Sorry for the delay. Fear not the quest continues. With the weather the way it has been and several projects on my plate, 1000 total strangers has slowed as of late. But I will be back at it soon! If you would like to be added to the 1000 total strangers updates email send a request to chrischristensen@1000totalstrangers.com

Number fifteen - This is Faina. She was arriving at the same park where I met Abel just as we were leaving. She was with another woman. They were both very nice and agreed to be a part of the project. That is until the one woman read the form I have them fill out. I told her I would cross off any thing she didn't agree with and she could put as little personal info as possible. But it was too late. It is too bad because she was very nice and she had a great dog with her. It is actually the farthest someone has gone along before saying no. It is my first yes to turn into a no so late in the game. Anyway back to Faina. She still agreed to participate and I am very glad she did because she is very striking and made for a nice addition. So thank you Faina. To the woman with you... if we ever meet again and you change your mind I you are always welcome into my group of strangers! Faina it was nice to meet you!

Number Fourteen -This is Abel. Well, after a long stretch I am past unlucky thirteen. Thanks for hanging in there. I feel a flurry coming soon. I took my family to a local park to have fun and hang out on a wonderful Fall day. I brought my camera along to document it and with the hopes that I would be able to meet some people as well. Abel was there with a youngster and seemed to be having a lot of fun. My wife really wanted me to talk him. She was kind of like the voice I always hear in my head "go up to that person... go.. they would be great". So it was weird to have an actual person poking me. I didn't want to interrupt him but after he did a cartwheel I had no choice but to approach him. He also sat on one of the toys that spins and got it going faster than I had ever seen it go. It isn't easy... I have tried it. Sorry I don't have a picture of that or the cartwheel because they would have been awesome to see. Any way, he was very nice and it was nice to break the long streak with some one so nice, colorful and so much fun. Thanks Abel, it was nice to meet you!

Number Thirteen and Thirteen and a half. This is John and Taco. Taco is the one without the hat. I met them on 6th Ave while John was out walking Taco which he does twice a day. They both seemed very nice and I held Taco’s leash. John asked me, like others before what exactly the project was for. I need to come up with a better and loftier answer than.. Just because. He told about how his daughter had been at one of the big sit ins for the mother of that soldier that neither of us could remember that had organized protests a while back. It was part of her senior project. Sound interesting. We didn’t get into if it was photography or video or what exactly or if he did I missed it. Now for a tangent. I had 2 no’s right before John from some interesting folk outside of a tattoo parlor. There was a man and woman hanging out. I approached them. The man said no right away and the woman seemed interested. She said she hated getting her picture taken. There that is again. I wonder what it is that people hate about it. I should have asked… Is it the actual process of waiting and not knowing what face to make or what to do… or is it seeing a and knowing other will see the photo afterwards? Some people really truly hate having their picture taken. I have a few close friends and relatives who if looked up by some future generation would only be recognized by there hand, because they are always blocking their face. Back to John… It was a very nice experience and it was nice to meet you. Thanks for not hating having your picture taken.

Number twelve. This is Maureen. I met Maureen in a parking lot in front of TJ Max. That is near the Target in Tacoma if you know where that is. She was very skeptical , especially when I asked for an email address or phone number, just some way to keep track and to contact her if I need to for what ever reason. It almost cancelled the deal and she even said she was a little worried about the whole thing after I asked her for the info. It is pretty strange. I have gotten a little lax on the release form I have everyone fill out. We are in public so I don’t know that I need permission to publish photos of people in public but just for the record … and if I am going to meet 1000 people I thought it would help keep track. Any way we decided that I would just take her first name for now and she could check out the website and if she wanted she could always send me an email. She also mentioned she wasn’t going to buy anything and I assured her I wasn’t selling anything. I can tell most people look at me when I first come up like I am trying to sell them something. I would probably think the same thing. We get so used to everyone trying to sell something. In a way I suppose I am trying to sell something… I guess it is an idea?… and they are paying with their time and the right to meet them and take their picture. So Maureen was cautious. Which is good to see to some degree in today’s identity Theft bonanza. But when it came to take the picture she had one of the most fun, biggest smiles I think I have ever seen. So Thank you Maureen. It was nice to meet you.

Since it has been over a week since the last addition I thought I better give a quick update on the project. Due to some weather issues , some lunch time errands and an abundance of No's I am still stuck on 11. Fear not more will be coming soon. I think the No ratio has just about caught up to the yes count. I even attempted my first non lunch hour quest on a walk with my son tonight. We discovered that the Home Depot parking lot is not the best option because like one person I asked they had to rush back home to fix a leak that was causing water to spill all over the floor. Question... if you were a woman and a man approached you similar to this project and asked for your photo, and you said you hated having your photo taken, would it help prusade you if the guy said you looked nice or would it be creepy? I ask because I am looking for ways to overcome some common objections that I get. And that is one of them. Previously I have said it is pain less or just takes a second, but the answer has crossed my mind, but for fear of freaking this poor person out I refrained. So opinions?
Any way... Fear not I am vowing to get out there and meet some strangers! The project may last longer than the Year I was figuring but I will reach 1000 eventually. Check back soon!

Number eleven. This is Matthew. When I approached the three of them, Matthew was on the phone. He got up and left so he could concentrate on the call. I wasn't sure if he would come back to take part or not. He came back and I explained what I was up to and he was game. He asked if I was going to sell his phone number and I promised I wouldn't. That was when Terry made the joke about stealing his soul and the release form filling with blood. Matthew said he trusted me and I looked like a nice guy. I don't think the lady at Fred Meyer telling on me thought so. Thanks Matthew, it was nice to meet you.

Number Ten. This is Jon. Double Digits. It is a landmark! He had playing cards. I asked them what they play and they said it was a modified version of Rummy. I don't think Jon was eating one but they had these great looking Sandwiches which Jon told me were from the teriyaki place around the corner. I may have to try it out. They seemed like they had fun having lunch together. Getting to meet these guys and the attitude with which they treated me and the project made wading through the no's a bit more bearable. Thanks Jon, it was nice to meet you.

Number Nine. This is Terry. Okay time for a quick side note... so I will be honest I was already thinking of giving up. I am not very good at taking rejection and between 8 and 9 there was lots of it. Okay not tons but enough to get me discouraged. Some lady even told on me at Fred Meyer. At least I assume that was what she was doing when she was pointing at me while talking to someone that worked there who was outside. Any way... yeah I was thinking of calling it 8 total strangers and being done with it. Then I met nine, ten and eleven.
I was down at a park and at first I passed them by because they were eating lunch and I didn't really want to bother them. But after traveling several city blocks and making a big circle I ended back at the park with not much time left. So I asked them. Lucky for me they said yes. They were a lot of fun too. As far as being prepared to take the pictures I didn't learn my lesson well enough last time and my settings were all messed up this time and I had to retake the first pictures of Terry. Plus I still left the ISO setting cranked up so the pictures have a bit of noise to them. Another thing I will be sure to take note of.. Have extra batteries in my pocket. Luckily I got all three photos right before my Batteries ran out.
Sorry back to Terry.
He was fun and seemed interested in the project. He was pretty funny too and made a joke about the release form being a contract to steal souls. Cracked me up. Thanks Terry, It was nice to meet you.

Number eight. This is Stacy. First I want to thank Stacy for being the only person to say yes today. I was having one of those days to begin with. On top of that once Stacy agreed to take part I had technical difficulties with my camera. I fumbled around flipped the switch I had forgotton and quickly took the picture. To my dismay as I checked the photo out a moment later, after she had walked away... It was out of focus. I Suppose it was bound to happen... out of a 1,000 pictures I am going to get photos with problems.. But number 8? I suppose I could switch to an auto focus lens but there is something fun about moving that focus ring around and seeing the person in the frame waiting and not knowing when you are going to take the picture. I met Stacy at Wright's Park. I thought it would be a great place to take pictures but I was wrong. I think most of the people there are on lunch with not much time and want a nice walk, not some guy with a clip board and camera bugging them. I am going to be starting a no log soon to keep track of No's so that I won't detract from the nice people I do meet, like Stacy. But until then I thought I would complain about it here. After Stacy I had about 5 no's in a row.
So thanks again Stacy, sorry your picture is out of focus. You rock.
It was nice to meet you.