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At takeoff, I'm reading frank: sonnets by diane seuss, which, at halfway, I already know has become a mainstay of my personal canon. The man next to me peers over and asks, is that a book of poems? It's nice to see a young person reading these days. He is large, jovial, white American, around the age of my parents, with blurry tattoos on his sun-drenched arms. I nod politely and point to the…
We meet at a cafe, my favorite in Seoul, our laptops set up diagonally from each other, under the pretense of working together but taking breaks frequently to chat and share a plate of fries. Books and records line the walls alongside grainy portraits of Korean and European thinkers. It's messy in a way that I like; unconscious of its aesthetic. After both clocking out after a reasonable amount of…
There is a pleasure that is hard to put into words in the experience of "falling in friendship" founded in Korean language. I went into the eastern mountains this past weekend with a co-worker-friend who I didn't know very well but wanted to. We had invited others, but only the two of us ended up signing up for an overnight snowboarding camp. We met at 6:40 AM on Friday morning and took a two-hour…
With a very real looming possibility that I might be leaving Seoul for a while (at will, with excitement), I've already started feeling nostalgic for the city. I'm going to spend the next three months intentionally enjoying everything I love about living here and likely take for granted. This past weekend, an idea formed and solidified while I was writing Morning Pages. I would have a perfect day…
there is a drawing taped to my fridge I made this time last year with a blue river down the middle of the page, a backpack on one side and a stick figure with a heart too big for its body on the other since then, I flew out of 15 airports around the world where I recorded powerpoint presentations while waiting at the gate, sent “boarding!” selfies to keep one of my only superstitions at bay, spent…
(after Kate Baer) to arrive early and respond quickly to file outstanding taxes less applications more intuition running and writing to simply take in the world in a new language sunrises, lemony oysters, lines of poetry that make me go woooow kissing a real mashing of nerves on the dance floor, around my dining table surrounded by friends and plates picked at all night "don't worry about it" I'll…
I’m 13 years old, scouring the depths of the internet looking for music none of my friends have heard before. I had just bought my first pair of skinny jeans, taught myself to soft-code Xanga layouts, and this was my first foray into indie music. I come across a music blog that features a list of new underground rock bands. I am taken by the thought of discovering something "underground." One band…
today is the winter solstice: I spent the day creating a spreadsheet listing every book I have ever read (a work in progress), filling a duffel bag with clothes to donate, reading a book cover to cover as light slowly drained from my room, and setting up this digital desk on the internet here, I'll put form to observations I've kept to myself, follow a lingering thought to its end, save phrases I…