The philatelic clerk at the post office in Lancaster, PA, has her knickers all in a twist because her post office didn't get chosen for the Amish Quilts first day of issue ceremony. Of course, the thing she doesn't realize is that the Amish don't just live in Pennsylvania. There's an Amish community in Indiana.

Of course, if her claim that the stamp designs come from Pennsylvania quilts is true, then she's got a very, very good point.

The breast cancer semi-postal stamp has raised $21.5 million in funds for cancer research. Go buy more. They're still around.

Folks in Edgerton, Wisconsin, have honored the Tobacco Heritage Celebration with a special cancellation. Whee.

Hey, it's news! Not great news, but it's news, right?

John Marriott, 78, passed away three weeks ago. Marriott was the fourth keeper of the royal philatelic collection from 1969 to 1995. The collection was begun by Queen Victoria's second son, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the first honorary president of the Royal Philatelic Society. He sold the collection to his elder brother, the Prince of Wales and future King Edward VII, in 1890. It passed on to King George V and eventually to Queen Elizabeth II. It was at the behest of King George V, crowned in 1910, that J. A. Tilliard, the royal philatelist, began to build it into its present state. Years later, it contained hundreds of bound volumes of mounted stamps from all over the British Empire. . It was the curator's task to manage the flood of issues arriving from freshly independent countries and to organize the annual public displays begun in 1919, as well as exhibitions throughout Britain and abroad. His service was rewarded with knighthood in 1995. He was president of the Royal Philatelic Society from 1983 to 1986.

I haven't exactly competed in stamp collecting. That is, I haven't put a collection out for exhibit or anything. Of course, these folks from Singapore seem just a little too hardcore for my tastes.