Greetings Cards

Esp. hate those cartoon 'characters' like Fred and Purple Ronnie who only exist on greeting cards. Fifth-rate Gary Larson(who is himself a fifth-rate B. Kliban)faux-surreal 'humour'.

I once temped for a greetings card company in Islington, Camden Graphics. Their cards were the usual awful old shite, but the American boss of the company was a v. cool geezer who spent all his spare time complaining about innapropriate use of the word 'black' in newspapers (eg "two black youths mugged sweet little old lady"), pointing out that in nine cases out of ten the offender's race is irrelevant. I think his campaign must've had some effect, because you see it far less often these days... Plus, the company gave me a nice Christmas bonus even though I was a temp and not contractually entitled to one. Hurrah!

what do you write in a sympathy card?

Oy vey. That...depends? Are you just observing social convention or do you know the person and really feel for them?

"my thoughts and prayers are with you" seems to be the stock answer. even if you or person card is going to is not very religious.

I might write sthing like "Thinking of you often and with all love" but only if it is in fact true.

if you knew the person, a brief but fond remembrance might be appropriate, i think? or an admirable quality or attribute of the departed that you'll remember them by. as well as, of course, an expression of sympathy and an offer of support, if you feel that's appropriate for your relationship with the bereaved.

i am sending two: one to the deceased's husband, who i don't know all that well, so i said my love and thoughts were with him and his family. the other is for her sister, who i have always been in closer contact with than the deceased. i really feel for her because i imagine how i'd feel if one of my sisters died. she is also one of 3, like me. but we aren't *that* close and it's hard to put all that into words.

not to mention the obit spells the sister's name differently than how i thought she spelled it and i'm not sure if that's an error or i've been wrong for years.

I am the worst at these

just like wrote a message in one with a spelling error in it, then I signed it, and immediately placed my finger on all the semi wet ink and smudged everything together

also think the pre-smudged message was slightly offensive so illegibility may be a plus in this case

it was like: "I think this religious ceremony is to usher you into manhood, so you are a man now, maybe" signed me, then completely smudged

oh and the word I spelled wrong was the dude's name

try being left-handed. smudgesmearsmudge

also, i think they're called "social expression" cards now

also, a few times i accidentally addressed the envelope while it was upside-down...

http://gs1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/8019B6/data.tumblr.com/98f96bf7c4fc78850943a2efb2da9ab2/tumblr_mn5xprVYXP1qzyjivo1_500.jpg

it's not perfect, but it's ours : /

Any particularly good sources of greetings cards online (for UK)?

Usually use the Blank Card Company but fancy a change.