Observatory

Calling cards

By Anastasia ⋅ November 20, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

I went to a writers’ happy hour in Austin. Now, in other cities, people wanting to make small talk will ask dreaded questions like, “So what all have you published?” But not in Austin. In Austin they ask, “So do you have a card for your website?” And boy, do they ever. I walked away with forty. Most probably, no one’s going to look at them all, but who cares? The card’s the important thing. If the conversation still wasn’t happening, you could follow your original question with something like, “Wow, I really like the design.” We writers are an awkward bunch. Always on the look-out for small talk and material.

In any case, it made me miss the days of business cards to call my own. You know, lunch giveaway lotteries at the corner deli. That seemingly charming habit that I’d never acquired of writing something funny on the back. Handing over a card instead of having to spend ten minutes spelling my name. I’ve since tried saying “Anastasia, spelled like the Russian princess,” but for some incredible reason, I get stares.

Well, I’m now the proud orderer of calling cards. I’ll let you know how the quality works out, but in the meantime, here’s a calling card for one person who was in no need of any:

Yuriy Vladimirovich Andropov

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Chairman of the Presidium of Chief Soviet of the USSR

No contact info specified. I guess back then everyone knew how to find the Kremlin.

Part of the Samantha Smith Collection at the Maine Library.

Someone somewhere ought to design some cards for persons in no need of introductions, whether their titles be real or aspirational.

Tangent: chances of finding a stylish design decrease with the addition of the term “classy” to google image search.