Yosemite is such a flirt! Views for days, meadows that glow gold, plunging waterfalls. It had been awhile since my last visit to the park, yet I still had that fluttery feeling in my stomach while driving in, proving once again just how easy it is to fall in love with places, and that true love can last a lifetime.
Continue reading “La Belle Fleur Sauvage”
To make living itself an art, that is the goal. – Henry Miller
Now I know why many men have stopped and wept/ Halfway between the loves they leave and seek/ And wondered if travel leads them anywhere… -Leonard Cohen, Stranger Music
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
Continue reading “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front”
A man sets out to draw the world. As the years go by, he peoples a space with images of provinces, kingdoms, mountains, bays, ships, islands, fishes, rooms, instruments, stars, horses and individuals. A short time before he dies, he discovers that the patient labyrinth of lines traces the lineaments of his own face. -Jorge Luis Borges
All growth is a leap in the dark. -Henry Miller
…….
I last wrote during what I thought would be a temporary stop in the USA for bereavement, which somehow managed to turn into a year in New York City. Specifically, after puttering around my parent’s house in California for a few months I moved on a whim into a tiny bedroom in Crown Heights, Brooklyn for a chance at an adventure in the big city with the bright lights. Thanks to a wonderful childhood friend I worked the first couple months at the front desk of a bougie gym in Midtown, and spent my free time visiting all the sights that good tourists are supposed to see while happily subsisting on bagels and greasy slices of pizza. Eventually, I was hired for a ten month contract position at a non-profit in East New York to work on implementing a new healthy food initiative, a position that will come to an end in only ten more days.
My mother claims that she knows I’m actually leaving the country once she hears me playing Cat Stevens. At the risk of being predictable, this time around my packing music has been all Whitney Houston. All Whitney, all the time. She gets me. The only thing I’ve ever wanted, really, is to dance with somebody who loves me.
Ahhh Facebook. Thanks for reminding me what a big loser I am these days. I’m mostly kidding, but I did learn tonight thanks to Facebook saving my former status updates (Facebook! Stop creepin’ on me!) that on THIS EXACT DAY in 2009 I was packing up after spending the summer adventuring in Costa Rica and Ecuador, and on this same day a year ago I was all packed and ready to leave the 13th to start teaching in Spain. Realizing that after unpacking all my things a week ago into my Grandparents’ guest room closet made me feel like I’d taken a big leap backwards, and I had to remind myself that really in this moment I am exactly where I want to be. You have to understand a few things:
Yes, I’ve created a blog. Yes, I am aware that this has the potential to increase my douchebag factor tenfold. No, I will not be making a trip to the store to buy the obligatory plaid scarf, keds and ray-bans. Or getting a twitter. And I’m definitely not becoming vegan, mostly because life would be so much worse without bacon. I guess I should introduce myself… is that what you do on these things? As I’m sure anyone who is reading this already knows, my name is Alyssa. I’ve spent all of my 22 years living in Southern California, and I recently completed my undergraduate education this past June. Are you bored yet?
Taking the Long Way 