../melody in chaos
substack mirror:
In early May 2018 for a couple weeks, while I lived in LA’s Laurel Canyon, a mockingbird set up shop atop a utility pole just across Gould Ave from our cottage. He spent his time flitting and flipping on his perch, calling out across the hills for a mate.…
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20240521.1803
One final ride on the Q, to and from my Brooklyn apartment of 17 years, through my home city of 30 years. On to the next, now, far away.
Recorded a bunch of tracks in the almost-vacated apartment leading up to my final departure, as I readied the space for a final showing and handoff to new owners.…
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medium mirror
on the metro now,
a sunday at 0815,
everyone’s either on the phone
or asleep.
difficult to tell
which from which.
i was not wrapped up in a device,
until now,
as i draft into an app.
typewriters are difficult to wield on the Q,
no pen or paper on me, either.…
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city of strangers
city of dreamers
rushing on
pouring in
chasing dreams
same as when
first we played the game
played tricks on our eyes
that we were the sole alive
a thousand wandered streets
a thousand crowds
my dream the same
as on arrival
absolution now
i don’t live in shadow
anymore, but
first city light always finds the truth
no matter how fast you live
or how many times
you outlast the night
20230810.1304
Spotify playlist #105 for June 2023 reflects movements in space, internal and external:
listening to jazz with my father on the lanai
stories of my parents’ meeting in 1969
my mother’s covid while recovering from a broken hand
my father’s pneumonia while recovering from covid
the WGA strike and potential SAG-AFTRA walkout suspending Cat’s latest gig, extending our trip by 3+ weeks
finding peace between the days of Luna’s now kinda-regular bi-weekly epileptic seizures
the kinetic calmness in the chaos of a tennis court
weekly quests for the perfect mango
the road from Florida back to NYC
Not bummed to be back in NYC, but I don’t return home after being away with unbridled excitement anymore, either.…
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All episodes here:
https://westy.substack.com/t/tennis
Intention is always more important than outcome.
– Winston Ramsay –
I promise this isn’t about to become a tennis blog, though I’d have no objection. This is the first in what will be a 10 or 12-part series on the game’s deep impact on me, and its confluence with playing music. After all, racquets and guitars are both strung and played.…
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From our garden last night. Orion’s Belt visible, too, lower right.
And from just outside our building’s front door tonight. Orion out hunting in full force.
The idea that alien life forms would conform to our dimensional perspectives and physics, and yet still leave themselves vulnerable to human weapons and hate, is naive.
…“An Earthland vacation this light-year? Really?”
“I heard it’s pretty, and I always wanted to go.”
“Okay, but just remember to bring ‘sion-block-“
“Yes, I packed ‘sion-block!”
bugs on a plate
us hwy 27, fl
jan 2023
empty public space
brooklyn, nyc
jan 2023
swank market, almost open
loxahatchee groves, fl
jan 2023
q-train, looking south
nyc, ny
feb 2023
I write every day. I just don’t want to publish every day. Would that I did not think in drafts.
Hard to “Build that brand!” tho, when you have no routine around creativity.
otoh, deadlines make the writer, lest the lines go dead.
Running out of storage on a device hooked to a cloud is a feature, not your fault
Listening to music is a form of mind reading.…
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religion isn’t about the god, it’s about the faith
faith in a god (irrational and unprovable as any deity is) translates to faith in oneself
that is to say, one’s faith in a god is not faith in itself/himself/herself/theirself being true. one’s faith in a god is faith in one’s belief the god is true.…
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In this world, are there more cheap things or expensive things not worth the money?
commitment is a subset of love
none of my best performances have been recorded 😔
Sometimes I have a lot of trouble figuring out how people zipped themselves into their clothes
there’s more profit in the darkest futures.…
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the knickerbocker tennis club in Brooklyn is the oldest tennis club in New York City. My coach Winston Philip Ramsay is also the head pro there, and invited Cat & me to play on a windy Saturday in June. Just glorious.
music: “Chasing Flight” off my 2016 record Almost X.
