For the folks that just want the address and don’t want to read the below,
You can write to me/send me packages at the below address.
Robert Kingett
1321 UPLAND DR PMB 17504
HOUSTON, TX, 77043-4718
Recently, I’ve been really basking in slower forms of communication. When I say, slower, I really do mean, slower. I’ve started to write snail mail letters again!
My email is so flooded with freelance requests and reader feedback that I often put email in the, must reply to awesome friend later, folder, and then none of my friends get novels from me, sadly! Plus, I mean, really, they can read my blog and or subscribe to my many RSS feeds.
But there’s a deeper reason why I’ve started to pen pal with people in my country and outside of it. It gives time for things to happen and it gives me time to write about stuff and to make sure the particular thing is over before I start writing about it. It’s also had the added benefit of making me slow down and examining what I just read. I mean, it’s not like someone that gets snail mail is going to go to the computer and type out a giant URL string, so I have to actually articulate what I just read in the letter!
Or at least copy and paste enough so they get the idea.
Although, something tells me that would be a bizarre but clever way of improving your typing skills. Just type URLs all day! Trust me, you’ll master the keyboard in no time.
In truth, though, the internet is becoming to fast for me these days. I want to slow down, because I’m basically over capitalism and never respond to things quickly anymore. I always take time to reflect, to contemplate, to feel. Snail mail allows me to take a breath and it allows me to slow down and breathe and examine and even enjoy!
In my email, everybody’s begging me for a smidgen of my attention. Some new webinar, some new PR request even though I don’t do mainstream journalism anymore. I often get information overload, and speed demands. There have been clients that didn’t hear from me for about nine hours after an initial message so decide to send five follow ups.
With snail mail and pen pals, I don’t have rush. They will be there when my letter reaches them. The slow pace of sending in letters via mail, or, in my case, using an email to snail mail service, calms me down knowing that I can breathe while the person awaits for my letter to arrive.
Because I’ve started to do pen pals again, via snail mail, I’ve become friends with some wonderful people, domestically and internationally. The candy and food from other countries is a bonus! I mean, I won’t lie, it’s been one hell of a journey all by itself!
I’m writing this now just in case you want to start writing me.
I can already hear your thoughts. But if you’re blind, how can you snail mail? With technology, of course, and I explain that down below, but first, Let’s talk about what you will get while writing to me.
Who should write to me and what kind of pen pal am I most likely to responded to.
Firstly, I’ll write to anybody. Any race, any orientation, any gender. It would be easier to tell you what I’m all about to help you decide if you want to write to me.
I’m a cis, white, gay, blind male that’s a writer. I have to say, quite fitting for a hobby like this, no? My letters will be novels, partially because I write novels for a living, but also, because I really do enjoy telling others about the quirky misadventures of a gay blind man, and then some.
These quirky misadventures will contain paragraphs about my cute but anxious nature, pondering out loud if that dorky snort I did where I shot ice cream up my nose was the worst thing anybody has ever seen or the cutest thing anybody’s ever seen. Along with the happenings and self deprecating humor, I’ll also indulge in very lengthy stream of consciousness musings and somehow tie it back into questions to ask you so that my narcissism isn’t cranked up to nine million.
I’m a bookworm so will probably fill pages up about the books I just read via audio but most likely, you will get memoirs in letter form!
I also love trying food and deserts from other countries. I’m in the United States, but I love trying other kinds of food and snacks from other countries.
I’ll share huge novels about my life, and I’ll share blog posts, and I’ll share all kinds of novels about my opinions and more. If you want to have short letters, don’t write to me.
In my experience, I never have to worry about overflowing my mailbox because it’s rare that people actually pen pal these days through snail mail. Everyone that writes to me hasn’t been boring or dismissive or out to get something else. Most people just don’t have the time to snail mail. Not to mention, most people are far too busy being online.
How can you be my pen pal if your blind?
That’s a good question!
For receiving mail, I use a virtual mailbox. Currently, I use US Global Mail. Letters and envelopes get scanned into PDF documents and then I convert them to plain text or, if the person has handwritten something, I’ll get a virtual sighted friend to read it to me over the phone.
When someone sends me a package, I can forward any packages to any address I happen to be at the time.
For sending letters back to you, I use an email to snail mail service. I write my email/letter in a document, paste it in an online form, or send an email, and the company packages it up, binds it up, and then ships it on my behalf! I also sometimes use a different electronic letter to snail mail service depending, but for the most part, PC2Paper is accessible and has everything I need. I wish they continued their virtual mailbox service because I’d like to have everything under one account, but for sending snail mail letters via email, PC2Paper is the most accessible one I could find, as of today. If I find any more, I’ll put them in the resources section below.
How do I write to you?
You can write to me/send me packages at the below address.
Robert Kingett
1321 UPLAND DR PMB 17504
HOUSTON, TX, 77043-4718