Earlier this month I ordered a 2012 wall calendar from Zazzle, which I have very recently received in the mail. It will be hung on my wall throughout the coming year, and will find a permanent home as part of my collection.
With the new one, I now have seven calendars in my collection, which I’ve been keeping since 2006. I add one calendar to it each year, always the same one that I hang on my office wall. The “one per year” rule distinguishes it from the type of collection where people accumulate as many items as possible, and the fact that I use the calendars distinguishes it from the type of collection where people keep items in pristine condition. The idea is to choose a different theme every year, one that I’ve never had since I started the collection. There are so many calendar themes available that I can probably keep going forever without running out of interesting ones.
In this post I’ll show you my entire collection to date, including photographs of the front and back covers. I’ll also remind you of the calendar I created myself, which is available to buy on Zazzle should you think it worthy. In the comments, I invite you to share your favourite calendar themes.
OK, here’s what I’ve got.
2006. Theme: Antique maps. Style: Actual maps drawn by history’s cartographers.
2007. Theme: Outback Australia landscapes. Style: Photographs by David Messent & other contributors.
2008. Theme: Camouflaged animals. Style: Photographs by Art Wolfe.
2009. Theme: Australian birds. Style: Lifelike drawings by Shirley Barber.
2010. Theme: Fairytalesque cottages, floral gardens, etc. Style: Imaginative paintings by Thomas Kinkade.
2011. Theme: Natural forces such as storms, volcanoes, etc. Style: Photographs by various contributors.
2012. Theme: Depictions of people reading. Style: Paintings by famous dead artists, mostly 19th century.
That’s it. By 2018 I’ll have enough for a calendar calendar, i.e. one calendar for each month of the year!
I’d also like to remind readers that the 2012 edition of my Silk Route calendar is available on Zazzle. It’s an improved version of the calendar I originally published for 2011, featuring photographs from my parents’ package tour from Beijing to St Petersburg in 2010.
Below is a photograph of the cover, followed by one of my favourite pages. I hope that, with its great photographs, informative captions and coherent theme, you’ll consider buying a copy to hang on your wall in the year to come. Here’s the purchasing link again.
16 Nov 2011 at 7:30 pm
I like the collection. It’s interesting that your Readers calendar for 2012 spells out the year on its cover. That seems unusual. I suppose it’s meant to underline the theme.
16 Nov 2011 at 8:24 pm
I agree it’s a little unusual, but it’s not surprising if the Readers calendar deviates from convention more than most, simply because it’s made by an individual and not a publishing company like all the others.
I’ve emailed the woman who designed the calendar, letting her know about the blog post. So if there’s a rationale for spelling out the name of the year, you may find out what it is directly.
17 Nov 2011 at 6:34 am
Hi, Stan.
Why did I spell out the year? I liked the way it looked! (smile) And yes, it’s a calendar for readers, and about readers, so spelling it out did harmonize with its theme. Thanks for asking.
17 Nov 2011 at 6:45 am
Thanks for letting me know, joiegirl. I approve wholeheartedly of the theme, and it looks like a very attractive calendar.