One day, out of the blue, I received an e-mail with the subject line:

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.

“No cure for curiosity”?! At first this reminded me of the fundamentalist Christian saying “Don’t open your mind so much that your brain falls out.” I don’t want to cure my curiosity, but maybe the person writing this doesn’t either.

I opened the e-mail to read:

Dear Fivestar,

While I am not accustomed to random emails, I am trying something new. So please bear with me! My name is Elle to give it a start…

In the hope of not scaring you off completely, I wanted to connect because I have a great interest in learning more about amazing women like yourself who are creatively carving out a space for themselves on the internet.

The premise of what I would like to do is something like a social experiment in networking in a kind of microcosm of personal interest. Meaning, I want to find out what inspires you, what makes your mind tick and why you have chosen this medium to express yourself.

Why?

Why not?

The typical social networking standard (ie. Facebook) doesn’t typically interest me, so I am beginning to reach out and find ways of connecting with new people by my own terms.

In exchange (*crossing fingers*), for any type of “interview” (and i use the term very lightly bc I have yet to define what this project will actually entail), I would be willing to give you the same in return. A sort of Truth or Dare? But only slightly selective with the participants. What I would eventually like to do is create a small site with my “exchanges” with hopes to inspire new ways of connecting in this medium that draws so many of us to sit in front of our computers for hours/days and create images, words, music and art in general.

I am an artist myself, a curious cat, constantly learning and seeking out new experiences…part of this experiment is my own development with facing fears of rejection, public speaking and the deconstruction of societal norms. I came across your work through connective sites and actually commented on your “You Fucked A Girl” “I Kissed A Girl” cover (which is brilliant!) You are also the first person I have contacted regarding this experiment! *phew*

So…having said all of that – if you are curious too, I would love to play.

Peace,

Elle

I did a little research, read Elle’s Blog, and thought “what the hell! she’s cute,we have a little in common, this could be fun.”

So, I responded:

Hi Elle,

Thanks for your e-mail. You got me at the subject line. Though I did check out your blog before responding– just to get a fraction of a hint about who you are. You’re a great writer.

I’ve always wanted to play online truth or dare (even have a domain name for it).

Lets do it!

-Fivestar

I got the dare from Elle, planned for Nikki and Jiz to help me, but unfortunately Nikki couldn’t make it because she was model wrangling (we all know how difficult that could be). With a few less ropes than planned and the kindness of strangers on the street Jiz helped me complete the dare:

public mummification onto a streetpole at Folsom. have a safe person film it for you…

There was a second part of the dare that came through after I accepted the first part:

The kicker: once you’re done…have ur safe person write “ELLE” on your chest with a black sharpie. For evidence sake of course.

I didn’t exactly agree to this part, though I entertained the idea. In the end, I decided not to do it because I don’t know Ell well enough to write her name on my chest. I’m easy, but not that easy;)

Anyway, check out the video documentation of the dare!