For a better reading experience click the title above to read That’s Gneiss! in your browser.
Hello friends,
Welcome to another week, another day, another hour and minute of life.
Something strange is going on, maybe you’ve seen or heard folks talking about it if you spend time on the various social media hotspots.
Fireworks.
“It’s almost the 4th of July! Of course there are fireworks!” you say.
True - the favorite holiday of pyromaniacs and daredevils seeking to blow their fingers off is approaching quickly. It’s been quiet in our neighborhood, but the local source of extremely loud booming things isn’t opening up until June 26th. Fireworks are illegal here in Everett and around the county, but that doesn’t always stop people. This is just our second year here and last year we went camping, so I don’t know what it will be like on the 4th. We’ll find out.
What I’m seeing people talking about is unusual amounts of fireworks going on for hours every night in places where this has not happened before, night after night after night. Many of them are insisting that THIS IS NOT NORMAL. I’ve seen this from people in New York, Boston, Charleston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
There are all sorts of theories going around about what is going on. There’s enough strangeness to it to make one wonder about the truth - and I am not a conspiracy theorist by any means. I do find this interesting since the people making note of this generally are not crackpots. No matter what the answer is, they incessant fireworks are creating a new level of trauma for people who are already traumatized by recent events. Dogs and cats are miserable.
What I’m not seeing many people talk about is who can afford to do this night after night? This stuff isn’t cheap, so the folks who’ve lost their jobs and have been stuck at home for three months sure aren’t forking out the money for it for a couple of minutes of excitement. Take for example this photo that a friend in NYC posted this morning:
BONE CRUSHER. That looks like a big one, and it was pretty easy to find online. Retail price is $189.99! Gone in less than one very loud minute. The Orange Crush box there is only $109.99. Good news! Right now everything at Keystone Fireworks is on sale - buy one get one. You can extend your money for a second minute of excitement.
The point being though, that this stuff isn’t cheap. Any old bloke isn’t going to fork out thousands of dollars to terrorize their neighborhood night after night.
I’m curious to hear from any of you about the level of fireworks happening where you live. It’s just weird is all.
Now, on to something totally different.
During Lockdown, Google Maps Gives My Son a Way Out
Something that many of us will miss this year is our road trips, both long and short. One way to alleviate the loss would be to do what the young man in the link above has done - use Google Maps to plan out an imaginary trip.
My son explained that he was researching the venue as part of a grand project of his own design: He was planning a summer road trip that would take our family to 16 minor-league ballparks throughout the Northeast. With the aid of Google Maps, he’d be in charge of plotting our routes, picking our motels, even figuring out which museums and water parks to visit when we weren’t watching baseball. The adventure was how we’d celebrate having survived months of confinement in a community that has been disproportionately ravaged by Covid-19.
This is similar to how I plan trips to places we haven’t visited before. Honing in on the details, and yes - using Google Maps for at least some of my research. I see now that I can go much deeper if I want.
A few years ago we planned to take our trailer to Mount Rainier for a week. Because the drive was unfamiliar to us, I spent a good deal of time plotting the drive and figuring out where we could stop to use the bathroom if needed. Pulling a trailer (even a small one) puts limits on maneuverability and I like to keep things simple when we travel. I used Google Maps to “travel” the length of our intended journey and wrote down every possible pit stop along the way, using satellite view to scope out parking lots and making sure we didn’t find ourselves in a sticky spot. Shortly before our trip the transmission blew out in the Durango, so we shelved that one and have not revisited that plan. I’m pretty sure I have that notebook with my notes, should we ever change our mind.
Maybe I’ll plan a pretend trip for fun. Where would you choose to go on your pretend trip? I might go to Canada. That sounds nice right about now, and it doesn’t matter that the border is closed if I want to do a bit of dreaming.
Upper Joffre Lake - British Columbia, Canada - Giuseppe Milo
Pretty.
I’ve really been enjoying the various newsletters I get delivered directly to my email. They’re really a wide variety of topics - news & politics, art, personal, comics - all sorts of things! I’ve picked up a few new ones lately, so want to share them with you (along with some old favorites). The great thing about these newsletters is you can subscribe and try them out, and if you don’t like it after a while just hit the unsubscribe button and try something else.
Pantalones on Parade - brand new to the scene! One of my fave PNW crafters has jumped into the writing ring. Yay!
Jenny’s Library - comics, art, and personal reflection from a library pal
Rill Curiosity - stream ecology from my pal in Eastern Washington
University of Winds - technology, community, and other assorted topics (the original inspiration for me starting my newsletter)
Adventures in Creativity - art, crafts, and activism weekly digest from Kim Werker
Something I Saw - a daily post celebrating Black artists
the collected ahp - perpetual favorite from Anne Helen Peterson
Letters from an American - historical context for the daily news from Heather Cox Richardson
Popular Information - reporting on the misdeeds of large corporations… and it makes a difference! They do sometimes change their ways
Austin Kleon - a weekly dose of art and creativity
I would encourage any of you who are interested in writing to give it a try. You can turn your newsletter into anything you want it to be, and even make money with it if you are so inclined. I started out on TinyLetter, then moved over to Substack. It’s easy to use, and they keep adding more features as they grow - so much potential!
Time to wrap up for today. I hope your week is better than mine was last week!
~Anne
Tidbits
Take a few minutes to consider door handles… simple to extravagant, and ubiquitous
Mourning the Letters That Will No Longer Be Written, and Remembering the Great Ones That Were
The Unexpected Beauty of ‘Dog Vomit’ and Other Slime Molds - featuring the photos of Alison Pollack
Making: working away on the index card challenge! My favorite this week was my flying car collage. Though the sea lion and the giant donut was a good one too. I never know where my mood will take me when I sit down each day!
Recently eaten: this isn’t as interesting now that we don’t go out to eat.
Reading: finished The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Highly recommend it! I can’t tell you anything else as I don’t want to give anything away. My next book up is Rushing to Paradise by J. G. Ballard. What a strange lot of characters.
Videos of the Week
Sometimes it’s the really weird things that hit the spot.
Just watch this.
West Side Story - performed by Cher… in every role. From 1978.
Question of the Week
If you feel like answering the question, hit reply to this email. Answers will be shared in next week’s newsletter - anonymously. Don’t be shy! General public commenting is available too at the end of this post.
We have discovered that almost anything can be delivered by mail over the last few months. What is the most unusual thing you have ordered since quarantine began?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week I asked if you could have an unlimited lifetime supply of anything, what would you want? Apparently everyone is perfectly content, as I got no responses.
Current Temperature: 62.2 F (16.8 C)
Current Humidity: 70%
Wind (max gust): 10.3 mph
Precipitation: 0.02 in
That slowed down pizza song is just what I needed today! Thank you, Anne!