Learning to Love You More

Repair something. Find something that is broken that can't be used anymore. Not an electrical appliance or a clothing item, but a piece of furniture, or a kitchen utensil, or a suitcase or simple tool, like a rake. The kind of thing that you would usually throw out when it breaks. Imagine that you cannot easily get another one. Now repair it. Make it completely usable again. In fact, make it stronger and better than it was before....

This recent charge on Learning to Love You More encourages appreciation of everyday objects and making the most of what you have. The site periodically posts new "assignments" from readers and accepts documentation from others on their completion of the task. This task, Repair something, is a beautiful one about utility and frugality.

A few other assignments relate to home nuisances (Record the sound that is keeping you awake), cleaning (Take a flash photo under your bed):

...and seeing familiar household items anew (Make an exhibition of the art in your parent's house):

Check out Learning to Love You More to see responses to each assignment and post your own.

Comments (11)

Is that an ice cream scoop cozy???

posted by That70sHeidi on September 29th 2008 at 9:54am
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It appears to me to be an artistically reinvented ice cream scoop. Not functional, but fun. Reminds me of ... oh, who was the artist at the Met who did the cup covered in fur?

If I took a flash photo of under my bed, I might tick off the cat.

posted by whytephoenix on September 29th 2008 at 10:12am
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Hey, that might be kind of fun...have people take flash photos of under their bed...AS IS... Let's see what people have stashed under there.

posted by nazrd on September 29th 2008 at 10:49am
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thank goodness for platform beds. no space under there! when i was a kid stuffing everything under my bed was "cleaning my room".

posted by hoboken_melanie on September 29th 2008 at 11:02am
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I love Learning to Love You More. Hours of fun at work, instead of actually doing work.

posted by gquaker on September 29th 2008 at 11:12am
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Meret Oppenheim made the fur-lined teacup.

posted by Jezebella on September 29th 2008 at 12:20pm
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I want to Gorilla glue a broken mirror frame but the stupid glue is all clogged up at the nozzle. Now I face the horror of throwing the mirror and the glue bottle out. Any savvy tips to unclog Gorilla glue?

posted by deepa on September 29th 2008 at 12:20pm
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Deepa, I'm not familiar with Gorilla glue, but I've had luck unclogging other types of glue by using a straight pin to open up the nozzle. And I suppose an opened safety pin could serve as well if you don't have a straight pin.

posted by lurker2209 on September 29th 2008 at 12:28pm
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I lOVE repairing stuff! I wish AT had more posts about basic repair techniques: painting, glueing, furniture parts, etc...

posted by Modfan on September 29th 2008 at 12:30pm
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I'm the total opposite of Modfan -- I have NO luck repairing items and actually spend more (in Gorilla Glue and other adhesives) trying to fix items I should just replace.

posted by madampince on September 29th 2008 at 3:03pm
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I'm all about taking something that has been damaged and gluing it back together, or sanding it down, or whatever it takes to make it "whole" again, especially things that still function (a wall clock, a frame, etc.)

posted by kuroneko on September 29th 2008 at 5:52pm
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