Half Waif Maypole tour at One Longfellow with Kristine Leschper, incredible, affecting performance from both and now I’m a lifelong Leschper head.
First visit to the vet with Flynn he made me so proud, everyone loved him.
In the spring I joined in on the East Bayside Neighborhood Cleanup, organized by Sam and Sam. Lowkey fun meeting people while trying to pick up every cig butt you see.
Purim Parade 2025, ambled through downtown hearing great speeches tying local history and struggles to the wider challenges we’re facing in the world.
Josh shattered one of the glass doors at work, everyone stopping what they were doing to come see. It was so cool.
Tried my best to paint a bookshelf for mom in the style of a chest of drawers that has since passed on from our family. Did a pretty damn good job.
Windier and the Broken Telescope Choir played and it was mindblowing(windblowing).
Last Cheap City show in Portland for a while.
The greatest Stone Cold Steve Austin themed local concert to ever happen (it was the first).
Noah dressed up like a Newport.
Hiked Tumbledown Mountain steep trail only to find it totally snowed in, luckily the only other people hiking were down to trailblaze an insane shimmy over some sketchy rocks to get around the snow, ate lunch with them on the peak, and shared our favorite karaoke songs.
Beautiful beautiful May Day 2025. So many people in the streets. So much energy fed into many struggles. Love the queer teen that challenged the liberals in the audience outside PHS, forcing them to confront the constant violence of this nation.
Found my love for Of Montreal thanks to a great album called Cherry Peel. Thinking of my friend Rachel from tumblr days who always tried to get me to listen to them.
Moved Flynn’s bed into the sun a lot.
Hiked Bald Pate Mountain finally on a foggy day. Saw a Pine Grouse, looked at wet moss on round stones under the shifting daylight.
Biked to the Presumpscot River Preserve many times. Walked new trails, took photos, watched the rapids roar, tried to not disturb others peace by the water while also grumbling to myself about other peoples habits with their dogs, oh well.
Got so briefly into Gaelic Football. The joy and annoyance at running around a wet field at sunset getting yelled at by middle aged men, I hadn’t experienced it since middle school football. Will return to it next season.
Noahs sober 30th with some sort of hotdog contraption and an award sash for them.
FINALLY finished A Peoples History of the United States. Howard Zinn I cant stand your opinions on socialist nations but your analysis of working class american history is solid.
Ethan Bday month 2025 total success, four whole events at Arcadia, Salmon Falls, Step Falls and Seawall beach, lots of friend time. Big thanks to Nate for being there for most of it, dragging a massive log through the saco river, throwing himself down the rockslides at step falls. The 4 trillion bug bites at Seawall beach were all worth it. Sprinting into the surf like kids, laying so still in the summer sun that the horse flies stopped seeing me, stopping for ice cream in Bath and basking in the insanity of tourists. Celebrate your birthday for a whole month and you’ll have some wonderful experiences.
Got to see Julie Doiron w Zoe. Hugging my knees to my chest, back resting against a player piano. Beautiful music from a talkative stranger reminding me of the personhood of even the most inspiring and distant artists.
July visit from Adam and Ange, two of them sleeping on an air mattress in the living room, Flynn snuggled between them. They kept me fed, walked in rhythmic step, and we all went to Dani and Diggory’s land on the 4th. Acres of mountainside wilderness, a completely undersold “shabin”(shed cabin) of incredible ingenuity, and a budding rural granola-esque community. At this point the foundation of their home was still under way…
Garden Show 2025! Beautiful music watched from the top of the shed, running into friends expected and not. The “weirdness” of Portland kept alive another year.
Got my ears pierced with Seren because why not. A tattoo from them later on to mark our just budding friendship before it became long distance.
Maine to Buffalo to Philly to Maine roadtrip 2025 (soon to be an annual tradition) all to celebrate Nicky and Adam’s all too close birthdays, while enjoying the splendor of the Keystone and Empire states. A visit to Silo City in Buffalo to see giants towering over the eastern frontier of the rustbelt. A day spent taking photos downtown, took the train in, yelled to some kids who heckled me from a parking garage roof, walked around beautiful Buffalo City Hall asking people if I can peak out the windows near the top, enjoyed so much vegan food, visited the haunted Richard Olmsted Complex, more and more time with their lovely friends, and celebrated the man’s bday at Crystal beach in Ontario.
And then on the road, down through the finger lakes, stopped at Watkins Glen (thanks for the rec grace) to be mindblown and so overwhelmed by tourists I hit my head on a rock so hard it bled, oh well. A night camping in Rickett’s Glen, an amish family 4 sites over (didnt know they did that), a middle aged brother and sister next door (arguing a lot), I sat by the lake at sunset, reheated pizza over the fire, and then a bear sauntered through the campgrounds around midnight, sniffing heavily outside of my tent. On the road again, a quick stop in at Delaware water gap (thanks lin) that left me drenched in sweat, gave strangers the wrong directions, and met a shit ton of appalachian hikers, as well as a stop at Apport books in Allentown (thanks emily) that left me with Pynchon and Max Weber.
Finally arrived in Philly that evening, birthday ice cream, helped set up a Midsommar themed party where half of us avoided watching the movie playing in the background, met many more friends of my friends, grabbed gelato with Dylan because Nika isn’t wrong when she calls the city “basically the south”. And then the long long long road back home again, but not without a quick visit to Monique and Junie in Prov.
Maine Reptile Expo with Jak, one booth was entirely ai generated photos, very cool. Pet a rambunctious tortoise.
THE WORLDS LARGEST BOUNCE HOUSE at cumberland fairgrounds, it was overpriced, there was little safety oversight, the DJ got annoyed someone threw inflatable balls at him and sicced security on them, jak got fed up with the 3 dollar waters and commandeered a booth to start giving them away for free, I got WAY too hyper at every opportunity.
Peace Ridge Horse Sanctuary with mom and grandmother. Grammy kept pulling grass up to “feed” the horses despite 1. Rules against it 2. The abundance of food the horses have. Juvenile horse bit mom’s hand, 5 minutes later they were buddies. These are the people who raised me.
Farewell Aidan party because he’s a trainhopping hooligan. Half dozen of us gathered around a lamp on the shore of Fore River, open bag of gummy worms and the distant airport lights blinking
Yearly staff outing to Peaks Island. No one got drunk this time but I shoplifted a good fridge magnet and we all prank called the intercom at work multiple times.
DORA’S 30TH
What can even be said to capture such an event. To describe it in a semi permanent way would be doing it an injustice. I’ll leave it at this: You’re trapped on an island for a weekend as a storm rolls in, but it’s all wind and sunshine the whole time. Escapades to spot seals, burlesque dancers arriving by night, rock painting, sun bathing, wish granting and lots of coffee. Every morning you wake up, pee in a bush, and wander down to the transplanted mediterranean beachside club called “The Sunken Lounge”. We haven’t invented words to accurately describe this experience yet, maybe next millenia.
So soon after it’s BEN’S 30TH. Homemade, impromptu, but oh so dear and celebratory. Not to mention a surprise. We wander out of the woods as he reads his banner. Theres a newborn, some pairs of lovers, and the rest of us jokers gathered to celebrate this man in the late summer sun.
Made Namoura cake, Hibiscus agua fresca, cranberry oatmeal cookies, and che troi nuoc all many times to share with others as food is meant to be.
Bread and Puppets keeping the world weird and political.
Harvest Party 2025, one more trip to Buffalo for the year. Beautiful music, a heated chess match, my first time seeing Niagara Falls.
Contra Dance on Dani and Diggory’s land, their foundation now finished and newly floored. The sun slowly set as music kept playing, strangers passed between eachothers arms.
Went to my first Alex G show in years with Colleen and Zoe, dinner with Rachel beforehand to hear about her new Boston life, DELICIOUS food from Myanmar, and then the concert full of zoomers, yelled “live in the moment!” at their raised phone screens. I’m officially chopped/unc/cooked/etc.
Got really into crosswords after solving one at the contra. Have since taken a break.
Bought a BEAUTIFUL new couch courtesy of Zeph and Dimitri. Flynn loves it so much he puked a little on it one time.
SECRET MIDNIGHT BIKE RACE 5, this time we finally did checkpoints and I’m not sure if it worked but it was funny. Dora and Colleen met (one of my most cherished joys, introducing dear friends), and Colleen hid in the bed of Dora’s ranger for a drive across town
Bought a capybara lawn ornament from a street vendor. He tried to ask for $180 when I asked about the 3 foot Sonic the hedgehog. No thanks I said.
Corn maze with pals, got too hyper again kept running away from them, throwing corn full speed at Noah’s head. Took it out on the pneumatic spud gun ($10 per bucket of spuds).
Solidarity Conference Lewiston, great DSA event, highlight was the Angusisdead and Analog Film performances though. Punk is alive and well forever and ever.
Final Dani and Diggory land visit. Helped them seal up the cabin frame for the winter, ate delicious parsnip soup crowded in the shabin. Privileged to see the land in 3 seasons.
Nika and Nicky visited town and finally got to experience the best bar on earth, CBG.
The many movies I watched on my couch or at the Nick or at the PMA.
Gave up spotify finally, found joy in discovering music with less reliance on algorithms. Admittedly I spent too much money on bandcamp before having to set a monthly limit for myself.
Bought plane tickets to China with Ben! Stay tuned for my best of ‘26 list.
For Christmas I made cakes for my family.
Started the process of building this scrap lumber website shed for my writing.
Currently reading: Infinite Detail by Tim Maughan and Glitch Feminism by Legacy Russell
Currently listening: Dire Straits self titled, “if the accident will” by Band Argument, Tatsuro Yamashita In Focus on NTS Radio.