letter of recommendation
i was going to write something more thoughtful, but i started this retrospective way too late and it’s practically almost (and it's now) 1/2/21 in this time zone and has been already in most other time zones. my attention was highly scattered last year, my motivation shot. blah blah blah. you know. here is my little prayer that i will send more letters this year. here is my hope that you have better health and sweetness and good tidings this year.
flowers
fresh flowers from the farmer’s market are best, but in deep fall, even the dahlias run their course. in the winter, you find green wreaths and dried flowers and feathery pampas grass, sometimes flush with color. these bundles bring me a little warmth. most recently, my orchid bloomed again, after a year of slumber; it feels like a blessing, her crown of petals.
my favorite albums of last year:
haim, women in music pt iii. masterful, organic, so good.
ariana grande, positions. i’ve always thought her voice is target-bland, mall-shopping-good, but it hits a new level: a honey syrup with rap and extremely cheeky turns of phrase that show her sense of humor: “you such a dream come true, ooh / make a bitch wanna hit snooze.” just great, fun, beams of joie de vivre.
taylor swift, folklore / evermore i mean, wow. folklore sustained me for months and unlocked some sort of euphoria with her prowess and new soundscapes.
assassin’s creed: valhalla
granted, i haven’t played it for a while now, maybe in part to getting motion sickness (it’s not a FPS but the camera is… vibrantly active), but it’s vast and satisfying and i get to ride around on a giant wolf and see norse gods.
hades
i am obsessed. you’ve probably already heard of it if you are remotely interested in video games, or adjacently interested, but hades is highly addictive. greek gods, gorgeous art, and chaotic bursts of action.
quick lunch
base: cooked rice or noodles, like indomie add-ons: fried egg, another type of protein, pickled cucumber slices (vinegar + water + sugar) or julienned carrots, sautéed bok choy with a dash of soy sauce, sesame oil, a dash of szechuan pepper
zines
took a zine workshop with a couple dear friends and made a couple sloppy zines out of sheets of paper, then proceeded to not make any more for the rest of the year. highly recommended, the making and the learning.
garageband
i don’t know if it was listening to song exploder or watching videos on finneas or grimes producing their nth song or tay-tay but it is my new playground and i am having fun, so far, with drum machines and crunchy electric guitars.