Post Office Prank... Read On

Happy Monday Morning, everyone.

To be creative you have to read.  That's my latest kick.  I know we're all busy and the last thing we feel like we have time for is another item on your to-do list.  I know.  When I was in graduate school I dreamt about the day my dissertation would be done and I would have a moment of free time to read whatever I wanted...  the Sunday paper, the latest Oprah Book Club selection, or one of the many New Yorker magazines collecting dust, but never getting more than the six minutes of my attention (just long enough to read the cartoons and scan the Table of Contents).

  

Then I accepted a position working full time...  Then Matthew.  Then Jack.  And all of a sudden I was back to cereal boxes and road signs for leisure reading.

If I have valued anything about not working the past months, I have valued time to read.  I get to scan the paper every morning and actually enjoy books and articles... of my choice.  I love knowing what's going on in the world around me, but I also love how reading literally makes me more creative.  

I read and I make connections between two things that days ago were seemingly disconnected. Highlowaha just celebrated National Cream Filled Donut Day and days later I noticed an article about a new children's book that was published titled, The Donut Chef, by Bob Staake.  Then Friday I read the Wall Street Journal and an article appeared about the Annual Guinness Book of World Records.  One of the record breaking categories was tallest stack of donuts, achieved by stacking one on top of another.  Then Sunday, I read an article about the fact that Dunkin Donuts was making a resurgence in the Dallas Fort Worth area.  One topic and, in the span of a week, three related articles.  To you that might seem like superfluous information, but to me food for feeding my creativity.  I don't know how I'll use all three of those pieces of information, but eventually I will.

I have a collection of articles I've cut out and labeled "highlowaha."  There are articles about people or events that I might someday want to share with you - the readers.

Today's post is one of those topics.  Today's idea came from an article in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, September 12, titled The New Pranksters.  It tells of websites and blogs like the Urban Prankster Network, GuerilLA, and Art of the Prank where people organize in their own city's (and nationally) to perform "stunts."  Creators of these stunts dream up outlandish scenarios and then try to make them happen.  One prank sited was having 15 identical twins dress up in identical outfits, fill a New York subway car and mirror each others actions, without explanation.  Other examples were people gathering in a public place and dancing to music no one else could hear or people looking like zombies, smeared with fake blood, and wandering the streets of San Francisco. 

I was intrigued by the idea of people coming together to do something harmless, but something we suspected could yield responses of surprise or laughter.

Then I remembered reader Julie.  Julie mailed me a cake.  Literally, mailed me a cake.  She took this freshly baked cake, walked into the post office, and announced to the postman her intent to mail it from New York to Dallas, Texas.  According to Julie, the first words out of the postman's mouth were, "You're kidding, right?"  Needless to say... the cake wasn't exactly recognizable when it arrived, but it makes for a GREAT story and I'll derive joy from it for years to come (in a way that even cake can't compete).

As a blog we've touched on the pains of mailing, mailing unconventional items, and some of us have engaged in a fair amount mailing since coming together as a community, but we've never talked about playing a collective prank on the United States Post Office!  Now before you begin worrying about federal offenses and the like, let me assure you... I am talking about a harmless and creative prank.

Here's what it would look like...  On a designated date readers of highlowaha will agree to visit their local post office to mail a package.  The prank is that we will use our creativity to think of the most outlandish thing we can mail.  I just ran this by my husband and he suggested a gold fish.  I will leave the creativity up to you.  You decide what you want to mail... AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T BREAK ANY LAWS!  Then, you will come back and report to the group the experience you had.  It will make for a great day of fun and laughter.

We will mail one week from tomorrow - Tuesday, October 7.  And, I have the perfect mailing address.  I don't want to drone on forever.  Today's post is already verging on too long, with the limited amount of time you have to read.  Suffice it to say, I have a good friend who for reasons I'm not quite sure - I have not spoken to in FAR TOO LONG.  It is time for us to break the ice and reconnect.  This would be the PERFECT ice breaker and just the stunt for me to finally take the plunge.  And, on top of all that...  October 7 is her birthday.  Though the packages won't be arriving on her birthday, it will be a thoughtful gesture in honor of her birthday.

To recap.  Highlowaha will play our own version of the New Pranksters.  On Tuesday, October 7 readers with the spirit of #218 (see post from 9/18, for most recent explanation) will mail the most outlandish, unpackaged item you can come up with.  Once mailed you will return to highlowaha and tell us about your experience.  Before then I will reconnect with my friend and alert her that "mail" will be coming her way.  With a little bit of luck, she will report back to us letting us know what arrived and the condition of each.  Maybe I'll even develop some award categories (most original, biggest, smallest, etc...).

The address you will be mailing to is:

T. Shay 

5600 Ostrom Avenue

Encino, CA 91316

One more reminder... the package you will be sending is to be unpackaged.  In other words... you are NOT to place it in a box or mailing envelope.  You will put the address directly on the item and attempt to mail that!  An inflated beach ball, a plank of wood, an apple... you get the gist. 

I'm getting more excited as I type, so I just decided this will be a "patch yielding" event.  Mail something to T. Shay at the address listed above and earn a patch for your patchwork denim. ( See 8/7 Patchwork for more details).

I'm off to read the paper for more fun ideas.  Signing off until tomorrow... 

I Heart Mail. I Do!

Yesterday it was Make-Shift Mailboxes. Today it is Friendship Journals and Flat Stanley. Clearly I have mail on the mind!

I have Friendship Journals on the mind, because my very good and patient friend, Dawn, is still waiting for the journal's Arizona arrival. Here's the quick low down. About eight years ago ten women I knew tried to join forces to begin a never ending Friendship Journal. The idea was the journal would fill with entries as it moved from person to person. I think the journal started in Georgia, stopped in Arizona, then LA, and then New York where it was lost and never recovered. That was the end of that.


Two years ago my friend Dawn suggested we revive the idea, but this time modified to be a touch more realistic. Round two has worked much better. She started us off. Back and forth between the two of us the journal has gone, ever since. The pages are filled with funny stories, serious reflections, family photos, recipes, winning ideas, life ambitions, and so much more. There's no timeline and no pressure. Hang onto it for a month (or more...) or turn it right around. Tag your it. That's why it works. It's just a simple gesture reflecting our own going commitment to stay in touch... forever.

I savor the days the journal shows up in my mailbox. I never let myself open the envelope immediately, as it is impossibly tempting to flip to the last page and get her latest update. No, instead I savor the experience. I tuck the journal away and make a date with myself. I either go to Starbucks for a cup of coffee, where I can hide in the corner of the store and read the pages slowly, or I curl up under the covers in my bedroom. Either way, it is quiet, uninterrupted time. For those fifteen or twenty minutes I am single, with no kids and remembering what life was like surrounded by supportive and loving girlfriends. It is my oasis.

We've learned a few things along the way... things you might think about should you be inspired to start up your own journal.

• Ship it "Media Mail." It costs less and because there's no rush... it works out fine.
  
• Bubble envelopes can be recycled if you using mailing labels and cut the top.
  
• You'll be surprised to find all the fun, one-dimensional things you can fit in the pages of a journal (DVD's, CD's magazine clippings, stickers, quotes, photographs). Have fun with it and view it as another venue for your creativity.
  

So today the journal is Arizona bound. Off for another journey - carrying with it fun tales, hopes and dreams, pictures, and thoughtful questions. And, maybe a small treat is included in the envelope to boot. From the moment I mail it, the wait begins for its long journey back to Texas. Dawn, tag you're it!

Speaking of journeys... check out Helena's Flat Stanley adventure under today's posts. She did a great job of hosting Stanley in Canada and now he's off to his next destination. Julie beat our readership to the punch, so she is his next host. I am not sure where Julie is posting from (we have a couple), but where ever it is, Flat Stanley is sure to have fun! Julie, pass along your mailing address and I will be sure Helena gets it.

Signing off until tomorrow when we will DEFINITELY will be whacked on the side of the head...

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

If I've noticed anything over time it is that creative people find one another... and in many cases help bring your creativity to a whole new level. Today's blog is compliments of my dear friend from Pennsylvania.

Nineteen years ago, while in graduate school, I started hosting an annual Random Acts of Kindness packaging party. It served two purposes. First, it was a great way for me to reconnect with friends who, because of the rigors of graduate school, I fell out of touch with. Second, it allowed me to share my obsession with mail - hoping in the process I might find some unsuspecting girlfriends who would keep me company.

I love sending packages. When other people are building their wardrobes and shoe selections, I am buying printed tissue paper, stickers, foam shapes, hole puches, crinkle of every color, sharpie markers, cool notecards, and above all CLEAN, NEW, WHITE BOXES! I have a collection that probably verges on excessive. What goes in the packages that I send is far less important than the cool packaging and thoughtful note surrounding the treat.

So what exactly is a Random Acts of Kindness Party? Once a year (usually two weeks before Halloween) I invite 10-12 women to my house (it can almost be more fun if the gathering of women is eclectic and don't already know each other). Their task is to bring to the packaging party two things - addresses for 3-4 people to whom they want to send a pick-me-up and a set of twelve small items that can be packaged in a box about 7x5x4 in size (bigger than that can be expensive to mail). Items are typically things such as fun packages of baked goods, bookmarks, candles, recipe cards, small picture frames, soaps, holiday socks, keychains, handmade braclets, etc.... All the items brought by your guests are placed on a community table from which they can shop around for the perfect combination of goodies to send the recipients of their packages.

My contribution is all the packaging supplies necessary to turn your package from simply being thoughtful to being the talk of the postoffice. Lucky party goers move from table to table selecting fun treats to mail to long lost friends, a neighbor needing a pick me up, an old boss or mentor, an aunt or uncle you rarely see, or someone else who is on your mind. Once the treats are selected, participants move to the boxing stations (usually set up all over the kitchen, living room, dining room). Here they select colorful tissue paper, crinkle, ribbons, and most importantly a notecard.

Before the packages are taped shut, one more small task! Placed inside each package is a small note reading "Catch the spirit, do a random act of kindness." This will often times spark a packaging party in another city (to which every once in a while, you might actually recieve and unexpected random act of kindness in the mail). Finally, the packages are wrapped, sealed, addressed, and then decorated on the outside with stickers and markers. This is why it is essential that the boxes are pristine, white boxes that have never been used (not even the pre-printed ones purchased at Target or the post office). I get mine from the Container Store, but if you don't have one near you, you can either order on-line or visit an office supply store like Staples or Office Depot (brown can work in a pinch, but markers are definately more vibrant on a white box).

Wanna do one? Either wait until September when I start planning my annual October party (and talking about it on my blog) or jump right in create your own occassion... St. Patrick's Day, spring break, or first day of summer could be examples.

The great pics are from my good friend's Random Acts of Kindness Party: Valentines Day! I was, in fact, the lucky recipient of a package - the fun contents of which you will have to wait until next Valentine's Day to discover! It, afterall, sparked a whole new fun and creative idea.

Signing off for the day....