Kate, Listening to David

Mission 29 - Contact Info in Books

2010-01-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

I left a total of 15 notes in books in Chamblin Bookmine on Roosevelt in Jacksonville, FL. Each note said "I like this book too. We should talk about books sometime" along with the link to this site and the email linked to the site. I left notes in History of Murder, I Ching, a book on Taoism, Sophocles' Oedipus Cycle, Cell by Stephen King, A Mother Gone Bad, and multiple copies of Catcher in the Rye.

Wile my brother and I were sticking the last of the notes in copies of Catcher in the Rye, a note fell out of one of the books, and I found another note written on a title page.

It's such a damn funny and true book, keep it!

It may sound cliche, but this is one of my all-time favorites. It helped me understand what writing can be.

Just finding those two notes while sneaking in notes of my own reaffirmed my reasons for starting this blog. These little tasks, just like this, have introduced me to amazing people and provided me with awesome experiences. Although each mission has had a minor effect, when combined this has been an amazing experience overall. As I said recently, I am trying to pull of one of the more large-scale missions while in Jacksonville for winter break. However I am running out of time, and I cannot find anyone with a phone book. I didn't know they were so hard to come by in this day and age. Once it is put into action, I will blog about it. If it does not happen this break, it WILL happen over spring break or summer. So, expect fun things in the hopefully-near future.

Unrelated to Anything...

2010-01-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

My friend Jenn made her first blog the other day. She is a writing student who is interested in fashion, literature, movies and so on. I suggest you check it out here: jenniferbundy.blogspot.com

Mission 28 - Dream Blog

2010-01-03T17:23:00.000-08:00

Check. I updated it with a few dreams I had recently. It is not connected to this blog, so kudos to you if you hunt it down.

2010 Announcement List

2010-01-03T15:19:00.001-08:00

Although no new missions awe going to be posted, that doesn't mean this blog is coming to an end! I am still going to work on completing as many of them as I can, while participating in the 2010 Announcement List, which is going to be a bit different. Make sure to go an subscribe!

My Mission, REDUX

2010-01-02T23:23:00.000-08:00

This is the final post of David's for the 2009 Announcement List, once again solidifying my reasons for doing these missions.

Mission 26 REDUX - David's Memory

2009-12-29T19:35:00.001-08:00

I will keep this one to myself.

Change

2009-12-17T01:01:00.001-08:00

I feel like this blog is not going in the correct direction. With being at school and having little free time to dedicate this, I have been overly selective with the missions I complete, choosing them for ease rather than the outcome. When I started this, I viewed it as a way to connect with the world, to bring unsuspecting people together, to make people notice things they normally wouldn't, to do different things.

I have completely failed at the majority of those goals lately. There is one mission that was posted early in the year that will require a huge chunk of time and planning, but it is the one I want to do the most. I have to be in Jacksonville to pull this one off, and with a month-long winter break ahead of me, I feel like I can accomplish it.

In the mean time, bear with me. In the next month hopefully I can do some of the more difficult ones that I have set aside in a folder on my desktop with the screaming title "REALLY WANT TO DO."

I hope I can pull this next one off, but there is a good chance that it will be a bust. Keep your fingers crossed.

Mission 27 - North Pole Sunset

2009-12-12T00:46:00.000-08:00

I had no idea that a North Pole sunset would be so amazing. I don't know how I have lived my life and never even seen an image of this.

Mission 26 - David's Memory

2009-12-09T00:42:00.000-08:00

I bought a memory of David's.

When I receive the memory, I may post it, depending on what it is.

This isn't really a "mission," but it part of another fun aspect of David's site: http://davidhorvitz.com/if/index.html

Mission 25 - The sky is on my ceiling

2009-12-07T00:28:00.000-08:00

I now wake up, think of everything that is possible in my life and in the world. I turn over, and I see the sky.

Allison and I are thinking about covering our entire ceiling in images of the sky since we are enjoying this one little bit of it. David took a photo of the sky everyday in 2008. They can be seen here: http://davidhorvitz.com/2008_sky.html

Mission 24 - I am SICK of waiting

2009-12-06T00:26:00.000-08:00

I am sick of waiting for exams to be over. I am sick of waiting for people to get over silly grudges. I am sick of waiting for an idea. I am sick of waiting for free time to come back. I am sick of waiting for so many things.

Mission 22 REDUX - Obscured Face

2009-12-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

I just searched "thusterbodle" on flickr. There are only a few posted:

User dstrausz

User M_Kinchloe

Click here to see the rest of the uploaded photos.

Mission 23 - Everything That Can Happen in a Day

2009-12-05T00:19:00.000-08:00

The view from my pillow. Taking advantage of my new moon paper.

I am sending an envelope to David to get the newsprint version, and I will post that when I get it.

Mission 22 - Obscured Face

2009-12-04T00:13:00.000-08:00

I was not a happy camper during this. My roommate thought I was crazy when I asked her to take a picture. "Hey, can you take a picture of me after I randomly cover my face in shaving cream, and cite a blog for the reason I am doing it?" She was perplexed. All the while my other roommate, Allison (who just started LettersFromAroundTheWorld.tumblr.com) laughed because she knew exactly what I was doing and why. But she didn't help. Thanks Allison. Thanks. It all got in my eyes and it stung horribly. Needless to say, washing my face has never felt more relieving than it did after this was done.

Mission 21 - Moon Paper

2009-12-03T00:10:00.000-08:00

Here is my Moon Paper. I am using it in future missions that involve sending letters. And I wrote a letter to my brother on it. If only the moon was actually white like the paper...

Another Similar Project - Allison

2009-11-30T23:32:00.000-08:00

My roommate, Allison, has watched me attempt to complete a number of these missions and she was most recently fascinated by Mission 6 - Returned Letters From Around the World. She watched the video I made showing everything that Kelly sent me from South Africa and she loved the idea. the chances of finding someone like Kelly to send something back is rare, but she is going to give it a shot and see what happens.

She has started a blog on tumblr (http://lettersfromaroundtheworld.tumblr.com/) to document everything she sends and receives.

Perhaps this weekend we will both be sending out a slew of letters.

Similar Project

2009-11-30T22:42:00.000-08:00

Jenn Anderson is beginning her own blog, http://poproject.blogspot.com/, which is similar to David's in that its all a social experiment. Check it out.

First post:

"Monday, November 30, 2009
Address:)
Jenn Anderson
PO Box 236
Dousman WI 53118

Project #1. For a dollar I will take a picture of the sky, get it printed, sign in, mail it to you, then delete the file. You will be the only one to have this picture--ever.

Just a few reminders:
-Money you send covers the cost of the activity (like printing pictures) and postage. If after postage and the cost of the activity there is money left, I will mail it back to you OR keep it in an envelope with your name on it for future project.
-Make sure you include a return address (that's legible) on your envelope you mail me.
-Each project will last one week. I will post a new project weekly, usually on Monday or Tuesday. This means that your mail to me needs to be postmarked by the end of the week!
-This is for fun! Let's see how many projects we can do, and have fun while doing it:)
-Email is poproject@yahoo.com

Thanks:)
Can't wait to get mail from you!

Mission 19 REDUX - (1:22 Eyes Closed)

2009-11-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

There are so far I think 11 (1:22 Eyes Closed) videos posted to YouTube. David's is here:

This one is my favorite out of all of them.

Mission 20 - Undoable

2009-11-27T22:43:00.000-08:00

I was there in spirit.

Mission 19 - (1:22 Eyes Closed)

2009-11-27T22:39:00.000-08:00

Let's pretend like its 1:22 on the dot and its completely silent... Alright?

Mission 6 REDUX - Returned Mail From Around the World

2009-11-22T21:27:00.000-08:00

Mission 18 - "I don't know what to say today."

2009-08-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

That's alright. I usually don't either.

Mission 12 REDUX - Dear Mr. Post Man

2009-08-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

I completely forgot to revisit this Mission. A few days after I sent the baggies with the cameras from Fort Lauderdale, I went home to Jacksonville and they had both arrived. Although no pictures were taken. I am not surprised since it is against the law, and unsafe, for post men to open mail, even in a plastic baggie.

Since that did not work out, I am going to try something different. I am going to buy two more disposable cameras, and give them both to my school mail men, and tell them to just go to town with it.

Still counts? Kind of?

Mission 17 - Unusual Animal Friends (aka Interspecies Friendship)

2009-08-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

The day that this mission was first posted, August 12, and I received a reply yesterday. This is the email:

"Unusual Animal Friends (aka Interspecies Friendship)

Selected by Suzie Silver

At one time or another, all of these images, and the links to the videos listed below, have been emailed to me by my mother, Elaine. The message is always “If they can do it (get along), than so can we.” As you may surmise, my mother and I are very different and do not always get along.

I think there is something to that in the attraction these images have for so many people. Animals are also very cute and fun to look at.

Besides the awesome cuteness factor I believe these images and stories remind us of a prelapsarian past where Adam could call the animals by name and the lion would lie with the lamb in perfect contented harmony.

Kitten and Fawn set to What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rooyt3ptNco

Elephant and Dog (Tara and Bella)
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4696315n

Kitten and Crow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JiJzqXxgxo

Hippo and Tortoise (Owen and Mzee)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8v2xu_the-tortoise-and-the-hippo_animals"

Along with the email, there were these images attached:

Mission 6 REDUX - Returned Mail From Around the World

2009-08-24T11:00:00.000-07:00

The other day I logged into Facebook and I was greeted by this friend request.

Hopefully I will get the letter back, although I cannot remember what return address I used.... Hopefully Virginia. We shall see!

If anyone else found my letters, let me know!

Absence

2009-08-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the complete lack of blogging lately, on all of my blogs. I am in the middle of moving back to Virginia, but when I get there I will have lots of free time to knock out some of the new missions, a lot of which I am very excited about. Give me a few days to transition, then everything will be back to normal!

Mission 16 - Oh, excuse me

2009-08-02T22:15:00.000-07:00

I was able to mid-direct 14 people at Kennedy Space Center today. It was very easy to do since most of the people there are not looking where they are going, and just looking upwards at the rockets and whatnot. I did not want to be rude and get right in front o someone, but many times I was bumped into, and the person would look around, seeming somewhat confused.

Mission 15 - Getting in the way

2009-08-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

Today I was at Kennedy Space Center, and I though that would be the perfect time to meander about to walk into pictures. I never wanted to be in the very front of a picture, so I just walked along the background or just stood off to the side. There were a good amount of foreigners and I just pretended not to hear when they attempted to get me out of their pictures. It was great fun.

2009-07-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

The other night I got these tweets from WeekendWarrior. It truly makes my day whenever I get things like this.

Mission 5 REDUX - Mail the Sky

2009-07-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Along with the camera I received in the mail yesterday from David, I also got a picture of the sky sent to him from someone else. This is an amazing cloud picture taken from a plane. If you took this picture, let me know. I love it.

Mission 7 REDUX - I Love Disposable Cameras

2009-07-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received my camera back from David. I could not have been more excited, and I immediately got the pictures developed. This is obviously going to be picture heavy.

David Horvitz in the LA Times

2009-07-17T18:07:00.001-07:00

Art Review: David Horvitz at 2nd Cannons Publications

Mission 14 - Following the foot prints

2009-07-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

Okay so maybe I failed on the "rainy day/dusk" aspect of this. But isn't every day in Florida during the summer a gloomy day? This was taken last week in Palm Beach, right outside of the Breakers.

Mission 13 - Giving away the sky

2009-07-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

For this mission, I bought prints of my three favorite sunset pictures. One I took in 2007 in Hawaii, and the other two I took in St. Augustine in 2008. On the back of each one is written "A sunset, for you." There are 30 total.

Mission 12 - Dear Mr. Post Man

2009-07-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

I did not take a picture of myself doing this, because the man at the UPS store seemed pretty concerned for my sanity without me taking pictures. At first he wouldnt let me send it, but eventually I lied and said I have done it before and they let me then. So, it eventually got sent out. He told me over and over that I can't be angry if it is damaged, and I told him I don't care. To be safe, I sent two. I mailed one to my house, and one to my dad's house, who lives on the other side of the neighborhood, but has a different post man. So that will be interesting to see. Hopefully they actually took some pictures. Although, how the world is these days they may think "ANTHRAX!" and just not open the baggie. I will be home in Jacksonville on Saturday, and I will get the pictures developed then (if anything even comes in the mail, and if any pictures were even taken).

Mission 11 - Reblog This

2009-07-13T09:00:00.001-07:00

Trust me, I have.

Mission 8 REDUX- "Please dont leave me."

2009-07-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

$2 - Ice cream man on Las Olas

$8 - Lowes, bought flower seeds for a future mission.

$20 - Valet at my building for Jenn's parking

I bought ice cream the other night and used some of my written on dollar bills, and then my friend Jenn got ice cream after me. The ice cream man gave her one of my dollars as change, ad I told her to tell me where she spends it.

Last night I got $100 out of the ATM, and I wrote on eahc of the twenties. I know that defacing money is a crime, and it goes unnoticed on dollar bills. We will see what happens now.

Mission 10 REDUX - Walk with me?

2009-07-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

Later on on Friday night I checked my Twitter to find this...

I was thrilled. I have about 50 fliers left that I will be scattering about Jacksonville next week.

Mission 10 - Walk with me?

2009-07-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

I made my little ad for a walking companion and got them copied at Kinkos. Then this afternoon, while walking around Las Olas, I stuck them on cars and taped them up in random little places, like in the middle of a tunnel. While putting them on cars in a parking lot, I was stopped by a security guard. He told me that advertisements were not allowed. I told him it was not an advertisement, just a little note. He asked to see it, and I felt immediately self-conscious. He looked at the note for a whole minute, then looked at me like I am crazy. We talked for a little while, about what I am doing and what I hope to get out of it. We talked about my future plans for some of the larger missions I am working on, and what I plan to do if someone wants to go on a walk with me. He was worried for my safety, and told me never to go on a walk alone. I told him that I didn’t think anyone would really want to go on a walk, but I am hoping they do. While talking to him, a car drove by with a family inside. Their window was down, and my friend Mr. Blackburn the security officer stopped them, then had me give them a sheet. The man didn’t even open it, he was already looking at me like I was crazy. The security guard took my flier with him, and I told him to let me know if he wants to take a walk sometime. “Probably not…” haha. He does have the link to this page though. So, Mr. Blackburn, if you are reading this: Hello. Thank you for letting me post my silly little notes.

Each mission that I completed today involved someone else. The security guard. The barista. The woman in the pink dress. I hope these missions continue to affect other people.

I have about 50 fliers left that I will give out and put up in Jacksonville next week.

Did you see my post it, my dollar bills, or did you get a note from me, asking to take a walk sometime? Let me know.

Want to go on a walk? Email WalkWithKate@gmail.com and let me know.

Mission 9 - "The sky looks nice today."

2009-07-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

I wrote “The sky looks nice today.” on 6 post-its, and went down Las Olas and put them on parking meters and light posts. I was standing on a corner with another woman, and while waiting to cross the street, I taped one above the crosswalk button. She looked at the post-it, looked at me, looked at the sky then remarked, “You know what? The sky DOES look nice today.”

Mission 8 - "Please dont leave me."

2009-07-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

I got $20 out of an ATM, cashed it in for all ones, and wrote “Please don’t leave me” differently on each one. So far, I have spent $5

$1 – Someone’s parking meter was expired, and I put in a dollar.

$4 – Starbucks frappuccino. I felt like I was laundering counterfeit bills when I bought my frappuccinoin all ones with “please don’t leave me” written on them. I gave the nice cashier my money, and he gave me my change. As I was putting the change into my wallet, he handed me one of my dollar bills. “Here, you gave me $5.” “Oh, did I?” I began to take the dollar, but I was pretty sure I gave him $4. Then he said, “Oh, wait. You did give me four. You know how I remembered? This one ways ‘please don’t leave me.’ I guess that’s why it says that. To make me notice.” This made me smile.

Get one of my dollars? Let me know.

Mission 7 - I Love Disposable Cameras

2009-07-08T18:06:00.003-07:00

So how could I pass this one up?

Mission 6 - Returned Mail From Around the World

2009-07-08T18:06:00.001-07:00

For this, I clicked around on Google maps. The first one I chose was Mt Eliza, Victoria. I chose this one because I have a friend that moved there years ago. The second I chose was South Africa. I have never been anywhere in Africa aside from Egypt, and Egypt hardly counts as Africa. I decided to get two vey different areas of Africa, so I chose South Africa and Madagascar. The last one I chose was Madrid. My favorite painting is housed in a museum in Madrid, and I have never been there. Since I cannot get to the painting, I figured I could send a piece of me to the general region.

To get an address for all of these I took Google Map’s advice and searched “pizza” in the general area. I made each of the addresses one digit off, and put my own name as the recipient in hopes that it gets returned.

Mission 5 - Mail the Sky

2009-07-08T18:05:00.003-07:00

Mission 4 - I Feel Silly Mailing Nothing

2009-07-08T18:05:00.001-07:00

Mission 3 - How I Got My Headache

2009-07-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I hit my head with the door of the freezer on my temple and now I have a pounding headache…

Mission 2 - How Far Away Can I Get?

2009-07-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

The farthest away I can get from Jacksonville, Florida – Varanasi, India

Jacksonville, FL 32210 to Jacksonville International Airport

1. Head northeast on Wadham Ln toward Water Oak Ln
2. Turn right at Water Oak Ln
3. Turn left at Long Bow Rd S
4. Turn left at Roosevelt Blvd/US-17
5. Continue to follow US-17
6. Continue on I-95 N
7. Take exit 363B to merge onto Duval Rd/FL-102
8. Slight left at FL-102/Yankee Clipper Dr

J.I.A. Main Terminal Entrance to Varanasi, India

Jacksonville (JAX)
Depart to Atlanta (ATL)
Terminal SOUTH TERMINAL
276 mi

Atlanta (ATL)
Depart to Mumbai (BOM)
Terminal 2 INTERNATIONAL
8,500 mi

Mumbai (BOM)
Depart to Lucknow (LKO)
735 mi

Lucknow (LKO)
Depart to Varanasi (VNS)
153 mi

Varanasi Airport to Palace on Ganges Hotel

1. Head west toward NH 56
2. Turn left at NH 56
3. Continue on Jaunpur Rd
4. Continue on Kautilya Kon Rd
5. Sharp left to stay on Kautilya Kon Rd
6. Sharp right at Kachehari Rd
7. Turn left toward Varuna Bridge
8. Turn left toward Varuna Bridge
9. Continue straight onto Varuna Bridge
10. Continue on Raja Bazar Rd
11. Continue on Lahurabir
12. Turn left at Godowlia Rd
13. Turn right at Sonapura Rd
14. Continue on Bhadani Rd
15. Continue on Pandit Manmohan Malviya Rd
16. Slight left at Sankat Mochan Rd
17. Turn left
18. Turn left
19. Turn right
Destination will be on the left

Palace on Ganges Hotel
B-1/158, Assighat, Varanasi. Pin 221001
Not Specified, Varanasi, 221001, India

Mission 1 - "But what else?"

2009-07-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

But what else… Should I have for dinner?

My Mission

2009-07-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was at the Fort Lauderdale museum. The exhibition I was at was the private collection belonging to four people. One of these people was David Horvitz. His name sounded familiar, so I Googled him. Instead of learning who the collector was, I found the website of David Horvitz, the MFA student from Brooklyn. I recognized some bits of his website from past uses of StumbleUpon. Things like, "If you give me $1,626 I will go to the small Okinawan island called Taketomi and send you an envelope filled with star-sand (don't worry, I've been there before, I know where to go). I will send it from there." While at the museum, I poked around his website via my iPhone, and found his blog. Each day, there was a post of a screen shot with a task for the reader for that day.

I am now on a mission. I plan to complete as many of his tasks as I can.

Here I go.