Moment of Clairification

… and some goals to add to this week’s routine are:

Taxes (late, dammit)

Apply for jobs (perpetual to-do item)

Clean out the corner of my apartment that has all the random gifts, promotional swag and useless stuff that I want to keep but don’t know where to put.

Start running again

Write my Grandmother a letter

Dishes

It’s a stop everything moment when I get an issue of Arthur Magazine in the mail, and this was the case last Thursday morning when I went out to get Wednesday’s mail at 6 a.m. I was up a little earlier than usual, because I had to drive to College Station for an editorial writing competition at a journalism conference. I’ve never been there before and I’m a natural when it comes to getting lost in small Texas towns in between Austin and wherever I’m heading, so I was planning on leaving early. Thanks, Arthur, for putting an end to that plan… but my iPhone, I found, has possibly put an end to my getting lost days, so I guess that evens out.

In this month’s Arthur, Farmer Dave Scher shared his “Twenty-One Recently Discovered Delights,” making me realize how much I love pointless lists. Even at 6 in the morning.

My favorites from the Farmer: Nocturnalism (“has its downsides, but between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., I was way too happy to care”), persimmons (“heard if you freeze them, it’s like ice cream”), surfing on movin buses/subway trains (“Don’t hold on the any handrails, bend the knees and roll with the bumps”), and #21 — aging (“more patience and tolerance, greater perspective”)

So, setting off on my super-scenic journey to A&M, I was left with the Farmer’s last item in his list and got the urge to reflect on my last year. During the year between 23 and 24, I think I aged about 5 years… at least. It was the hardest and most exciting. I went through the most change, took on the most responsibility, experienced the most hardship… thus far. For those who knew me or lost me to all those things this year, they’d second those assessments.

In this rare two hours of time to myself and only myself Thursday morning, passing through the towns of Hearne, Hutto and a few others, I heartstormed a list of things from year #23 that I felt I needed to make note of and carry on to the next year, appreciating the marvelous or delightful and heeding the other stuff. In what could be no particular order, I’ll count down from 24:

24. Arthur Magazine. Was the first thing in my head, maybe for inspiring this crazy list idea, or maybe because I dig its quirky coverage of music and art, I dig its totally obscure and interesting interviews, and I dig its design. Its contributors are crazy talented yet still down-to-Earth and they make more typos than I do.

23. Men’s body wash. Because I’d rather smell like a pine forest than a fruit salad or rose bush.

22. Bagels. I bet I ate more of them than you this year. (Green chile, toasted, half garden veggie, half plain lite, with exactly four tomato slices… Eienstein’s should really just keep a tab and bill me)

21. Oregon. Lots of beauty and nice people, all in the half-day before catching my plane, that I should remember forever. What was I there for again? A week-long conference?

20. Words with no translation. There’s usually a reason if you look for it. Example: Saudade (Portuguese) is an extreme, passionate sense of longing mixed with love, which no word in English exists to describe. Here’s a thought: Does not having the words for feelings inhibit us from feeling them? Another example: Siesta (Spanish) is a mid-day nap that is part of a way of life that English-speakers have no cultural capacity of. Here’s a thought: Would it be OK to take siestas if we had a word for them?

19. Cuban coffee. I thought I was spoiled on Ruta Maya espresso beans when I worked there, but this past year I ended up falling in love with stovetop espresso, and have demoted myself to the cheap can of pre-ground “El Pico” from the grocery store… then I cut the coffee shop crap from my barista years and learned the “real” way (adding sugar or condensed milk)… and then my mornings got better.

18. iPhone. Still amazed and overwhelmed. It revolutionized my life, but my life didn’t need revolutionizing really until I got it.

17. The National’s “Boxer.” For when you need to get the tissues out. This CD let me know a few times what my feelings sounded like.

16. MGMT’s “Oracular Spectacular.” So did this one, but in a different way.

15. Painting the walls. Do it, but don’t get too carried away.

14. Torchy’s Tacos. Another thing I bet I’ve eaten more than you.

13. Marble Falls. Something special about that town, but I have no idea what.

12. Activist strategies. After 6 years of college and covering/observing student activism, I am fascinated by watching kids in action from the time they hit college, and maybe even following their motives as they grow up (hey, 18-24 are some crazy years!). What works and what doesn’t? Who gets involved and why? And what kind of person stays involved, possibly staying “active” after the college scene? I love that conversation… But more importantly, it’s interesting to see what type of student activism is actually successful, and it seems to involve the groups you don’t seem to hear about as much. Being an observer for the past 6 years, here’s my opinion on what works: staying local, defining clear consequences, goals or enemies, avoiding the negative, not mass-emailing… and most importantly– forgetting self glorification seems to bring more pats on the back in the end

11. Thievery Corporation. Perfect for any mood or occasion.

“Lets start by making it clear who’s the enemy, so we can show them it’s not them who we fear.“ — “Marching the hate machines into the sun,” (featuring The Flaming Lips)

10. Photoshop and my lame attempts at digital art. Nonetheless fun and doesn’t leave paint stains on my carpet.

9. Not forgetting about friends. With them, you can get more done in the end.

8. These BC slip-ons that I got for $9.99 at the Journey’s outlet in San Marcos. The only other shoe that warrants buying two at a time are Converse all-stars, and those don’t cost $20 like they used to, so these BCs were a good find.

7. Classic rock and all its glamour. What happened then gives reason to much of what happens now. Style, art, music, culture, power. Let’s face it, our parents were way cooler than we are.

6. Not being afraid to end on 6.

Well, I began that headline with the most boring title I could have ever imagined I’d almost name my first blog, so I had to add some spice… or a spoonful of it, seems more fitting. I thought about going ahead and trying to make this little site a bit more visually appealing, but I figured that may distract me for the entire night, possibly keeping me from the philosophy of logic that I’m finishing… tonight. So don’t be surprised if this blue sticks around for a while… anyone like to make WordPress blogs look real pretty… or show me how?

So, there were a few things I thought about buying myself for my 24th birthday, which happened about two weeks ago, but I thought I’d go cheap and get myself a blog. So Clayer, this is for you. Happy Birthday, and you better be glad they still had the name “Clayer” available, because that’s freaking amazing! That’s the story of how this started. I don’t really have a theme… this really is, as it says, just another Web log.. I mean lob.