The 52 Projects by Week - Daily Picts - FAQ - Project Invitation - Participants


52 Weeks of Projects by Date

Week 52 (10.7.01 - 10.14.01) The Final Week

Contact

Contact Scott Sayre

Read about contacting Scott Sayre

View pictures of meeting Scott Sayre

 

Week 51 (9.30.01 - 10.6.01)

Challenged

Day 1 - wear glasses with wax paper taped over the lenses for one hour
Day 2 - wear earplugs for one hour
Day 3 - strap a block on the bottom of your right or left shote and walk that way for one hour
Day 4 - tape your right thumb to your right hand for one hour
Day 5 - tape your left thumb to your left hand for one hour
Day 6 - say everything backward for one hour
Day 7 - write about your experiences for one hour

These can actually be done in any order, but do all of them over the course of seven days.


Week 50
(9.23.01 - 9.29.01)


Grave Trends
Go to the graveyard. For more than 50 but less than 100 gravestones note the year born and years lived for each subject. Plot all this manually on a graph (x axis is year born, y axis is years lived). Consider the trends you see, then mark on the graph the year you were born . . . and how old you think you will live to.

Read the Findings

Week 49 (9.16.01 - 9.22.01)

24 Hours of Solitude
I think that it would be a good idea for Scott to go somewhere outside, maybe by a remote lake or another secluded spot, and spend 24-48 hours there by himself. No food, no water. I come from the perspective that when all outside stimulation is shut off, it forces a person to look within and around. By stopping food and water, it would tell his body and his mind that this is a different place, a very different place. Oh sure, it may not be easy, but looking at oneself, your Creator, never is.

Read about this experience

Week 48 (9.09.01 - 9.15.01)

Adult Supervision Required
Introduce a kid to something you enjoyed when you were a kid. (Model rockets come to my mind first). Through the week spend about and hour a day choosing the equipment, assembling a simple rocket, and launching. Perhaps the son or daughter of a friend or workmate.


Week 47 (9.02.01 - 9.08.01)

Meditate
I admire you so much for your 52@40 undertaking. My opinion is that it is hard to improve on perfection. But because you want suggestions, I am offering the following: MEDITATE at least 15 minutes a day. It's amazing what will come to you, not only in answer to coping with life, but also self-revelation. There are lots of books on the subject, but not necessarily necessary. The part that does not fit your criteria is that meditation is not a one-week pursuit. It's hopefully a life-long habit ? but worth the effort. And the effort takes determination ? first to make time for meditation. It may mean getting up 15 minutes early. OUCH! Decide where you are going to do it, a room away from distractions. Alice's room comes to mind. Put a comfortable chair in her room. A cup of coffee is permissible. Try not to be discouraged when your mind wanders. Meditation takes practice. Have a notepad and pencil handy so that you can write down distractions, re: things you need to do. Writing them down releases your mind from those thoughts. You may find that the notepad is a bonus in the whole process. Good luck Scott ? reap the rewards!


Week 46
(8.27.01 - 9.01.01)


Life Regression
Research and find two people who do past life regression. Meet with the first person. Have her or him tell you about your past lives. Meet with the second person. Have her or him tell you about your past lives. Notice how the two experiences compare. Consider how the lives they have described, and others you may perceive, affect you.

 

Week 45 (8.20.01 - 8.26.01)

Homeless Dining
Take a person who you do not know and is homeless out and buy them dinner.

Read my response to this project

Week 44 (8.13.01 - 8.19.01)

A Taste of Old SCOTTland
Devise a unique new cocktail that represents "Scott" somehow. (Your best/worst qualities, tastes, ideas, likes, fears, whatever.) Simple, complex layers, flaming, or even non-alcoholic.) When perfected and reproducible, (after much brainstorming and several attempts), write down the recipe and post it to all of us interested parties.

Read my recipe


Week 43
(8.06.01 - 8.12.01)


Top 40
For every year of your life pick one song and only one song. (It doesn't have to be from that year but it helps.) You should have 40 songs, enough to tape your life in music. For example, my song for 1982 would be "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band. Whenever I hear it I immediately think of riding the bus in 2nd grade. For 1992-93 it would be "Move It" because I moved to college. Also, you could write some reason for every song but I bet the tape would speak for itself.

Read my Top 40 list

Week 42 (7.29.01 - 8.05.01)

Fear
Conquer a fear.

Read about the experience

Week 41 (7.22.01 - 7.28.01)

Wordcount
On days one and two randomly sample the number of words used per sentence. Do this by recording an hour of work and an hour of home conversation and calculating the average words per sentence. On following days, try and decrease the count by 10% of the previous day.


Week 40 (7.15.01 - 7.21.01)

Volunteer
Volunteer for an activity of interest to you but not related to your professional life.

Read about this experience


Week 39 (7.8.01 - 7.14.01)

The Thing
This is not "the thing" (meaning the actual idea submitted as Scott's assignment).
This is the list of directions that lead Scott to "the thing."
"The thing" is hidden.
This is likely to be the only thing that Scott will be the first to know.
When Scott finds "the thing" he will find out what he is expected to do for up to an hour a day for a week.

Scott:
Before finding "the thing" please consult your calendar.
Be sure to reserve exactly one waking hour each day to be able to effectively do "the thing."
(It may not take a full hour each day but do reserve a full waking hour each day. The hour can be early morning, late afternoon, evening. It doesn't matter.)

Read about "The Thing"

 

Week 38 (7.1.01 - 7.7.01)

1900 House
Spend a full day without any electric device. This includes t.v., radio, electric lights, microwave, hair dryer, razor, electric clock, phone, automobile, bus. After 24 hours discuss/document/photo your learnings. What did you miss most? What was the most difficult to escape? What did you discover you can do without?

Read about 1900 House

 

Week 37 (6.24.01 - 6.30.01)

Scott as Washroom Attendant
Be and attendant in a public rest room, maybe a bar or resturant. make yourself a little kit (maybe two days getting ready) : toilet water, cologne, lotion, gum, towels, etc. Tell them what you are doing. Suggest a bit of powder perhaps? - you experiencing some chaffing? maybe hand out a card you make up ahead of time to them or at the end. Hand out the card to everyone that uses the restroom. The card would explain your 52@40 Project. Have them tell you how they felt about the experience inemailed or postal reply. Nice resturant, not so nice resturant. Hell, maybe you don't even need to check ahead of time. maybe sneak into a different place every night. Get back to me with questions. There's a lot of room to work here.

Read the Attendant's Notes


Week 36 (6.17.01 - 6.23.01)

Solstice
Read the first chapter of James Agee's "A Death in the Family" around the longest day of the year.


Week 35 (6.10.01 - 6.16.01)

Documentary Film Project
Defy the urge to spend an eternity creating a documentary project. Choose a very short subject, a biography of your neighbor, a treatise on squirrel behaviour, an investigation into your garbage removal service, anything! Shoot for two days, edit, for two days, and finish the QT for your adoring public.

View the Film

Week 34 (6.03.01 - 6.09.01)

Fortieths
Make a collection of the "fortieths." In other words, a volume to historically document the origins/existence/uses/functions of things such as the fortieth state, the fortieth Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavor, the fortieth president, the fortieth floor of the world trade center, etc....

View list of fortieths

 

Week 33 (5.27.01 - 6.2.01)

My Wife
Take an hour a day for a week to talk exclusively with your wife. No talk about things like paying bills, etc.

 

Week 32 (5.20.01 - 5.26.01)

Poem of the Day

The curator will present you with a selected poem each day. Take time out of your day to read and savor each poem for its unique merits.

Read the Poems

 

Week 31 (5.13.01 - 5.19.01)

Be A Man
Get a hold of a men's daily meditations book and read it every day as part of the day or the first thing you do each day. Find a good one. One that addresses things that we as men have learned which are stereotypes that keep us bound to dogmatic roles and patterns. I have encountered many of them designed for alcoholics, addicts, adult children of alcoholics, that are excellent. You could use one of these and just substitute a word or ignore anything that helps make it apply . . . the second part is to try and remember the general gist of what you read at the end of that day. Hazelden makes excellent ones. Remember, "any" of them can work. I have one for women that is just great for me to read as any of them that I've seen for men. I don't think any one would fail to gain something from these "meditations." Don't confuse this with "affirmations" (Stuart Smalley) Meditations are very different, they help you to reflect on how you do and would like to live life making small changes and progress in a gentle, thoughtful way. This is really amazing!

 

Week 30 (5.06.01 - 5.12.01)

Kiss Life
Kiss everything you touch with your hands for one day (Your own) body parts excluded.


Week 29
(4.29.01 - 5.05.01)

Selected Symphony
Take an hour out to listen to a major symphony from beginning to end without any interruption (phone calls, eating, reading, and the like). You must give it your full attention and best that you do this in total isolation. Headphones might be good for this. And better yet, listen to all of Beethoven's or Mahler's symphonies in the proper sequence.

 

Week 28 (4.22.01 - 4.28.01)

Why I look like I do?
Gather a bunch of family photos, old and new, (dig deep) and with a small team of interested people, decide who you got your ears, eyes, chin, hair, height, etc. from. Arrange photos to illustrate this (include your own photo).


Week 27 (4.15.01 - 4.21.01)

Great Scott! Sartorial Flip Book
Each morning of the week, when you are dressed in the "clothing du jour," stand against a neutral background and take a series of four full-figure photographs ? frontal, right profile, back, left profile. You can set up the camera on a tripod with timer or have someone else snap the photos. At the end of the week, and when you have processed your film, assemble the photos ? in sequence ? into a flip-book. Remember with a flip-book your first image goes on the bottom of the stack. No fair dressing in special costumes! Just wear what you would normally select to wear for each day. Don't forget to smile!!

 

Week 26 (4.08 - 4.14.01)

Random Present
Week Give it all away. Each day give out a small random present. Something like a can of play-doh, a neat piece of junk. Insist on documenting the recipient with their present.


Week 25 (4.01 - 4.07.01)

St. Scott
All saints have attributes. Spend all day carrying an attribute. One day must be the Visor. Other days can include gardening implements, golf discs, a meeting agenda.


Week 24
(3.25.01 - 3.31.01)

Walking to Work
Walk to and from work for one week no matter what the weather. "There is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing." - Will Steger. Schedule is no excuse -must walk to and from work for one week - stopping and smelling flowers is crucial - stopping at acoffee shop is allowed and encouraged. Early start with stop at a coffee shop and time to read the paper earns extra points. (Later try this but substitute bike.)


Week 23 (3.18.01 - 3.24.01)

Skippy Scott
Skip through life for one week. Who didn't enjoy skipping as a child? Not only does it provide a great mode of transportation, much quicker than walking, much safer than running, it also relieves stress. With such great qualities why do we give up skipping as adults? Can a real man skip into a bar and not feel his manhood threatened? With others skip with you or will they run from you?

 

Week 22 (3.11.01 - 3.17.01)

Monotasking
Do only one thing at a time all day for seven days.

 

Week 21 (3.04.01 - 3.10.01)

Negativity Activity
This project gets you thinking about all the negativity in life. Check out a contemporary book from a library Ð cross out all the negative words (not, no, never, uh-uh, etc.) with a thick black felt-tip pen. Return a new copy of the book to the library as well as the modified one.


Week 20
(2.25.01 - 3.03.01)

Dear Alice
Every day for one week, write to Alice. Day 1 should relate to an incident/memory/wish/story from the first 10 years of your life; day 2 from years 10-19; day 3 years 20-29, day 4 years 40-49; day 5 to wish/hope/prediction for years 50-59; day 6 to "post retirement" and day 7 to after your death.


Week 19
(2.18.01 - 2.24.01)

Five Saucy Days
According to the chefs of the world there are five basic cooking sauces that are the base of all classic cooking . Unse this week to discover and enjoy these sauces. Everyday take one new sauce and create dinner with it. At the end of the week, post a rating on your likes and dislikes of the 5 different sauces.

Attached is a description of where the five mother sauces came from and the following web site is the recipes for the sauces. Good Luck! Call or email us if you need anything else :)!

http://www.gumbopages.com/food/sauces/


Week 18
(2.11.01 - 2.17.01)

Personal Sonnet

Compose an Elizabethan sonnet. Suggested themes: family, love, the wifey, art, and oh yes . . . aging.

Read my Sonnet


Week 17
(2.04.01 - 2.10.01)

Shoot and Tell
For one week, tell one person a day about this project. Take a picture of them. Have them take a picture of you. Get their names, city of living, what their reaction was.

View and Read about these people

d read about the project

Week 16 (1.28.01 - 2.03.01)

Wear it or Share It

Go into your closet(s) and dressers and pull out all clothes that you still love but reallistically haven't worn in a long time for whatever reason. Do this for both winter and summer things. Somehow, pick 4 items from each season, knowing that you will be giving the rest away or disposing of them. Put the current season's 4 selected items in the front of your closet/top of your drawers and wear them this week. If after wearing the item, you find you want to work it back into regular rotation, put it away and wear it happily, occasionally. If it just doesn't seem right, consider putting in a special box and keeping it for sentimental reasons. Do the same when you get next seasons item out. Your sentimental clothing box may have as many as 8 items in it.


Week 15
(1.21.01 - 1.27.01)

Keeping the mind sharp!

My grandmother, who lived to the age of 101, was bright to the end. She credited her sharp mind to several things, chief of which was memorizing poetry throughout her life. One of the first poems that I remember her reciting, and one that I can recite the better part of myself, was Sidney Lanier's "Song of the Chattahoochee:"

Out of the hills of Habersham,
Down the valleys of Hall,
I hurry amain to reach the plain,
Run the rapid and leap the fall,
Split at the rock and together again,
Accept my bed, or narrow or wide,
And flee from folly on every side
With a lover's pain to attain the plain
Far from the hills of Habersham,
Far from the valleys of Hall. . .

The full poem is easily obtainable on the web if you don't have it in your library.


Week 14
(1.14.01 - 1.20.01)
Animal Space
Spend an hour each day for a week doing whatever a different animal life form is doing. That is, for one hour you will be in close proximity, as close as possible, to the life form, and you will do whatever it does. The action shall be animal/life form-oriented and directed, thus no walking the dog, which is a human-directed activity. If the life form is laying on the floor, you lay on the floor; if it is walking around the house on all fours you do the same. If it is standing in the snow, you do too. The idea is to honor and attempt to see from a different set of eyes. Keep a record, written or audiovisual, of the insights you gain and behavior you learn.

Suggestions for eligible life forms include:
- your cat
- Kris's horse
- a friend's dog
- a fish or a bird
- a plant or a tree
- a species of your choosing
- On the seventh day, trade a long sensuous massage with Kris (definitely a life form!)

Read about and view the spaces


Week 13 (1.07.01 - 1.13.01)
Crosswords with Strangers

Do the daily crossword puzzle. For words that you cannot determine, ask strangers for help.

Note: I solved the Universal Press Syndicate daily online puzzle. You can solve the same puzzles at http://www2.uclick.com/client/sto/cx/.

 

Week 12 (12.29.00 - 1.06.01)
Snowball
Carry a snowball whenever you are outside. Feel free to use this snowball, but please replace it as soon as possible.

View the Snowball project

Week 11 (12.22.00 - 12.28.00)
Venerating Mary
Introit

Our Lady's image is ubiquitous. Her appeal is universal. She is the embodiment of compassion and forgiveness. Her work is boundless and magnificent. Hail Mary!

Pilgrimage
Each day for 6 consecutive days seek out a new image of Our Lady to venerate. This may include books, the Basilica, the collection at MIA, a human incarnation, etc. During veneration, let Our Lady speak to you and give you one word of wisdom. Take this jewel with you, and record it. Also note the trek of your day's pilgrimage. Was it easy to find Our Lady?

Patronage
On the 7th day, DO NOT REST. Because Our Lady is invisible, she relies on patrons to give her form. Create a new Lady in your own image. Use whatever media you like. Collage, paint, pencil, urine, cow dung, etc. If you wish, decorate with the words of wisdom you received on your pilgrimage. Do not labour this process. She is not necessarily for the public exhibition. She may be your personal Lady. When complete, name her appropriately. For example: Blue Lady of the Hills, Our Sorrowful Mother of the Broken Heart, Victorious Queen and Triumphant Abbess of Mercy.

Addendum
To create a "Novena", or 9-day devotion, on days 8 & 9 venerate your own image. Do you see yourself in her eyes?

A NOTE ON VENERATION: Veneration is a highly personal activity. It may or may not include prayer, ritual, meditation, silence, etc. It does not necessarily imply a religious practice. It can be an exploration of the vibration that Our Lady exhibits in this world, whether we are aware of her presence and influence or not.

View Mary and read her many words of wisdom

Week 10 (12.17.00 - 12.21.00)
Desert Island Disk
Put together a DID (desert island disk) list comprised of ten works from each of the following categories: 1) books (fiction or non-fiction) 2) music 3) art works. Those works that have provided you with the greatest pleasure and fulfillment over the years Ð works that continue to mean the most to you. It may be ten in any one of the above categories, or all three categories.

View my DID List

Week 9 (12.10.00 - 12.16.00)
Life List

Bird watchers keep a journal or life list/checklist of species seen, recording date and location of their first sighting. I started one of these in 1984 when I was spending a fair amount of time with some people who were serious about bird watching and the environment in general. It's a nice way to sharpen your focus of the natural world, a task that Scott might initiate during his 40th year but take with him into all the succeeding. I'd recommend matching this assignment with a week when he is vacationing and spending that time out of doors. Or, hawk watching, which is where my birding interests were first formed, is also a recommended starting point. I understand that there is a hawk mountain/observatory near Duluth and every fall, the faithful and newly converted, make a pilgrimage north to count and collect sightings of raptors as they make their way south. As for the life list itself, you can buy a journal (which I would be delighted to do for Scott), although I imagine there are computer programs for capturing these observations and that keeping this information on his palm device would be the perfect solution for a budding bird watcher of the 21st century.

 

Week 8 (12.03.00 - 12.16.00, continuing two week project)
Waste Not
Collect All waste that you would normally discard (compost and recycling does not count) and carry it with you for two weeks. You will learn how much you waste and how to be a better consumer. You must collect your share of shared waste items (half a shared Pringles container, a third of the packing materials from a shared computer at work. etc.) You will carry these items in a bag, backpack, or wagon. You should have it with you always, and should always be in the same room with you. It should never be more than 10 yards away from you. You don't have to carry it up and down stairs at home.

Document this with photos and an inventory of the waste. Also any pertinant other material and thoughts should be collected, and/or noted, such as a change in your normal behavior. If you send a letter to a company with wasteful packaging, include it.

View the Collection

 

Week 7 (11.26.00 - 12.02.00)
Falling Off with Gratitude

When you get in bed each night after doing whatever you do to prepare for sleep each night as it becomes time to lay quietly ? begin to list in your head all of the things for which you are grateful. Nothing is too small or absurd ? in fact if you have difficulty getting started, listing absurdities may make a nice beginning. Thank God or no one or nothing in particular at all for . . . "I am grateful for the fact that I do not wear glasses . . . that I do not wear thicker glasses . . . for my laser eye surgery . . . or for my eyesight . . . that I am not ugly . . . that I am able to work . . . for my job . . . for the people that I work with . . . for my creativity . . . for one more day of life . . . that I do not smoke . . . for my friends . . . for my partner . . . family . . . that I can walk . . . that I have happy people in my life . . . that I can help others by being an example of a happy person . . ." and on and on until you fall asleep. (Not unlike counting sheep.) It is likely that this will become easier by the night. Repeat things night after night if you like, that's fine, but try to become increasingly varied and creative. "I am grateful that I am tired . . . for my bed." This has an ability to find you waking up refreshed and feeling generally better mentally increasingly . . . enjoy it!


Week 6
(11.19.00 - 11.25.00)
Grow a light beard, then every day of the work week change it a little until the end of the week you're left with just a sliver on your chin. Ex. trim under your neck, take out between sideburns and chin/mustache, make mustache a sliver on lip (John Waters). make notes on the reaction people have.

View Beard Photos

 

Week 5 (11.12.00 - 11.18.00)
Seven Stages of Man
For one hour each day, sit quietly inside the following:
1st day: maternity ward;
2nd day: elementary school;
3rd day: pool hall;
4th day: corporate cafeteria;
5th day: a bus;
6th day: retirement home;
7th day: cemetery.

View Completed Stages


Week 4 (11.05.00 - 11.11.00)
Find a quiet comfortable place and write a letter. It could be to a friend, your mother or father, sister or brother, or a person you haven't been in touch with in years. Maybe you could encourage the person to write you? Create a pen pal. This is to be done with a pen and paper, no computers.

Letters written by date:
11.05.00 John B. Sayre Sr., my grandfather, Summit, NJ
11.06.00 Brian Case and family, great friends, Camphill, PA
11.07.00 Kent Rothermel and family, great friends, Canton, OH
11.08.00 Alice Wetterlund, my stepdaughter, New York, NY
11.09.00 Jan and Jack Sayre, my parents, Manchester, CT
11.10.00 Kris Sayre, my wonderful wife and curator
11.11.00 Pedro Cordon Casais, a far-away friend, Vigo, Spain


Week 3 (10.30.00 - 11.04.00)
My idea involves eating pancakes - ideally it would be a week of pancakes at Town Talk Diner (270.5 Lake St across from Rainbow. The pancakes could be analyzed somehow or count the number of people who eat at the counter. Or pancakes could be compared at several restaurants including 1) Town Talk, 2)Big 3) Ole's ( on Franklin), 4)Perkin's, 5) Ember's, 6)Al's(Dinkytown) and 7) th Egg and I. Mostly I think Scott should get to eat Pancakes at Town Talk for 7 days in a row, however TT is not open on weekends. hours are like 6 am to 2 pm.

View the Cakes by Date



Week 2 (10.22.00 - 10.29.00)
Spend seven days and nights living your life and writing about it as though it were the most interesting thing in the entire universe. Of course it is! And of course everyone will want to read it first thing, each and every day of this exercise. Document your activities as though they belonged on the front page of the New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, or any other suitable media rag. An example might be, you spend a quite evening at home, working in the woodshop, on the computer, and watching TV with your wonderful wife. This would, of course, be treated by the journalist inside you as though it were front page, and only front page material! Your writings could include rousing recaps of your internet searches, hilarious reviews of the TV programs you viewed, or meaningful insights on the nature of man gleaned from a dream you had while snoozing. Each day you could publish your article in a "front page" environment and we, the readers, could be astonished, amazed, and astounded by our experiences.

Read Stories:
Saturday, October 28, 2000 Issue
Friday, October 27, 2000 Issue
Thursday, October 26, 2000 Issue

Wednesday, October 25, 2000 Issue

Tuesday, October 24, 2000 Issue

Monday, October 23, 2000 Issue

Sunday, October 22, 2000 Issue


Week 1 (10.14.00 - 10.21.00)
Visit AARP. Ask the leader to point out two members born in Minnesota: one of modest income and the other a little more affluent. Visit them individually and ask them to talk about their life before 40 years and after. Assure them that this is confidential and only for your use, and keep your word. Ask them to tell of their accomplishments and their failures before and after 40 years.

Read Summaries of the Interviews:
Doug Davis, Interview Saturday, October 21, 2000
Bob Schon, Interview Saturday, October 21, 2000



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