100 people, 100 letters

2007-10-23T00:05:00.001-04:00

Any today's! Wooo! caught up!

2007-10-22T23:26:00.001-04:00

This letter also does not need the final image.

2007-10-22T23:25:00.000-04:00

2007-10-22T23:24:00.000-04:00

2007-10-22T23:23:00.001-04:00

2007-10-22T23:22:00.001-04:00

Letters

2007-10-22T23:20:00.001-04:00

I'm not going to post the back of this page, as it only has the closing on it.

2007-10-21T20:43:00.003-04:00

I was out of town for a while, but now I am back, and with a fist full of letters. I will post them as soon as I finish today's letter.

2007-10-16T10:31:00.000-04:00

Here's the letter. Today's will be coming later tonight.

2007-10-15T21:56:00.000-04:00

So I have a letter ready to post on my desktop right now, but the image uploader is not working correctly, so I will have to try again later tonight. If that does not work, then it will be posted tomorrow/whenever blogger fixes the uploader.

2007-10-13T16:15:00.000-04:00

Sorry, I know I haven't updated in a very long time, but I had to take a two-week break because of all the work from my classes. Expect a new letter on monday, for sure. I should be able to resume my normal schedule at that point.

2007-10-01T21:09:00.000-04:00

And finally, the last one. Whew, I'm exhausted. I also need to study for an electronics exam two days from now. That's going to be messy.

Still no responses yet. Hopefully soon!

2007-10-01T21:08:00.003-04:00

2007-10-01T21:08:00.001-04:00

2007-10-01T21:07:00.003-04:00

2007-10-01T21:07:00.001-04:00

2007-10-01T21:02:00.000-04:00

Here's another slew of posts. 6 in total, I believe. This will catch me up to today.

2007-09-25T20:36:00.001-04:00

And finally the letter for today! Yay!

2007-09-25T20:34:00.000-04:00

And now from yesterday...

2007-09-25T20:32:00.000-04:00

I'm waaay behind! Not for long....
Her'es from two days ago

2007-09-23T23:21:00.000-04:00

Here's yesterday's letter. I'm almost done with tonight's, but it may not get posted until tomorrow. All depends on if I have time to finish it early tonight or later.

2007-09-23T23:19:00.000-04:00

Here's the letter from two days ago.

2007-09-20T22:36:00.000-04:00

Here's today's letter. This is a topic I think I'd like to explore more in the future. Not in another letter; I don't want to write two letters on the same topic, but maybe somewhere else.

2007-09-19T21:59:00.000-04:00

Here's tonight's.

2007-09-19T21:58:00.001-04:00

So last night I went to a Do Make Say Think concert (which was amazing, by the way), and was too tired to post my letter when I got back. So here it is.

2007-09-17T23:48:00.000-04:00

Tonight's letter.

I got another letter which was sent to an invalid address. Hopefully I will be able to send it out again soon.

I tell you, physics labs are going to be the death of me this semester.

Someone gave me the idea to send a stamp along with my letters, which I think I will try for 10 or so letters to see how it works out.

2007-09-17T00:02:00.000-04:00

Here's yesterday's letter:

And today's letter:

2007-09-15T10:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's letter.

I went in a little different direction with this one. A while ago I heard a metaphor in a song, and I thought it deserved more than a line or two, so I wrote out an extended metaphor. I copied this into the letter I wrote. Hope you enjoy it.

2007-09-13T22:16:00.000-04:00

Here's my next letter. This is a story from my early childhood, so I hope you all enjoy.

2007-09-12T21:25:00.000-04:00

Sorry for being late again, but, uhh, I hate to sound like a broken record, but I wrote the letter too late and couldn't use the scanner.

#1:

#2:

On time!

2007-09-10T23:27:00.000-04:00

Finally, a post that is on time (sort of)!

Today's letter, of course:

Also, something special: I still have not received any responses, but I did get a letter from one of my roommate's siblings. They were moved to write a letter by the concept and it was very well written, so here it is as well. I apologize for the ends of the words for getting cut off, but I think it is still readable. If not, then I can just rescan it.

2007-09-10T00:16:00.000-04:00

If this letter makes much less sense than normal, then it is because I wrote it when I was very tired (5 minutes ago). Please try to bear with me this night.

Here it is

2007-09-09T11:46:00.001-04:00

Here's the letter for yesterday. Sorry again for the delay.

Good letter, hope you agree

2007-09-09T00:30:00.000-04:00

Hey. I have finished the letter for today (or I should say yesterday at this hour), but I can't post it yet, because I have to wait 'till tomorrow for the scanner again. Don't worry, it'll be here soon. I think it is one of my better ones, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Another late post

2007-09-08T10:41:00.001-04:00

Sorry for another late post, but life's crazy sometimes, you know?

Sorry

2007-09-07T14:50:00.000-04:00

Sorry I didn't post last night but the scanner was unavailable to me. Here is yesterday's letter. Today's will be coming shortly, as I am about to sit down to write it.

Today I received my first Return to Sender. I'm going to try to send it back out. This has been my first experience with the outside world, in terms of this project, as of yet. Hopefully soon I'll get a response or two.

2007-09-05T20:09:00.001-04:00

Here's today's letter.

Embarrassing story

2007-09-04T20:32:00.000-04:00

This, I feel, was another good one. I'm pretty excited about sending this one off tomorrow. Hopefully the recipient will open it and read it, not send it back or throw it away.

Still no responses or send-backs or anything. Hopefully that means they got to the people, and they just don't want to write back as opposed to them rotting in the post office somewhere.

2007-09-03T16:54:00.000-04:00

Today's letter, enjoy.

2007-09-02T22:27:00.000-04:00

The promised letter:

Enjoy, folks.

I'm back

2007-09-02T19:58:00.001-04:00

Here it is, the huge post that has been building up. Sorry again for the delay, but I think you will not be disappointed. I'm only posting the ones for the 30th and the 1st right now, as the one for today hasn't been written yet (I just got back 10 minutes ago). However, I know exactly what I want to write about, and am very excited to get this one finished. As soon as I am done, I will post it tonight.

Sorry...

2007-09-01T11:36:00.000-04:00

I know I didn't post any letters last night, but do not worry. I did write one, but I went home for the weekend, where I do not have a scanner. I will have to wait a few days until I return to school to post the scans of them. Sorry for the delay, but hopefully my future gigantic post of 3 or 4 letters will make up for it.

2007-08-30T22:33:00.000-04:00

Alright, so this one is a little bit of a rambling mess, but what are you going to do? Nothing, that's what.

I couldn't think of any good stories, so I wrote about what was on my mind, which seems to never be the best option as far as letters go. Who knows, maybe he'll like it.

I really have to go read for class. I'll catch you folks tomorrow.

Another late letter

2007-08-29T20:18:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the awkward constructions in this one. I am well aware of my lack of writing ability, but I think today especially was a day I struggled with this factor. I enjoyed writing the story itself, and didn't have trouble with the content, but just the construction, the manifestation into words. Hopefully I will be a better story-teller by the end of this project.

I'm building quite a collection of personal stories here, most of which I would not tell to everyone. Pen and paper are proving to be deceptively comfortable, easing my more sacred experiences out of me.

2007-08-28T21:36:00.000-04:00

Sorry this post is so late, I had a late lab today, and had to finish up my other homework before I could even start thinking about this letter. I thoroughly enjoy this method of telling personal stories in my letters, and I think I will keep it up, until I have another idea.

I haven't gotten a response yet, but it's still very early in the project. Honestly, I don't expect to get many responses at all, but that does not keep me from watching the mailbox.

New Letter

2007-08-27T16:29:00.000-04:00

#5 down. Hope you all enjoy.

#4

2007-08-26T11:47:00.000-04:00

Fourth letter down. I got an early start today (early for me), because I knew if I didn't get this letter out, it would be bothering me all day. I knew since yesterday what I wanted to write about, and this one proved to be easier to write, and I hope a better read. I wrote about a decision I made this summer for which I am still angry at myself. You'll have to read it. I hear from my friends it's a heart-breaking story.

I'm glad I broke my own rule for this letter. I may end up doing away with it all together.

I'm exhausted

2007-08-25T17:21:00.000-04:00

Third letter down. This one's going out to Alaska! I found this was another hard one to write. I ended up using some items from some of my last letters as a crutch, which I'm kind of disappointed about, but this is part of the experience I think. Hopefully by the end I will be able to knock these letters out more quickly.

For the next few I may break rule 3. Instead of writing random thoughts, I'd like to think of an amusing story and tell it to the recipient. Also, this will help me write letters with a little more variation, and maybe help the recipient relate a little more.

Here's letter 3, by the way. Not my favorite so far, but a letter nonetheless.

What a day...

2007-08-24T15:20:00.001-04:00

I just completed the second letter. I'm actually pretty suprized I've made it this far. When I first thought of the idea, I half-expected to let it die like most of the others, but so far I've stuck with this one. I know, I've only written 2 out of 100 so far, but it's a start...

This letter was a little easier to write than the last. I found that if I stop trying to think of the perfect thing to say, and just start writing something, more like I were writing to a friend, the page fills up much faster, and more of my personality makes it onto the page. Then again, maybe I'm just crazy, which is what I'm sure these people are going to think when they get my letters. Here are the scans, I hope you enjoy.

Ooh, also, I plan to do a little publicity for this blog so I'm not just writing to myself. Hopefully I can get a few regular readers.

2007-08-23T23:34:00.000-04:00

Here are the scans of my first letter, front and back.

1st letter!

2007-08-23T21:46:00.000-04:00

I just completed my first letter! When I began this project, I didn't realize how difficult it would be. I had trouble getting a good start on my letter tonight, and ended up staring at the page for close to three hours before I really found my beginning. I hope the next ones are easier, but this experience is a big part of the appeal of the project to me. I get to learn more about communicating with people (I'm pretty shy), and slowly I hope to learn more about the human experience. I will post a scan of the letter hopefully soon. Right now I am outside at a market, so I will have to wait until I go back home to scan the letter before sending.

Explanation

2007-08-23T21:29:00.000-04:00

Hi, welcome to hundredletters. Let me explain this project of mine:

I was sitting in my house the other day, reading the label on the back of a bottle of windex, because I was a bored college kid, and I guess that's the kind of thing bored college kids do. At least this one does. On the back, an address was listed for comments or questions anyone may have about the product, which led me to think of the person whose job it was to read all of those letters, and how boring or unrewarding such a job seems to me. I was then inspired to write a letter to this person. Not a letter about windex or their job, but one to give them something to read, to make their day stand out, one to cheer them up. I then realized that the person on the back of the windex bottle was the CEO of S.C. Johnson, which was not exactly the path I intended to go down. I then decided for 100 days I would write a single letter a day to a stranger. Here are the rules I will follow:

1. I will write 2 letters to each state. At the time of writing I have decided to start with Alabama and proceed alphabetically so my current progress is easier to keep track of (mostly for myself).

2. The people I write to must be complete strangers, people who I have never met. Also, I will write to people who are not commonly known in the public mind. This will also make the chances of a response much higher.

3. When I write to them, I will make an effort not to tell them about myself for most of the letter. I would rather talk about something more universal to humans.

4. The letters must be hand-written and unique, to a point.

I plan to post a scan of each of my letters as I complete them, and if I get responses, maybe some of those too, which personal information censored of course.