things i think about while powerwashing 64

Hi everyone!

Sorry I was absent last week. Friday night was hectic and since I wasn't feeling well throughout the week I didn't have the chance to pre-write anything. But I have returned to discuss a topic: California's new rainy winters?

I remember one stormy winter in 2010, hearing the wind and rain batter the walls of the dutiful portable serving as my 5th grade classroom as we silently cut out shapes for a project. Then suddenly, the lights went out.

“Nobody panic,” said our teacher. The lights had flickered a few times that day, but the agonizing five minutes it took for the light to return seems like hours.

That was the last time I remembered rain in California before leaving for Purdue. From the time I entered middle school to the time I came back from Purdue and started my adult life, California had become known across the country for drought and wildfires. Water providers started suggesting ways to save water, which became part of school projects and awareness days.

It was so dry in California in high school, ponds and creeks dried up in the summers. I had forgotten there could be water on the ground and summer rains until I went to Minnesota one summer and I saw fog rolling over green hills into a very full pond. That summer, we had a trip canceled due to a rainstorm. It was a foreign concept to me.

So to see the constant rains now in the area is certainly a shock to me. Last year brought floods and high winds via atmospheric rivers at levels we were not prepared for. Trees were breaking, fences were falling. Gutters that had never had much of a purpose in the last ten years suddenly found themselves back in high demand. This year, the damage has been much less severe, but our utilities companies still can’t seem to keep it together, leaving some people without power for more than 36 hours.

And to make things worse, our damned roads can’t keep up either!

So to my fellow Californians whose consciousness started to fully form in the 2010s, who grew up seeing the orange smokey wildfire skies and not worrying about rain for a day in January, hang in there!

Also Happy Chinese New Year! It's now the Year of the Dragon.

anonymous subscriber news

Again, sorry I was out last week. Yell at me via anonymous subscriber news submission form: https://forms.gle/Ykw1CLmiWccaSwEc7

As a side note: some people have told me they're trying to guess who each person is, and would like to know how many subscribers I have. The answer: 49 (this can change with YOUR help!).

• anonymous subscriber is 95% sure they’re going through a breakup
• anonymous subscriber is worried they might be falling in love
• anonymous subscriber is eating traditional Tet food :)
• anonymous subscriber has high cholesterol and high A1C RIP
• anonymous subscirber is reading tress of the emerald sea by Brandon Sanderson

top 3 tunez: emi chan

One day, out of the blue, esteemed subscriber Emi Chan texted me with the newsletter suggestion of the year: let people opinionated about their music taste share so people can learn about new songs! And also to be opinionated.

SO here it is: top 3 tunes. The idea is that you send me 3 songs you've been listening to recently and why you like them! Just a fun way to share your music taste and spread the influence of your favorite small artists. Submit them at yet another google form!!!! https://forms.gle/qrDctkwDJhxjFbNSA

Without further ado, here's esteemed subscriber Emi Chan's top 3 tunes:

• I Feel You by NoSo: So for I feel you I just really love NoSo’s guitar work and vocals, and the somehow quiet intensity it has. NoSo is a pretty small trans artist and their debut album talks about their experiences and struggles and it’s just really good overall.
• Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 58 by Young Miko: The young miko song is just a bop lol. She’s an openly gay woman in the male dominated reggaton world and shes thriving.
• Still Intact by Pouya: Still intact is my fave workout jam at the moment lmao

animal of the week

This submission is a little different in that our animals are ... people. Esteemed subscriber Connie Liou submits a drawing of two men she saw in a coffee shop this past week. This is what she has to say about it:

Every consulting relationship is slightly homoerotic. In the wild depths of a coffee shop, two consulting bros with matching hair cuts, patagonia vests, white tshirts and iphones/macs are found in nature. a quintessential sighting of the bay area.

That's all I got for this week, see y'all next week! Email me your animal pics at ryan@torrtle.co!