nothing gold can stay
september 12, 2025
10:16 am CST
Yesterday I finished a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle: different species of butterflies arranged by color into a world map. Well, I lost one piece in the process so I really put together 999 pieces, in about four days over six to eight hours. A third of my day, sitting at the dining table fitting misshapen wooden objects together. Obviously I don’t spend it in silence, though in my childhood I did. Nowadays I get deeply bored of my own thoughts after a couple hours. In this case, I finished an audiobook: J.D. Vance’s (yes, that J.D. Vance) Hillbilly Elegy. I actually quite liked it… but now I’m reckoning with the man I see today. I imagine some part of him is doing the same. I’m now starting Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist. I also listened to a few episodes of my favorite podcast, Dear Hank and John–As a big vlogbrothers fan, it’s like hour-long reunion videos–and some music, too. I finished the puzzle to the illustrious Nina Simone’s Silk & Soul record.
I didn’t get into audiobooks or podcasts really until college. I remember thinking that podcasts were for pretentious people who want to multi-task constantly. It’s notable that I am not a multitasker. My brain just doesn’t work that way. In fact, the only times I can focus on two things at once is while doing puzzles and running. I cannot get myself to run without distractions and, as previously stated, I yap too much for even my own liking. So I do everything else in silence. I actually can’t imagine how people study while listening to music?? I used to do that in middle school, but I can only get thirty seconds into a song, even a calm jazz album, before I’m overwhelmed.
I also just like putting all of my attention into one thing, and really enjoying it? I actually really like studying and doing schoolwork when I don’t procrastinate or forget about an assignment.
I have 8 days left in Austin and I’m slowly taking stock of what I want to bring to Seattle. I am living in an apartment with my own room, so I have a lot more personal space and get to decorate how I please. And on my home bedroom walls include eight postcards from Marfa, Texas, about an eight-hour drive away. So, the summer of 2023 I stayed at McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, TX for an internship. It was a wonderful experience, maybe one that I will write about some day. And one night towards the end of our trip, we drove to nearby Marfa to witness the Marfa lights: a random light flashing phenomenon that I believe can be explained by science but, of course, other people think is aliens. We stopped at a visitor center for some reason that had postcards too, eight of them (for free) that currently hang on my walls.
With the same spirit as this blog, I normally call friends on their birthdays. They are happy to hear from me; I am very good with remembering that of even childhood friends. For instance, my closest friend from kindergarten’s birthday is July 22nd. I have not spoken to her in probably a decade. But I decided I can one-up that, because I love receiving birthday cards and postcards. (check out Postcrossing!) So, now I have eight postcards to send various friends on their birthdays. I will probably just stick to birthdays of my close college friends at first–I have a good idea of who would appreciate it and who wouldn’t care much.
This was a whole lotta yap.