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.

MY DREAM COME TRUE... SERIOUSLY

Holy canoli. Presenting The Book Cover Archive ("steady beta").
1351 covers and growing. Some features even have the typefaces identified!

I die.

A GOOD IDEA: REPAIR CAFE

I recently read an article in the New York Times featuring the emergence of "Repair Cafes" in the Netherlands and I thought, "I sure would love one of these around!" Repair Cafe are events to which members of the community can bring whatever they want to have repaired - get this - at no cost, by volunteers who just like to fix things. Conceived by Martine Postma, Repair Cafes lead efforts to address our modern "throwaway culture" - a culture I'm totally guilty of being a part of at times.

I have a pile of dresses on my futon that have needed a little TLC for months and my trusty mac charger of 4 years is functional but dangerously frayed. I've found that the cost of getting these everyday items "professionally" repaired often equates to a hefty portion of the price I originally paid for the items,  discouraging my budget-conscious student self from getting them repaired. And many times, I don't know where to go to get seemingly simple things repaired; who the heck can I turn to to get my stapler working again? It doesn't really make sense, but this all leads me to dispose of what I already own to purchase cheaper (and thus seemingly even more disposable) alternatives or replacements. Repair Cafes would provide opportunities for budget conscious individuals like me to make both wallet friendly and sustainable choices. Plus, I would finally be able to wear my favorite Zara dress out again.

The social implications of Repair Cafes resonate with me possibly even more than the ecological ones. This quote from the article particularly caught my attention:

I just love the idea of getting together with like-spirited people around me to use our individual skills to not only get rid of each others' headaches but also grow closer as a community through humble but significant actions. I could repair well-loved books or repaint old furniture while lending my ear to a spirit in need... I hope that the US follows the footsteps of the Netherlands - how lovely would that be to have a Repair Cafe in town? In the meantime, I'll pick up more manual skills to offer to the community.

What do you think of the concept of Repair Cafes? Would your town benefit from one? What would you bring to be repaired? What skills could you contribute?

Original image by Ilvy Njiokiktjien for the New York Times

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