I am almost a third of the way through my challenge and during that time I've been posed a number of intriguing questions about the project. In most cases the people who have written to me have pretty similar queries, so I thought it best to create a post addressing them universally.
Sandy Flintstone asks:
"Andi, what are you going to do with 300 odd T-shirts at the end of the challenge. Surely you'll have to stitch them together to make a giant canopy that you could use to protect your neighborhood from bees?"
Hi Sandy, thanks for your interest in my project and for the great question.
As appreciative as everyone on my estate may be of a giant, anti-bee, apparel-based lining, this is not likely to be the charitable outcome of my amassing T-shirt collection. Instead, come January 2014, I plan to pass on all the tees that were donated to my challenge to a yet-to-be nominated registered charity who will then either redistribute them to the needy or sell them to generate funds for the needy.
Moreover, a T-shirt-centric force field would prove ineffective against bees as they are notorious for making their way into clothing and repeatedly stabbing and stabbing and stabbing until everyone involved is dead.
Marshall Amp asks:
"Andi, what are you going to do about your wedding?"
Hi Marshall. Thanks for getting in touch and for somehow knowing about my wedding.
That is a valid question and one to which I have no certain answer. The truth is, I have no idea what I’m going to do on my wedding day – a day that traditionally dictates I need to wear some posh togs and not a tatty band T-shirt. I hadn't even considered that when I put the challenge together last November.
The rules of the challenge stipulate that I need to spend a significant portion of each day inside a different T-shirt, and so far that has been achieved regardless of the activities undertaken. I see no reason why a wedding should come between me and my goal, and I know that my wife-to-be feels the same way. She'll never admit that of course, but I know.
All I can say to you is that if some devilishly clever person out there presents me with an irresistible marriage-themed T-shirt towards the middle of May, I don't see that I have any choice but to wear it...
Dr Edward Edgeware asks:
"Andi, what happens if you run out of T-shirts mid-way through your challenge?"
Afternoon Doctor.
Brace yourself.
The harsh and horrible reality is that if I fail to secure 365 T-shirts to see me through until New Year’s Eve this December, I will have to admit defeat pull down the header graphic on this page of me looking ambitious and determined and replace it with one of me looking excruciatingly glum. The whole exercise will have been rendered a failure; a complete waste of time. I will donate the T-shirts to date onto charity as promised but will wish to never speak of the challenge or indeed 2013 to anyone ever again. Ever.
Not what the doctor ordered.
Dr Edward Edgeware asks:
"Andi, I have a follow up question - what happens if you receive more T-shirts than there are days in 2013?"
Hello again doctor.
Well it only seems right to feature every T-shirt that I am donated (after all, people have gone to the trouble of sending them to me) so I will extend the project beyond the challenge dates by however many days past the quota I have been sent T-shirts for.
Thomas Krumpleskump asks:
“Andi, why don’t you just buy a load of T-shirts and get it over with?”
Hi Thomas - asinine question - but thanks for getting in touch. A key
element to this project is the challenge itself - to see if it is possible
to source and wear 365 different T-shirts spanning a year. The challenge is
rendered somewhat moot if the objective became 'see if I can blow all the
money I don't have on a year's supply of T-shirts.' Think of the blog that
would follow that; a daily breakdown of a till receipt from back in January.
Even if I had the finances to cover that, the read would be about as
appealing as taking a frying pan to the face once every several seconds.
Margerie Butterfist asks:
"I have a pretty ridiculous T-shirt that would make you look like a complete
and utter idiot, would you accept this in your challenge?"
Hi Marge, great to hear from you.
Certainly, provided it's a size medium men's T-shirt, I'm happy to accept
it. In order to meet my challenge quota I'm going to need all the T-shirts I
can lay my hand on - I can't afford to be picky about the content. If you
have a T-shirt that simply lists all of the ways you hate your ex husband,
or depicts an array of bar graphs highlighting all of the cheese you've ever
consumed, or has a great big photo of your cat on it, I will embrace it into
my blog.
I hope this clears things up. Check back later today for the Day 99 T-shirt!
