The End of 36 Days??? Not quite

Hello. Last I wrote, I was headed to bed. I just woke up today, kinda. Vertigo, people! I had vertigo caused by small crystals in the labyrinth of my inner ear moving out of place. So weird!!

But, it means that the last six days of my performance, I was bed ridden. A friend came up to visit and he walked me around the block like an old dog one afternoon. That's when I left this postcard (forever dedicated, I know. i think i was still in denial at this point) at the corner on our way to the park. We went and sat by the river and I almost scratched my ear with my right pinky toe, but decided against it.

My friend thought the second placement was actually artistic, as opposed to simply located.

And then, in those six days lost and gone to time, I received all these wonderful works of art from the artists...and only now, do I get to post them. So, that is what I'm up to today: posting artwork. I am still receiving pieces from folks. You are all awesome. Thank you to all the artists who participated. I am so grateful. And thank you to all the wonderful amazing people who took photos with me, too. And, if you got a postcard, send a comment sometime.

This isn't the last of me! I promise.

Day 29: Chris

She (I didn;t get her name) picked it up and gave it to me. That's a first. And I, in my cloudy ear infected state, put it back. I shoulda given it to her. Sad. It's back on the seat for the next person who sees it.


And thank you Chris: We were at a stop light/bus stop waiting for folks to get off and he agreed to a photo. This is his route. Every day.



Now, the ear infection has taken a little turn from not so hot to really not so hot. So, I may have to be in bed for the next couple of days. Also sad. Alas - the vertigo is just not cute any more. We'll see. Maybe I'll wake up on Friday and feel amazing. Hope to be back soon. Peace.

Day 28: Paul

At work, at night.

The other side of morning...at the bus stop.

Day 27: Billy

made a chai with milk (better known as a "chai latte") for me today here in the blue city of New Haven...

See how we're both kinda crooked? It's cause I have an ear infection and I'm walking like I didn't drink my V8. I think my photos' kinda crooked, too. There's a solid kinda geometry going on. Billy was cool; I told him it was Day 27.

I've decided that my postcard planting plot is somewhat...how shall I say...failing? It's like adding a brushstroke of pink acrylic to a canvas that's mostly collage - maybe it will work, but maybe it really won't. This does not mean I have given up, however. I have re-stocked my trusty orange book bag and will carry on. How do I make up for the fallibility/failure? Do I incorporate it into the day by leaving several postcards in one day? Or do I simply extend the project's ending by leaving postcards after the 22nd? Or, do I simply keep the postcards and make something with them?

I think I'll put up a poll and ask folks about what they think I should do. Failure is not an easy thing to reconcile, though in and of itself it is not the dead end we all think it is, either.

Day 26: Quiet Thunder

A quiet sill...


...a Quiet Thunder.

Quiet Thunder aka Mitchell was bouncing down the street, happy as the day is long, carrying mail (onward). He goes by the name Quiet Thunder - he teaches karate and competes all over the Tri-State/New England area. The spot where we stood, his suggestion. Like thundering light.

Day 23: Wayne

is a volunteer who helps clear the trails in Connecticut area parks. I was at a lake, enjoying the water in what promises to be one of the last days of summer, when I returned to the parking lot and could not turn away from this beam of light dressed in hot pink. He was sitting at the edge of his car trunk, and in front of him was a huge hiking pack filled with unusual objects: saws, pickaxes...things like that. Well, and Wayne was stunning and told me all about the trails - he knew where the trees had fallen and everything.

Day 22: Joel

gave my bike a tune-up. He was sitting quietly in the shade. He is, after all, a "Shade Tree Mechanic", as advertised on his handy-dandy cart. He is a Goatville Mechanic (that makes me smile), and in an hour my bike was awesomely tuned. No more squeaky brakes or slow, heavy pedaling. It's a miracle! And Joel is super sweet. His daughter is a photographer. She's working on photos of folks sleeping in the New York City subways. That's lot of film.




Oh, and the weirdest thing happened. I left my house with a postcard in hand, and lo and behold, when I went to leave it...it was gone! Disappeared! No longer there!

So, I walked back home and got another postcard, carefully surveying the streets to see if I had dropped the first one somewhere, but I think someone picked it up. I didn't even get a photo of it! Here's the second one, which I left daintily propped in the ivy.

I guess you lose some and you win some...

Day 21: Cuz

I didn't feel like it. Cuz today...



And for once, I didn't forget the postcard! It's poetic, enit? Almost like a postcard within a postcard.

Day 20: Germaine

Germaine looks soooo happy. Ha ha ha. He's cracking me up and it's hours later.

I left the postcards in my bag, despite the rain, and left Georgia's flower for someone.

Day 19: Callen

Just at the moment where I was having an internal dialogue with myself about how to think/talk/be about the randomness of folks I take photos with, I went up to Callen. She promptly asked me,

"Why did you pick me?"

The universe has a hilarious sense of humour.

"It's totally random."

The truth is, it is. I basically spend most of the day going about my business and then at some point, completely random (and I don't wear a watch, so often, I have no idea what time it is), I realize that it's time. And then, I spend a few minutes winding myself up to ask someone, and then...I just do. It's like how you might decide to wear the purple hoodie instead of the green one - you just do.

In moments of desperation, I have to work up to asking multiple people. Then it's multiple random instances.

Here's a question for The Math People (they are special): what is the probability of taking a photo with a random stranger in a random city in a random moment in time?

In any case, this was my photo with Callen. Thanks Callen!

BTW: I suck! Day 2 without a postcard. I just put the whole lot in my backpack so that tomorrow, I won't forget.

Day 18: Amin

It's Day 18 and though I forgot my postcard at home before running around today, I got this great photo with Amin. He was chillin' resting back against the pick up enjoying almonds (I think it was almonds!), and he was totally sweet and excited.

Amin made me laugh later when he said to his friend Woody, "She's going to make me famous."
I'm not sure about that Amin, but thank you for being part of this.

Day 17: Michael

We met at a party.

On the way, there was some poetry:

Day 16: Jessica

New Haven is a hard place to meet strangers. Its as though you're breaking into someone's home if you try to talk with folks. I had many close connects today, but it took 2 hours of steady wandering to actually get someone, anyone, to engage. FINALLY, Jessica stopped and said "yes". And she was super happy. Thank you Jessica.

All I know is that these next few weeks here are going to be a challenge.

A morning coffee by a window, passing footsteps...

Day 15: Naomi

rode on the train with me up from New York City to New Haven. We were having such a good time talking and making jokes that we didn't even realize we'd arrived in New Haven.

Naomi told me she hates having her picture taken. She and I are kindred spirits in that sense. I think she looks wonderful in this photo. I started talking with her because she was wearing this really cool jacket (note in photo), and on the back it said "The Manhattans". Come to find out, it was an R&B group that she was involved with (she was on the Executive team). She got on the train in Grand Central wearing this jacket, looking all cool-like and I told myself I wanted a photo with her. But it took me almost the entire ride today to work up the nerve to ask her. Finally I did, and am I glad.

She told me the story of how she got her jacket ("It was a surprise - they gave everybody one.") and shared a little bit about the group. Then we talked about the weather, hurricanes and such. After a review of all the damage we've been reading about in the newspaper (Naomi made sure to bring her New York Times and New Yorker with her), we started making jokes about what in the world is going on. We were laughing at the idea that G-d is saying, "Enough already!"

I told her the joke about the guy who is stuck on a mountain when a huge flood comes, waiting for G-d to help him. A raft passes by, he waves it away. A helicopter passes by, he sends it off. A boat arrives, he doesn't get on. Each time he tells his rescuer, "I'm fine, G-d's going to save me." Finally, he finds himself standing in front of G-d and he asks G-d "What happened?" G-d responds, "I sent you a raft, a helicopter, and a boat. What more do you want?"

After we recovered from our laughter and jokes about the Ten Plagues, Naomi then said, "It's only life if we can still laugh."

Indeed. Naomi, you rock. And I hope you get to see this.

After recovering from my long journey on the rail, I rode out on my bike. I left a bit of art in the sunshine.