In case you missed it, I’ve started a puzzle gemach (free loan). Thousand-piece puzzles have become one of my favorite ways to tune out the world. As one works on a puzzle, it’s nearly impossible to think about anything outside the puzzle. One’s mind is focused on color, shapes and pattern, the magic of disparate pieces emerging into a completed picture.
Like with any hobby, life lessons abound. Working on a circular image recently, I learned that sometimes you need to turn a section around to see how it fits together. It got me considering things we do because they are the status quo. How often do we turn the question on its head, looking at it from a totally different perspective?
Two problems with puzzling, however, are usage and cost. I will do puzzles a second or even third time, but I have to wait at least six months in between. For months on end, it’s just sitting there, collecting dust. And puzzles are expensive! Although I often purchase secondhand puzzles, there is always the fear of missing pieces.
A gemach, which is a free loan society, is the perfect way for my puzzles to get used. You won’t be able to glue it when you’re finished, but it also won’t clog up your cupboard or drain your wallet.
Email denverpuzzlegemach@gmail.com to see the catalog or to inquire about contributing to the collection.
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Have you seen the latest Open AI commercials? Do you also find them creepy? They feature elderly people, mostly women, using ChatGPT. The subliminal message seems to be — if the demographic furthest removed from new technology find ChatGPT fun and useful, who are you to be skeptical? There’s an exploitative vibe to the bits, a kind of reverse ageism.
A word of warning: If you’re using ChatGPT, Claude or any AI, pay for the tier that prevents it (allegedly) from retaining your data. Otherwise, you’re feeding it what it needs to eventually overtake you.
It reminds me of when in the late ’90s and early 2000s companies such as Siemens were so hungry for the Chinese market they essentially gave away their blueprints. Surprise, surprise. Fast-forward 20 years and those Chinese companies are now selling more of that knock-off Siemens product than Siemens is itself.
Speaking of AI, the gemach will not stock puzzles made using it. I still want to support artists where I can.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at shana@ijn.com.
© IJN 2026
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