Object 1 – The World & Us

Object 2 – Act I

He crashed into me. Literally. We met when his car rear ended mine in the middle of bottleneck traffic during Manhattan rush hour. He bought me a cup of coffee while the cops came. And by the time they did, we were gone. Panting and out of breath we raced down the street and out of the city. We didn’t know where we were going.

And that was okay.

Object 3 – Act 2

He gets calls every day. They’re looking for us. People need us to return to reality. People want us to return to reality. But all we want is each other and this fantasy. He promises we’ll be fine. So do I. And it is fine. For ten years, it’s all fine and we live happily together. We adopt a kid. We buy a house. We get married. It’s all worked out. People stop needing us to return to reality. People don’t want us to return to reality. This is our reality.

And it was all okay.

Object 4 – Act 3

Until we gave up.

Object 5 – Dead End Love

Object 6 – Is This What Love Feels Like?

Object 7 – The Catalyst

Love is the catalyst for human endeavor, in all its forms. If it wasn’t for the love of comedy, we wouldn’t have comedians to tell us why it’s so stupid to be in love. If it wasn’t for the love of science, we would have no chemists or biologists to tell us that love is nothing but a series of chemical responses in the body. If it wasn’t for love, we would have no reason to attend our sister’s wedding and meet the one person who can treat us how we deserve to be treated – like humans. When we don’t spend our lives doing what we love most, we can’t laugh. When we can’t laugh, we can’t love. And when we can’t love, we break that subtle harmony of the universe.

Object 8 – A Recipe for Love

A Recipe for Love

Serves 2

1 cup of passion

2 cups of dedication

¼ cup of constructive argumentation, finely chopped

½ cup of laughter

1 teaspoon of serendipity

1 tablespoon of adventure

1 cup of personal growth

1 ½ cups of shared experiences

¼ teaspoon of uncertainty, rough chop

¼ teaspoon tears, happy and sad combined

Memories and laughter, to taste

Instructions: Combine, stir gently, and cook until all is well done. Serve warm.

Object 9 – A Quick Poem on Love

Like an ocean breeze,
on a warm summer’s day, that’s
veering its way across the sprawling shoreline
each time finding its way back to the sea

That is how my love for you exists,
in endless motion,
always returning to you no matter how far we wander.

Object 10 – Let Go

Object 1 – Ruby Ring

Object 2 – Casual Encounters

Object 3 – Question of the Day

Every morning for the rest of your life, when you wake up you will only remember one thing about your life. What do you choose to remember?

Object  4 – Remember Me, Please

Object 5 – A Picture of the Stars

“Draw me a picture of the stars,” she said. I held her close and promised her I would.

But the next day, I forgot what the stars looked like. And pretty soon, I forgot what she looked like too.

“Draw me a picture of the stars,” I said. She held me close and promised me she would, “You’ll be with them soon.”

Object 6 – The Picture of the Stars

Object 7 – Describing Stars

A list of words to describe the stars:

• Radiant
• Glowing
• Bright
• Focused
• Distant
• Eternal
• Supernatural
• Survivors
• Energy
• Luminous
• Contained
• Explosive
• Navigators
• Guides
• Unattainable
• Secretive
• Prescient

Object 8 – I Wish, I Wish

If a shooting star soars through the sky, but no one is around to see it, who gets to keep the wish?

Object 9 – A Thought About Diamonds

What if diamonds are just the pieces of stars long forgotten? And every time we uncover one, we’re bringing back that piece of someone they thought they had lost forever? Wouldn’t that make the universe seem like more of a real place?

Object 1 – Eating Acrobatics

Object 2 – The Train Effect

When I first rode a subway in New York City, I wondered why anyone could – or would – fall asleep onboard. Wouldn’t they miss their stop? Wouldn’t they risk getting pickpocketed? To a foreigner, it may seem strange to sleep in such a high-stakes, high-strung environment. But, a true New Yorker understands that getting rest in the city that never sleeps is a necessity – no, a requirement – if you wish to keep up with its unrelenting pace.

Object 3 – Bloodlines

Object 4 – Double Dutch

New York, New York

A city so great that it got to be named twice. Is that too much? Seems a little aggressive to have the same name twice. In a row.

But I’m not one to talk…

Object 5 – The Big Appple

Object 6 – Musing on Mini-vans

Mini-vans get a bad reputation. Every time you think of them all you see are soccer moms, loud children, messy post-soccer-practice seats, errands, and other banal things. But mini-vans are an untapped source of spontaneity and adventure. All you have to do is get creative and the possibilities are endless. You can achieve whatever you want with a mini-van.

Cross-country road trip? Mini-van.

Late night biscuit run? Mini-van.

Secret 3am rendezvous? Mini-van.

The mini-van: it’s not just for soccer moms anymore.

Object 7 – A Few Lame Jokes

What do you get when you put a biscuit and a mini-van together? A midnight road trip.

Why did the biscuit cross the road? It didn’t. I did.

Three kids walk into the bar… They get kicked out because they’re too young so they go buy biscuits instead.

Object 8 –  INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLYING TO BECOME A NEW YORKER

Part I

She’s a tricky one, New York. You cannot simply wake up one morning and discover that you have become a New Yorker. Of course, she isn’t a picky one – anyone is welcome to become a New Yorker. But, it is by no means an easy task. Becoming one is a matter of feeling. It’s a matter of understanding. It’s a matter of listening.

Do you understand? Yes ____ No ____

Object 9 – INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLYING TO BECOME A NEW YORKER, CONT’D

Part II

To be a New Yorker means to feel the city coursing through your blood stream. A true New Yorker is everywhere at once – all day, every day. A New Yorker breathes, eats, and sleeps in The City. Even when they are away from the Big Apple, a New Yorker is still within.

In a well-composed essay of 500 words or less, describe how it feels to be away from New York City. Your thoughts should be well-organized, clearly laid out for the reader, and should consist of entirely your own work.

Object 10 – A Terrible Attempt at Recreating a MetroCard

Object 1 – The Story of an LLL

Object 2 – It’s Never the Same

Object 3 – It’s Literally Never the Same

Object 4 – Shreds

Object 5 – The Sound of a Lie

Object 6 – What Makes a Liar

What makes a liar?

That’s a really good question! And one that I don’t really have a good answer for. Or maybe I do, and I’m just not telling you. I guess you’ll never know.

Object 7 – The Face of a Liar

Object 8 – Fortune Teller

Object 9 – The How-To of a Liar

How to be a Successful Liar Without Really Trying.
The Answer? Don’t.

Object 10 – Inside Every House…

Object 1 – A Sad Attempt at Making a Nude Statue

Object 2 – If My Father Owned a Museum, This Would Be Its Sign

Object 3 – Admission

Object 4 – Nude Descends a Staircase, No. 3

Object 5 – Don’t You Wanna See?

Object 6 – Body Cleanse

Object 7 – Drumroll, Please

Object 8 – Why? Just why?

Son: Father, why is there a naked lady sitting in the middle of our house?
Father: I don’t know, son. Why do you think?
Son: Well, I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.
Father: I suppose I’m not so sure myself.
Son: Should I ask mom?
Father: I don’t think that’s such a good idea.
Son: Why?
Father: I don’t think she’d like the thought of another woman naked in her house.
Son: Well then, why don’t you just ask her to leave?Father: Me? Ask your mom to leave?
Son: No, father. I meant the naked lady.
Father: Oh, right. Well, I suppose we should.

Object 9 – An Acrostic Poem on Nudity

Not
A Very
Kinesthetically
Exciting
Day

Object 10 – A Musing on Being Naked

A musing on being naked written by someone who is currently not naked and really has no desire to be naked.

Being naked is an interesting state of being. You’re completely exposed and yet you’re in a total state of comfort. How is that possible? How can being totally exposed provide total comfort to someone? Maybe it’s the sense of liberation. Of not giving a shit about what anyone else thinks.

Object 11 – Defining Nudity

Naked

/nākid/ Adj.

1. The state of being fully undressed
2. The state of being fully exposed
3. The state of being nothing more than yourself
4. The state of corporal freedom
5. The state of bodily control