aSoSS 32 | Skeptic

a-spider-on-state-street Leave a comment

I don’t think any TV sold within the past six years has had any sort of DVD player in it…

Traverwood Library, 6:30PM, 9/11/2024

[an excerpt, or a cry for help]

there is small comfort in the whole truth, but there is no comfort in a half-truth, because your honesty is shielded by your shame. just because you can tell a story doesn’t mean it deserves to be heard. are you not shameful? we are growing old, novelty ripped out and replaced by convenience. perhaps i will write today, because there is also a small comfort in a whole lie, a brazenness mistaken for bravery. an undiagnosed feeling squirms in my stomach. it takes a lot of half-truths, a summation of sins and sorrows, to approach the mirror, speak the words–

You can drive for two or three days in Texas and not leave the state.

Yeah, it’s one of the biggest states.

Alaska is even bigger… look at that. Too big.

Pierpont Commons, 2:00PM, 10/31/2024

—it’s nothing, really, and it’s true, because nothingness–emptiness–inflames the mind and plagues the soul. i lick the envelope; it is empty for now, though it will carry the weight of a novel in its folds. i think of emily dickinson and susan gilbert, tongue and glue, attraction misattributed like an incorrect citation. the quote wasn’t theirs, did you know? it was written by carolyn forché. you are beaming. of course i knew, but i tell you otherwise because this is your moment, your gold nugget that you sifted from the crevices of memory. how would forché put it? tenderness is in the hands? that means–

But that’s just the way that I have to communicate with some of my relatives, just to let them know that hey, I’m still here!

Ann Arbor Thrift Shop, 1:00PM, 11/18/2024

–the heart is the toughest part of the body, though not for good reason. graphite needles puncture skin, drawing blood from vein to inkwell. you’re stationary–letters leaking, fingers bleeding, arms wound like a clock: forever crooked, never on time. the wire, peaked with clothespins, is slack and sagging. to allow for miracles, you say, even though you don’t believe in them. i believe in you, though. what does that make me?

to the right, the maxilla quivers. to the left, the mandible spins, closing the gap. hot breath, pulsing gums, the proof of life staring at you–do we make our own miracles?–as you stare back at the scythe, at the split decision–

midnight strikes. the gator’s mouth snaps shut. the clothesline pulls taut and the pins are falling, falling, gone.

Witness the Small Life – I-I-Icon

Mia Lambert Leave a comment

“Patience is a virtue” -Me (probably)

Is it just time going fast or do I not have my glasses on, cuz everything sure is a blur right now. Hour after hour I go to class, I do work; I get out of class, I do work; I go to sleep, I dream of work. Everything flashes by in a haze and I continue to work. Call me Sisyphus because this boulder just keeps rolling down!

Although everything happens so fast around me, my spare time has been filled with doodling on Photoshop with my laptop trackpad (my new best friend!). Lulls in lectures and commutes on buses have regained a sense of whimsy and color when I’m able to fill it with goofy little stars and apples. It’s been almost meditative this week: pulling up a blank canvas and going with what my heart tells me. Recently, I’ve dedicated these doodles to becoming new icons for my desktop (shout out to the Gargoyle for being my first muse). The doodles on the page are my shiny new folders that live amongst the picture of a double rainbow over my camp’s shimmering Half Moon lake. Through drawing these doodles, and drawing with my trackpad in general, I’ve found myself to grow a new form of patience and mindfulness with art-making. It brings me back to my early days of digital art when I could only use my trackpad to make various drawings of colorful My Little Pony characters. Nowadays I have a plethora of resources that would make my 11 year old brain pop! Trackpad drawing has brought me back to my roots, while also forcing me to learn how to draw again in a kind of way. There’s a certain kind of method and resilience needed to constantly press undo and redraw the same line over and over again until it reaches its best potential. There’s also a kind of acceptance that is required to come to terms with when something doesn’t come out exactly how you envisioned but it still doesn’t look bad. It’s similar to printmaking in that way, the apple of my eye lately, to where you learn to roll with the punches and how to take something both simple and meticulous to new heights through experimentation in tandem with trial and error. I feel more connected to my creative process in my trackpad doodling and more aware of what I’m making, how I’m doing it, and how I can play with ideas of shape and form. These doodles are simple, yes, but they bring out a joy in doodling that I’ve been missing lately. I encourage everyone to pull up their drawing program of choice, stretch your fingers, and play around with making fun little characters and creatures. Even if it looks like a hot mess of lines and color, keep playing around with it! Find what works, find what absolutely doesn’t work, and enjoy the process as you do so. Exploration, experimentation, and process are so important to art making, and also life living, so try it out and see what joy it sparks in you.

To take into our next week:

Ins: Simple syrup, my bright orange hoodie, copper and brass, little dogs, limes, tomatoes, bunny slippers, reaching out.

Outs: Timezones, cracked heels, freezing rain, the crust on a milk jug, the smell of room temp coffee, hit snooze a little tooooo long, sleeping with only one pillow.

Enjoy the last full week until break (as much as one is physically able) and appreciate that trackpad!

Bursley Buccaneer: Sahithy “Solo” Prattipati

Arushi Singh Leave a comment
PIRATE SHIP FACT reference: The coffee
Sahithy “Solo” Prattipati
The tamer water in Goa

PIRATE SHIP FACT: To help them stay awake during longer trips, some pirates would drink coffee for its stimulating effects.

Saturday, November 9th – 8:47 p.m.

On Saturday nights, when as many in-state kids as possible have fled Bursley to their homes, the Community Learning Center (CLC) is eerily empty. A few of us were scattered between the couches, which is where Sahithy and I began yapping.

I told her to “tell me a story. Literally any story.” Getting content for this blog requires some desperate hail Marys for anecdotes. In that moment, I wonder how Sahithy (a friend I made in the first couple weeks on campus) felt when I cornered her during her study session looking for content. Thankfully, she lended me some of her time, and told me about her solo trip visit to India. I asked her for three major moments, not necessarily world shaking, but personal to her. She focused in on Goa, India.

A Debatable Brush With Death

On their drive to visit the mountains in Goa, Sahithy’s family loaded her into their car and drove up through the famous slopes. Not only was the incline dangerously steep, but water Sahithy described as almost “two feet high” barreled towards the car on their journey upwards. While she was pondering her near demise, the rest of her family was completely chill and assured her the conditions were normal. By the end, she wasn’t sure who was crazy.

The Hidden Falls

Throughout the mountains, there were humongous waterfalls that made her feel minuscule in comparison. Not only were they mind meltingly large, but they were located in hidden coves across the summit.

The Window Seat

Sahithy assured me that the entire trip was relatively relaxed, other than the reverse slip-and-slide up the mountain. However, before she discussed any of the moments above, she told me about the last event chronologically: the flight back. Usually the window seat is a win, but when you’re alone, anyone you could imagine could end up next to you. In her case, two six-foot tall men were passed out snoring to her right, for eleven plus hours. That meant that if she wanted to go to the bathroom, she would end up destabilizing two already uncomfortable people, who were packed in chairs with barely enough leg room for us small Indian women.

When she’s not battling mountain currents, Sahithy studies Business here at Michigan. Her story is inspiring to those who have never solo traveled, and terrifying if you are someone who uses the bathroom twice an hour on a plane (speaking generally, of course).

Still from the CLC,

Captain Singh

A Side of Sketching – Ancient Bones

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Hi all! This week’s page is inspired by some of the displays featured in Michigan’s Museum of Natural History. The sketch on the top is of a T-Rex skull, and the one on the bottom is of a mastodon skeleton. I rarely take the time to add line art to my sketchbook sketches, but looking at a fully polished ballpoint pen sketch is always so satisfying. In hindsight, I think that I could have done more with the crosshatching to really build up the contrast, but I am still pleased with the final page.

If you haven’t taken the time to explore the Natural History Museum yet, I highly, highly recommend it! The cafe lobby and halls make for great study spots, and the exhibits themselves are very interesting- even if you aren’t a big history nerd : )