Wilder Musings: On Watching the Storm

The trees are doing yoga outside my window. They’re arching back into bridge pose, rising up into wheel, bending forward into downward dog. They are dancing, too; swaying in parabolas that have no definite rhythm but are not short on grace. The rain is shooting by the house in sideways curtains, pouring down the street into drains. I’m sitting here in my little attic apartment in Cambridge watching the storm as though it were a movie—the plot line of one branch intrigues me for a minute, but then the action shifts to the bouncing power lines, only to move to the thuds and creaks of trees brushing by the roof. It’s a suspense film—I’m waiting for a branch to fall, the lights to flicker and then die, for the internet to cut out, for my time left typing out words on my computer to begin to dwindle with the battery (more after the jump).

10 Things I Like, Volume I-Can't-Remember-What-Number-We're-On

Happy Friday, my nerds! I've got some big news: this is my last Friday as a freelancer. I've accepted a job and it's starts Monday! I'm very excited, somewhat nervous (to be expected, right?), and completely ready to throw myself into the new position. But don't worry--TWT will continue! It might be somewhat sporadic as it's been during these past few weeks, but I'm going to do my very best to keep it going.

I'll put up a Wilder Musings later about the first year of my serious investment in TWT, but I quickly want to say thank you to everyone who reads this, whether you're my family (who kind of has to read it), my friends, or complete strangers. It's wonderful to know that when I push "Publish" and send these posts out into the world that they don't just spin blindly into cyberspace, but instead fall upon at least a few interested eyes. You guys are the reason I keep going, and I can't tell you how grateful I am.

And now, here's this week's 10 Things to get you through Friday afternoon (after the jump).

Wilder Beatz: 6 Tunes for Fall, of Which I Can't Get Enough

I can't stop listening to these songs. I play them in my car. In my apartment. In my headphones as I walk around Harvard Square and pretend I'm in an indie film, say, one that ends with me at a bar reading Junot Diaz's latest short stories. Over a glass of Malbec. While waiting for my dad to meet me for dinner. A cliche of a twenty-something in Cambridge? Maybe. Do I hate it? No. And yes, I did write the above header in a Moleskine notebook.

Anyway, I thought I'd put these songs up here for your listening pleasure. And viewing, because there are some sweet videos that go along with them. Also, the guys in the picture above are Teddy and Johnny, two members of the band Filigar (I interviewed them last winter) whom I saw a few weeks ago. Their song "Robbery" is one of the 6 that I can't stop listening to (after the jump).

Wilder Pictures: Busted Flat in Porter Square, Waiting for a Train

I love trains. I love that once I get on them, they whisk me away. I don't have to pay attention to where I'm going. I can just sit and watch the trees flick past like an old slideshow carousel. I love the cracked leather of the seats on the Fitchburg line that takes me from my apartment in Porter Square to my family's home in Lincoln (and that I hear the same train pass by in both places). I love the way the rumbling of the rails announces the trains arrival before it gets to me, as I sit waiting on a bench (more after the jump).

Wilder Words: On Sunlight Through a Roof, from Tinkers

I dogeared the page of Tinkers, by Paul Harding, the minute I read this passage. The calm in both the scene described and the cadence of the words soothed me. I read the book this summer; someone asked me what it was about while I was reading it, and that's when I realized why I liked it so much. Because until I finished, I wasn't really sure (more after the jump).

Wilder Style (Sort Of) + Pictures: Michelangelo's David, Spring/Summer 2013

My mom has been cleaning out her office lately. She's found all sorts of gems in the cabinets, including (but not limited to) an old Sony Walkman, ancient cell phones, a Polaroid camera, a poem I wrote when I was five (yes, I've always been brilliant), and a weird game where you balance blocks on a wobbly piece of wood. But my favorite find is the magnetic board with a magnet of Michelangelo's David that comes with various articles of magnetic clothing in which to dress him. Given that I've been known to write about style on TWT, and the month of Spring 2013 fashion shows is winding down, I thought it would be appropriate to make a David fashion show. Here are the results (after the jump).