The stars have aligned

I had been planning to talk about this today anyway, Leonard Lopate's Taking Things Seriously photo project, in conjunction with this book. Anyone who wants to can take part in the project by uploading a photo of an item that has particular significance to them and telling its story. I'm not sure what object I'm going to use; there are a few in the running.

From the publisher's site:
We all have something in our lives that while not obviously valuable, is displayed as though it were a precious and irreplaceable artifact. Inquire about the object's provenance and you'll likely be treated to a lively anecdote about how it came into your host's possession. Keep digging, and you might even crack the code of what the thing really means.

Taking Things Seriously is a wonder cabinet of seventy-five unlikely thingamajigs that have been invested with significance and transformed into totems, talismans, charms, relics, and fetishes: scraps of movie posters scavenged from the streets of New York by Low Life author Luc Sante; the World War I helmet that inoculated social critic Thomas Frank against jingoism; the trash-picked, robot-shaped hairdo machine described by its owner as a chick magnet; the bagel burned by actor Christopher Walken, moonlighting as a short-order cook. The owners of these objects convey their excitement in short, often poignant essays that invite readers to participate in the enjoyable act of interpreting things. You'll never look at the bric-a-brac on your shelves the same way again.

And this is my horoscope for today:
Material goods hold special meaning for you today, but not in the way you might think. It's not about shopping for the next best outfit or techno gadget -- it's about sentimental value assigned to inanimate objects. Something you've been holding on to has a great deal of meaning for you, and you should consider passing it on in order to add a new meaning to someone else's life. This gesture of sharing something from your past will bring you a lot closer to someone who will be a part of your future.