THURSDAY 19, EVERYDAY SPY TRAINING

The secret instructor left no doubt with the first message: If you text back to this message you’re out of the game! This was the first important part of the days practice, to use restraint in responding to the messages that appeared on an hourly base. Do Not Respond! The rest of the spy training was very much on the poetic side guiding attention to smalll details, such as the special feel of the October sun on your skin. A favorite prompt was: There will be moments when everything echoes. The orange flashing hand, the spray paint on the sidewalk, the Ex of the FedEx logo. All hitting like beacons, pointing you towards discovery. 

When walking through a city, such moments of elevation can occur, when everything seems to connect and make sense. Like the LI in the Liquor sign, the give-away-book on the pavement: “John Bradshaw, Reclaim your Inner Child!” or a somewhat beautiful albeit paradox fence around a metro bench.

To complement the poetic everyday spy training we adapted during the random bar the more straightforward spy technology called OODA.