the power keeps turning on and off since late last night due to the crazy high winds (like 30 mph!) we’ve had the past sixteen hours or so – i sleep in what used to be the attic, so it’s particularly l o u d. whenever the power would come back on last night, the answering machine voice would automatically and patiently explain to me how to re-set it, the automatic-but-broken-for-a-year skylight-windows would try to “close” themselves, grinding the motor for five minutes plus, and weird tick-tocking sounds behind my head would start up again, freaking me out, and just generally causing not such good sleep. still, woke up pretty happy considering all that, as i’ve decided to take a mental health day, as my sisters call it. there were plans for today, but whoosh, they’re all out the window, carried away by these high winds. ha.

some art:

ah, my birthday month is almost over. in the future, i’ll remember this month as the month i finally started to make plans again. see, after college – and after an unhappy and stressed out senior year, where i just barely graduated thanks to an understanding professor – i headed out to the west coast and was determined, i remember, to not make any plans further than a month out. at the time, the idea was that i’d been a student for so long, with whole years marked out and planned way in advance, that finally, i clearly really really needed a break. and that’s what i did. i took about three years, making no plans and just following my interests. i felt lost and bewildered at times, sure, and wow, was it hard to get across to people why this was important for me to do and what it was i was doing, but looking back.. those were some awesome years. i learned a lot and explored so much and ah, sometimes i think “glory days”? ack, i hope not – i want them ahead of me, always elusively around the corner. anyhow.