THROWBACK THURSDAY

This is a very special edition of Throwback Thursday because it's my birthday. Twelve years ago, I turned seventeen. My (now) two oldest friends had great surprises for me that day. Megan got to school early and decorated my locker with pictures and a typewritten letter. She left a small tape recorder perched on top with instructions to press play.

I shouldn't worry, the letter said. It won't be too loud.

I pressed play, and The Beatles began to sing. Before they could even get out, "Well, it's my birthday too, yeah!", my homeroom teacher sped out into the hallway and told me to stop making so much noise. I always got the impression that not much about life excited him. Especially teenagers. Not even this birthday fun could warm his heart.

Later that day, B gave me a small, wrapped present. Inside was a Christmas tree air freshener for my car (because cross country runners make stinky cars) and a mix tape. To this day, it is the only mix tape someone has ever made me. I wore that thing out. I've still got it, so I decided to make a playlist of the songs on the tape. I began from memory before listening to find out what I had forgotten. I was patting myself on the back for remembering 40 minutes worth of songs (well, more like 45 but the official Beatles version of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is not on Spotify,) and then I pulled out the tape. It was 90 minutes long! What had I forgotten? ( I suppose my memory of a mix tape having a half life of 12 years isn't the worst thing in the world.)

So, because I'm not yet 30, here is my Happy Birthday Sarah mixtape from 2002. (With about 40 minutes of Beatles songs missing -- most from the Let It Be album. )

URBAN TUMBLEWEEDS

I have these memories of seeing balls of cassette tape tape rolling around parking lots and on sidewalks.  Clearly these aren't recent memories, but they're something that I can't shake right now. I went to the thrift store a couple of weeks ago to buy some tapes to see what I could do with them. I've tried glueing the magnetic strip to some canvas. I'm not sure if I like that yet, but I did pull out a whole cassette's worth of tape and make my own tape ball. It's hanging on the wall right now. It's floppy and makes a nice rustling noise like a cheerleader pom pom. I drew it a few times this weekend and then layered the drawings in photo shop. Maybe nothing else will come of this, but it's just something I'm thinking about right now.

Layered.

flycatcher journal

 ... Memory is a funny thing. My ability to recall events and entire days years later, including what everyone wore, contrasts with hundreds of vague recollections. These photographs are about memory, place, and journey. Shot almost entirely from my car, they are images of chance. I do not plan which two images are exposed on the same frame.  I am not even bothered if the two images are misaligned in the frame. In the same way my memory works, for every compelling photograph I get, there are five or six unsuccessful blurs...

In January, I had the privilege of having a photo essay published in the inaugural issue of Flycatcher Journal. Flycatcher is an online literary magazine featuring content that explores what it is to be native to place. Visit Flycatcher Journal's website to view the rest of my photo essay and read other wonderful submissions.