Although I'm still a snail-mail kind of (birthday, Christmas, get-well-soon) card guy, I'm all over a terrific (and free) e-card service from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Here's how it works: Go to the museum's website, and drop the name of an artist or work of art into the site's search engine. Click on the desired results, and find the "Send an e-postcard" box at the bottom of the page. You'll be taken to a screen that asks for the sender's and recipient's email address and name, and given a small space for sending a message.
One click, and you've transmitted, oh, John Singer Sargent's "The Birthday Party" (pictured, above; image courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts), an instantaneous and altogether gorgeous way to extend many happy returns.
All the paintings highlighted in yesterday's Taste food-art tour are included in the e-postcard service. Give it a shot. (And since we're on the subject of birthdays, go here for the recipe to Taste's 40th anniversary celebratory cake).
