well hi there everyone!
i wrote TWO letters for y’all and never sent either, so here’s a little compilation before i get better at… actually sending my newsletters instead of just thinking about them until they’re irrelevant.
both of these are from my time in boston throughout this summer, which is actually ending today, ‘cause i’m flying back to california this evening. i’ll tell you more about that in a newsletter tomorrow or something, though.
for now, here are my incredibly overdue life updates that are no longer applicable !
here’s the first! just titled it ‘staying in chinatown’ in the document it was in.
i flew into this new city on friday, and i've been exploring a lot. i'm here for a summer job as what's basically a camp counselor but with the national park service (& i’m teaching history/nature lessons instead of worrying about coraling kids) and i'm so excited for it, honestly. we've only just started planning this week and next week is our first time with the campers, which will be so, so fun.
anyway, i've had the most amazing food & drinks here ! i'm going to share some of my favorites:
- this really thick and fragrant hot & sour soup from a cute dim sum place with weirdly-patterned cloth drapes on all their seats and these huge, crazy chandeliers
- papaya milk tea from this little taiwanese bakery
- this goma cucumber dish with a creamy black sesame sauce
- black sesame mochi from that same dim sum place... the way it was plated in a little bowl of syrup reminded me a lot of rasgullai've been so pleasantly surprised by it ! i don’t know. east coast cities are so different from west coast ones. it's so much less.. gritty, i guess. it's weirdly safe and clean in some parts of this city, like a slightly less planned downtown disneyland. not that LA doesn’t have rich safe neighborhoods, but it feels different.
i was walking back from dinner with some family earlier and got struck with the realization that i think everything looks much more chill and homey here (in boston, specifically) because strip malls aren't really a thing here, and they're so essential to the structure of the LA. it’s pretty clear that there are no big, awesome reasons for that— just that cities are more tightly packed out here— but i still like it. plus, there aren't tons of billboards here which is nice.
it's really interesting, honestly. i love the west coast because it's my home, but there's a lot about the east coast that interests & impresses me. though i can’t speak for all of it, of course. only boston, really…
i decided to leave my cassettes & my player back home which i'm a little sad about, now. i just got a ton of cool cassettes and i'm really hoping to get more (there's this online shop that's selling uncurated boxes of 24 cassettes for $20 and it's got me... very interested). right now, i Think this is the full (small) list of cassettes that i have:
luminol - midwife
debo hacerlo - juan gabriel
the best of sam cooke
a mixtape i made with my uncle when he gave me his old cassette player
some queer indie rock band cassette i cannot for the life of me remember because my uncle gave it to me and i haven't had a chance to listen to it
maybe i'll find some more in some thrift shops or whatever around here... i would be so hyped, to be honest ! i know i have music on my phone and all, but it's not the same as sitting down with a cassette and melting into the sound and hearing the scratchy static in the distant background and knowing the music is being forced to make itself right there in your hands (or in the cassette player, i guess).
that's actually the same reason i really love ceramics/pottery. hopefully i can actually learn how to work with those art forms eventually !
i should probably get ready to sleep now because i have work tomorrow and i would rather not be exhausted for it, but i'll probably end up looming around online some more.
anyway, goodnight, everyone ! or good morning, or good afternoon, or good evening. i hope you're doing alright.
𓅭 𓅮 𓅯
sending warmth & hearth…
best of omens,
xalli
pretty nice, i think. i don’t know why i kept going back and editing. i should stop doing that.
anyhow, here’s the second! i called it ‘conjunctions & recently’ in its document.
the last week or so has been really nice !
i feel like not much has been going on, but i don't know if that's actually true, or if i've just gotten into enough of a routine that the cool stuff feels like it blends into the background.
work has been really lovely. i adore my team, and it's so nice to interact with the public ! we tabled at a little fourth of july fair and taught people how to make rope (+ some friendship bracelets and paracord bracelets), and it was so much fun to make so many little kids and even adults so happy.
i met these really sweet older lesbians, too, when a stud and her butch approached a little set up we had (and i was manning) that taught people how to tie some common sailor's knots and had rope to practice with. the stud tied a clove hitch faster than any white guy or little kid with too much pride to ask for help that i'd seen, and she seemingly surprised and impressed her butch who remarked that she was really good at that.
when the stud started untying the knot for the next person, her butch walked away, and she leaned over and told me that "people doubt your skill set." it was obviously playful, with no hard feelings, but there was still some genuine emotion under it. i felt like she was reminding me that i need to be sure of my skills, 'cause everyone else will doubt that i have them.
it was a quick interaction, and i wish i'd had more. i grew up with a lot of support around and community in my queerness, but they’re pretty young because my parents are pretty young, and it’s so nice and weirdly different to meet like… actually elder queer people out and about. something about not knowing them but having a connection, still. we have so much to learn from them.
anyway, during the evening on the 4th, my dad and i took a small boat out onto the river to watch fireworks and eat snacks and listen to music. we've never been big 4/7 celebrators except for a few years (as far as i can remember, at least), but it was honestly a very nice way to spend the holiday night.
we didn't stay out too long, either, since i had work the next day, but it was more than enough to enjoy ourselves.
i'm not sure what else has been going on. i miss my dog (athena) a lot, being away from home. i'm not someone who misses things or people or whatever a lot throughout the day-- i tend to be pretty focused on whatever i'm doing/is happening-- but when i think about things, it makes me a little sad that i can't snuggle my dog, athena.
she's such a needy little sweetheart, and i miss her laying all her weight on & across my chest.
exploring the city has been a really cool experience. i always thought i'd hate east coast architecture, and don't get me wrong, it's certainly not my favorite, but i like it surprisingly more than expected. it looks less dull than in the photos, i guess.
seeing all the incredibly old, beautiful architecture like cool churches with tall spires with huge skyscrapers filling the sky behind them is so cool to me. the conjunction of history and modernity makes me think about a lot.
there's so much that's different between here and where i'm from. i never hear people speaking european languages back home. i barely ever see any indians back home, either— at least where i live. the dogs are mostly small here, at least in the city. the accents are so cool and different. it all throws me off, but in a good way. i like noticing things, and i hope that i'll build the habit of noticing things around here enough that it'll transfer when i go back home.
i've always considered myself observant and perceptive, but i feel especially so out here.
i want to submit to a zine-type-thing this month, so i might post some drafts and definitely the final poem here if i do ! it's gonna be at least vaguely about wolves, as the theme of the zine requests, so... look forward to that, i guess !
i hope all y'all are doing wonderfully.
𓅭 𓅮 𓅯
sending well wishes & worthwhile (ad)ventures.
best of omens,
xalli
i don’t have too much to add at the moment, because i don’t want to make this a triple feature, but rest assured, you’ll get it soon !
i think we’ve learned by now that any promise i make of consistency is unlikely at best, but i sure will do my best for y’all !
i hope y’all have been well & taking care of yourselves this summer.
𓅭 𓅮 𓅯
sending cute birds and a good end of summer your way!
best of omens,
xalli