Hey y’all, hope everything's been good with you. I've just been
taking things day by day, as I should. As anyone should really,
stressing over 1 day won't make the next one better. Enough
pleasantries, time for me to come up with what I'm going to write
about on the spot. What? I need to plan it out? Nah this is
essentially a conversation, an overdue one at that. Right now I'm
listening to The Suburbs by Mr. Little Jeans (Arcade Fire Cover). I
recommend you listen to it, that and Hozier. The songs will be posted
in the sidebar where you can listen to them as you read this. Also
quick shout out to my main man that helps me with late night work:
f.lux. What is f.lux? It's a program that essentially makes your
computer screen lighter on your eyes as they don't have to strain as
hard to focus. You ever notice that blue-ish hue that all smartphone
screens seem to have? Well it turns out if you stare at it too long
it diminishes your eyesight, who knew? If you spend a lot of time on
the computer (which is most of us) then this program is for you. It's
available for Windows, Mac, and of course Linux. Onto the post now.
I'm not quite sure what to write about. I wrote a couple letters the
other day, 2 that were for my University's Pen-Pal program, and
another for a friend in BC. The Pen-Pal program is essentially where,
based on a quiz, you get matched up with someone else on campus and
are instructed to exchange letters. The program started about 2
months ago and I've only made time to write the letters now. Either
the people that are supposed to write to me forgot to write or didn't
make time for them as well, but all I know now is that they're sent
and I'm hoping they'll get back before exams start.
It's an interesting thing, a letter. Getting one is like logging onto
Facebook and seeing the notification setting, which is usually just
someone liking one photo or another. Notice I said “like” as in
similar and not equal to. Because there is absolutely nothing like
getting a handwritten letter in the mail, especially from someone
that you care about. The feeling starts when you first write the
letter. What do I say? What will she think of this? You don't really
know until you try, so once you've scratched out the 6th
greeting you finally write “Hey”.
And then, what to talk about? I'm glad I never knew quite what to
say, keeps them on their toes. The weather right now? How you await
their reply? But then again, so much is said within the letter
without even writing it out. The scratched out handwriting, smudges,
fragrances, there's a lot you can read into if you pay enough
attention. If you're lucky, sometimes they'll send something inside
the letter. Like a doodle they did in class or some flattened
origami, or even a bracelet. It's nice to see some sort of a design
around the envelope as well, makes it personal. Yeah, letters are
nice. Send one.
There was this other time I got a call at around 3-4AM from a girl in
another country. Why was she calling me? Technically she wasn't, see
I signed up for this thing called “Call in the Night”
(callinthenight.com) where you would at random get a call in the
middle of the night that connects you to a stranger that has also
signed up for the service. It's only available to people in North
America, so you get paired up at random with someone in either the
United States or Canada.
I got matched up with a woman in her 20's who was in Florida I
believe. We tried talking about the dreams we just had but that
wasn't really going nowhere so we just talked about our lives and
stuff. It was very interesting, connecting with a stranger that I had
never known yet we talked until 7am. The call got dropped because of
my shitty cell coverage, and once it did I felt a sense of sadness
but at the same time I felt satisfied. It remains as the best “night”
I ever had that summer and the best wakeup I've had in years. I
remember the day's weather as well, the fog rolled in lightly and you
could feel it in your nose. I know my description isn't too vivid so
bear with me.
The point I'm trying to make is that people are nice to talk to when
you find a “different” way to do it. So get to it.
Cheers, MarkL
