Friday, November 03, 2006

the smith project

i read the news, i follow the scandals, i know the democrats are uncontrollably giddy about prospects of boatloads of blue votes on november 7.

i also know that there's a lot of people lurking in the corners of every state with viewpoints unexpressed in ny times polls. sure, the democrats are trying to get them on the phone--hilary clinton called the other night--but i imagine they hang up on hil, too. how do you grasp a little more time, an ounce more contemplation?

you write a letter.



yesterday i sent a hand-written postcard to a person named smith in every state in the nation. it may be just 50 people, but in a couple days, ardis, archie, arletta, and others will hold in their hand a message from me, asking them to spend a moment thinking about what we're doing killing innocent people in iraq. hopefully they'll take that thought to the polls.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

you never cease to astound me with your creativity! love it. nice work.

Anonymous said...

Assuming you sent your return address....
Can't wait to hear what responses you get, if so.

sarah said...

thanks, nance :)

i didn't leave a return address, because i liked the randomness of someone receiving a postcard from another american. i figured knowing where i live may color their perceptions, so i opted to leave it blank. i also considered creating a blog and giving them the url for feedback, but again, i'm partial to the power of random contact.

Anonymous said...

interesting point. i thought you'd opt for starting a dialogue with some random people around the nation. but i like the randomness, too.
so how did you get around the cancellation of the stamp showing they were sent from california?
i'll say it again -- i love what you did.

sarah said...

good question.

i didn't. there's no getting around that (i did consider sending them to my buddy in north carolina).

so on the off chance that the stamp cancellation is worn off--and that does happen--the cat is outta the bag :)

Anonymous said...

i love the smith project.

Anonymous said...

Excellent idea. Hope it works.
I feel helpless and unable to change anything - this is one way to cope.

sarah said...

you're funny, lynne.

and you're right!

i had those pesky values well before i lived on the west coast. :)