. But my friends from Germany tell me that there it is verboten. Cannot do that.

Instead, in Germany you have to provide full postage on the address side, and maybe, if you're lucky, the postal clerk will postmark your stamp from the picture side, too.

Most of the time, though, you have to just drop it in the mailbox and it probably will not become a maximum card as you hope.  :(

"Mont Saint-Michel (English: Saint Michael's Mount) is a rocky tidal island and a communein Normandy, France (Le Mont-Saint-Michel). It is located approximately one kilometer off the country's north coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches. The population of the island is 41."

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

More people live in Pitcairn Islands:
"The islands are best known as home of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers and theTahitians who accompanied them, an event retold in numerous books and films. This story is still apparent in the surnames of many of the islanders. With only 50 inhabitants (from nine families), Pitcairn is also notable for being the least populated jurisdiction in the world (although it is not a sovereign nation). The United Nations Committee on Decolonisation includes the Pitcairn Islands on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.^{[2]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcairn}