Kickstarter

Hey everyone,

I know that it's been quite a long while, and I apologize for that. I really appreciate your patience, and your continued support, and I hope that it's been worth the wait. Lots of exciting updates below, but first: for those of you who still have some rewards coming, I'm trying to get this all squared away before the end of the year. 

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REWARDS

• POSTCARDS: I'm about half way through writing your postcards, and I hope that some of you have received those. For those of you who havent yet, keep an eye on your mail box, because I'm trying to write about 5 per day! ;)
• PHOTOS: Those who requested a 5x7 print as part of your rewards, please go to this link and check out a gallery of photos that you have to choose from. (Sorry, I really had a hard time narrowing it down, so there are about 65 or so there. Click the image to enlarge it. Double click the enlarged image to go back to the thumbnail spread of all the photos. Once you have chosen your favorite photo that you want printed and sent to you, make sure that you are in the thumbnail view and hover over the photo with your mouse. The title of the photo should appear. Send me an email at aubreyannparker@gmail.com or comment below this update to let me know what the title of the photo is.) NOTE: if you want just a normal 5x7 print, please indicate that. If you want your print to be in Greeting Card form (i.e. Holidays are coming up, so some people might want this option), please let me know, and that can be arranged, too.
• FOOD/MUSIC REWARDS: These will be mailed with your photo rewards. And not until then. So please, let me know ASAP what photo you want, and I'll get it printed up and sent to you along with your Joshua Davis CD, Food For Thought jam, Higher Grounds Olive Oil and/or Coffee. 
• ORDER MORE PRINTS: If you are already getting one 5x7, but you really want more, tell me that in your email/comment, too. For a small fee (which I need to figure out how many prints I'm getting before I can know how much that will be, so I will have to get back to you on that), you can get more prints sent to you. If you want more 5x7s, that's fine. If you want a bigger print (15x18, 24x36, etc.) to get framed or something, let me know that, too, but realize that will be more money.

If your address has changed, please let me know ASAP: I want to make sure that everyone gets their just desserts, or rewards in this case.

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UPDATES since I last wrote you:

• The People & The Olive, a full-length documentary by fellow RAP media team members Aaron Dennis and Jacob Wheeler, is now playing in theaters across the country. Check out if it's coming to your town, or contact them to see if you can host your own screening! (Side note: several scenes in the film use my photos or videos, and I have an "additional videography" credit at the end of the film, so maybe that provides extra incentive for you to go and see it!?)
• Keith Schneider blogged about The People & The Olive, including a section about me. Keith is my senior editor at Circle of Blue, where I'm the assistant editor. Here a quick snippet of what Keith said about me, Circle of Blue, and other awesome people/organizations in Northern Michigan: "...a new era of social activism in Traverse City that finds its energy in the deep well of global concerns. Traverse City, for those who don’t know, enjoys a national reputation for the strength and ardor of its civic campaigns, whether they safeguard the land and water, promote gay rights, develop a film festival and a grand downtown theater to anchor it, take interest in caring for the homeless and hungry, promote transit and downtown development, build a new regional farm economy around locally produced fresh foods, or convert a mouldering state hospital into a new neighborhood and an engaging center of commerce. A new generation is building on this work. Chris Treter, Aaron Dennis, and Jacob Wheeler are part of a loose confederation of Traverse region professionals, many of them just starting their careers — business owners, artists and musicians, Internet and communications specialists, non-profit leaders, even a film maker with impressive skills — who are leveraging their time and concerns to cross national and cultural boundaries... Aubrey Ann Parker, a Benzie County journalist who photographed the Run Across Palestine, is an editor at Circle of Blue, the award-winning news and science organization, founded by Carl and Eileen Ganter, that reports on the global confrontation between water, energy, and food... As I watched the story of Palestine’s olive farmers unfold in The People & The Olive, I also recognized something essential about our community. The marathon journey across uneven ground, so difficult to organize, so arduous in its execution, and so successful in its results, is another exceptional reminder of why we lead lives of purpose here."
• My photo chosen for National Geographic's Daily Dozen: Every day, 100s of photos are sent to Nat Geo. I've sent in four photos total (you can do one per month). The editors choose 12 per day to feature on their site, and they call it the Daily Dozen. This photo of mine was featured on October 3rd. (It's a little ways back, but you can check it out if you click on "October - Week 1" and scroll back through here. Attached is the thumb of what you are looking for.) Then, the Daily Dozen are voted on by the online masses, and the winner gets featured in the magazine. If you feel like helping me out and giving me a high score (10 > is highest, 1 is lowest), then that's awesome and you can do that here. (Again, you'll have to click on "Week 1" and scroll back to my photo.) If you dont want to vote, that's cool too — I have no high hopes to get published in the mag; I am just so stoked to have even made the Daily Dozen!
• My photo was featured (in color) in The Boston Globe: Good things come all at once, apparently, because the very next day, on October 4th, my photo was used to promote The People & The Olive, which was playing that weekend at the Boston Palestine Film Festival. (See attached images.) Read the article here.
• I'm off again! Headed to India for four weeks: with Keith and Carl, Circle of Blue's senior editor and director, respectively. We'll be there just after Thanksgiving until just before Christmas, looking at the intersection of water-food-energy. If you know of anyone we should talk to while we're there, please let me know.
• Articles (mine & other people's): I'm in the midst of writing about three different pieces, two of which have publications that want them and the other I'm going to have to shop around. I'll keep you updated as to when these stories will be published, along with some photos — for now, they're still in the writing/editing/brainstorming stages. Meanwhile, you can read this op-ed in the Huff Post recently, by Jacob Wheeler (fellow media team member) and Vivien Sansour, one of RAP's organizers/translators/photographers, etc. Also read Jacob's piece that was featured in Tikkun's online magazine back in August. (My photos are featured alongside the story.) And here's one more article, written by Erin Crowell. (My photo is featured here, too.)

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Ok, that was a very long update. But it has been awhile since my last posting. I'll try to do better from here on out. For now, please let me know what photo(s) you want sent to you!

Thanks again for all of the continued support. 

Aubrey

Dear friends,

I hope that you were able to follow my journey with the Run Across Palestine, whichever method you chose, be it Twitter, Facebook, or On The Ground's website/email updates. (And for those of you who chose Twitter, I apologize that I petered out after the first few days... Our internet connections were often very bad, and I often couldn't update both Facebook and Twitter, so I had to choose the one with the larger number of followers.)

Now that I'm back in the States, it's been a whirlwind. 

I've been editing photos and writing, but I have nothing very tangible to show... yet. But that's why I am updating you: 

I encourage you, if you live in the Northern Michigan region, to join us TOMORROW at Higher Grounds Coffee Roasters, located in the Grand Traverse Commons (the old State Hospital) in Traverse City. From 5pm to 7:30pm, there will be a Run Across Palestine "welcome back" party, where a selection of my photos will be shown, as well as some of the 7-part video series, created by my fellow media team members, Jacob Wheeler and Aaron Dennis. And most of the runners and the musician, Joshua Davis, will be there, as well. 

And, as if that's not incentive enough, there will be Palestinian food!

Also, I wanted to address the issue of postcards — something I'm sure you've all been wondering about. I had wanted to buy your postcards from the Palestinian villages we visited, rather than buying generic ones in Jerusalem. But once we got to these villages, there were no postcards to be bought. Additionally, I was told by our translator that it was very unlikely that your postcards would have reached your mailboxes, had I mailed your postcards from Palestine. 

So, long story short, I ended up buying your postcards on the last day, from a kiosk in the airport. (I'm so sorry. If I had it to do over, I would have bought them during my first few days in Jerusalem, and I would have mailed them from Jerusalem. However, at that point the run hadn't yet began, so you would have just heard about my walks about the city, which wouldn't have been nearly as interesting. I guess you win some, you lose some.)

I've been (slowly) writing your postcards, and they should be mailed to you in the next few weeks... from my US post office box. So, be on the look out for your postcard!

And I'll keep you updated as I post photos and stories to various news organizations. I will set up a gallery for you to choose your photo, if you are getting a "limited edition" print as a reward, as well. You will be able to choose from a few options.

I can't thank you all enough. It was a life-changing experience, and there are so many stories that I hope will come out of all of this... the tricky part now is finding the news organizations that will post these stories. Wish me luck! 

And come to tomorrow's event, if you can, to hear some of the stories in person!

Thanks again, Aubrey

TWO GREAT THINGS HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

1) my new camera came! 

2) my Kickstarter project was fully funded, with $16 to spare! 

Seriously, I have the best community (both here in NMich and online) that a girl could ask for. I've sent out a survey to all of you who requested rewards, so please fill those out ASAP so that I can make sure to get you a postcard from the West Bank. I leave tomorrow!

For everyone — including those who did not request a reward, and thus received no survey — please let me know the best way for us to connect, so you can track my progress. (See below for options.) 

I'm going to leave you with a little teaser of what's to come in the next few weeks...

VIDEO #1: This was made by Aaron & Jacob — the other two-thirds of our 3-wo/man media crew — and shows another wintry run by the team, but this one was a whopping 35 miles on the winter solstice, back in December, when the team "ran all day during the shortest day of the year."

VIDEO #2: Here's a link to a story that Circle of Blue did during the horrendous drought  in the West Bank during the summer of 2008 — it gives a good preview of the kind of work that we're capable of. 

So much gratitude to all of you.

Love, 
Aubrey Ann Parker

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Please comment below and/or send me a message: what is the main way that you will follow my progress in Palestine?

A) Post card only. I don't have regular access to the Internet.

B) Twitter

C) Facebook

D) Run Across Palestine blog

E) Sign up for the daily email

More hugs are in order for the more than 100 of you who have donated money and/or your Facebook status — words cannot express how amazing it feels to have such a strong community of people behind what I'm doing.

UPDATE: I leave on Friday (under the assumption that I will meet my goal: more on that below), so I'm currently trying to get all my last-minute travel details and carry-on luggage in order. I've also been preparing by doing a lot of research on the villages we will visit and on water issues as they relate to farming in the West Bank. 

Today we had a meeting with everyone involved (the non-Northern Michiganders joined us via Google+ video chat: I highly recommend this tool over Skype!). Before the meeting, I joined some of the guys on a run just before dawn — actually, they were running, I was skiing. They ran 15 miles, starting at 7:00 am, and I just couldn't help thinking about the dedication that everyone has put into this: you all included, especially! 

Putting your hard-earned dollars toward someone else's project with minimal "rewards" can be counterintuitive during these tough economic times, but I think/hope that it can be really rewarding, as well.

IN CONCLUSION: I have 3 days left to reach my goal, or I don't get any of the money. This is where I ask EVEN MORE from you... you've already donated, but have you shared it with your friends/family? Please, think about forwarding this email and/or "like" the Kickstarter page and "share" it on Facebook, so that perhaps people in your network can feel just as philanthropic and awesome as you!

--Aubrey 

Photo montage by Chelsea Bay Dennis.

First, a GINORMOUS HUG and thank you to everyone of you who has donated — and especially to those of you who have adjusted your donation to a larger amount: wahoo! 

UPDATE: I bought my tickets last week (under the assumption that I will meet my goal: more on that below), so I'll definitely be in the West Bank from January 28 til February 10.

I have 9 days left to reach my goal, or I don't get any of the money. This is where I need even MORE of your help... you've already donated, but have you shared it with your friends/family? Please, think about forwarding this email and/or "like" the Kickstarter page and "share" it on Facebook, so that perhaps people in your network can feel just as philanthropic and awesome as you!