TIMES HAIKU & A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT

Dear friends,
Sometimes it seems like the internet stars just line up.

The other day, I happened across the New York Times Haiku Bot. As if I needed another reason to love the NYT; the times Haiku Bot generates "serendipitous poetry" from the times homepage. The one above, I found particularly striking and poignant so I took a screencap and continued thumbing through the haikus. A few hours later, I went back to the screencap and took a second to read beyond the haiku at the name associated with the poem: Edith Windsor. This immediately reminded me of another internets discovery that I thought would be good to pair with this haiku.

Now, I'm hoping that none of you have been living under a rock these past few weeks and are aware of the ongoing discussion with regards to same-sex marriage and the SCOTUS. Edith Windsor is a name that you've probably heard of if you've been paying attention to these discussions in relation to the case United States v. Windsor and her 40-year relationship with Thea Spyer.

As a self-professed socially liberal history major, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I did not know who Edith Windsor was until about 2 weeks ago, when I stumbled upon the trailer to the documentary Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement, after which I watched the full-length documentary.



While I will save the details of my politics for a future post, I felt compelled to share both the haiku as well as the documentary with those who might read my blog. I do not know if what I share will either confirm or challenge your current perspective on marriage - whatever that might be - but I hope it provides some food for thought.

I'll leave you with this: somewhere in my internet explorations today I remember seeing the quote "Protect what you love." I spent part of my train ride home thinking about what it is that I love and wish to protect, and determined that one of those things was "love" itself. And having watched A Very Long Engagement, I can say that I found Edie & Thea's love to be a love that few are so lucky to find; a love that I want to protect.

d.

LIVING A SIMPLER LIFE

This past weekend, I made my first post in the FREE section of craigslist.

The post was for my TI-83 graphing calculator, an object I've for some reason held on to for the last 7 years - throughout high school, college, through my move from Korea to New Hampshire to California.  As a history and art major, I had absolutely no need for it in college, but it's always been there, in the heaps of sentimental "oh-it'll-be-useful-someday" stuff I seem to drag along with me wherever I plant myself. 

Within 30 minutes of posting, I received a response from a man named Tom. 

His yahoo email address sketched me out initially and I will admit that I ran through a number of kidnapping scenarios in my head (obviously too much Criminal Minds), but here was a man who was willing to drive 30 minutes to pick up a graphing calculator for his high school son. So we arranged to meet at the train station near my home.

The handoff was quick and friendly. He shook my hand, thanked me for doing this, told me his son will get great use out of this calculator, got back in his car and drove off. 

A non-eventful event really, but it made me feel great. 

I've started to think more about what kind of life I want and I think it's starting to boil down to the realisation that I want a simpler life. This doesn't mean I want to live in shapeless linen shifts in the middle of nowhere (although that doesn't sound terrible really), I want to make an effort to pare my life down to meaningful essentials. 

I want to get rid of those other TI-83s in my life and curate an intentional, simple collection of beautiful, quality essentials in terms of the things I have, the home I live in, the relationships I have, the lifestyle I live. (Yes, I write this as I await the delivery of a pair of hot-pink J. Crew corduroys, but I anticipate a learning curve.)

I'm realising that simplicity is something I've come to value increasingly in the last few years, and I want it to be something that permeates the life I live. 

Here's to taking steps towards a greater, simpler life. 

photo taken by josh

HERE WE GO

This time last year, I could never have predicted I would be where I am now.

2012 has made me feel so blessed, in many unexpected ways. And while, I again have no idea what 2013 will bring, I am excited. I know it won't all be easy, with several curveballs thrown my way, but I'm determined to make it a good year, a year filled with love, creativity, and beautiful adventures.

I hope you will be a part of it.