random recent pics
Felt like sharing some random pictures from the last few days. These were all taken on my phone and edited in Pix. (All I did was up the contrast and throw on a balmy filter. Can you tell I'm a Zillennial? Lol.)
Altar offerings
I've had a modest Amitabha Buddha altar for ages. While she was here in May, my wife made some flower offerings as a surprise for when I got home from work one night. I've been keeping the good karma rolling by following her lead; sometimes, it feels like she's a better Buddhist than me.
Here's a bonus pic of my girl, Marley, joining me on the yoga mat for my daily chanting/yoga/meditation. The lilac on the altar is the offering my wife had made before she left.
Good morning kisses
Speaking of Marley, he's a couple pics I took today. She wakes me up with kisses every morning, but only because she wants breakfast. Some days she'll be very patient and let me snuggle her for a bit.
Happy Charlie
It would be unfair to share pictures of Marley but none of her brother, Charlie.
He's found his new favorite spot to nap: sunbathing inside of the curtains that fall on top of my bed.
New writing setup
I posted recently about my new writing setup on my laptop.
Well, here it is in person, featuring my CD player and the album I was listening to. (At some point I'll make a post about my different dedicated devices.)
Book sorting
I haven't just been productive creatively; I've also been prepping to move back in with my mom to save up for my eventual move to the UK.
Last week I went through all of my books again and set aside even more to get rid of.
Here's the books I'm keeping. I'm pretty proud of myself for parsing it down to just a small box, considering I once owned nearly 200 books in total!
I have a really nice collection of art books, mostly focused on figure drawing and reference images. But they're very bulky and heavy and wouldn't travel well. Also, to be honest I don't use them much anymore, and I've already found quite a few on some archive sites. I'm going to donate them to my professor when I go back to my local community college for another semester of figure drawing (this time just for fun!).
A nostalgic reflection
In the midst of book sorting, I found this "bookmark" in my copy of Jackson Pollock: An American Saga.
It's a key-card envelope from when me and two of my friends rented a hotel room about twenty minutes out of town, for no real reason other than a change of scenery. We were only nineteen or twenty, so we had to go to a few different hotels before we found somewhere that would let us book a room. I don't remember much of what we actually did besides get really high; which is probably why I've forgotten. Lol.
That period of my life was a lot of fun, but that fun was masking a lot of pain and turbulence in myself and those around me. I'm old enough now where I mostly look back with fond nostalgia though.
As messy as it is to be young, there's certainly nothing like it, and I don't think I'll ever feel as free or lighthearted as I did the couple summers that followed high school graduation.
I guess we trade that sense of freedom for security and stability as we get older. I'm a lot healthier now and secure in who I am. My personal relationships are fewer in number but deeper in connection. I don't have to get high to feel comfortable around people anymore, and I no longer drink myself under the table in an effort to prove I can hang with the big dogs. I don't get high or drink at all, in fact, and I haven't for years. I'm not chainsmoking cigarettes these days either.
Sometimes I catch myself wishing I could go back, even if just for a day, and be nineteen again, stupid and reckless and uncaring. I wonder how that would feel with what I know now. I remember it as being really fun, but in actuality I think I was pretty miserable.
All told, I'm happy to be boring and sober. It suits me a lot better.
This week's dinner
Last up is a picture of dinner. I got back into meal prepping and made six portions of mac and cheese and cornbread.
The mac and cheese turned out pretty dry, so I'll tweak things next time. I added lentils for protein. The cornbread turned out great though!
I like meal prepping a lot, but I don't get very creative with it. Most of my dinner meal plans involve pasta of some configuration. It'd be nice to branch out and try something new.
The end
That's everything! I think I'll do this more often. It's nice!
✘ Posted on — 06/17/25
✘ Last modified — 2 months ago
✘ Link — https://blog.xavierhm.com/random-recent-pics