Behind the Title

In August 2016, just after moving to New York and right before I started college, I met with my then soon-to-be roommates. We met at Union Square, grabbed lunch at Chipotle, and then decided to walk around.

A few hours of wandering brought us to Kinokuniya, a Japanese-based book and stationery shop adjacent to Bryant Park. I wasn’t big into anime, manga, or anything remotely Japanese (except for PlayStation, Nintendo, and Studio Ghibli) but they were.

Little did I realise that three years later I’d be a fan of Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, the architect Tadao Ando, the author Haruki Murakami (The opening poem of Dirtskin has a reference to Murakami’s short story Honey Pie from After the Quake), and the Subaru Crosstrek. Oh, and I’m learning Japanese.

I digress.

The shop spans three floors. We had been walking quite a bit so we decided to give ourselves a break and take the lift (or elevator, depending on your preference of English). I can’t remember if we were headed to the third floor or to the ground floor. Either way, as soon as the doors shut, a thought occurred to me and I blurted it out matter-of-factly.

“I just realised why they call it an elevator.”
“Why?” asked my friends.
“Because it elevates.”

There was a pause before they burst out laughing. Bear in mind, I had not bothered to consider the utter ridiculousness of my statement. It’s a wonder that the three of us are still close friends.

So what’s this about?

First of all, shout out to Taara Mehta for putting this logo together for me. I managed to design it on paper but had to defer to her expertise in Photoshop. I mean, she’s also the one who came up with The LAN Port logo.

Alright, Elevator Moments is a little corner of the internet dedicated to good cheer, knowledge, and poetry. It’s not a newsletter. Honestly, it’s a bimonthly postcard. On the 8th and 22nd of each month, you’ll receive:

1. Video: An interview, video essay, or creative project that I really enjoyed watching.

2. Article: An opinion piece, letter, story, or retrospective that was insightful and moving.

3. Poetry Spotlight: 3 poems. 3 poets. I’ll be sharing the links to poems from fellow poets. If you like their work, you can go and support them!

Will the poetry stop?

Never.