Projects

It took me approximately four hours to read A.J. Jacobs' third book, The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment. In it, he describes several month-long challenges he takes part in, and their consequent results. I feel a strange connection to this man and his projects (see here, here, and here, plus posts from April and May of 2011).

For me, challenges like refraining from a certain type of food or doing a certain activity every day give me something to focus on. It's a boost when I manage to complete a challenge, it's something to blog about, and I believe total immersion in something is a great way to learn about it. There was a time when I exclusively read books about people's year-long projects, most of them related to environmentalism or the ethical consumption of food.

And now I get to be a part of someone else's project, which of course I'm all about. The Disposable Film Project is in its early stages right now. I know this because I am the first person with one of the disposable cameras, and I have yet to send it to the next DFPer, the unsinkable Stephanie Salinis. (Note to Lara: wanted to wait until I dyed my hair before starting...the dirty dishwater blonde was not about to be immortalized for this.)

Today I am taking picture number 2 for the project, one of my city/neighborhood. I know a certain image comes to mind when one thinks of Chicago, but I don't live in the Loop, the Gold Coast, or at Wrigley. Shoot, I don't even live at Mercy Home anymore. No worries, the Logan Square/Humboldt Park/Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhood has plenty of photo-ops: just the other day the traveling circus next door practiced juggling bowling pins.