American Vernacular Landscapes - Congratulations, You're the Random Handprints Site of the Month!

Congratulations to the winner of May's Site of the Month - American Vernacular Landscapes (AVL). I can't say enough good things about AVL, it is truly one of the best blogs out there. It's funny, topical, and just a little irreverent. AVL has also always been a champion of Random Handprints, so it is fitting our first Site of the Month award would go to them, as they have always supported this blog.

Here are a few more reasons why AVL is the Random Handprints Site of the Month:

• Because you understand why one blog is not enough
• Because you were the first to add us to your blogroll
• Because you comment often, and thoughtfully
• Because you understand the allusions when others don't
• Because you set-up stats tracking before I even knew what that was
• Because you were the one who first told me about aboriginal handprints
• Because you are always willing to go camping, hunt vampires, or have a moonlight picnic.

Thank you AVL for making the world, online and off, a better place.
If you'd like to nominate a site for June's Random Handprints Site of the Month Award, email me at randomhandprints@gmail.com or leave a comment here on why you think it should win. Good luck!

I heart milk caps

I'm a collector, and always have been. I think some people just are, and some people just aren't. And unfortunately for the collectors, it's hard to explain why you need to collect to someone who doesn't share this need. This is particularly hard when a collector is married to a non-collector, though I must admit I guess it must be equally hard to be a non-collector having to live with a collector, and all of her (or his) stuff.

But I do collect. Largely from eBay, and I do enjoy it. And I keep what I collect small, and when possible, cheap.

My latest obsession is milk caps. I know these are trash. But eBay calls them ephemera, which sounds so much better. I came across the world of milk caps by accident, and was instantly hooked. I love the modernist design paired with the vintage colors. I love the glimpse of the past the caps provide with their miniature phone numbers that often include letters. And I love the history lessons of the small family farms and the days when cows needed to be cleared as free of tuberculosis.


And then I ask myself: What the fuck is wrong with me? Why do I keep buying lots and lots of used milk caps from strangers living in the Midwest? And why do I then spend hours categorizing them and putting them into their little custom milk cap sleeves and finally into the master milk cap binder? Why?

But right when my milk cap collection really starts to seem absurd, I just take a quick stroll around eBay and realize I am so not alone.

Have a collection even more questionable then milk caps? Don't be shy, brag about it here!