Translucent Thoughts

  • Lady Monday: Emerging and Eccentric

    Austin R&B Duo Nico Medel and Aden Botchway make music reminiscent of something you love, while being something you’ve never heard before. Wires line the carpet of Nico Medel’s bedroom, leading to various samplers and speakers and mics that soon make up the sound of Lady Monday. The 21-year-old’s room feels like a space where…

  • Eyes Without A Face

    When I made this drawing, I didn’t know how to make a face from all the circles and stars. But when I finished it, I knew it was done and would be named after the Billy Idol song “Eyes Without a Face” because that is exactly what it was. This drawing was made at a…

  • Dancing is the Best Release

    “When a body moves, it’s the most revealing thing. Dance for me for a minute, and I’ll tell you who you are.” – Mikhail Baryshnikov. In 1966, my father was born in Hyderabad, India. As a student, he performed poorly in front of his teachers. Papa was an athlete and a dancer. In these roles,…

  • In Full Bloom: The Role of Timothy Parsons at Patti Ann’s Flowers

    Like skin growing used to heat, Timothy Parsons’ hands no longer flinch at the prick of a rose thorn. After 16 years of working at Patti Ann’s Flowers, Parsons holds a special place as their seasoned floral designer.   Patti Ann’s Flowers opened in 1982 on Main Street in Frisco, Texas, a growing suburb north of…

  • Loneliness is a Three Act Play

    Before a lonely night comes a period of possibility. A moment to ponder the likelihood of your life changing. You wonder what it would take to stop feeling alone, how much effort exactly, and how many people you need in your life. The thought is so exhausting you give up as soon as you begin.…

  • Three Youtube Channels For Book Lovers

    I indulge in a good book. So much so that it is not an indulgence but more an anchor to keep me steady throughout the day. However, there is one thing I might love more than my books, technology. What can I say? I love to watch videos about a book rather than reading the…

  • Depression Intelligence

    I have taken a hundred and two-day voluntary hiatus from writing for this blog. Not for my usual reasons for never posting: for example, crippling imposter syndrome or being all-around uninspired but, rather a different and more unusual reason. I have been doing well. For the past hundred and two days, I have been reading,…

  • Uncertainty & Our Fig Trees

    Uncertainty seems to be a common theme in my life. Big or small, I am uncertain. Uncertain about tomorrow or next year or the year after that. Before reading Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar,  I was unable to articulate this feeling meaningfully. To make it digestible to myself and others without sounding pretentiously cryptic. I would have…

  • Writing the Past & Present

    Recently, I finished the novel A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. If I had to use one word to describe the book, I would say that it was honest; maybe too honest. A Little Life details the life of Jude St. Francis, an enigmatic character tainted by trauma. A Little Life left no room for the reader to make a metaphor…

  • Neon Genesis Evangelion & Losing Adolescence

    At its surface, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a story about children in robots. Dig a bit deeper, it is a story littered with religious iconography and isolation. And at its core, it is a tale about adolescence, specifically losing it. Many people watch NGE and jump straight into the Freudian-ness of it all. I won’t…