whatever gets you through the night

(apparently elton john sings backup and plays piano on this?!)

winter solstice

“winter solstice” by Alex Dimitrov

best of list for 2020

in addition to friends and family, highlights of my year:

• Waxahatchee’s album saint cloud
• stumptown’s holler mountain coffee — a gentle delight
• strawberry kombucha
• that miraculous mug i won from east fork pottery
• suzy’s cookie donation fundraisers
• suzy’s pavlova
• getting a library job, i mean, what the actual hell
• lovers rock
• iMovie????? yes, iMovie
• those excel spreadsheet by ny times writers, can’t find the link but perfect
• ken leung on LOST, ok, and maybe other parts of LOST
• binging i’m not okay with this with john and nancy
• the production design on the queen’s gambit
• the NBA (period)
• frankie getting good reviews at the vet
• all dogs
• this craft, my crowning glory, will never top (see my ratty video of it here)
• the book hog by greg pizzoli — get this one for any kid you know (under age five, maybe?)
• you must remember this about polly platt, honestly, it should be on everyone’s best podcast list, sorry. i loved its hollywood secrets and glamour and cruelty and the endless struggle to stay relevant. also polly platt crashing with orson welles in his mansion in arizona (?!?!) is bonkers.
• the mandalorian — against the odds! strangely relaxing and moving? it’s like the original star wars: kinda campy, bad acting, but also compelling in a deep way. wasn’t sold, then was sold.

TO BE CONTINUED

Studies on Twilight Phenomena, after Krakatoa (1888)

(via public domain review)

this morning’s view from yoga mat

this couch, yes

my love for printed couches knows no end. via gloria gonzalez.

there is no chance that we will fall apart

should i be alarmed that my mom sent this to me

good couch

Photography by Aaron Leitz, courtesy of Jessica Helgerson Interior Design.

scenes out of town

had to go to some doctors in austin and used thanksgiving to make the journey. feel sheepish about the travel, but it is what it is. first time out of town since last march, right when we were starting to understand the gravity of the pandemic (but also not at all). since then, so much has happened:

• got library job
• got laid off from el cosmico
• library job seemed to disappear
• watched all of lost
• got hired at the library
• library director became city manager and named me de facto director (“the blind shall lead the blind”)
• one coworker quit (in protest)
• another coworker got COVID
• we closed the library for two weeks
• had to hire new person to replace the quitter
• had to train a new part-time person (poorly)
• will probably burn down the library

so anyway, it’s felt awesome to take a minute. stayed at the hotel san jose, and they spoiled me rotten, upgrading me, leaving me all these treats. i got takeout, laid in bed and watched harry potter, took a bath, went to bed at 10pm. the next day i went to the doctors, met my new beautiful niece, distance-saw pals, and ate fried rice leftovers. did old lady PBS stretching this morning. it was perfect.

also so far i’ve been to whole foods twice, spent so much money, but there are so many new and unknown flavors to try. what a dream.