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Directory of Moments

A Personal Bullet Point Journal

Week of Dec 21, 2020

[Content Warning: brief mentions of food, alcohol, and family dynamics]

Last-ditch household shopping before the holidays. Crossed the concrete lake of a parking lot, passed the Abandoned Brutalist Chase Bank Grain Silo Fortress.

Freezing rain and the evening bus to get just a few more groceries and then I'm going to hibernate. Enjoying the Christmas lights. Every lit window with a tree and people silhouetted inside fills me with a certain melancholy. It's a low bar, but I appreciated the marquee out front of the Presbyterian church:

Thou shalt wear a mask

Hygenesis 20:20

Over three hours of baking and cooking for Christmas Eve, just for myself. I'll probably do it a day or so beforehand next time and just have evenly heated leftovers. A brief walk to look for Christmas lights, below-freezing and windy. Virtual game night with the family. Some hysterically funny moments, but also the ever-present feeling of isolation with them. My mom's quarantine hair is all the way down her back, and looks cool in a braid.

Small dusting of accumulated snow on Christmas morning. Temperature in the single digits, Fahrenheit. Played a fantastic Bitsy by Em Reed about corporate police surveillance and BUG FLIRTS. Featuring a true Han Solo.

Big brunch with hashbrowns, sausages, english muffins, and a Berry Brunch Stout from Schafly Brewery in St. Louis. It is the exact experience of having pancakes at a diner, with a selection of syrup dispensers beside you. Boysenberry and coffee.

Opened presents virtually with the family, sitting under the tree. Milk, cookies, and fudge. Visited for three hours. I'm really glad I'm here, my cozy home in the Midwest, having my own Christmas for the first time. Regardless of the pandemic, not having to travel was a huge relief.

A favorite show has become available to me: Joe Pera Talks With You. It's a sort of wholesome deadpan comedy about a soft-spoken choir teacher living in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It's not exactly satire or parody, but it embraces and explores the tropes and comforts of life in those regions? I've been watching it lots.

Noodling on the six-string banjo for comfort. Capoed real high: D, Am, C, G. The Sufjan/Iron and Wine chords.

Took a short walk Sunday afternoon. Saturday was sunnier, but I took a nap. There is a row of townhouses a few blocks away, and one is available for rent. It would be less expensive than where I am now. There's a window in the kitchen and a shared backyard. I daydream of fresh herbs in the window and a garden box in the back. I wanted to see what the area was like so I strolled through. Specifically I think I wanted to see what the sunlight would be like. It could be nice. On my walk back I played Andrew Bird's holiday album 'Hark!' in my pocket. I didn't bring my earbuds with me. I wonder if other people on their Pleasant Day walks could hear his whistling.

Set up some of my synthesizers under the tree in the living room. Maybe I'll make some comfort sounds. Roasted carrots and mac n cheese. Vulfpeck solo dance party while cooking in the kitchen to end the week. Time means less than nothing because I'm on vacation. A couple of folksy bluegrass songs on the YouTube and I'll enjoy Joe Pera after this.

References

Em Reed's Bitsy game 'Space Loner Chronicle' on itch.io, created for Bisty Secret Santa 2020. Really clever use of level design and the Bisty format.

https://coleo_kin.itch.io/space-loner-chronicle

Joe Pera Talks You Back to Sleep on YouTube. I've been watching his full television series on HBO Max. Don't miss a good lightning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSUilYKcRMA

Andrew Bird's Winter/Christmas/Holiday album 'Hark!' on Bandcamp.

https://andrewbird.bandcamp.com/album/hark

Vulfpeck on Bandcamp, for your own Solo Dance Party

https://vulfpeck.bandcamp.com/album/the-beautiful-game

Chris Thile, David Rawlings, and Gillian Welch covering The Beach Boys' 'Warmth of the Sun' on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UEyovplyH4

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