💧 unsentimental explorations

iPhone photo taken through binoculars from the top of Bolton at sunset on my last day skiing this season.

Hey y'all,

Here are three things I'm thinking about this week:

1.  What I'm listening to: Beverley Glenn-Copeland, Keyboard Fantasies

My friend Ainsley texted me this album, saying only that it "sounds like spring." It does. I've been listening to it in the mornings and it puts me into the headiest headspace.

I told Ainsley that I'd been listening to the album a bunch and she filled me in on Beverley Glenn-Copelands' fascinating story: making music his whole life only to have his this album rediscovered in 2016 at the age of 71; releasing a new album and embarking on an international tour in 2020; the tour being canceled, leaving him and his partner homeless; being offered free housing around the world by his fans. In this interview on Death, Sex, and Money he talks about his musical style, being a Black trans elder, finding success later in life, and being both teacher and student to his younger band members. It's so good.

Click to see the comic full-screen and zoom into the individual panels.

2. What I'm looking at: R. Crumb's Short History of America

All non-profits have a "vision," a written description of what the future will look like once the organization's work is complete. This vision statement guides internal players in their work and gives the org's audience a clear understanding about what the organization is trying to accomplish.

I'm in the early stages of a project where I'll illustrate one of these visions, making the vision visual. I'm excited about it.

I often return to R. Crumb's Short History of America when I'm envisioning the future. I was introduced to this comic in my post-college days when I first started connecting dots between capitalism and environmental degradation, car culture and desensitization, colonialism and global poverty... I was spinning out, I didn't know what to do with my rage, angst, guilt.

The last panel of this cartoon gave me somewhere to go. I'm embarrassed at how literally I interpreted it back then, but the point stands: ecological collapse isn't our only option. A techno-fix isn't inevitable, either. We can build a better world (in fact, we're building it right now).

Shortly after encountering this comic I joined Americorps and spent two years fixing up bikes for people while I learned how to garden (poorly) and bake bread (also poorly). I started attending Transition Town meetings and getting to know my neighbors. This cartoon helped put me on the path towards being a big fucking hippie and I'm so grateful.

TLDR: Illustration is powerful.

3. What I'm crying about: This Seven Days feature on Erica Heilman.

Erica Heilman is the creator of Rumble Strip, my favorite podcast.

"Heilman, who lives in East Calais, lets other people do most of the talking on 'Rumble Strip.' Her shows are unsentimental explorations of human beings from all walks of life — her 10-year-old neighbor, defense attorneys, game wardens, ex-cons, a Vietnam vet who cuts hair in St. Johnsbury, a young woman from Hardwick looking for someone to do her makeup for a one-year anniversary date."

This article captures the spirit and impact of Erica's work. I read it at the DMV. I cried while I read, surrounded by the din of strangers complaining about the wait times, sharing little details about their days–school pick-up, a brother in the hospital, a new restaurant. I cried while sandwiched between two strangers, thinking about how I will spend the rest of my time on Earth trying to make things that feel as real, connective, beautiful, human... making things to try to understand what it means to be alive, making things that help people fall in love with other people and the world around them.

"I fall in love with the people I talk with, and the goal is to get a listener to fall in love with them, too," Heilman said. "And I don't mean that you always have to like them. But love is something different, and love is always possible between any two people."

I recommend getting a silly sun catcher. Cheap thrills.

Thanks for reading!

Christine Tyler Hill is the human behind Tender Warrior Co.