Oscar the Octopus
This is a story about a beloved stuffed octopus named Oscar. It's also a story about mothers and sons, what we leave behind when we grow up, and what we want to hold on to.
One teabag, four cups
Inside the National Public Housing Museum How many times do you reuse a tea bag? Zero times? Four times? Once? I grew up "steeped" in a culture of conservation and reuse. My grandmother, who lived in an affordable senior housing community, let nothing go to waste. She wrote
An Object Diary of the Whitney Biennial
Last week I visited a few special art objects on display at the Whitney Biennial, a survey of American art that takes place every other year at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Every piece in the show explored the topic of "relationality" – how our identities form through
To Write and Not Be Forgotten: Julia Newberry's Diary
This is a story about a unique sort of object: a diary. Last month, I visited the Newberry Library in Chicago and read the diary of a 19th-century heiress. The pages still felt alive with the slanted script of a girl who died in 1876 at age 22. Her
The Chimp Who Wouldn't Give Back a Crystal
Crystals hold a special fascination for some people. We collect, wear, and treasure them. Buy why? Is it the shape of a crystal? The sparkle? An unproven belief in a crystal's healing powers? Researchers in Spain, curious about the source of our obsession, wondered if chimpanzees could also
Stories to keep us grounded
Hello from Lisa at The Object Diaries Project. This week, I'm sharing a few recent stories about physical objects that are keeping me grounded: Duke, a rescued Golden Retriever, comforts himself by collecting teapots and other household items; young people are snapping up CDs and hailing taxis; and
Pressing Flowers
Preserving the joy of summer on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice
A reminder to play
A ball in the middle of the sidewalk means someone was playing.
Gifts from our Grandparents & Elders
Hello from Lisa at The Object Diaries Project: Stories About Human Connection Told One Secret Object at a Time. A quick story about an object I'm thinking about this week: Yesterday, my family emptied a storage locker that used to belong to my grandfather. My grandfather had a
The Objects of 2025
Happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year from The Object Diaries Project: Stories About Human Connection Told One Secret Object at a Time. It's early January 2025. That time of year when ornaments, faux firs, menorahs, Kinaras, and other holiday objects have been cleaned, sorted, and stored. Discarded Christmas
Object Diaries - 90s Edition
Hello and Happy Friday from Lisa at the Object Diaries Project: Stories About Human Connection Told One Secret Object at a Time. We're going back in time! Last week, the Object Diaries Project traveled back to the 1990s, digging up Blockbuster Video membership cards, mixtapes, and other phat
Object Diaries: Election Day
Hello! On this Election Day in the U.S., I'd like to share the story of Imran Mohammad Fazal Hoque with you. Imran was born in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar in 1994, a member of the stateless Rohingya people. The Rohingya were not recognized as citizens