Mailing Address

Verizon Wireless

Customer Service Department

Post Office Box 105378

Atlanta, GA 30348

First off, let me say that this is not a viral message.

Dear Verizon Wireless Customer Service Representative –

I use a Verizon Wireless Blackberry to email myself the content for my web-blog, The 365 Days of Faith. www.the365daysoffaith.blogspot.com .

I draw a picture everyday and sometimes I write about drawing, but I often get distracted and have graced such topics as chemical water testing, hiking with small children, tattoos – I have too many, anecdotes from the science museum where I work, as well as urban chicken-keeping and how to revive a chilled African Hedgehog. Really.

I have written over 50,000 words since late July. The vast majority of those were written as emails to myself (To: Me) and were composed on my Verizon Wireless Blackberry. I don’t have time to heavily edit my writing; Thus, the words I post to the web-log are very much the words I send to myself using your most excellent technology.

I am conducting an experiment with technology. How long does it take one email to a Verizon Wireless Customer Service Representative to result in an appreciable recognition of my web-log within the American dialect/ic. I am a bit of a half-assed academic. I am still learning.

The thing is, I email myself because, circumstantially, I have very few friends. I have been keeping my digital record now for months. However, under 40 people know about it. About 33 of those people are coworkers. Most of the rest are family in some way. Seriously.

How long will it take before I am the newest blip? What are the pathways? How quickly can we reach each other? Technology is a powerful thing. Let the messages we send quickly be the right ones.

I am a 33-year-old mother of two. I try to live right, but life’s just so strange. Through my conversations with myself, I have learned one thing for certain: If you don’t take chances, nothing will happen.

I don’t want to be famous, but I do want to pay off my credit card debt. I want my words to be read by someone other than my mother.

I work full-time as a professional educator and maybe that’s why I get such kooky ideas. I have a busy brain.

I’m curious, though. How long is the distance between invisibility and connection? What roads cross the space between here and there. When you forward this, please note to yourself who you sent it to, or save a copy of your current address book, so if some sociologist somewhere wants to map this experiment, they will have adequate data.

Keep me posted. No pun intended.

Faith Rhyne

faithrhyne@gmail.com and www.the365daysoffaith.blogspot.com

…as my children would say, “You”re It!”

…and I would say, “Ready! Set! Go!”

Remember: if you don’t take chances, nothing happens.

I will send a “hard copy” of the post of the letter on my web-blog to the Customer Service Center. After that, I guess I’ll just wait. Please don’t just shred this. At least tell your mom. If you don’t want to start the experiment, at least tell someone who might.

This is pure marketing brilliance. Right here, right now – if Verizon EVER employs a campaign featuring a beguilingly academic lady with wings tattooed on her palms, I – Faith Rachel Rhyne – expect adequate recognition and monetary reimbursement for creative conceptualization or for use of any content originally published on the website, www.the365daysoffaith.blogspot.com. Faith Rachel Rhyne fully retains all rights to the text and images featured on www.the365daysoffaith.blogspot.com.

I actually half-way sound like I know what I’m talking about, don’t I? Ha!

However, I hope that I have made it clear that this experiment – and really, my whole project – is an inquiry into connectivity. It also kinda seems like an ad campaign, a crazy guerilla marketing scheme. (I don’t work for Verizon, I swear.) If I sell phones – in any way, shape, or form – I will expect to be fully informed and compensated.

Sorry, had to be said.

I actually (!) sent an abridged version of the above letter to a Verizon Wireless Customer Service Representative (Topic: Other, Subtopic: Other) –

Hello world. It’s late, I’m tired. Thanks for being part of the big experiment.

Thank You!

Thank you for contacting our Customer Service Department. We appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

Your inquiry has been forwarded to our Internet Response Team for resolution. We expect to resolve your inquiry within 24 hours, although response times may vary.