Learning a new hobby is so much fun, in a loving but frustrating way LOL.

This is Amsterdam (Holland)

Today's Haiku with Picture 444

Bird's eye

The color of the sky

Reflects

バーズアイ

空の色をば

映しけり

(2023.03.05)

“Infinite fires”

Infinite fires Rain reflects the / infinite fires of evening: / puddles are liquid glass. . . #infinite #fires #rain #glass #liquid #evening #haiku #haiga #poem #poetry #photo #oldnorthknoxville #davidebooker #december #monday #2023 #121123

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Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landside, No escape from reality

tripreport.023: Nocturnal Animal

two months of nights have turned me into a nocturnal animal 🦇

March was characterized by the undeniable Gotham energy in the city in March. For the first time in my life, I preferred the night. For so long I had been chasing light but I finally felt comfortable in the dark. The darkness represented where I was at mentally; it wasn’t negative or bad or sad. It was just dark.

It felt like crime was happening everywhere. Christina Yuna Lee was followed into her apartment and brutally murdered just around the block from me. I was much more aware of my safety and aware of my existence as an Asian-American. At the same time, I was existing deeper and deeper into the night time as I embraced night life more directly. I went to Rash for the first time, enshrouded by the smoke, lights, and abrasive music, and thought to myself, “If a fire were to break out right now, I would have no clue what to do.” A week later, Rash was burned down in an arson attack, most likely a hate crime against the queer community.

I was reaching the end of my marathon training, doing long runs all across lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, often from day until night. Things were feeling off with my job. I went back to Oklahoma for a friend’s wedding and realized how complicated I still felt about my past relationships. It didn’t help that I went to that wedding with my ex. My dad got really sick.

The night time felt safe, like I didn’t have to face the demands of the world when everyone had gone to bed.

I found solace in other ways. I had my longest DJ session ever at MJ Café where I mixed for 5 hours. I was playing some Jersey club and Dave Chappelle heard it and came into the cafe which was wild. I had some other sets both in NYC and Tulsa. I saw a surprise Arcade Fire show and made some new friends just by going in line and seeing if I could get in without a ticket. I went to Sojo Spa Club and rejuvenated in an infinity pool looking over the Manhattan skyline as it snowed. I saw the new Batman movie, which served as a major inspiration for this mix. The new Nilüfer Yanya album was everything to me.

The tracks across this mix are representative of the dark energy I felt throughout March. I hope they can provide a similar sense of safety for anyone going through a similar period of life.

Personality reflects the self.

Dina and Me

a journey of pain, growth and persistence

(prints available here)

whatever I'll post my addendum to it anyway

When Izzy first walked out I was worried that he would be made into a joke that the crew would laugh at

but then he started singing and the dancing began and I realized that he wasn’t meant to be a joke at all. This is the most open and happy we’ve ever seen Izzy and the show treated it that way. Not mocking him but instead celebrating this moment.

When we talk about queer representation it’s usually just focused on queer relationships, but what I love about this episode is it shows other sides of being queer. That moment where Izzy saw Wee John doing his makeup and had a realization that he wanted that too? That is what being queer means to me. The crew singing along and cheering for him? That is what being apart of the queer community means to me.

What i love about this show is that it shows queer joy, not in a sanitized way, but in away that is messy, beautiful, and without any mockery or shame.

Pêche (Fishing) - Provence (France)

Dear Child of God,

Jesus, You are our Portion!

Love, ECIM

Video: Canva Music: Shine Jesus Shine - Kaleb Brasee Cover

Anthony Davis reflects on lack of competitiveness in NBA All-Star Game

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis recently shared his thoughts on the perennial issue of lack of competitiveness in the NBA All-Star Game. Despite efforts by the league to enhance competition, this year’s showcase once again prioritized offense over defense, resulting in a record-setting victory for the Eastern Conference stars. Davis addressed the delicate balance between entertaining fans…

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I can't keep being fundamentally changed as a person by animated movies, it's just not sustainable.

My Favorite Albums of 2020

3. Charli XCX, how i’m feeling now

Favorite Tracks: forever | anthems | visions

how i’m feeling now was the first major “quarantine album,” a project made entirely during and about the pandemic. A big draw of this album was following along with Charli’s transparent, DIY creative process which allowed fans to feel like they were lending a hand with the development of the album. This is pretty cool on its own and definitely speaks to the themes of digital connection and isolation, but honestly none of that mattered that much to me. I just love how this album makes me feel.

One of the major aspects of early quarantine was my rapidly developing addiction to both working out and gorging myself on sweets. My life was in a delicate balance between running five miles a day and eating ten Reese’s cups a day. This is what how i’m feeling now sounds like to me: it was like Charli decided to sprint 400 meters but injected herself with fun dip first. It was like she ripped a pixie stick in half and emptied it over her signature “bubblegum pop” for an energetic and addictive 37-minute sugar rush for the ears.

This sound is in huge part to her decision to forego more traditional lush (and arguably more accessible) pop sensibilities and the big-name features heard on her previous album Charli for a more raw, abrasive electronic soundscape. Major credit is due to the producers A.G. Cook, BJ Burton, and Dylan Brady (two of whom have albums previously in this list) who have pushed the acid-meets-poppers electronic sounds of PC music into the forefront of the zeitgeist. While not for everyone, the production lends itself well to the saccharine takes on isolation that Charli has decided to portray. This is most apparent in the bold (and brash) intro of “Pink Diamond,” which would make you think that Charli was about to drop an album for the bodybuilding.com community:

I just wanna go real hard, I just wanna go real hard Pink diamond in the dark - Charli XCX, “pink diamond”

Charli manages to combine the now-lost energy of pregaming with friends before the club with the ever-present energy of lounging at home bored out of your mind; she bides this lost energy like electricity, shooting out tasteful lightning bolts where they’ll invigorate the listener the most. This electricity was not only felt through the music, but literally through the way I accessed it: the rise of virtual concerts that took place in novel, digital spaces like 100 gecs’ Minecraft Square Garden show (that I attended using my sister’s character Chocobunnyxo) or A.G. Cook’s Appleville stream were new ways that I connected with music and artists this year. I don’t know how many times I’ve rewatched Charli’s nine minute piano performance of “visions” in her home (and pool); the trend of unique at-home-but-live performances is something I’ve really appreciated this year.

While I enjoy the middle section of chiller songs, the songs exuding a longing for the fun days of the past are the moments on the album that I really connect with. I’m particularly partial to “anthems,” which reminds me of the contrast between the nothingness of living with my parents in Oklahoma to the upward life trajectory and verging-on-problematic amounts of partying I was doing with friends in NYC:

I get existential and so strange I hear no sounds when I’m shouting I just wanna go to parties Up high, wanna feel the heat from all the bodies I want anthems Late nights, my friends, New York (yeah) I sleep, wanna wake up brand new - Charli XCX, “anthems”

All that being said, there are few songs I’ve listened to this year more than Charli’s first how i’m feeling now single, “forever.” I would play “forever” on my daily runs and smile to myself as the intro built up, drenched in sunlight as I grasped for any instance of serotonin offered to me during my blending days at home. “forever” is just pure joy for me, I have no other way to put it.

I know in the future (Love you) We won’t see each other Cold just like December But I will always love you (Love you) I’ll love you forever Yeah, I’ll love you forever - Charli XCX, “forever”

I always misheard these lyrics as “Conscious of December,” representative of the hope that maybe we would be able to see our loved ones in December. I know now that I was wrong: it is cold as I write this in December, but how I’m feeling now is much different from how I was feeling then. I’ve become, like all of us, more accustomed to the way the world works in COVID times compared to the emotional confusion of the spring. However, I’ll never forget how this album electrified me with glimmers of happiness throughout 2020, and I can’t wait for the anthems, the parties, and the late nights with my friends in New York to start again soon.