Introduce yourself to a cloud.
Just try.
What happens is —
You have this sudden realization
Not everything is a cartoon.
Some things have weight and indeed they’re
Heavy.
A bag of sand
A human thigh bone
Wet dirt tilling itself upwards.
But other things pass through your hands so quickly it isn’t
until you’re falling
that you realize how valuable is the smell of the
Ground.
How much home it’s been.
How it’s sniffed you out since the start
How it doesn’t lie though you lie
in it
Eventually.
And also just —
How much mist
Almost everything else.
***
Welcome to The ALIVE hour.
Illustration: Shannon Colón
Audio mixing + music: Chloe Riley
Song: Daniel Johnston
Things found in real life
These ghostly bubbles, hovering near this fan:
(Photo credit: ALIVE hour friend Cory Lynn)
Things found on the internet
This mini documentary following children who attend grief camp — designed solely for young people who have lost a parent. The film’s heart is Yaren, 10, whose mother died when she was 6.
This thought from master of the bizarre John Waters, reminiscing on the collective theater-going experience of yore:
The audiences were all together, high, at midnight in cult-movie theaters. That is why it’s so different: that group experience of discovering something at the same time.
Magic things
Today’s episode features a song written by this man. Today’s *magic* edition features a song written + performed by the author of this newsletter.
Check it out here + consider becoming a paid subscriber. We’d love to have you in the club. ✨
***
Welcome to the end of season 2. I can’t tell you all what it’s meant to make this and to have you as listeners, cheerleaders, friends. Thank you for your support.
We’re going to take a short break from weekly posting to further finesse the upcoming seasons, but don’t you fret: there’s plenty of great stuff ahead. (Including a live, in-person ALIVE hour event.)
Stay tuned.
And thank you, again + again, for listening. <3
The ALIVE hour