random

parki secret skillz

The first skill to learn, is having a "clever spy" conversation. You should be able to talk to any person and find out what they desire in their life. What do they need? This doesn't call for a bombardment of probing questions. A natural, personal dialogue will suffice. The true spy is a spy by accident. Most people have an urgent need to communicate their desires. Just give them time.

The goal is to figure out something you could do for them, something that would make them go "WOW!"

The art of the WOW is an important skill of the parki spy.
It's a process of learning to match your unique skills and passions with the needs and wants of your close friends or neighbours.

Birthdays are the best exercise for the aspiring parki spy. Make th most out of any and every birthday. It's the most important day to figure out in what meaningful way you can serve your friend, what treasure you can bestow upon them, and to experience the grand moment when that person starts breathing really shallow, gets that wet sparkle in their eyes, whimpers a little,
and says: "WOW... thanx!"



Experience in birthday espionage should fine tune your discernment towards the things in life that have real value. It should give you a feeling of what it's like to do something worthwhile for someone. It should make you more aware of what you might have to give to people.

Practice the art of spy-o-wow. Start today. And stand by for more parki secret skillz

what would parki do?

if anything was possible, what would you want for your birthday?
WHAT would you do?

a few examples of intersting "things":


a theo jansen beach creature.
(click on picture to see cool video)


a ceramic ray gun (see boingboing)


acme bat-man's outfit (see*)

These are just random few objects I grabbed without much thought or effort.
We can expand our inventory later.

The ORIGINAL QUESTION can now be a little more refined:
WHAT would you do on your birthday WITH a (ceramic gun/bat-man's suit/beach beast)?

I've experienced some people feel a little stumped when I pose this question.
Put on the spot.
Who, me?

WHO else then?




What would Oprah do with a bucket of toy army soldiers on the last day of summer?

It's not hard coming up with some absurd random combinations. Try as many as you like.

I like using the same imaginative, playful mindset, and asking myself: what can I do tomorrow? what can I do right now?

There's a helluvalot of crazy possibilities...

magic.. treasure.. secret

parki found a little baby owl in the parki
how will i care for this little baby owl? thought parki.

some people told him:
"you need to get a job and work hard, because a baby owl will cost you lots of money."

parki went away from the parki to look for work. this money thing sounded important.

everything outside the parki seemed to be fueled by money. the people seemed to work very hard to get it, but never seemed to have enough.

parki wondered if he could just make his own money.
i will draw pictures on sheets of toilet paper and use that, he thought.
but people shouted at him when he tried to pay with them. it made him afraid, so he went back to the parki.

but even there he had to pay. someone had put up a gate and told him he needed money to go into the parki.

what's going on? thought parki, what can i do? i don't know how to make money?
all i want to do, is care for this little owl.

not without money, said someone. the someone was a girl who looked like a tigermonkey.
i can help you, she said.

parki had felt like crying, but he couldn't cry in front of a girl. and also, she made him feel better.
i would like some help, he said.
well, you should join my secret theater project, she said.
what's that? he said. it sounded cool.
actually, it's more like a secret magic treasure hunt... she said, and her eyes rolled in a funny way. parki liked the sound of the words 'magic' and 'treasure' and 'secret'.
oooooh... said parki.

you see, money has little bugs on it, it lives off the ink, but when people touch it, it climbs through the skin in their fingers, and then it makes their brains scrambled, the tigermonkey girl said.
what happens when your brain gets scrambled like that? asked parki, amazed.
it makes people mixed up about what is valuable in their lives, she said, and got a very philosophical look in her eyes.
mmm, said parki, trying to look philosophical too.

a lot of people have to do things they don't care about. even things they don't like. they spend their days doing things that would be worth nothing to them, except, they get money at the end of it.
that sucks, said parki.
no kidding, said the girl.

to avoid paying, parki and the tigermonkey girl climbed the fence, back into the parki.

it's the way the world works. but i am on a secret magic mission to change all that! said the girl, and jumped on a swing. the little owl in parki's hand gave a little excited hoot.

we will do things that are worth a lot, we will do things that make people go WOW! and we will enjoy doing them!
parki wanted to say something inspiring as well, but he just smiled.

and people will give us money? asked parki.
she started swinging, saying:
money is filthy. it stinks. it even makes your hands stink. i never touch it without gloves. we should help people by taking it from them, and giving them something WOW in return...

mmm, said parki, and looked at the little owl. the owl started cheeping.
so, what exactly is your secret plan?

it's a secret, she said, and jumped off the swing. follow me!
she ran off into the parki.

um... said parki, and ran after her.

(to be continued)