How are you?

You may be wondering why I would want to start a penpal relationship with you? Why I would do it with ‘snailmail’ and not the regular ‘email’? You might even ask yourself whether this letter is even worth replying to? Well to answer your questions. I say, Why Not?

There are too many things we do in the world, simply because we have to, and there are too few things in our lives that remain unique. Things that are not the social norm, not a fashion trend and just not cool. And this is one small way, I want my life to be a little different to those around me.

I see people, day in, day out, living life as a routine. We can live our lives with perhaps a handful of moments in a year where it differs from the routine. Most of our time is forgotten, simply because we do not do anything worth remembering.

But not me and hopefully not you. I now have one unique reason a week to keep my life interesting. 52 things this year that I hope to achieve, things outside my ‘routine’, things that will make my life worth remembering. This isn’t just an exercise in quaint, conversation-starting humour. But has become a genuine attempt to keep a routine-driven, normal life from becoming forgotten monotony.

So I am glad you are apart of this attempt at changing my life. And I hope you are too.

You never know, I may get a book deal from all of this…

One can only hope.

This week’s task is slowly getting completed. Which is surprising as I thought I would have given up about two days ago.  If it wasn’t for you all reading this, I probably wouldn’t feel so excited. So thank-you.  But, enough sycophancy, onto the actual update…

So the question i asked myself today is what does one write about? Especially a written letter, to a complete stranger, living overseas, who spells ‘colour’ ‘color’ and who i need to captivate with my wit and charm so they actually write back.

Clearly, the basics…my name, where I live, what I do, my favourite colour. I think the trick will be to sound interesting. Perhaps I will go with sounding enigmatic. I like that word. Also in the world of emails and text, it will be nice to send a message to someone that involves paragraphs and even whole words. There will be no ‘how r u?’, ’2morrow’ or ‘:-)’, just plain old English. But actual English, not American Englizh.

I also should send some ‘Australiana’. A word I do not like using in a sentence. Makes me queazy (that is deliberate). But it raises a good point, what can I send to somebody overseas, which is uniquely Australia, can fit in a envelope and is cool and kitsch.

I know, a Metcard.

Well, that’s that problem solved. I will attempt the drafting of inaugural letter tomorrow and by Thursday it will be on its way. This idea is getting cooler by the minute.

Thanks to all my friends who tell me that this is a good idea, it keeps me motivated. By this time next year, I may have actually accomplished something in my life, plus have story to tell at parties.

c u 2morrow

PTO.

So…Penpals.

Yesterday, I put a notice on craigslist, in Chicago (randomly selected, or perhaps Oprah-related mind-control) and today… BAM, I got a reply. Which is super-sweet because I did not think anything would happen. So I have emailed my potential penpal my address and asked for theirs, hopefully it will stick and I will have crossed off my first task.

I had also planned on the contingency, suggested by my dear friend Lily, which was to penpal (now a verb) an inmate from the US.  Which was also cool, and a little scary. Then today at work, Jess suggested penpalling Australians imprisoned overseas, which was another worthwhile possibility.

I will definitely explore the inmate alternative if my other course of action does not pan out. The last thing I need is 24 penpals, 22 of which are convicted criminals. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just could get a little strange.

So, potential penpal, if you are reading this. I hope you reply. It would make my day, and my week. And by contributing to my list of 52 things, my year! Such pressure.

So now I wait, again, for a reply.

Fingers crossed. Because if all goes well, I may be off to buy some cool stationary. and maybe some stickers. and probably a new pen.

Who thought penpalling could be such fun.

Me.

Does one ‘obtain’ a penpal? I am unsure of the most suitable verb to use. I guess it works, it is not ideal but hey, who is?

So the basic criteria for this task is that it must involve an actual pen, that the potential pal is foreign and that this correspondence is long-term. Obviously, I cannot fully complete my task this week but I will get the ball rolling. I hope by the end of the week to have sent a letter to somebody and be fairly confident that they will respond.

Initially was unsure of how to proceed with this task. While there is a glut of penpal websites promoting the concept, they were mainly encouraging email correspondence. Which I am not in looking for. I believe the charm of a penpal is in the receiving and handling an envelope, marked airmail, with the blue and red stripes around the border, not a notice on a computer screen saying ‘You’ve Got Mail’.

So I thought I would avoid those sites. Also because most of the people on there are either looking to improve their Engrish, or looking for a japanese lady to talk manga with.  Really not my cup of tea. At least for now.

So my alternate method will be to post ads on classifieds websites (i.e craigslist, gumtree) from around the world, stating my intention and my email address (for first contact) and see what happens. I will wait a couple of days to see whether i get a hit and proceed from there. If i get no responses, i will probably just bite the bullet and pretend to be a  geisha and start reading comics. Again.

So here goes, will keep you all posted…

sayonara

My name is Nick.

I had the random idea to create a list of things to do. Tasks, while not crucial,  will hopefully make my life a little fuller and much more crazy.

Each week, in this blog, i will chronicle my adventures.  Maybe even with photos.

Others will be along for the ride. Maybe even inspired to create their own lists.

The List (in no particular order).

1. Write A Blog

2. Paint A Painting

3. Learn A Song On Guitar

4. Host A Dinner Party

5. Get A Letter Published In The Age

6. Start A Fashion Trend

7. Attend A Music Festival

8. Obtain A Penpal

9. Go To The Races

10. Read A Magnum Opus

11. Make Apple Cider

12. Throw A Surprise Party

13. Take Yoga

14. Write A Song

15. Get Horribly Drunk

16. Go To A Night Match Of Footy

17. Create A Podcast

18. Learn How To Handstand

19. See Dawn On A Mountaintop

20. Make A Candle

21. Become A Civil Celebrant

22. Go On A Wine Tour

23. Design A Font

24. Knit A Scarf

25. Go On A Shopping Spree

26. Make Jam

27. Attend A Fashion Show

28. Learn To Juggle Four Balls

29. Attend A Movie Marathon

30. Attend An Art Exhibition

31. Attend Midnight Mass

32. Make Pasta

33. Get A Tattoo

34. Vote

35.Join A Political Party

36. Go To A Book Signing

37. Attend A Rally

38. Watch Casablanca

39. Complete A Personality Test

40. Watch Wizard Of Oz and Listen To Dark Side Of The Moon

41. Join A Band

42. Attend The ANZAC Day Dawn Service

43. Make Mix Tapes For Friends

44. Have A Degustation Dinner

45. Get A Facial

46. Detox

47. See A Psychic

48. Learn Origami

49. Go To Television Show Filming

50. Start A Herb Garden

51. Go Spelunking

52. Have A Garage Sale

52 Weeks.

There is no order of what i will complete, nor will it be completely random. They will just happen when they happen…

Tomorrow it begins,

See you then…