MC #4: You Forgot Something

Once upon a time everything was perfect and I was happy.

I had you and you had me and we grew together for what I hoped would be eternity.

We had a fucking cat.

I mean, that’s a commitment of love and continuity!

Guess I was a loser, guess I still am.

I’m no longer happy and I no longer want anything.

And I still have a fucking cat.

I mean, you said you’d pick Velen up last Friday.

What the fuck.

Where the fuck are you.

I don’t give any fucks about the cat.

But seriously, you’re making my heart ache.

What am I anymore but some dude you’ve duped into cat sitting?

I am nothing more than a cat’s-paw with the bruising hope of absolution.


***

(to respond email missedconnections@gmail.com)
(feel free to use the comments below for general comments, etc.)

(How to Interact) (see first blog post for more details)

1. A Missed Connection is posted on this blog.
2. Reply to the post via email with the intention of either 1) assisting the character-author in his/her search, 2) determining if you are the subject of his/her search, 3) general commentary about his/her post or search, 4) anything else you deem possible.
3. Receive a personalized response from the character. You may choose to continue the conversation. You may be the person he/she is searching for. The possibilities at this point are unknown and uncharted.
4. Responses and personalized conversations are posted on the blog at the discretion of the author.

MC #3: Eyes that Sing

Under the stars,

Drinking your shameful beer,

Singing your favorite song,

I’m sure that’s a stretch, right?

The stars were false,

Merely painted on the ceiling,

But those eyes were truth,

Yearning for my sexual healing.

You vanished post melody,

Certain as I am you noticed me,

Once again before leaving,

As you’ve done week after week,

Our fimbriated fate that cannot not be.

Unless fate here allows a chance to be,

...together.

***

(to respond email missedconnections@gmail.com)
(feel free to use the comments below for general comments, etc.)

(How to Interact) (see first blog post for more details)

1. A Missed Connection is posted on this blog.
2. Reply to the post via email with the intention of either 1) assisting the character-author in his/her search, 2) determining if you are the subject of his/her search, 3) general commentary about his/her post or search, 4) anything else you deem possible.
3. Receive a personalized response from the character. You may choose to continue the conversation. You may be the person he/she is searching for. The possibilities at this point are unknown and uncharted.
4. Responses and personalized conversations are posted on the blog at the discretion of the author.

MC #2: So that was wierd, right?

Okay, so I don’t believe in the supernatural or anything stupid like that and really I was drunk off my ass so hey, this is a long shot, but I’m stoked that I got some attention and, of course, want some more.

So, there I was, standing in the corner at the party Friday night. You’ll know the place. I asked you to dance. You obliged. We danced for so long and you talked about your family in Indiana ...or India? You’d think I’d remember that.

I totally knew from the beginning I was gonna get some. I mean, c’mon. You were drunk and grinding up on it. Yeah ...it. You know.

Things got foggy. Things got weird. We went upstairs ...that I remember. It was dark. Things got fun. I remember. You were giggling. Hell, I was giggling! Like a little girl.

Some time passed ...maybe 10 minutes maybe 2 hours, who really knows when fun is being had, you know?

All of the sudden some douchebag walks in and turns on the light. So many things happened at once ...he screamed, you screamed, I screamed, it screamed, there was some clawing and bruising and, still naked, I ran screaming out of the room.

So you remember all that and I hope to whatever that you remember this part: the room was illuminated by douchebag and I see this little ...creature looking thing enjoying itself on the bed next to us. I mean fucking going at it! Disgusting! And when the light came on it screamed murder! You remember that, right? I don’t believe in shit like that but I also don’t believe myself to be crazy.

I think either I was too drunk or it was a joke or it was something else. Like a ghost or a goblin or maybe like your vagina minion or some shit …

Anyway, I’m up for seconds: email me?

***

(to respond email missedconnections@gmail.com)
(feel free to use the comments below for general comments, etc.)

(How to Interact) (see first blog post for more details)

1. A Missed Connection is posted on this blog.
2. Reply to the post via email with the intention of either 1) assisting the character-author in his/her search, 2) determining if you are the subject of his/her search, 3) general commentary about his/her post or search, 4) anything else you deem possible.
3. Receive a personalized response from the character. You may choose to continue the conversation. You may be the person he/she is searching for. The possibilities at this point are unknown and uncharted.
4. Responses and personalized conversations are posted on the blog at the discretion of the author.

MC #1: My Romance or my Rubicon?

There you were. Hanging on that train pole while we moved through the tunnels, buried in your phone. I was staring far too long. I felt justified because I saw it. A flash in my eye of the possibilities of a hopeless, slightly demented romantic: a glance, a smile, a nod, a re-glance, an invitation, a courtship, a wedding, a life, and a funeral. As if some divine force was pushing me forward with the gift of precognition, I absolutely knew my life beyond was with you and you only.

I began to sweat, I couldn't control it! This was a pivotal point in my life. The fog of a dream began to surround my new-found linear trajectory. This was it. My vision tunneled to three points: the beautiful, glowing perfection of my future life embodied by her, the spheres of light appearing before me indicating my near-future footfalls, and an unmistakably dangerous and jarring line falling between us. One footfall, two footfalls, three footfalls, I was closer; she turned and stared into the very foundation of my being. This will be a story I tell every soul I meet, I thought quasi-aloud as I approached what I now realized was my own personal rubicon. My own thoughts began racing around my brain at incredible speeds. If I stop in my tracks does my life then takes a divergent turn but does that defy my fate; what is fate? Am I not a product of nurture and not nature? What if I never see her again? Is she thinking the same thoughts as I at this very instant?

I stopped. I turned. I walked away from my rubicon, pondering the potential shortsightedness or irrevocable regret.

***

(to respond email missedconnections@gmail.com)
(feel free to use the comments below for general comments, etc.)

(How to Interact)

1. A Missed Connection is posted on this blog.
2. Reply to the post via email with the intention of either 1) assisting the character-author in his/her search, 2) determining if you are the subject of his/her search, 3) general commentary about his/her post or search, 4) anything else you deem possible.
3. Receive a personalized response from the character. You may choose to continue the conversation. You may be the person he/she is searching for. The possibilities at this point are unknown and uncharted.
4. Responses and personalized conversations are posted on the blog at the discretion of the author.

Beyond Reading: A Guide to an Interactive and Collaborative Experience

About

Missed | Connected Inspiration is an online theatrical endeavor that invites the reader to become a participate in creating an event centering around the posting of fictional "missed connections" on both this blog and Craigslist.org. Reader-participants respond to and receive answers from the character-author of the missed connection. This highly personal interaction does not have a given end point or structure, allowing the reader-participant to influence and affect the world of the missed connection and the personality of the character-author. Your experience with Missed | Connected Inspiration will be unique and has the possibility to bloom and shape the characters at the center of the original posting.

What is a Missed Connection?

Missed Connections refer to a section of Craigslist.org's online personals in which persons create posts searching for strangers in order to rekindle or connect with a romantic missed opportunities. The idea has evolved over the years and now includes posts about unrequited love, long-lost loves, secret crushes, and confessions of longing, love, and/or lust.

 

How exactly does this work?

1. A Missed Connection is posted on this blog.
2. Reply to the post via email (missedinspiration@gmail.com) with the intention of either 1) assisting the character-author in his/her search, 2) determining if you are the subject of his/her search, 3) general commentary about his/her post or search, and 4) anything else you deem possible.
3. Receive a personalized response from the character. You may choose to continue the conversation. You may be the person he/she is searching for. The possibilities at this point are unknown and uncharted.
4. Responses and personalized conversations are posted on the blog at the discretion of the author.

Author Commentary

This began as a writing experiment and exercise a few years ago and recently reemerged in my creative radar this past summer. The idea is simple: write a fictional missed connection each day and post it on Craigslist. I discovered that it didn't matter if the people reading believed it or not, they wanted to be entertained and to root for the happy ending. Each missed connection varies in style and character, although I'm sure some characters may possibly be recurring.

The thought of a blog came while wondering how best to present my first 30 days of fictional missed connections and the wonderfully amusing, praising, and ridiculous responses. However, I did not want to solely present my own cognitive process of writing nor did I want to pedantically examine and discuss unscientific findings, parsing what type of people responded to what type of posting. This is where I stalled and brainstormed for a good while.

The interesting aspect of missed connections is that they play and tease and toy with our hopes, our fantasies, and our arrogance. We read missed connections and want to root for the person behind the computer screen, yet secretly the desire is that someone out there loves us enough to put something online that we'd see. We read and laugh at the outrageous and the crass, yet secretly we desire to stumble upon one written about us. We fantasize about that. We may even hit ctrl+F and begin to type places we have been in the past few days. So how do we play with this desire, arrogance, and empathy?

It occurred to me that this human desire could morph into an interactive online experience. What if I posted a missed connection and invited readers to answer with the promise that a personalized response would follow? What if this response had the potential to confirm the reader as the subject of the missed connection? At which point does this interaction become pivotal for the character of the missed connection and the newly formed reader character? What if I continue to post new missed connections on Craigslist and a reader of this blog discovers my posting there, beginning this theatrical internet exchange before it even hits the blog? My mind was racing with possibility.

A brief note regarding the fiction. It is not my intention to actively communicate with people who are not aware of the fictional nature of these postings; therefore, I do not respond to emails from the original craigslist posting. I will post responses on the blog if I believe them to be interesting or thought provoking, but always anonymously. If you believe you've found one of my original posts and want to reply before it hits the blog, just be sure to reference the blog somewhere in the response.

And a final note: the fiction is spontaneous and instinctive. Each one purposefully explores different character voices, styles, and writing skills. Some are melodramatic, some are badly poetic, some are gracefully poignant. That's part of the fun. Feel free to comment.