Well this one took me by surprise. USPS will make Royal Wedding stamps and philatelic souvenirs available to the U.S. collecting public. I see this as a double edge sword.

First, it is great that collectors can get this material without having to pay those nasty transatlantic shipping charges. Hey, it can add up, especially if you're adding a Royal Wedding Digital Color Postmark Souvenir Cover or a Royal Wedding Presentation Pack or two to your order of the Royal Wedding Miniature Sheet.

What's not so great is that maybe some stamp dealers were counting on sales of these items that now will be made elsewhere, i.e., at USPS. I have to wonder if most of these items will sell to non-stamp collectors anyway.

So if you're into this sort of philatelic pomp and circumstance, you can order Royal Wedding philatelic collectibles at the USPS's The Postal Store website, or by calling 800 782-6724.  Don't wait too long, as stamp collectors won't be the only ones scooping these items up.

Stamp image (c) Britain's Royal Mail via USPS

The new Forever Stamp dedicated to actress Helen Hayes, designed by Howard Paine with art by Drew Struzan,  is a handsome one. Of course she was quite a bit earlier on the cultural scene and her name may not ring a bell for many collectors under 40 or so years of age. But the choice of artist Struzan to create the Hayes portrait is a good one: he is the artist behind Indiana Jones and Star Wars posters that so well captured the excitement of the early days of the movies.

While Ms. Hayes is best known as The First Lady of the American Theater, she was also in movies, including Airport (1970). She also did a great deal of TV work, which included her performance as the Agatha Christie sleuth Miss Marple in A Caribbean Mystery (1983). When you think of the words pro and trooper as they are applied to actors, Helen Hayes is one of the first to come to mind.

If you have an interest in movie stars on stamps you'll definitely want to check out the American Philatelic Society's free album pages called Hooray for Hollywood, which include spaces for many film related U.S. stamps.

Stamp Images © USPS

The little girls up in the air in an egg balloon on this early 20th century postcard wish us a Happy Easter and ask us to accept their gifts; "always the prettiest, the most beautiful." Among their eggs are those for prosperity, joy, peace and "1000 kisses." (Card from the collection of the author.)

"But what makes 'Beautiful and Pointless' different from thousands of other defenses of poetry is that, according to its author, poetry differs from music and stamp collecting in that people's love for poetry is measurably greater than their love for any other activity. Poetry fans don't just love poetry a little; they really love it." From a book review by David Kirby in The New York Times.

It's probably a case of comparing apples and oranges, but I think there is plenty of real love for stamp collecting. I am reminded of Woody Allen trying to tell one of his paramours how much he felt for her: he claimed it even transcended love. Or at least the use of the word love to describe it. He was pushed by his emotions to coin the ridiculous word lurve, which somehow expressed his feelings better than love.

I'm sure, if pressed, many of us would say we lurve stamp collecting. Even if we don't use the most poetic words to describe it.