2019 in 10 pictures
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1. arch cape, oregon April 2019. celebration for my parents 50th anniversary. my sis surprised them and rented out a house - 2 doors down from where we were all staying - where a chef, sommelier, and pastry chef awaited them (and incidentally where I made The Black Sea 7 years ago). This pic is from that house.
2. yosemite np, july 2019. no words
3. brunch, august 2019. as incentive for crowdfunding campaign for my next feature film, I was able to have my friend Heather E of 30 + years come out for a brunch with notable Portland writers: Lidia Yuknavitch, Margaret Malone, Cheryl Strayed, Rene Denfeld. Chef Rachel Arenas did the cooking. It was so joyous to just be present for the conversations that ensued.
4. humboldt co may 2019. returned for the 2nd consecutive yr to run the avenue of the giants half-marathon. (however got sick and did the 10K instead) it.is always a hall of mirrors returning here, past and present intersecting with subfloors and trapdoors of my aspirations, prior relationships, hopes and dreams, etc. It was on this trip that our co-host S and M learned that despite knowing one another for many years that they both went to high school together briefly.
5. minneapolis june 2019. my maternal aunts and uncles, 8 total, assembled for my uncle Michael’s 80th. there were lots of remembrances and musings on space/time and familial joy and an abundance of board games.
6. sequoia np, august 2019. we watched the stars
7. maui, december 2019 many lessons and joys here, primary among them the simple/complicated act of turning our phones off entirely for 6 days.
8. southern california october 2019 service for my father-in-law, who lived to 93 and who was always kind, warm and usually funny. There is a low dull ache in the space he used to inhabit but I’ve been trying to fill it with the joy his memory provides.
9. central CA july 2019. margaret malone had a hell of a year. lots of professional inroads (including but not limited to quitting her day job, teaching writing full time and approaching the finish line (!) on a couple projects) and the exact inverse sensation on the personal front (including but not limited to shattering her arm on the ice in wichita KS moments prior to driving to the airport, running point on some omfg plumbing fiascos at home and the gut punch of profound loss). I am biased but know this: if you are fortunate enough to intersect with her in this lifetime be it through her writing or in the flesh you will be all the better for it.
10. nyc october 2019 went to support my webseries MICROAGGRESSIONS, which played at nyc webfest. this was an epic trip on professional and personal corridors, intersecting w/ my high school days, my film school days, my next feature film, and beyond. I cannot be more explicit at present but suffice to say that this trip was a giant rock thrown into a quiet pond and months later there are still ripples undulating outward that do not appear to be slowing down.