Sentimentalism
Modern Love
Yesterday I was telling my roommate the story of my parents’ engagement, which involves a telegram, and I couldn’t stop thinking afterward how much the world has changed since then.
Not so long ago, my parents got engaged via telegram, the only method of communication available to them, and in the dating world of today we are all constantly connected to the ones we love (or the ones we met Saturday night, or the ones we wished love us) via Facebook, texting, email, Twitter, etc. Add to that the ever-present potential to find love from your couch while surfing online dating sites, and the array of forms of modern dating becomes potentially overwhelming.
Chas, via the above personal ad (for lack of a better term, though I’m sure Urban Dictionary will coin one soon), has created another potential route to love, one that also capitalizes on modern technology and communication, but adds crowd-sourcing to the equation. Ready to settle down and with some extra cash to help him do it, Chas has set up a website describing himself and offering $10k to whomever introduces him to his future wife.
It’s just so clever. Sure, it might seem crass to offer money to find a wife, but if that is what will motivate the crowds to source a wife for him, and the point is that he’s ready for love but can’t seem to find it, isn’t it also quite romantic? All this work in the quest for the right woman?
I’ll admit, there’s a chance I’m also just swayed to argue on behalf of this guy’s efforts because of how well the website was done, because this guy executed the same concept in a very different way and the whole thing really grosses me out! But on Chas’s site, the storytelling style of the photography is excellent, the site itself is very clean and cool, and the copy is amazingly endearing considering what it is. Simple, witty, charming, and refreshingly not overwrought. Even the name of the site is funny.
I did a little investigating on this guy, and he is actually an advertising exec, which makes perfect sense, since he created such an impressive advertisement for himself! Surely if he doesn’t find love, he’ll at least get a lot of freelance work out of this!
And one final note, his last name is McFeely. So I’m hoping if this thing goes viral, he’ll be the new McDreamy/McSteamy… First there were the hunky guys on Grey’s Anatomy, now there’s the clever ad exec committed to finding love. Could the name McFeely be any more perfect for his mission?
Sentimentalism
Missed Connections
Y’all know I love the Missed Connections illustrations based on the craigslist category of the same name, so I’m sure you won’t be surprised that I have never forgotten this little incident. This happened four years or so ago, when I lived in New York, and I’ve never forgotten it and just had to share it with you.
So here’s the story. This guy, Patrick, sees “the girl of his dreams” on the subway, fails to make a move, and decides to create a website– NYgirlofmydreams.com– with the above illustration to try to find her.
The site and illustration went viral, ending up almost immediately on the cover of the AM New York and Metro, the free papers that are handed out as you head onto the subway in the morning, meaning that pretty much everyone in New York was following this story and wondering if they knew the girl. A terrific example of crowdsourcing, the case was cracked pretty quickly when a staffer for BlackBook magazine recognized the girl as one of their interns.
Speculation swirled as people wondered if this was a publicity stunt by either BlackBook or Vimeo, which Patrick worked for, or both, but I like to believe that it was sincere. (And if it was a publicity stunt, it was freaking brilliant, so I guess I’m fine with that too.)
You can search if you’re curious for the end of the story, there are gossip accounts out there, but I prefer Patrick’s ending that he posted on the site: he said he was going to stop updating the world because unlike romantic comedies, we would have to imagine our own ending to the story.
And why not? Isn’t it enough inspiration just to know that someone would go to such lengths to find a potential missed connection, and moreover, that we clearly still believe in fate and romance as a society, if the whole city would be interested enough to become totally obsessed with the story and trying to set them up?
Sentimentalism
NPR Valentines
Ok good thing I posted that fight flow chart earlier and got something in there for the guys today, because now I absolutely cannot resist posting these NPR Valentine’s. (Not to say guys can’t love Valentine’s too!)
These make my NPR-loving heart flutter. I love that there’s even a Car Talk-themed one!
Download and then email, print, post to facebook, or whatever you want here.
Sentimentalism
Send a Valentine…
Last year, one of my very favorite Valentine’s things I came across were the e-cards from Kate Spade, which are designed by a handful of the Kate Spade team’s favorite graphic designers, and I was so excited to see that this year’s cards came out today!
They all have a wonderful handmade and/or cheeky slant to them and are a far cry from the cheesy e-greetings you may be recalling from 1999 when people first got into the idea of e-cards. Click here to send your own e-Valentine’s!
Here are a few of my favorites this year…
Valentine’s at top are by Julia Rothman and Alice Lam.
Sentimentalism
Who Could Resist: “To My Wife”
If you’re ever feeling like romance is dead, take a minute and indulge yourself in To My Wife. Girls, this may be your new guilty pleasure.
Similar to 1001 Rules for My Unborn Son (and who didn’t love that one??), Jannuzzi offers up charmingly sincere tidbits to his as-of-yet unmet future wife about what his end of the bargain will be and how he imagines small details of their relationship, including just enough things he can’t or won’t do to keep it from feeling overly sentimental or idealized.
Glamour UK interviewed Jannuzzi, offering more insight into who this guy is…
GLAMOUR.COM: How did you come up with the idea for To My Wife? Have you been keeping the list private before now?
John Jannuzzi: I saw a commercial for a jewellery store on television, a jewellery store I don’t particularly enjoy and wouldn’t want to buy my engagement ring at. So I just sort of thought to myself, “my wife should know I won’t be going there” and the idea really came out of that. So for a month I was thinking and gathering notes and I just publicised it this week. It’s not like I keep a leather notebook in my sock drawer with rhinestones and bows on it or anything, but I (and I think many other people) think about the future often. For me, I hope my future includes marriage and a family and all that stuff.
Sentimentalism
it’s all right in front of you.
I love these retro-inspired “just because” cards by Dani Press. Dani takes all the photos herself and turns them into these sweet and original cards.
Check out more here– it’s fun to look around at the different ones because she gives a little background on each photo and where/why it was taken, which makes them feel even more special.
Sentimentalism
Mary & Leo
Sentimentalism
Brown paper packages tied up with string…
Sentimentalism
Above and Beyond >> A Homemade Ascot and Ascot Guide
I would say I pride myself on giving pretty good gifts (although not on remembering actual dates of birthdays or to put things in the mail on time, which does in fact matter just a little bit), but when I come across people who make homemade gifts like this, I am just amazed.
This, all these images, are images of a gift this girl made for her boyfriend’s birthday. Not only did she sew him an ascot (so he “will be well-equipped if time travel is ever invented”), but she designed and made this accompanying suite of materials to go with it.
It even includes a little according booklet showing how to tie an ascot.
It might not be the most practical gift ever, but just the fact that she would take all that time to think of, design, and make something so detailed is so touching.
Details on how she (Livy, of the blog A Field Guide) made it here.
Sentimentalism
Without you…