Ladies and Gentlemen, I did it!
I watched 53 plays in one day. Thanks to all who cheered me on, and a HUGE thanks to everyone who donated to StageSource on my behalf.
I raised just under $1200 for StageSource. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Many people have been asking me what is an appropriate donation level for my marathon. I thought about replying "all the money you have," but that seemed greedy.
My good friend Doug spent some time thinking about how much to donate, and came up with this handy formula, which he explained to me in an email and has permitted me to share with you.
This confirms two things I have long thought about Doug:
1. he is a deeply generous and thoughtful friend
2. he may have more mental free time than is entirely healthy
Here is his email:
Kristin,
I'll be putting in my pledge shortly, but I felt I needed to explain the particular logic and conditions inherent to this particular pledge.
As I see it, a single dollar amount would be just a gift. This is a marathon, so the real test is endurance. A simple pledge of $ X per hour would overvalue the early easy hours and undervalue the later hours. So here is my proposal to you:
For the first hour, you get nothing form me. That's the easy one, and you sit through an hour of theater on a regular basis.
The second hour, gets 25 cents. Still easy, but you get the equivalent of 12min at a Boston parking meter (that's a full 1/2 hour here in Gloucester).
Now hour 3 gets you 50 cents, and hour 4 a full $1. Do you see where this is going? Each hour thereafter doubles the pledge from the previous hour. So those last few hours are real money. Here's a handy chart I put together.
But if you quit early, I expect to get back the value from unused hours. Admittedly, the final figure is a bit higher than I might have pledged straight off. But once I latched onto this idea, I couldn't pass it up.
Now get out there and sit!
-Doug
(ps. My initial thought was to start at $1 for the first hour, but that would have ended up costing me $1,023. I love you, but not that much)
My good friend Doug spent some time thinking about how much to donate, and came up with this handy formula, which he explained to me in an email and has permitted me to share with you.
This confirms two things I have long thought about Doug:
1. he is a deeply generous and thoughtful friend
2. he may have more mental free time than is entirely healthy
Here is his email:
Kristin,
I'll be putting in my pledge shortly, but I felt I needed to explain the particular logic and conditions inherent to this particular pledge.
As I see it, a single dollar amount would be just a gift. This is a marathon, so the real test is endurance. A simple pledge of $ X per hour would overvalue the early easy hours and undervalue the later hours. So here is my proposal to you:
For the first hour, you get nothing form me. That's the easy one, and you sit through an hour of theater on a regular basis.
The second hour, gets 25 cents. Still easy, but you get the equivalent of 12min at a Boston parking meter (that's a full 1/2 hour here in Gloucester).
Now hour 3 gets you 50 cents, and hour 4 a full $1. Do you see where this is going? Each hour thereafter doubles the pledge from the previous hour. So those last few hours are real money. Here's a handy chart I put together.
|
Hour
|
Unit Donation
|
Total Donation
|
|
1
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
|
2
|
$ 0.25
|
$ 0.25
|
|
3
|
$ 0.50
|
$ 0.75
|
|
4
|
$ 1.00
|
$ 1.75
|
|
5
|
$ 2.00
|
$ 3.75
|
|
6
|
$ 4.00
|
$ 7.75
|
|
7
|
$ 8.00
|
$ 15.75
|
|
8
|
$ 16.00
|
$ 31.75
|
|
9
|
$ 32.00
|
$ 63.75
|
|
10
|
$ 64.00
|
$ 127.75
|
But if you quit early, I expect to get back the value from unused hours. Admittedly, the final figure is a bit higher than I might have pledged straight off. But once I latched onto this idea, I couldn't pass it up.
Now get out there and sit!
-Doug
(ps. My initial thought was to start at $1 for the first hour, but that would have ended up costing me $1,023. I love you, but not that much)
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
An Interview with Team Marathon
It occurred to me over the weekend that I there is no "I" in marathon (or "theater" or "53 plays" or "audience." No, wait -- there's one.)
I will not be the only one sacrificing to help me reach my goal here. My husband Matt (not a theater guy himself) will be sacrificing too: he will be spending the 10 hours I will be watching theater taking care of all of our kids. By himself. I asked him about it:
Me: Thanks for letting me interview you.
Matt: I thought we were just having dinner.
Me: No, it's an interview.
Matt: Oh. Should I stop eating?
Me: No, it's cool. I'll edit out the chewing sounds.
(sounds of chewing).
Me: So, I wanted to talk to you about my marathon.
Matt: Couldn't be prouder of you if you were running a real marathon. Like I did. In 2007. In Dublin. With my actual feet.
Me: Thanks. But you'll be doing this marathon with me, in a way, right?
Matt: How so?
Me: You'll be taking care of the kids that day.
Matt: Whew, for a second there I thought I had to go to the... Wait. What?
Me: On the 20th. While I'll be watching theater from 12:00 - 10:00, you'll have the kids for the day.
Matt: Good god. I did not think of that.
Me: Yep. That's lunch, dinner, naps, baths and bedtimes for all three.
Matt: Three? When did we get three?
Me: September.
Matt: There's been three this whole time?
Me: Yes.
Matt: Wow.
Me: How many did you think we had?
Matt: I thought we had two, but they just, you know, moved really fast.
Me: Nope. Three.
Matt: Damn. Maybe I should start a blog and collect donations for a babysitter.
Me: I've heard worse ideas.
So, as you can see: our whole team is on board! How about you? Have you donated yet?
It occurred to me over the weekend that I there is no "I" in marathon (or "theater" or "53 plays" or "audience." No, wait -- there's one.)
I will not be the only one sacrificing to help me reach my goal here. My husband Matt (not a theater guy himself) will be sacrificing too: he will be spending the 10 hours I will be watching theater taking care of all of our kids. By himself. I asked him about it:
Me: Thanks for letting me interview you.
Matt: I thought we were just having dinner.
Me: No, it's an interview.
Matt: Oh. Should I stop eating?
Me: No, it's cool. I'll edit out the chewing sounds.
(sounds of chewing).
Me: So, I wanted to talk to you about my marathon.
Matt: Couldn't be prouder of you if you were running a real marathon. Like I did. In 2007. In Dublin. With my actual feet.
Me: Thanks. But you'll be doing this marathon with me, in a way, right?
Matt: How so?
Me: You'll be taking care of the kids that day.
Matt: Whew, for a second there I thought I had to go to the... Wait. What?
Me: On the 20th. While I'll be watching theater from 12:00 - 10:00, you'll have the kids for the day.
Matt: Good god. I did not think of that.
Me: Yep. That's lunch, dinner, naps, baths and bedtimes for all three.
Matt: Three? When did we get three?
Me: September.
Matt: There's been three this whole time?
Me: Yes.
Matt: Wow.
Me: How many did you think we had?
Matt: I thought we had two, but they just, you know, moved really fast.
Me: Nope. Three.
Matt: Damn. Maybe I should start a blog and collect donations for a babysitter.
Me: I've heard worse ideas.
So, as you can see: our whole team is on board! How about you? Have you donated yet?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)