The necessity of letters and National Letter Writing Month

My visual letter writing log for National Letter Writing Month 2020

It's been such a heavy week, heavy month, heavy season upon season. And yet we're not meant to carry it all alone. One tradition that has sustained me in this past year is letter writing, putting pen (or pencil) to paper and mailing a hello and a paper hug. The month of April, National Letter Writing Month, supercharged my letter writing habits last year, and I'm glad it's around the corner yet again. It's a time to celebrate the connections that a handwritten word can bring, to express some gratitude, to lament together and encourage one another. Plus, it's simply delightful! Who doesn't love getting mail?

I've been a habitual letter and card writer since I was a kid. I still have boxes of correspondence from classmates and penpals (aka notes passed in class or scribbled letters) stashed away somewhere, revealing my friends' shared obsessions with Sanrio, Lisa Frank, wide ruled paper torn out of spiral notebooks, and other popular stationaries of my youth. (They also featured LOTS of stickers and exclamation!!! points!!!)

But the start of the pandemic made me long even more for connection, when a unmasked greeting or a trip to see family and friends was logistically difficult or simply not possible. So last April, I joined the Write_On campaign and wrote a letter a day -- as short as a single quote on a postcard to multi-paged letters. That daily practice me feel a little lighter and hopefully gave some light to others.

This year I plan to celebrate by write cards and letters during the month of April, whether part of an official challenge or not. Will you join me? It's not necessary to send 30 pieces of mail. The idea is to simply write and spread some joy. Plus, if you are in the U.S., we have the added bonus of supporting the postal service!

Here's a little round up of my favorite letter writing supplies and inspirations:

Late night tracks / Jean Chaumont

From a September 2016 concert with pianist Michael Bond in Hopewell, New Jersey

Recently I've been on a bit of a jazzy kick, thanks to the movie musical La La Land. My feet have been tapping ever since I left the theater. That opening scene alone is worth the watch, but the rest of the soundtrack is a great repeated listen for its splendid fusion of jazz, pop, latin, and bits in between. For better or worse, I find that Ryan Gosling's character and I have a similar taste for big band jazz. I like my horns brassy, my rhythms quick, my saxes sassy. (Fun fact: No body doubles for that pianist!)

And yet, I'm drawn to tonight's listen: a more melodic and contemplative form of the genre, courtesy of French guitarist and composer. Jean Chaumont. It's not exactly music to fall asleep to. It's no Kenny G (thank goodness -- no offense, KG). Clearly it's kept me awake. It's thoughtful, sometimes challenging, hitting me in a way I can't quite place.

Midnight Thief released into the wild

I finally have my hands on Midnight Thief, the debut young adult fantasy novel by friend and fellow MIT-er Livia Blackburne.  Whoever thinks scientists are just buttoned-up folks with pocket protectors and taped glasses will think twice after reading her book.  I'm itching to start it, but told myself to finish the novel I'm already reading (Delicious! by Ruth Reichl) and let the Tall Man take a shot first.  Sighs.

Until then, I'll revel in the cool cover art and try not to read too many book reviews (although I've already slipped up on the latter - oh well).  And I'll try to figure out what typefaces are used in the book (always a good challenge).

Oh, and I'll look forward to the book signing event in Boston at the end of the month.  If anyone else is in the area, do come along!  It will be held Thursday July 24th at 7pm at Porter Square Books, one of the city's cozy independent bookstores.

Special delivery tea

Little delights: an herbal tea sampler in the mailbox from one of my fellow Graduate Resident Tutors (GRTs).  Thanks Jen! 

In the year since (largely) eliminating caffeine from my daily life, South African rooibos has been my herbal tea of choice -- but here's a chance to expand my horizons beyond the typical peppermint, chamomile, and ginger lemon.

Sometimes we just need these little pick-me-ups.

#postcircle / Joys with pen and paper

My first #postcircle letters greeted me after returning from vacation!

There is something really special about the handwritten word: the tangible motion of my hand gripping my pen, pressing into the paper, the texture of the writing surface.  Over the years I've accumulated letters from friends who equally enjoy mailbox surprises, plus postcards from every corner of the world.  I'm not a clinical hoarder, but I do have boxes upon boxes filled to the brim with paper and ink.  (Thanks, Mom, for housing some of those!)

And while email, smartphones, tablets, and apps threaten to move everything to the digital, I'm stubborn and won't let go.  I currently keep up a steady exchange with a dear friend who prefers letters to emails for catching up (hi, I know you might read this!), and recently restarted an on going conversation with another friend.  Who could resist joy in the mailbox?

So when I learned about #postcircle this past spring, I jumped at the opportunity.  I first stumbled upon it when browsing Pinterest, coming across an image tagged with #postcircle.  Google then lead me to the lovely Miss Beatrix (known as Anna in the real world), who started this initiative to keep the wonders of letter-writing alive and thriving.

You can read all about how it works here, but basically she or her assistants (it's grown!) help to create groups of 6 people who become penpals.  That's about it.  By joining a group you're committing to writing whenever a letter arrives at your door (or box).  It's UK-based so I'm the only American in my group, Oyster, but the cost of international postage is a small price to pay for meeting 5 interesting women from Scotland to Cornwall.

It was such a treat to come back from a week away from home to find three #postcircle letters in my mailbox!  I read them in one of my favorite local coffee shops, Voltage, and my soy chai was a suitable accompaniment.

Looks like I will have to get out my pen and paper to catch up and let loose some more post to travel the seas.

Late night tracks / Blair Bodine

Blair Bodine — Rosaline from Michael Batchelor on Vimeo.

This is one of those nights when the Tall Man goes to sleep before I do, and I'm whiling away the time with a mix of business and miscellany.

If you're like me, you have a gazillion tabs open at once, like a "reading/watching" list that always seems to grow when I'm not looking.  Well, these late nights are good for reducing those tabs and actually paying attention to those links I opened to "save for later" (when "later" sometimes means "never").

Well, if I could choose someone to croon me to sleep, it would be Blair Bodine, a singer-songwriter and non-profit gur current residing in Nashville.  If you listen to the video above from a recent recording session with Kettle Pot Tracks, you'll agree!

I remember meeting Blair my freshman year in college, when she became my suitemate.  We discovered that we had grown up just 10 minutes away from each other.  Her smile and mighty bear-hug laugh could fill any space.  Her room was the "loud" one in our suite, with late night jam sessions spontaneously bursting out in the wee hours and, during the day, the activity of an equally loud other suitemate who liked to knock the rhythms of Christmas carols on the wall between our rooms.  My own roommate ("Anne from Japan") and I ("eLo") were a bit more mellow in comparison and attempted sleep at 10 or 11pm each night.  We mocked for going to bed soo early for college freshmen, but that just meant that we got nearly nightly serenades from Blair.

Take a listen ... and another ... and be both inspired and rocked into a happy, soulful slumber.

Preview / A wedding in the forest

Festive garlands hang in the midst of a redwood forest greeted us at Vidya + Krishna's wedding this past June.  It was also a time to practice my DSLR skills, but the quality of the photos speak more to the beauty of the place rather than my abilities as an amateur photographer.  It was a perfect day.

More to come.

//
eLG

On the tall man's return

Me : You're back!
The tall man fiance : Is it sweaty?
Me : < laughter >
Tall man : Oh ... you meant ...
Me : Yes, you ARE back.


Both of us, immediately afterward : We should tell L and J !

Thanks to our favorite antagonistic Asian/white couple for the inspiration.  This is a tribute to you.  We might need to work on our insults, but after all, we're only just engaged.  There's still time.

- - -
Text font : Savoye LET, with Nueva Condensed for emphasis

GQ's delayed summer issue

Two of GQ's newest models pose for the 'Waiting for the Wedding reception to start' featurette in its delayed summer issue.

Behind the scenes, chatting with two of the high heel models before the next shoot.

- - -
GQ Summer 2011 issue v.2.0
Event: Gerhard and Megan's summer wedding of architects
Location: Watertown, MA
Featuring: Marcus, Kunle (male models); Gao Yu and Runo (female models), and a spread of cheese (not pictured)
Clothing:  Versace, Calvin Klein, Clark Kent, and other fastidious European labels
Photographer: author of this blog

[foodage] Salmon + ratatouille

via Chocolate & Zucchini

Tonight M and I had a very baked (and nearly smoke alarm-inducing) dinner to fuel visionary conversation.  It consisted of modified recipes for:

ratatouille confite au four
one of my French favorites
+
lime and honey-glazed salmon
the smokey culprit that thankfully was completely intact

plus a "healthy" serving of pastries from Area Four, who decided to give us freebies because we happened to stop by right before closing today.  (Delicious!)

I have no photographic evidence since it all ended up in our stomachs.  For the future, however, I would
a) add more salt and maybe a bit less rosemary for the ratatouille ... and make it ahead of time so that the flavors get to settle
b) add more lime and honey to the salmon to strengthen the subtle flavors


Note: M was the actually chef for the night.  I only helped to buy the ingredients, pick the recipes, and do some backseat cooking over my laptop.

July 4th : The best view in the "house"

Yesterday, a festive group of GCFers and friends neatly staked out a great spot along the Memorial Dr. side of the Charles River to watch the fireworks.  Thanks to Sam, Yong, and Mark, our area was well claimed, big enough for ~30 people, and - perhaps most importantly - directly in front of the fireworks barge.  We had plenty of food, games, and good conversation to keep people going through until the concert's start and then the fireworks at 10:30pm.

This was my first 4th of July celebrated in Boston, and it was a splendid one.  We were right near one of the main speaker towers and screens broadcasting the Boston Pops performance from across the river.  When the US Army Field band came on with their marches in full swing, it made me nostalgic.  "Stars and Stripes Forever," in particular, has long been a favorite.  Once upon a time I could actually play that piccolo solo ... can't imagine getting back into shape for that again, but who knows?

For Steph, who didn't see the smilies

I was very impressed with the 1812 Overture, the fireworks that followed, and then the main pyrotechnic display to end the night.  What a great show!  Here are some snippets from the night :

Graduation from the back door

on a recent Friday, dated June 3, 2011

It's a bit belated, but congrats to all our dear MIT grads from GCF, ArchPlan, MArch, and more.  Even from the back door, the view was pretty great.

The beginning of a new era, with open doors and open skies.

DoBV represents in Archiprix awards

This morning's news: 4 DoBV members won or were nominated for top prizes in the Archiprix thesis competition!  The announcement was made at the awards ceremony yesterday at the Guggenheim in New York, which I unfortunately couldn't go to but am glad to hear about.  It's quite the sweep - I'm not sure if any other workshop group had so many notables in their midst.  Out of over 300 projects, 8 were chosen as winners while 24 in total were nominated.

Congrats to our winner:

Craig Johnson : National Apiological Network: An Illustrated History (University of Strathclyde, Scotland)

On the first night of the workshop, when asked why he did his thesis about bees: "I dunno ... I just thought it would be interesting."  That goes to show that thesis projects don't have to have pomp and circumstance from the get go to become good projects in the end.

Plus, additional congrats to our nominees:

Thomas Cole : Hawkesbury Ponds Fairgrounds (University of New South Wales)

Sarosh Mulla : Interconnections of System Densities (University of Auckland, New Zealand)

Aezad Alam : Su_Per_form®  (American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates)

[Tortoiseland] Almost 2 weeks later

Our first day in Puerto Ayora, the Galapagos

This past Thursday, almost 2 weeks after returning. (Sadly, Nads is missing.)

The ladies.  Tan landscape.  Guess who is who?  Are we darker?

- - -

Photos taken by Juliet.

The 15 seconds of fame and more

Some MIT friends are now on the world wide map, thanks to some great projects and the power of the internet (in this case ArchDaily, a widely-known source of design news):

I think this was originally taken by George.

Yushiro and Kian's Icewall as part of the MIT 150's FAST festival (previously mentioned).

competition board, courtesy of the team

Nancy (and friends)'s Emerald Necklace competition entry

[Tortoiseland] Day 5; Meandering

I didn't want to use the cliche "off the beaten path" to describe today, but it was indeed a day of surprise revelations and spontaneous adventures.

1. If you don't know where you're going, learn enough Spanish to say "left / right / straight / stop."  Tip generously as gringos.

• We started off with some official business, heading around Puerto Ayora to particular sites of interest within the urban fabric.  I was trekking with Nancy and Yushiro, and we started with the highest point in the northeast corner, marked by a cross amidst a pile of rubble.  Getting there was a lesson in itself, as we had to figure out how to direct the taxi driver without knowing any street names and with the use of a Google Earth aerial.  Needless to say, he looked at us as if we were crazy when we tried to explain to him where we wanted to go while using the image.  (Architects sometimes forget that our "normal" modes of representation are another language for others.)  In any rate, we explored some of this rubble - sort of a primordial, makeshift quarry in a dead end zone - and then headed over to what was the new territories of the expanded town.

2. If an area looks like it's under construction and you shouldn't walk there... walk there.

• The town government is planning on extending its footprint by 40% and providing additional housing for those who don't currently own property.  It was bizarre walking around these unpaved roads, amidst mini trash heaps and construction materials lying around, and thinking that in a few years' time, a new town of sorts would emerge from the undergrowth.

3. Make friends with strangers.

• One key discovery during this time: an artist who carves blue footed boobies out of wood, molds bas relief sculpture, and generally does whatever else for himself and for boutiques in the tourist district.  He was the most chill character and we managed to communicate with him in broken Spanish (and the aid of my phrasebook) while he worked on some carvings for us.

4. What is lost is not lost.

• There were three points in which we lost track of people in our group and had to head off to our various group appointments (or beach callings...) without them.  Although we worried about these people as they were gone, we discovered later that they were having possibly even more fun adventures than we were.  For instance, Caleb ended up catching a ride with a taxi up to a horse ranch and taking a 2-3 hour ride around the agricultural highlands while we sat in a meeting w/ the city's planning committee.  Juliet missed out on our excursion to German Beach (full of debris, mangroves, and volleyball), but got to see the pristine Tortuga Bay Beach and caused envy in us all.

5. Singing is a great bonding experience.

• On the way back from a dinner of seafood delight, we came across a karaoke bar and spontaneously decided to hop in for some songs.  We didn't manage to reel in our professor and TA, but we did get a sizable group to belt out renditions of "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Hotel California," and more.  Nads and I sang a somewhat silly version of the duet "Eternal Love" (silly because I didn't quite know all the words and we didn't quite separate out the man's and woman's parts), and I solo'ed on "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" among others.  We basically sang for all songs we knew, so in the end it didn't matter who had a mic.  We also got some great laughs out of the experience and found out who were closet song lovers and divas in our midst.

Photos to come perhaps tomorrow.  Ciao for now!  Isla Isabela tomorrow for a fun day excursion plus more.

[FAST] The ICEWALL complete!

Reception #1 for the Icewall // photo courtesy of Marcus

This weekend, I had the privilege of helping Yushiro and Kian build their IceWall installation for the MIT 150 FAST festival.  The idea stemmed from our class last semester, and they thankfully got to build this 6 foot+ tall, undulating wall of ice blocks.  Did I mention that it was also freezing (or below freezing) cold during the process?  Marcus and I helped out just during the daytime, but the rest of the building team - comprised of architecture friends and various groupies from Japan and Hong Kong - were building into the night as well.

seeds "floating" inside each block, waiting to bloom

It took about 4 days to build (estimated 2...), but it turned out beautifully and was well worth the effort.  Sadly, I didn't feel so great and so didn't make it to the reception today...  But it will be up for at least however long the weather decides to cooperate.

The idea is that the wall creates a new but ephemeral facade for MIT (situated in front of Killian court and the iconic building 10 dome).  Once the wall melts, the flower seeds within will be (hopefully) planted and grow, leaving behind a legacy parallel to MIT's own growing future.  (Or, something along those lines.  I was helping Y a bit w/ his description last semester.)  In any rate, it will be something cool that people can come to see, and the melting of it will be a pretty sight as well.

- - -

Title: IceWall

Created by: Yushiro Okamoto, Kian Yam

Built by: many friends and Eric, an ice sculpting guru

Location: in front of Killian Court along Memorial Dr.

Tying together the three strands

Seeing your best friend get married is somehow a more vocal reminder that we're - well - adults now.  For real.  It's not as if I haven't had close friends get married (and indeed, there have been MANY wedding bells since right after college graduation...goodness - in a good way), but somehow it was different this time around.  Jeanette (aka Confetti, or the Chinese lass) and Steve (aka the Hampshire country boy) tied the knot of three strands last weekend, among the gorgeous fall foliage of New England.  It was a delightful day and a half spent helping to prep for the big day, and then witnessing (with the other silly bridesmaids) the joining of two lives into one beautiful union under God.

Now it's time for some photo moments, where my words don't do justice :

Sunrise on the big day!  The bridemaids woke up around 6:30 (or was it 7?), but the dutiful bride woke up at 5:45 sharp and then apologized for making so much noise with the hair dryer... to which we responded, "Um, you're getting married today!  Don't apologize!"

On the way!  This was my first time riding in a stretch SUV, and I must say it was cozy - cozy enough to cozy up to the bride :D

The lovely bouquets made by loving hands.

 Oh, how glad I am that Jeanette married a guy who is equally silly and ridiculous.  At least I don't have to worry that she'll lose her sense of humor - on the contrary, they will likely get sillier as time goes on, and I look forward to that!

No, this photo is not staged.  Yes, Steve looks scary.  No, we are not some sort of mafia family.

Dance party!  Maybe this is what I look like from the vantage point of the tall one.  That puts things into perspective.

Whizzing back to the city...  Oh, the delights of autumn - how quickly they pass, how lovely still.

I had the great honor of delivering the toast for the bride.  Although I had started thinking about it a couple weeks earlier, I hadn't actually written anything down until the day before.  My scrawled notes just didn't seem to do justice to this responsibility, so I resorted to parking myself in the hotel business center and not getting up until I had something adequate to say to someone I've known for 22 years ... and something that I (and Jnet) wouldn't feel embarrassed about when memories of it would be recounted to us for years to come.  After several rewrites, I finally came up with something that somehow began to express elements of our friendship-turned-sisterhood.  There was a point when Jeanette came over during my writing frenzy, and I had to quickly scroll to a blank spot in my Word Doc and look at her with innocent eyes.  Of course she wasn't deceived, but at least I managed to keep this a surprise until the moment of delivery.

I'm not going to recount all of it here, although I will share the end part of the toast, which involved getting half the guests to sing along with me to a doctored version (pun...intended) of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?".  These are the lyrics I printed out and demonstrated for the guests to get them on board with my ridiculous idea :

Cue:

So… can’t we all feel the love this afternoon?

Can’t we?

- - -

NOTE: SING when you see italics

- - -

We could see what was happening.

What?

And they somehow had a clue!

Who?

Jeanette and Steve fell in love, and here’s the bottom line – our group is down by two.

Oh.

The sweet caress of lab lights… there was magic (not malaria) everywhere!  And with all this romantic atmosphere…  a wedding’s in the aaaaaaairrrrr…

Can you feel the love today?

The peace the noon sun brings

Penacook, for once, in perfect harmony

With all its living things.

Can you feel the love today?

You needn't look too far

A Chinese lass, her Hampshire country boy,

Love is where they are…

[ toast ]

Somehow, the whole celebration would not have been complete nor authentically Jeanette (and Steve) unless a Disney song were sung in public.  (This is just my own thinking, so anyone is allowed to contend with it.)

In light of all of this, it's heartwarming to be reminded of how God has perfectly crafted the marriage relationship (and ministry) from imperfect people (whom He is making perfect).  And with that thought, I bid thee good night, and also hope that J+S are thoroughly enjoying their honeymoon and escape from reality (and internet access... fingers crossed).

Faith among fall foliage

Once upon a time last year, we debuted the GCF worship band :

 After a year and a circuitous path taken ...

... and perhaps another circuitous route taken this year as well ...

... the worship band shuffled around, gained some new faces and retired other ones, developed diversity across schools, and adopted version 2 in this year's grad retreat back at Toah Nipi :

Lesson?  Great is God's faithfulness!  I will snatch a verse shared by one of the other band members, that encapsulates the joint effort well:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12

11 of us, (literally and figuratively) under the leadership of the man friend, were enabled by a common Spirit to find time and practice together, harmonize and blend, listen for each other's melodious (and occasionally discordant) sounds, rehearse 3 worship sets, and even simply get along as brothers and sisters.  I was personally thankful for the opportunity to experience God's joy through worship with such gifted musicians, and amazed at the limitless grace given even when our practice time was short or when logistics didn't coast out as planned.  It was also humbling to have to surrender: surrender my role as worship leader to those equally or likely more competent, surrender the need to be needed, surrender perfection...  among other things.

But in return, the gifts given far outweighed and surpassed any prior expectations.  :]

Outside of worship, the retreat was satisfying - not physically restful, but a good time spent gaining insights into the woman at the well, canoeing on the cool water while singing Disney songs at the top of our lungs, hiking in literal loops and circles to Massachusetts and back (and getting minimally whipped in the face with stray branches), laughing hysterically at absurdities during a rowdy game of Psychiatrist, and eating delicious foods made by willing hands ...

... which are are among my favorite things :
good fellowship, good food, good praise+worship, all in the great outdoors of Creation (with ample crunchy leaves underfoot!).

Visualizing the City

Some highlights, pre-social networking site placement (that ubiquitous platform for all knowledge...):

 

  My '08-ers are all grown up!  (And I can still do self-takes.)

Favorite funny couple responded well to my prompt to look happy ... and made me laugh, haha.

IV-ers and friends reunite from across the country for Christine + Jonathan's happy day.

The Talaminis get a raucous send off outside of the romantic Wien Hall.  (Oh, Columbia...)

A lovely fern on my Stumptown macchiato and buttery croissant bid me a NYC farewell.