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.

HOW LATE AM I?

An experience that gives a fresh perspective on one's place in life;
made by a friend's brother for those who might think that it's too late to go after their dreams.

I'm rarely up by 6:54AM. Looks like I have the whole day in front of me.

Try it out: How late are you?
http://howlateami.com/

WISDOM FOR THE WEEK / 2

I've recently read that the human body regenerates itself every 7-ish years. (Science people, please step in here if I'm completely misinformed). Our cells are constantly being replaced; we are constantly changing. 

While I definitely have some more flushing out to do on my thoughts on the relationship between the physical and "metaphysical" "being" of a "person" (lots of scare quotes here that I will need to explicate in a future liberal arts essay), it's an interesting thought if taken to the extreme (or not even that extreme). 

We are not who we were 7 years ago, and we are not who we will be 7 years from now; not due to some self-imposed or accidental acts of self-discovery, but because we have physically been, if you will, replaced. 

Just sharing something that tickled my thoughts,

d.

FIFTY PEOPLE, ONE QUESTION. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST REGRET?

Two things of many to take away:
- the emotion on their faces as they relive their lives in search of an answer
- the frequency of the biggest regret being something that they didn't do

What a wonderful project. Thanks, Peter for sharing.

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

STUDIO HUNTING

Half a year into the so-called "real world," I'm finally getting around to looking for an art space to continue my studio practice. Ideally, this amazing studio would be part of my equally amazing abode, but alas, our 500 sq. ft apartment has no space for my creative mess, so off I go to search through craigslist. So far I've been surprised to discover the dearth of studio spaces available on the peninsula.

I actually scoped out a great studio space this weekend just a short bike ride from home, and as much as I loved it, it was above my price-point. Even still, I was considering taking the studio with the idea of finding a studio-partner in mind, but before I could even put out an ad to find someone to share the space with, I received an email this morning telling me that the studio had already been grabbed. Sigh. I guess it was not meant to be. If any of you know anyone in the bay area, please let me know if you hear of any studio availabilities on the peninsula! 

With my real-life 20-something-year-old budget, I will probably be lucky to find a level table somewhere in a partially-sunny, communal studio space on the peninsula, but I thought it couldn't hurt to share several beautiful studio spaces that have the meat and bones of my dream studio.

Who's not to say that one day I'll be working out of a space like these?

Image via: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

SPACES ON MY MIND

Hi ho, friends! Finally finding myself with some time to blog. Working two jobs keeps you plenty busy and tired. 

In two months, I'll be leaving Hanover (along with it's less than ideal residential options) and moving to the west coast. J's been out there for a couple of weeks and has found an apartment with good bones for us to build upon. It's a small but functional, neutral and sunny space; and importantly, it comes unfurnished. 

Needless to say, I've been going a little bit overboard dreaming about and planning the space and J's been patient enough to indulge my fantasies and put up with the million emails I send him with links to inspirational rooms, furniture, and accessories (curated on my pinterest). I'm envisioning a clean, minimal space evocative of the natural world; lots and lots of neutrals.... with moments of yellow ochre and pots of plants. (I'm currently obsessed with mid-century furniture, but that's for another blog post all together.)

Thought I'd share some of the spaces and pieces that have been on my mind. I'm referring to these as jumping off points as we curate pieces for the apartment. So dreamy, minimal, and beautiful with the essence of home. Stay tuned for updates in the future about what the space actually ends up looking like!

What are you envisioning for your next home? Share share!

via 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

SATURDAY NIGHT SHINDIG // MOODBOARD

A moodboard for invitation designs for an upcoming party that I'll refer to as the saturday night shindig for now. It's going to be a great collaborative shebang and I've volunteered to design the invitations! Stay tuned for updates :)

COVETED COVERS / 1

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but I have to admit, I always do.

Among the hundreds of choices presented to me on my pilgrimages to Barnes & Noble, each book only has so much to make a first impression, and in the sea of visual and tactile overload, a well-designed cover is what hooks and reels me in. I'm a huge fiction fan, always on the hunt for a good read, and as much as I'd like to say my book purchases are driven by a respect for content, I'm coaxed time and time again by beautiful covers. The well-designed cover whispers "pick me up, take me home, give me a chance," and for some reason I'm convinced that the content of the book will match the quality of the cover (forgetting, momentarily, how many times I've been wrong about this in the past).

Cover designs have not only informed my spontaneous book purchases, but have also served as rich sources of design & art inspiration and let's just say this is first of many posts to come featuring cover designs.

Enough of my chatter. This week's post features the designs of Trevor Baum. His concepts for Faulkner titles took my breath away. I love how the designs pay respect to the works of both Faulkner and the illustrious photographer Sally Mann. I hope these concepts go to print one day - I would love to have these on my shelf.

  1 | 2

Go check out more of Trevor's Faulkner covers as well as his other beautiful designs on his website; he has some great work!