my pillow book: merrily March rolls along

Inspired by Sei Shōnagon’s diary-lists in The Pillow Book. The last time I wrote something like this was in sophomore year: read here.

Standing in front of the sea lions exhibit at the Natural History museum and then—
Reading someone’s palm as the violin plays in the cavernous library hall, the night sky inky dark through the windows, amber lamplight warm on our faces, whispering too loudly and too much about love lines and love lives

Turning, looking, seeing a weary but bright face, lighting up with recognition and quiet elation. Hey there, you say. Hey, I say.
What’s your life story? What’s your earliest memory of being unhappy?
Listening to “Nessun Dorma” on loop after watching Turandot in all its glittering glory

Actually worked out regularly (shocking!) after I decided to stop wasting my ClassPass credits — thanks both to D who introduced me to pilates and my newfound favorite Zumba instructor at Crunch
Munching on pineapple tarts (courtesy of S and D) which has balanced out any calorie lost through cardio, R.I.P.
Reading Anna Karenina on the train

“Why is this opera so depressing,” I said. “So shall we just get out of here?” D asked, one minute before the last act of La Forza del Destino. We left and went to get bubble tea.
Spotting Mike Bloomberg and Jamie Dimon just casually chilling at a book launch party

Men are an utter waste of time, R said. That’s why I froze my eggs.
Want to come to SBF’s sentencing hearing? Might be more interesting than a show.
Howling Mamma Mia and I Want It That Way (which for some reason I always thought was called Tell Me Why, sue me) into the mic at an old-fashioned karaoke with 70s stock footage on-screen and a taped-over remote control with fat keys, in a very oblong room
Falling flat on the mat from bouldering a V1, chalk dust a mushroom cloud, pigtails flopping
Playing a ‘guess the accent’ game and me protesting, “There’s NO way this is the Chinese accent.”
Tasting chocolate-flavored Soylent
How dystopian do I look? I ask as I try the Apple VisionPro.
Hearing a person’s recount of living with a wasp infestation in a log cabin in Lufkin for two weeks
A new acquaintance telling me, in great detail, the seven habits of highly effective people and me being disagreeable

Emotional disobedience in writing — of irresolution, ambiguity, opacity. As Auden said, “Poetry might be defined as the clear expression of mixed feelings.”
Solitude: I was watching & Juliet by myself, listening to their rendition of “Fuckin’ Perfect,” when I felt an irrevocable sense of being immensely alone, like no one else will ever be able to understand this singular moment in time.
ChatGPT will be able to do original creative writing within a year, per my boss. Imagine this prompt, he said. Write about X in a way that can evoke maximum emotional response in a human reader.
How necessary is trauma for art? Ocean Vuong talked about the burdens of family trauma — the numerous heads that had to stay bowed down on factory floors and in nail salons, for one head to be raised, sitting before a desk to write. The bill had already been paid in sweat and tears — the cost was too high. He had no other choice than to be completely raw and honest when pouring himself onto the page.

Best bubble tea in NYC? New contenders on the leaderboard: Débutea in Greenwich Village and Her Boba in Hell’s Kitchen ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

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