Week Twelve

Thanks to @Taylertoons for the postcard this week. I'm hoping my brother likes unicorns or, at the very least, the colour orange.

I really need to start racking up the points as my brother will be in Cornwall twice this coming May and he'll no doubt talk to me exclusively about postcards, dragging his score up through a trip that doesn't really involve me other than for a catch up and a few beers. This week's 10-2 scoreline is good but it's not enough.

Yesterday was a prime window for him to get this week's point as I went drinking with my Dad while watching the last three games of the Six Nations. I was waiting for a text or a call but he's handed it to me on a plate instead. Metaphorically speaking that is, as if he did actually hand it to me on a plate he'd get the point and have to take it back.

I have genuinely seen a bee this year so the content of the postcard is not a complete lie. I'm looking forward to being stung every time I walk past the hedges around my house this year, too.

Week Eleven

I've gone off a little early this week as I've turned all topical yet I'm pretty sure that already it's too late - there is a date set for getting rid of BBC Three. I'm genuinely gutted about this news, although not enough to start listing all of the shows I liked from their broadcasts. I'll leave that to the News stations.

(Him and Her et al.)

I can now say with confidence that I've seen a TV station come and go. Watching Channel Five launch back in the 90's was a massive event, even if it did look like every program was made during a snowstorm. Now, instead of being opened to a new world of channels I can sit back and watch them all slowly disappear again. Good job I've still got my VCR.

The front of the postcard has been slightly enhanced so you can see it properly but the original has been hand coloured using a felt pen. Never assume the pink will work when you have young daughters. This won't be going off until Monday to maintain continuity and because I doubt he'll have noticed that I've joined the protest at the thirteenth hour.

I believe this makes the score a very respectable 9-2.

Week Ten

I'm getting a bit nervous now as I've realised how precarious this situation is. I've never been able to share this page on Facebook as my brother is on there and will see it so I've only ever promoted it on Twitter. After last week's post came out I had a message from my sister on Facebook mentioning the postcard and I had to ask her to delete it pretty quickly which, fortunately for me, she did. Phew.

This week brings my score up to 8-2 which settles me a little more.

I thought I'd send him a little something from home this week. It's a bit of a cliche, the Cornish and pasties, but it's pretty accurate in our family. I'm not sure how good his cooking skills are but this'll give him a chance to find out, especially with the promise of a pasty at the end of it.

One quick point - Horse and Jockey is a bakery in Helston and, in my opinion, they do the best baking in the South West. Writing this post has made me unusually hungry.

Week Nine

This week's postcard may feature a familiar face, although mainly to those who know me. It was designed and produced by Sally Grosart - @scallyg - who is well known for her Wee Paper People and, as such, the opening credits to Dave Gorman's show 'Modern Life is Goodish'. Thanks for including me this week, Sally.

My fears that my brother would set up a weekly call to share anecdotes and information appear to be unfounded, meaning he's gone back to his old life of occasionally remembering that I exist before becoming distracted by something shiny or tasty. This is good news for the score, which now stands at a much healthier 7-2. I am well on my way to victory on this one.

The reference to Cornwall may make him homesick and create a temporary pocket of sadness in his mind which could very well lead to a quick call, although it's more likely that he'll spend most of his time laughing at the picture of me. At least I have been made to look slim.

Week Eight

Sometimes I spoil my brother. This week I've got him a Lee Healey original, who peddles his wares from his Twitter page - @Cartoonist4Hire. I'm still astounded by the way the numbers of views go up each week and I can't help but worry about the day I have to tell him thousands of people have been following our correspondence over the year.

Incidentally I've been treading very carefully this week. It's not impossible his call last week could turn into a regular catch up whereby we update, reminisce and I lose a point without getting so much as a single postcard. It's nice to hear from him but I'd prefer it if my numbers were a little higher first. 6-2 is nice yet still precarious.

There's still room for more submissions if you fancy showcasing your talents on a postcard so please get in touch; I hang around on Twitter most days - @Lyvit. Keep your fingers crossed for my score increasing too if you would.

Week Seven

Something massive has just happened - my brother actually rang me. He said it was for a catch up but really I knew it was to ask why on earth I keep sending him postcards. His first question was an obvious one - "I know 'mi hermano' means 'my brother' but what does 'mi oido' mean?" - and I'm pretty sure he mispronounced 'oido'.

I was completely prepared for this and told him that if he translates 'oido', to which he replied that he's a busy man and doesn't have time so I should just tell him and I had to repeat the phrase IF he translates oido, he will see that it means 'ear' in Spanish. I then told him that it also means 'he who goes before me, such as an older brother, and can hear things and report on them'. This was an elaborate lie that I've been waiting to tell since I started and if my brother ever reads this I'd like to apologise now for telling a fib.

Oh how I laughed when he put the phone down, though.

This brings the score to 5-2, proving that it only takes a quick fifteen minute phone call to completely alter the score and bring it as close as it is. I'm not expecting another call in the next couple of weeks but anything could happen.

A big thank you to Julia for this week's postcard, which came in a selection of tacky postcards from the good ol' US of A. You can follow Julia on Twitter - @TinkSaid.

I was particularly drawn to this postcard although it wasn't just the presence of Big J. I was wondering whether the couple had spent their entire lives in Death and had woken up to the fact that there was an alternative or whether they were just visiting the area and had passed through Death into Life, needing to ask a local who was stood beside a signpost. Maybe, from their angle, he was ironically hiding the post itself and making Himself seem more important? I don't want to open a theological discussion but perhaps the couple could have made their own way to Life if the man in the bedsheets hadn't been blocking the directions?

Keep sending them in, I have a couple of showcases to come and I'm sure my brother will appreciate them. He certainly didn't tell me to stop sending them.

Week Six

I've had some fantastic responses from postcardists over the past few weeks so thanks to anyone who is up for donating/drawing a postcard or has done so already. This week's is an @AlyaBessex creation, proving that you don't have to be Picasso to submit something to send to my brother.

So far I've still only had the one text calling me a weirdo and, judging by the fact that I'm smiling about that, perhaps he has a point. I'd like to reiterate that we are close as brothers but, when given the opportunity to return contact, he'd rather do anything else. I can only guess that he's lying across his sofa watching Thundercats episodes one after the other. This brings the score to 5-1 in my favour.

I could ask at this point for a donation of a trophy so that the winner can have something to show for all their hard work but that would be fantastically self indulgent and I couldn't even consider suggesting such a request let alone actually doing it. Can you imagine the kind of person that would have written that last sentence?

Here is this week's entry to his letterbox: