To keep her land unpaved forever
I often find myself thinking about how Johnette Napolitano now cares for rescue horses in Joshua Tree. It is the perfect answer to the question, how do you follow up — creatively, emotionally — after writing a song like Joey? Rescue horses in Joshua Tree. May we all live as rich and fulfilling lives in our sixties and onwards.
Btw the comments posted to the Youtube video are somehow all(?) beautiful and heartfelt. She wrote Joey, cares for wounded horses, and brings people together on Youtube:
What else... If you google her, a more recent story comes up: "Concrete Blonde singer to keep her land unpaved forever." (Which delves into, among other things, her hatred of Airbnb.)
"To keep her land unpaved forever"…what a perfect phrase. That’s everything I want in life. What do I want? I want to keep my land unpaved FOREVER. #mylandunpavedforever
I continue to appreciate Desert Oracle's portal to Joshua Tree, especially when there’s snow outside. The most recent episode included a definition of "instagram influencer" that made me laugh out loud. I also really like the podcast The Big One, about planning for the inevitable in Los Angeles. I usually listen to while running (maybe because it would be too stressful sitting down.) That said, it is a real podcasty podcast (complete with ads for a prepper luxury go-bag internet company called “Preppi.” I’m not making that up.)
What I said last week about Seasonal Associate — the more from it, I wanted — well, this essay from Sandra Newman brings it. Treating the subject gingerly seems counterproductive. (Granted the difference could reveal as much about the actual stakes in Germany versus the United States.)
My residency ends in a few days. Whatever else I have accomplished, I have also successfully used a fireplace without burning a house down.
The other day, one of the other fellows here, pointed at me and said to one of the administrators, "You know, she works very hard." Then I went back to my room and cried in the bathtub: I dooo! But I'm Dorothy Parker's ashes in a file cabinet! ... I need.... to keep my land unpaved forever...
So that's how that's going.
I watched Under the Skin again this week, a film that I both admire and find puzzling in a way that is either perfect or too distant—I haven’t quite decided which. But I seemed to like it much more this second time around, or at least I had a visceral reaction to it. About halfway in, I realized what it was. The Mica Levi soundtrack was my writing soundtrack for at least a few months in 2017, possibly more. That visceral reaction was the sense I was supposed to be working. I suppose I’ll never be able to enjoy Phantom Thread again for similar reasons.
Unpaved. Forever.
Thanks for reading.