I like the moon okay
This one is about looking at stuff, and maybe looking again.
I was outside a little over a month ago, the night cartoonishly pleasant because it was September but it was still also Southern California, and one of the neighbours in our apartment complex walked up to me.
"Do you like the moon?"
It was a question just odd enough that I took a second to reply. Who doesn't like the moon? The moon is great! So, I was like "hell yeah, I like the moon."
He gestured me to follow him and we began walking down the block. "I should have asked, do you wanna come look at something," he said when we'd already gone a bit.
I shrugged, I hadn't questioned the need to go walk to look at something. At that time of the evening (which comes so much earlier here than where I grew up, but follows days so bright that the seasonal SADs I assumed were just part of life have never once graced my brain since we moved) you couldn't yet see the moon from the well of the complex parking lot, framed in as it is by buildings and trees. We had to walk a bit to find a viewpoint and as we walked, he explained.
"A lot of people don't care about stuff like the moon, they don't think it's interesting." And, despite my earlier thought, I realised he was right. Some people don't want to, don't have time to, just go look at the moon--stand in any everyday thing for "moon." A cool bird, a weird bug, the lizards eternally sunning themselves and doing pushups.
Anyway, it had turned out that he had been driving home and caught some very amazing views of the full moon--other parts of the world were enjoying a lunar eclipse/blood moon, and although we didn't get any of that we did get a particularly spectacular moon. Driving sometimes gives you the best moon, because the way roads and buildings align you get contextual perspective tricks where the moon hangs low over things with known sizes and it can loom beautifully.
We did find a space free of trees to look at the moon, and stood there for a couple minutes, admiring it. It was the tail end of the evening commute, people trickling home either post-dinner or with dinner in hand. Some of them looked askance at the two of us, and my neighbour quietly pointed them out.
"They're wondering what the hell we're doing out here."
As we walked back home, I thought about when my partner and I drove up into the mountains ten years prior to shoot a blood moon away from city lights (I've shared the image here before, but here is another).
Image description. A photo of a shaded, red moon above a wall of pines. The sky is thickly black, cut through by two street lights blown out to white by long exposure. End ID.
I think having shot photos for nearly 30 years of my life (lol, wow) is a big part of cultivating the "hey look at that" that makes you somebody who likes the moon. Shooting photos means, for me anyway, finding how to pull the story out of an image, or something interesting out of a situation. You have to learn to make anything interesting, and that includes when you need to shoot and don't want to.
It's funny. I love birds and rocks and lizards, they are the delight of my days, and I am absolutely terrible at knowing their names. I will never be a birder. No matter of mineral displays and rock museums I have been to will sink into my mind with more than the name of one of my favourite minerals (calcite). I can tell an anole from an alligator lizard, but only because I have seen both enough at this point.
Image description: A tumblr post from feitanssockdrawer. "the moon is the one rock i cannot collect, so instead i am looking respectfully. End ID.
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The moon is full of stuff and science around it and I have friends who love and know so much about it as an object and a scientific destination. That's okay though, I don't have to know something to enjoy it, thank goodness.
Here's a book about looking at things and a book that looked at something a different way. Links go to the Storygraph entries for each title, a great place to check out content warnings and find ways to read them.
- All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley almost got skipped due to my fatal flaw--I'm very hesitant around "NYT bestsellers" of a type. Less about me being too cool for school, more about me knowing my personal tastes do not align (and having been burned before). But, the topic was just too interesting! So I gave it a go and I'm so glad I did. This is such a gentle book, it feels like people watching feels. It has that museum air, moving between galleries of emotion. And, its a really interesting peek at the world of museum guards.
- I found out about And The Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness with Rovina Caias illustrator from one of those catalogues librarians get to learn about cool books. Chase had brought one back from a conference, so of course I paged through it and added things to my Libby holds. This was under books in conversation with classics, for younger folks. Moby Dick from the perspective of the whale? Count me in! Only this isn't that, not really. This wasn't my favourite book, but it was interesting, it's maybe trying to do too many things in a slim volume, and I don't know if what it does is what it intended, but I'm glad I gave it a try.
I used to have some amazing luck at finding people's lists and kid drawings on the ground, there's something very wonderful about finding things like this.
Image description: A scan of a battered, dirty piece of blue paper in which a youthful hand has written "Poncho" in a heart above the words I (heart) you, you are my love! Love, Sandy. End ID.
Image description: A scan of a battered, pavement-dented piece of paper that has a battle scene drawn on it in heavy pencil. A helmeted character is shooting bullets (?) at two other figures, a bat, and a grinning skull. The helmet is blue and the skull has red eyed drawn in. One figure is coloured red where they have been hit. End ID.
Image description: A scan of a water-blurred marker drawing. Done in simple line smeared by rain, there are two figures on either side of a window or portal, through which one can see a building under a sun. A scribble of green along the bottom indicates they are outside. End ID.
Some cool links about looking at things and learning about things, and also a story with some monkeys.
- A friend dropped this Wayback Machine archive link of The Fanfiction Glossary in the family discord server and it's a time-travelling delight. A window into fandom in 2002, the notes about what terms are from what fandoms, how often they're used and where is a trip. "Alternate Universe" isn't abbreviated yet to "AU," there's a specific term for "Turncoat agent Alex Krycek." of The X-Files (Ratboy), it's a delightful window into fandom language and what was catching culture in general over 20 years ago.
- Stories about magic and magicians who aren't quite what they seem are always a win for me and 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss by Kij Johnson over at Clarkesworld (reprinted from Asimov's) is a great entry into the theme. It's also softer and more fun than most I encounter and I think you'll like it too.
- I am surprised I haven't shared a link to The Living New Deal yet! I learned about them at an archive event, what they're doing is so cool and such a neat way to learn about the history of places and the possibilities of the past. From their site: "We map New Deal public works and artworks, we publicize the work of the New Deal and we advocate for New Deal-type programs today." Check out if they have your US city, or city you know and learn what buildings were built as part of the New Deal. It's very cool to realise that some cute old building you know was created as part of a program from over 80 years ago that is still having an impact today.
If you've thought of donating eSims, this guide was very helpful, and Crips for eSims for Gaza is a good option if you can't easily manage topping them up. There are also more traditional donation targets like the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, UNRWA, and Doctors Without Borders. If you prefer giving directly to families, Gaza Funds is a nice resource that facilitates finding campaigns.