every brilliant thing - november 2024
the big dig, logic puzzles, autumn leaves
This month existed outside of time somehow. I had some extremely memorable moments, but my brain wants attribute them to October or December, which makes no sense because December isn’t even here yet. I get the sense that if someone asked me months or years from now, “What happened for you in November 2024?” that I wouldn’t be able to tell them. What’s up with that?
At least there was some good music—my November playlist is down below. 14, 15, and 41 in particular have been rattling around in my brain.
And lastly, I’ve found that Substack’s post editor has been finicky as of late, so the formatting here will be a wonky to mitigate my frustration. Photos in footnotes, videos within the list, more parenthetical musings than usual.
As always, 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.
here’s every brilliant thing i encountered in november:
Emotional release acupuncture/massage (Andrew from Acupuncture for Athletics is my hero)
Permission (nay, command) to rest
Someone I thought I’d never see again reaching out to me
The way light is scattered by a parklet’s plexiglass
Flow state
Over the Garden Wall
Friendships I don’t have to perform for
The Alameda Vintage Fair
A bird cage music box, except instead of playing music, it made the bird move and chirp
Lauren Juzang’s constant rock on hands 🤘🏻
The whoooole Zinadelphia show!!!
Kate and I intuitively and simultaneously posing for a security camera as if it was a fourth wall break
Driving by slice of life vignettes
An outpouring of community support after sharing about my rape on social media
Seeing two coyotes trotting down the street, keeping each other company
Getting my hands dirty (with dirt)
Surprise Tamagotchi acquisition
Bike ride to the beach with Antonio1
Parking at a meter with 2 hours still on it, so altering my plans to make the most of it
The Ransom Notes game (here’s when Charlie and I were first messing around with the magnets)2
Post-Pacifica surf sesh Taco Bell
This weird jumbo egg in Petaluma
Digging a big hole for the joy of it3
Spontaneously going to a concert (Wild Child was so lovely live)
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A mini murmuration of sand pipers (murmuration isn’t the right word, since that refers to starlings, but it’s the closest word that I think applies, since it implies both the flock and the movement)
A big, low moon4
The subtle sound of sand falling
Surprise rhyme: halloween, election, then viral infection
Discovering new ways to sing a song I’ve been singing forever
Hot cocktails
This live recording of Portishead (thanks Nico!)
Live jazz music (thanks Josh!)
Teaching someone how to do Japanese logic puzzles
The g(o)alsquad (formatted like this because right now it’s only gals)
Getting back on my routines
Learning that the person I taught puzzles to finished a massive one on their own the next day
Being able to discuss the finer nuances and impacts of my rape with someone who I knew would actually get it (if you’re reading this—thank you, and I love you)
Surprise focaccia
Colored lights reflecting off of wet pavement
Laughter being the only reaction to watching my can of LaCroix bounce down the stairs
The LaCroix not exploding as much as I thought it would
Decanting wine in erlenmeyer flasks
Singing in an empty parking garage
Waves forming in floodwater
Bug-eyed selfies (when you lock your focus on the background behind the camera rather than the camera itself. It looks absolutely terrible and it cracks me up)5
Surprise rental car upgrade
Lollipop statue bra (it’s family tradition to give her some form of bra for events. This was my solution for my cousin’s baby shower)6
An S-tier cousin hangout
Post-climb Wingstop
Helping someone else find something they love while thrifting
Getting coffee with a new friend I met at Lightbox Expo and learning that we had so much more in common than I had anticipated (Laura and I bonded in October over our love of fashion, but when we got together, we didn’t even discuss fashion at all. We just went down other weird rabbit holes, following the natural flow of conversation. It was the best. You can find her fashion here and her art here.)7
Friends who jump in on bits with me without hesitation
Finding a bonkers sparkly dress for $10 (this is too small for me, and I have no cause to wear it, but it was too good of a piece for the price to pass it up. My plan is to either fold the bottom and tuck it into pants to use this as a top, or to bully one of my friends with narrower hips to wear it)
The House Mouse mouse (it’s just so cute)8
The tiniest rainbow9
Purple mountains at dusk10
Jam session with Charlie on the piano, me on the flute/singing, and my mom on the violin (playing music was the core way my mom and I connected as I was growing up, so this was very special and important to me)
Finding a tonkatsu-ya (I believe the best Japanese food is specialized, rather than at a generic restaurant where you can order almost anything. This restaurant made tonkatsu-centric dishes and nothing else. It was perfect)
How the English handwriting of Japanese immigrants looks exactly the same (My theory is that this is because of how much attention is required to precisely write in Japanese, with attention to stroke order, length, and angle. I’m guessing this is extrapolated to when they learn how to write the roman alphabet. I love going to authentic Japanese restaurants, because seeing the handwriting always reminds me of my mom)
Plain Japanese rice
Textured plaster wall (this reminded me of a soba-ya in Kanazawa that I adore)11
Surprise jam session with strangers at a music store
Attending a reunion of Live from 205, my high school broadcast journalism program, and having one of the attendees announce that they received a job offer from the New York Times that very day
Driving through falling autumn leaves
Leaves crunching underfoot
Old family pictures (so many good ones at my grandma’s house, but this one of my dad in the sunglasses looking as 80’s as possible was killer)12
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Sleeping in my own bed after some time away
