My default answer for, “How are you?” throughout August has been, “I am overwhelmed and tired, but generally in good spirits.”
If you’re new here or want a refresher, you can click the link below for March’s list and a primer of why I’m writing an EBT list. You can find previous months’ lists on this page.
And here’s my August playlist, if you want a soundtrack as you scroll through this post. Currently on repeat are are songs 18, 46, 53, 67, and 90. Since the embedded playlist only lists the first 100 songs, I’ll give an honorable mention to song 102, “Dirt Man” by Carter Vail.
and with that,
here’s every brilliant thing i encountered in august:
HI-CHEW
Moments when you feel transported to how it once used to be
Elote empanadas
Landing a new skill at flying trap, not destroying my ribs again in the process1
Parking in a spot with time left in the meter
Hearing some one pivot from their “business voice” talking to me to their normal voice talking to a coworker
Beautiful, sunny days in Golden Gate Park
A dog starting to bark during an applause break from the audience
When a dog barks at you, so you bark back
Seeing a cybertruck get pulled over
“It’s polygons all the way down”
Surprise crocodile3
A regal window cat4
Heirloom tomato burrata salad when tomatoes are in season
My emotional support butter5
Books stacked in an apartment window
The instant feeling of warm nostalgia from the smell of passing a taiyaki spot
How as I round every bend in New York, I'm constantly surprised by something
Restaurants with an open kitchen, like Misi
Befriending servers (shout out Austin from Misi)
Looking out the restaurant window, seeing a familiar tattoo sleeve, saying, “Holy shit,” then sprinting out of the restaurant to yell hello6
A bathroom with fire hydrants painted on the door8
Evil-looking street lamps9
The bartender bringing
just a stick full of olives because he noticed that she ate hers and also our friend’sTree-lined streets
Trees on rooftops10
A bear statue with folded paws11
A pigeon resting in the grass13
A spider plant with so many babies14
Watching the closing performance of Illinoise15
This rock on crosslight vandalism16
Doing a bit of dancing to the a fire truck’s siren, followed by immediate embarrassment that we were very slightly in the way of said fire truck
An extremely odd club remix of “I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5 on top of the instrumental track from “Drop It Like It's Hot” by Snoop Dogg
Strangers telling you your dance moves are fire
When you try to leave the club, but they keep playing bangers :/
When someone compliments you and they make clear thats all it is—that they're not trying to get anything from you17
The weird regency era bit we were doing at Café Reggio18
Raul, the server at Café Reggio, who served us with kindness, got in on our bits, and broke up a fight outside
Walking through Hu Tong and being convinced I was in a Hitman III level. It's the most video game map restaurant I've ever seen
Hu Tong's Kung Pao Iced Tea
Willow trees in the wind
The epitaph, “Well, I liked it.”
Transporting music (in this case, “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down)
Taking yourself out on a date
Freshly-made gnocchi
Motivation for creative practice
Grilled stone fruit when it’s in season
Ivy on freeway retaining walls
Bookstore dates
A toast-shaped coaster19
Glockenspiels
A successful caricature20
A sprinkle of rain falling on the windshield
Trees that lean to reach for the sun
The view of downtown SF from Dolores Park21
Describing a subsection of my music taste as “writhing music”22
A white-bearded man wearing all black except for a tan poncho/scarf/jacket, holding a banana like a gun23
A golden retriever carrying a baseball cap in its mouth
Waking from a dream about songwriting with a fully formed melody on my lips
The patterns of light and shadow that skyscrapers cast
Getting a raise the same day my best friend gets a promotion (congrats
!!!)Spotting the person who I wrote the compliment about months later (if you’re seeing this—hi! Thank you for your warm greeting and making me not feel too weird for running up to give you a handwritten URL so you could read the post about you! I hope you liked it!)
Soft clouds with pink edge lighting
Karl the fog covering the bottom of Sutro Tower, making it look like a pirate ship in the sky
Taking a curve real tight, so you feel the need to engage your core, creating the momentary illusion of being a badass racer
A warm reunion with someone you haven’t seen in months
Prolonged eye contact
Doing something I never knew I was capable of before
Breathing in the forest
The resilience of nature (specifically, the new growth emerging from charred trees)24
A naturally-occurring rectangle in a tree25
Seeing an adult deer grooming a younger deer26
Surprise parties (happy birthday, Danny!)
While my ribs were ok, this unfortunately thrashed my adductor, an injury I’ve had for about a year and a half. The odd part is that usually my adductor only hurts doing straddling movements, of which there are none here. But silver lining: this injury is getting us closer to the mystery of what’s wrong with my leg. The current working theory is that it’s not an adductor injury at all—rather, it’s a hamstring injury that’s referring pain to the adductor. I’m not entirely sure how that works, but I have some specialist appointments in the comings weeks, so hopefully we get some more answers soon.
Lauren and I went to Bakeri in the morning after landing in New York, and I had the most delicious butter with my breakfast (just look at it!!!). I was dismayed at the thought that they would just throw it away when we left, so I asked for a to-go container for just the butter. I carried it around in my purse all day, and since I kept forgetting I had it, it made me laugh and go, “Oh! My emotional support butter!” every time I saw it. I ended up breaking it out over dinner (hiding it under my leg when I wasn’t using it), and then brought the rest with me back to California to eat with homemade sourdough.
It was someone I trained trampoline with at the Circus Center in SF before my MCL & toe injuries. Apparently he lives in Brooklyn now. I had no idea.
Emmy and I became friends through Instagram, after she saw a story of me singing her song “yellow year.” I went out on a limb to see if she’d be down for a coffee walk when I came to New York, and to my delight she was! We had a wonderful time talking life and songwriting, sowing the seeds for what I hope will be a long, sweet friendship.
I’ve never seen this many spider plant offshoots at once. Spotted in the parklet of L’Industrie Pizzeria, Brooklyn.
I have thought about this show literally every day since first seeing it over Memorial Day Weekend. That night I said, “I might have to come back to New York later this summer just to burn it into my brain before it closes.” I’m so glad I did. This is me with my dear friend Jeanette, one of Illinoise’s Dance Captains.
Spotted with Lauren on Eighth Ave and W 16th St, on the way to meet
in the West Village.A woman ran after me at the Stonewall Inn as we were leaving to tell me that with my vibes and my dance moves, she thought I was one of the most beautiful people she had ever seen. I laughed and gave my thanks profusely, and she said, “You’re welcome, I just wanted to tell you!” then ran back to dancing with her friends.
This doesn’t even showcase our bit well, but what it DOES show is 3am delirium, featuring Lauren unable to breathe, me hyena cackling, Raul giving us notes to improve our bits, and Blake being the star of the show.
On the coffee table at Parallax, where I got my honeybee tattoo from Dolim Kim. I kept calling it a “toaster,” before remembering that a toaster is already a thing that exists.
I am told that I have a difficult face to caricature, because I don’t have any particularly distinct facial features (somehow everyone forgets my freckles??). This means that if you looked at a drawing of me without being told in advance that it’s me, you probably wouldn’t be able to guess that it’s of me. So this one that Kenna Harris did tickles me so much, because I think it’s the first one where you actually could guess!
Implying a more whole body movement than gyrating. Example: “Casamigos” by Ruby Waters, which has been stuck in my head for weeks.
Spotted in the Castro, on the drive to the Snug with
. Here’s a sketch Alex drew of him once we were settled at the bar.Spotted through a fence Larkspur, while waiting to meet up with everyone before Danny’s surprise birthday party.