in-between

hey there! happy holidays/weird in-between time after Christmas and before New Years.

I had convinced myself I would blog more frequently this holiday because of all my spare time - but there's too much spare time. I don't even know what I've done over this break. The days have all melted together into a hazy blob of reading books, eating food, re-watching my so-called life and doing literally nothing. which doesn't sound that bad now that I write it out, but i had intended to be more ~productive~

HOWEVER, on the subject of productiveness, why is it such a big deal? i'm on holiday; isn't the whole point of winter to binge-watch tv shows anyway? obviously by productivity i mean creative productivity, like writing or whatever, but if not getting things done provides such an emotional burden then there's not any point of expecting to do loads of things. maybe being productive is just a capitalist idea of your worth being measured by what you produce anyway...

...or i'm making excuses for not blogging until now. 

moving on - I have re-discovered how amazing my so-called life is; i'm dreading finishing the series again. I can't fully relate to Angela's American suburban experience, but being the same age as her character this time makes the show so much more personal and compelling. also it's really funny and touches on a lot of ~teen issues~. i would highly recommend it!

one of the few Christmas presents i asked for was the compilation of Basquiat's notebooks - after seeing some pages at the Brooklyn Museum exhibition in the summer, I was intrigued. his notebook entries feel cryptic and poetic, almost like a blueprint for his paintings. the book itself resembles a notebook, and the pages have their original stains and smears on them; it feels quite haunting reading it, like you're holding the original copy. here are some of my favorite pages:

other things going on at the moment...

my wall

polaroid and book i'm currently reading

new coat, a.k.a. my life

reflections

-hannah

volver (to return)

long time no see!

things are good right now. mocks are finally over! so I'm currently enjoying an extremely lazy Sunday (which feels like a Monday bc i had most of Friday off).

I saw Ibeyi in November, which feels like years ago now. They were absolutely magical, and apart from standing right next to the speaker (and therefore having a loud-music-hangover the next day), the night was perfect. We were right by the front, so got an amazing view of the sisters the whole night. The opening act was pretty bad but it was worth the wait - i think Ibeyi sound better live than on recording, which isn't always the case. 

something about their set was just so natural, as they dissolved one song into the next. there were beautiful lighting effects/projections behind them, enhancing the eerily gorgeous sound. the vibe was so mystical and organic - technology makes it super difficult sometimes, but it felt really present. their sisterly connection ('ibeyi' means twins in Yoruba) made it even more special. for example, one moment really stuck with me; Lisa-Kaindé dropped her water bottle, and Naomi immediately offered her own, in such a natural way. maybe being an only child makes twins especially intriguing/magical in my eyes, but that moment was really warming. 

one great thing about technology, though, is the freedom it gives in terms of music. Ibeyi couldn't exist without it! their experimentation and mixing of traditional Yoruba songs with jazz, soul and electronic music makes their sound so unique. basically it was a great night! I would very much recommend seeing them live if you ever have the chance...

with all the free time I'm about to have, i'm hoping for more blogging/creative time. so watch this space!

-hannah