2018 — lowndes commander

i started riding my bike again- through the park without a plan, and to dinner down the street. i wrote in many spaces, lots of hotel lobbies and bars. i shared my poetry for the first time in march, and in august i self-published a book. i kept one job and got another. i saw phoebe bridgers on valentines day. i dyed my hair blonde and moved into an apartment by myself. i remembered how fun it is to dance in the kitchen. i went back to therapy and realized it is, in fact, possible to communicate through conflict. i started going to a new church i very much like. i helped turn a party into a john mark mcmillan sing-along, and i danced my heart out at a haim show. i had the perfect day at a diy music festival, and a perfect night listening to a Cardigans record in a space that means a lot. i saw the National on a perfect evening and walked two miles home. i spent most every saturday with a close friend until she moved away, and each one is memorable. i found creative excitement and lost it again. i took more walks, i had less energy. i hit the year mark in some important friendships, still learning how to stick around. i continued to take a film photo everyday; i could talk forever about how that project has changed my life. i felt free and sad and everything in between. the music, the people, the photos— all of it’s changed me and as the year comes to an end, i feel it’s all for the best.

now, here’s some art i cared about (in no particular order):

Afraid of Everything - Harrison Whitford
top tracks: both my friends, welcome to my life, part time heart
Sway - Tove Styrke
top tracks: on the low, on a level
Personal Best - Chelsea Jade
top tracks: low brow, speedboat, personal best
Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves
top tracks: love is a wild thing, space cowboy, velvet elvis
My Mind Makes Noises - Pale Waves
top tracks: drive, red, eighteen
Saved - Now, Now
top tracks: holy water, P0WDER, set it free
*** Reach for the Sun - The Dangerous Summer
this came out a decade ago, but i keep returning to it. it makes me feel young and weightless.
top tracks: symmetry, permanent rain, weathered

*HONORABLE MENTIONS

Fine But Dying - Liza Anne

Clean - Soccer Mommy

To, From - Ethansroom

OTHER TOP SONGS:

Fallingwater - Maggie Rogers

It’s Alright - October Tooth

Night Shift - Lucy Dacus

Prior Things - Hopalong

The Mission - Valley Maker

Needy One - Beket

BOOKS:

I read less in 2018, but my two favorites were both by Maggie Nelson: Something Bright, then Holes, and Bluets.

on to the hope of another year, and the hope of room to be, grow, love.

xo, L