Diary 17
01. GOING ROGUE
My little sister wanted movie theater popcorn. We didn’t have tickets to an actual movie, so the second she saw that they were checking tickets before entering the theater, she backed away. But I walked forward, got us both into the theater, and got her her popcorn. This was obviously a pretty simple feat for any adult with communication skills, but to her, it was a tiny thrill.
02. SLEEPWALKING
The hum of the power lines that hang low over my apartment’s parking lot. I hear them in the dark at 5 am as I walk to my truck, still rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
03. IGNITED
(Literally) evenings spent in my mom’s backyard around a bonfire and a plethora of roman candles. A candelabra that needs relighting every few minutes as the wind blows through. California wildfires running rampant; my grandpa sending photos of his smoky sky all the way from Illinois.
(Figuratively) progressively noticing the decline of local homeless people- names and faces and personalities I’ve come to know. I pass each one at their usual spot on my way to work and notice their withering faces and frail bodies. A man who sits outside of my work recently showed up in bandages, a mere shell of the animated personality I once knew. A homeless camp near me was replaced with large jagged rocks. I’m furious with the way California has handled homelessness and it only seems to be getting worse.
04. LUSH
An abundance of sensory stimulation at the end of the summer. September feels swollen with the energy from the last three months.
05. NIGHT OUT
Driving on an empty highway; moon and mountains to my left, listening to Sigur Rós.
06. THE RIGHT DECISION
”You can’t plow a field simply by turning it over in your mind”- Gordon B. Hinckley. Quit a shitty job after weeks of contemplating it. Challenging myself to just do and not think nearly as much. I’ve found that listening to those impulses/gut feelings make for honest, good decisions most of the time.
07. PURE PLEASURE
Gushing to a new friend over dinner. A natural, immediate comfortability with one another that welcomed any and every conversation. Sipped cold beer and picked at a plate of sweet potato gnocchi, relished embarrassing stories that put fresh air in my lungs.
08. MEDIA LIST
NPR, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune
Time Sensitive Podcast
Norsemen, the Netflix series
Helen Macdonald, “Vesper Flights”
Sadia Abbas, “The Empty Room”
David Pearson, “Earth to Spirit, In Search of Natural Architecture”
Excerpts from David Pearson, “Earth to Spirit, In Search of Natural Architecture”
“The spatial arrangement inside a yurt has many similarities to that of a North American hogan. The entrance faces east or southwest depending on the tribe. Inside, the circular space is divided into four quadrants and everyone and everything has its appointed place. There is a women’s side and a men’s side with a ‘place of honour’ near the altar behind the hearth away from the cold. The herders and newborn animals are near the door. Saddles, guns, and ropes are placed on the men’s side; while churn, kitchen tools, and cradle are on the women’s side. The earth floor, wooden hearth square, iron tripod, and kettle of water placed over the fire symbolize the Eastern elements of earth, wood, metal, water, and fire. The roof symbolizes the sky and the open smoke hole is the ‘Eye of Heaven.’”
“Visitors exclaim over the beautiful light in the tipi. During the day it is cheerful and mellow… Even on dark, gloomy days it is brighter than most houses. But especially the nights are wonderful…some nights the moon climbs right up over the poles and looks in. Outside a coyote howls or a great horned owl hoots in the distance.”
”According to Christopher Day: ‘Non-rectangular spaces are more life enhancing both inside and outside. But they are much harder to work with as enclosures of place- harder but possible. The issue is not between rectangles and non-rectangles: why do something differently from the normal unless there is a good reason? The issue is between living and lifeless forms and spaces, life-renewing and life-sapping environments.’”