A hundred years ago the mail carriers working out of New York's main Post Office made nine deliveries a day, six days a week. Nearly three thousand opportunities each year for something unexpected to make its way into your mailbox.
Twenty years ago I was active in some Mail Art circles. I have hundreds of things sent to me from around the world, and others probably still have some of what I sent (I recently learned that the MOMA library actually does). But I gradually moved on to other things.
Six months from now the United States Postal Service will stop delivering mail on Saturdays, dropping to five deliveries each week, and it's difficult to find anyone who cares. Even I don't really care. There's rarely anything in the mail that's worth opening.
So I'll give my old friend postal mail one last hurrah, with an offer to you: reply to this message with your postal address -- PO Box, office, home, I couldn't care less -- and I'll send you something in the mail. If you're lucky, and quick, you might even get it on a Saturday.
For those who choose to take me up on this: I don't know what I'll send you, nor can I predict how long it will take for me to make my way through the list of people who respond to this offer, but sooner or later something will come.
Keep an eye out for it.
whitneymcn
[email protected]
Brooklyn