u/ZaunAura

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Who is She?
Who is she that stands with her back to me?
Look at her peer out the warm glass window
For someone somewhat small, she stands so, so tall.
A marvel in the making, we crave to know her
Yet
We don’t even know ourselves
Yet she still stands there, waiting for us
The light pouring in those large pane glass
And I’m among them who want to know
Does she know how we’ve divided ourselves?
How we’ve fragmented into our little subs?
I wait for her to turn, but she still stands,
The waft of warm air passing by
I close my eyes and hear in my own head
of course she knows what you’ve been doing
She’s the Lady Who Knows Everything dummy!
I sigh and wait, and remember,
Whose Life I owe this life to
Whose backs and shoulders I stand on
That has led me to observe
And get a sample of her presence
—my heart & mind she stirs
And to remember the best is probably standing there, waiting
For at least one…better yet some
Of us to give our best
So she may no longer have to wait
For that day
She may turn
Smile and say ‘hey!’

Physical merchandise; It can be official or unofficial merch; it can also be custom made.

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What Prius do you have and what happens when you run out of gas? Does it still let you drive on the battery?

I drive around north Austin frequently and notice many people begging usually standing near the medians of intersections. Part of me wants to help, but what do I need to look for if I want to help? I’ve thought about giving water bottles but usually I see they have a water bottle with water near them. I don’t have any extra money so I don’t know if that’s a good idea either. Any thoughts?

I know it’s a specific question, but do you feel like Monika likes to clear her throat often?

Do you have a music playlist you’ve made for Monika? Could be Spotify, YouTube, Apple etc.
I’m curious what music people put on for her. Or do you have a playlist for yourself of songs that remind you of Monika? I have some and am thinking of making my own, but I want to see what other people have made first to get ideas.

So hear me out…I know this might not make sense but…Japan spent an ENORMOUS amount of money studying Americans and what they wanted in a car. We're talking over a billion dollars in 80s money, and in 1989 we got the result of that: a whole new brand (Lexus) for US (The United States). Isn't that wild? Just as the Cold War was coming to a close, we are essentially handed the gift of not just a world-class vehicle for Americans to purchase, but our own BRAND: Lexus! (Some say it stands for Luxury EXport to the United States!) How wild is that? A country gifting us a brand? But the crown jewel (funny since Lexus' parent company, Toyota, names all their cars after crowns) of which is the Lexus LS—our car!

So France gave us this enormous statue following the Civil War—staying together. The reason I wanted to compare the two, is because they are both gifts, but one gets (has gotten?) much more cultural and media attention than the other over time. Japan's gift is just…more mundane, more humble, but much more impactful imo! They gave us a brand (really a flagship luxury vehicle) for…ending the war(s?), staying strong, believing in Truth and freedom. Isn't that beautiful?

The Lexus LS is a far greater gift than the Statue of Liberty you see. Because, it's a car anyone could buy, and own and care for. That billion dollars (over 2.7 billion in 2026's dollars) spent on R&D didn't just go to building and shipping a statue—a fixed object that will decay over time—but to delivering Americans a brand specifically tailored for their wants and needs in a vehicle, even to our size! (Isn't the LS just comfy and cozy no matter how tall you are?) The Statue of Liberty is beautiful, but it really can be enjoyed each day by New Yorkers, while the LS is a machine that people could live with every day. Anyone could buy this car, and experience it each day, and have a relationship with the comfort, the Nakamichi sound system, the smooth purr of the engine, the tech, etc. Japan gifted us this vehicle because they love us (and still do). So every Lexus LS 400 you see wasn't just a $50,000 piece of metal and glass lobbing around the roads of the West. It's actually a billion-dollar effort packed into each one!

Now let me offer two more pieces of wisdom that have dawned on me since learning about these cars (that I used to own but don't currently). The reason the LS 430 is just as special (or even more) than the previous LS 400, is because Lexus's gift didn't just end in 1989 when the LS was first released. It wasn't a one-time delivery like that Statue of Liberty. The brand has all these services and structures that help us maintain these vehicles and keep 'em going! The beautiful thing (one beautiful thing) about the LS is that it's the gift that keep on giving! (As long as you take care of your maintenance as AMD would say).

First, I learned about kaizen, it's a Japanese idea of continual improvement essentially through an enumerable number of creative ways. Every component, every facet of the Lexus LS was improved over time by honing and honing more, and refining and refining more! An LS 430 essentially IS an LS 400 plus, or a continuation AND culmination of everything Lexus had in the eleven years since the original launch. (Not to say there haven't been road bumps on the way cough cough LS 460 cough cough). But through this technique of kaizen, Lexus made a car that's absurdly reliable, robust, smooth, looks fantastic, and so much more.

The next thing I learned about is monozukuri which has to do with another kind of effort—the artful side of making things. In practical terms, Toyota/Lexus really wanted to understand how each part of the LS was built and used to not only cater, but to curate an experience for us when we enter and drive an LS. An experience of serenity, smoothness…I've heard people describe themselves getting in their LS as entering through a portal to their own private worlds. The seats…they are unreal in their level of comfort because Lexus really crafted them like a first-class airliner seat. The sound system was tuned specifically for this car!

I think the LS itself, knowing all this that I've shared, really is more than just a car, it's the spirit of one country genuinely wanting another country to succeed. It's a symbol of the relentless pursuit of perfection. It's a symbol of our own potentials and how far we can reach. Every LS is an example of how the two Japanese concepts of kaizen and monozukuri can produce machines of such high quality. But it's also a symbol of…something more, for me, it's something very personal I won't share. But I have cried when someone let me drive their LS 430 for the first time because of what this car means to me, and still does. That a group of people would go through that effort and succeed…and still succeed, that's a blessing we should all be thankful for to this day.