I figured I would try and keep it simple and just attempt to learn 5 words a day, starting with the verbs. So far it is going well - but I am only a couple of days in.

Check out the Spanish Learning Project for more details and to track my current progress.

It’s what is beneath our feet. Along the same vein as to the vastness of the universe, and the seemingly endless amount of time that has passed - I get a similar feeling when I see a colony of ants pass beneath my feet and disappear below the ground.

Remember when you were a kid and you would lay on the ground and look eye level with the ground, viewing the world as an insect might? Feeling so big can make us feel actually quite small, don’t you think? An entire universe, ecosystem, and network exists unexplored - right under our feet.

I sat and watched a colony of ants that were all working in unison to carry various goods along a long trail they had created. I hunched down and watched closely - some big, some small. Some working in pairs to carry items seemingly 5 times their size. The longer I watched, the more I thought about what went on in that vast world of theirs? What pushed them to do what they did? Did they think like you and me? What kind of lives did they live? What type of underground city were they submerging into?

And this is just one colony, of one subfamily, of one species. What else goes on in this miniature world that lives parallel to our own, yet evades our curiosity and attention.

We humans often like to center ourselves in this universe. Telling ourselves that our ‘advanced intellect’ places us at a level of superiority. But how much do we really know about the world around us? I mean…how much do we really know. I feel like we are at a point in history where many of us feel like science has started to uncover a vast majority of natures secrets - but I think that the universe holds far more secrets than any of us can imagine.

Not to go down a rabbit hole (lets go down a rabbit hole), but what is ‘intellect’. How convenient that we have ourselves (the human species), created our own ideas and definitions of intellect, and then proceeded to name ourselves the master of it. Let me go even further down this rabbit hole: what makes this idea of ‘intellect’ or ‘intelligence’ so important. I feel like this probably sounds like a stupid question to most, but that is sort of my point exactly. We as humans operate and function in the only way we know how. We only can view the world through our human eyes.

I think many people, if not most, see animals as a ‘machine made of meat’ - that’s to say that they aren’t ‘sentient’, for a lack of a better word. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that they couldn’t be. What I am saying is that we don’t know, and it’s naive to make the assumption otherwise.

I don’t know how I ended up on this tangent, but what I guess I originally came here to say is something along the lines of:

The stars make us feel small.

The expanse of time makes us feel insignificant.

The critters’ world beneath our feet makes me feel like a giant,

a giant who is too large to understand the depth of meaning of those who are small;

a giant who is too large and out of touch with the small details and realities that make up this world;

a world where those who scurry beneath our feet are able to understand the most intricate and minute beauties that we will never be able to comprehend.

Worlds live, clash, thrive, and and fall beneath our feet - and we are none the wiser;

we continue our meager lives on a pedestool

while maybe a war wages below,

or maybe drought or flood wipes out an entire colony.

We live, oblivious to the possible wonders or devastation that are happening below.

… I got a bit carried away, I know. But still. Something to think about, no?

I grabbed this¹ book off the shelf in the library and started reading the first chapter. What I read was intriguing and resonated with me, so I checked it out and slowly spent the next 20ish days or so chipping away at the book - stopping to think and reflect as I went. From an earlier blog post I made, I gestured that I wanted to read more methodically, take notes, and reflect on my readings more. As I started this book, I tried to take notes and write down quotes - but it quickly proved cumbersome and ruined my reading flow, so I quickly discarded the idea and just read.

However, the book did try to pack a whole lot of various topics into it, and at times it felt a bit like a roller coaster ride. The author took to a conversational writing style, and although this made it an easier read in the sense of it not having much technical jargon…it was evident that she wrote with a passion, and for my own personal tastes could feel a bit eccentric, or in the author’s often self-proclaimed words: “esoteric”.

There were many parts of this book that I greatly resonated with, even some of the aspects that would likely be considered a bit more “extreme”. With that said, there were definitely some parts of the book that I had to raise some eyebrows at…but all in all, I genuinely appreciated the ‘spirit’ behind the writing. The further along the book I got, I actually started to appreciate the ‘story behind the stories’. Maybe it is just my sociology studies coming to surface, but thinking about the some of the ‘why’ the author thinks the way she does. In short, the sociological perspective and influences that shaped her thinking, and why my own thinking on some of the subjects can align so closely, yet contrast so much in others. I won’t go to far down this thinking, but some of these thoughts were interesting to toss around as I slowly made my way through this book.

Just a couple chapters in to this book, I actually thought about putting it down and moving on to something else, but in some strange way thinking about this blog and the post I would write kept me motivated to push through and finish it. While it was far from one of my favorite books, I’m super happy I finished it and the ponderings it lead to along the way. Sarah Wilson touches on so many topics throughout this book (and frankly has a seemingly passionate hatred for single use cups - as she repeatedly harps on them an uncountable time throughout the book), but I think her biggest push throughout the book seemed to be geared towards climate change as well as our human disconnectedness. Honestly, I initial interest in the book stemmed from her talk about our social disconnect, but she leaned more heavily into climate change issues as the book went on, it seemed. In a way, this book definetely reinvigorated my thoughts towards the climate change crisis, because admittedly with everything going on in the world and life, the climate crisis has sort of been “out of sight and out of mind” to a certain extent.

An Overview

As I mentioned before, I didn’t take any notes while reading - so I can’t really give a great summary of points that the book offered. And even if I did take notes, I am sure it would have been a complicated list to parse through, because the author wrote the book in a conversational style that jumps around from topic to topic.

Just off the top of my head, and with a quick flip through the table of contents, I would say the major points that stuck out to me are the following:

1. Social disconnection

2. Hiking to reconnect and clear the mind

3. Anti-fragile, “Big-Human”, and ‘going to your edge’

4. Capitalism, Anti-consumerism, and Minimalism

5. Making change

I thought about writing a bit of my thoughts on each section (and actually started to, then erased it), but realized I am not here to write a reflective essay and so I’m just going to touch on a few of my thoughts then call it a day.

Our Social Disconnection

Much of the book, especially in the first sections, talk about our social disconnection. I think she called it “connection-lite” - as in superficial connections that don’t require us to dig into the messy part of our connections and relationships. In an age of technology, where we have the ability to communicate literally at the tips of our fingers, we don’t engage in the types of communications that allow us really get to know one another. I am guilty of this, as I am sure many of others are as well.

Meaningful and deep connections take effort, and after the initial phases of connection it eventually requires you to confront the messy parts of being human. I know for me, its often easier to just avoid the activity all together. But I think the point being made in the book likely is pointing more towards the fact that we have so many interactions with one another, yet rarely take the time to get to know one another. We live in a world where society pushes individualism, materialism, etc - which all contribute to a society where it’s individuals are increasingly selfish and thinking inward rather than outward.

Consumerism

This is one of those things where I was already on board with the authors approach to things, so her passionate, and possibly ’extreme’ (and potentially abrasive) anti-consumption rhetoric was able to resonate - but I could definately see how her approach to non consumtion was a bit ‘over the top’ and unatainable for the majority of people.

But with that said, the spirit of her preaching of anti-consumption was rightly placed (in my perspective). Most societies around the world consume, consume, and CONSUME some more. I think that the amount we consume has been so normalized that when we actually fail to comprehend how much it is we actually do consume. Wilson’s examples and recommendations for living minimally are I think a bit extreme by most peoples standards, but I think maybe its time for us (as society) to course correct and embrace a bit of that ’extremism’.

There is not much more to say, other than just starting to pull quotes and ideas from the book, other than to just note that while I didn’t agree with everything in the book - it definitely allowed me to think more deeply about some of the things I do daily, but take for granted the impact it has. Just one example is the amount of single use items we utilize (Wilson seems to have an obsession against single use coffee cups, and relentlessly rails against them throughout the book).

I already had a mindset towards minimalism, and am always trying to cut down on my things. But often my ‘minimalist’ mindset was more about me; my mental state, my ease of simplicity, my ability to move and travel without having things weighing me down, etc. But the book made me reflect a bit more on this minimalism thing: the impact of consuming on the environment and society. I think one little note I took away from it all was to try and minimize my use of plastics. I’ve mostly already known the impacts of plastics, but it had taken a bit of a back seat as to the actual importance of the impact.

Where I am currently at (after having just moved), there is trash everywhere, mostly because the crows are always digging through the trash cans and dumpsters, littering it everywhere. I joined a group of volunteers and we spent a couple hours walking around picking up trash, and will probably continue to do so each month. When you see the amount of plastics everywhere, torn to little pieces and scattered everywhere, and think about the fact that it won’t decompose but just sit there - it really felt like a big reminder of how much we are affecting our ecosystem. I think many of us grew up hearing about environmentalism, the importance of this or that - but its sort of just been heard for so long that we don’t really sit and absorb it anymore, having heard it so much. At least I don’t. If someone would mention the importance of this, that or the other, in regards to climate change or environmentalism…I would probably nod and agree. But sitting and pondering these things as I read the book, as well as moving to somewhere that had so much trash thrown about (after coming from japan where everything is neat, tidy, and promptly cleaned…for the most part), it made me kind of step back and bring these issues a bit closer to the forefront of my mind.

In Sum

For me, the book was pretty great - not because I thought the book was actually that great (no shade towards the author, I think she did a great job with it), but because the book bounced around to so many different ideas, and in such different ways that it really provided a great deal of things to think about and reflect on.

Just to give an idea of what I mean, the book is less than 350 pages, but took me around 20ish days to finish - while the next book I started reading² has only taken me around 2 days to get past 300 pages. It’s not that the writing of this book was difficult, but just that it wasn’t something that I could get engrossed in, and I also would often only read in short chunks to think about what I was reading - and see if I actually agreed with what it was she was writing.

I checked out her works, and she has written another book³ that seems to (sort of) piggy back off of this one, and is of course more recent. I am tempted to read her next book, and see what (if anything) has changed in her perspectives. I don’t think I’ll read it right away, as I am already engrossed in this ‘Silo’ Series², but I’ll probably add it to my reading list.

I honestly think that writing down the thoughts helps me to organize them and reflect on them. Even as I write them, I start the judge them. Both in a good way, and a bad way.

In the way these judgments are good: in the sense that I realize once I put my thought into words, I see how flawed they can be, or I see some missing piece of the puzzle that I failed to realize before. I don’t think I need to write them down in order to benefit from this process, but the act of writing it down forces me to slow down and deliberately think the thoughts through to their completion, rather than having a general idea that I trick myself into thinking is a complete thought.

On the negative aspect of things, once I write things down and the flaws are laid bare - whether that be in the writing, or the thoughts themselves - it makes me hesitate to post it. Or I feel the need to revise and edit until the post is solid and reasoned. And If I was to guess, I would think that the majority of people would probably see it reasonable to put more time and effort into each post to make it more “polished” before making it public. And in a way I am tempted to do just that…but the thing is that a big part of having this blog is to avoid the need to do that. As soon as I need to plan, edit, and revise my writing it is going to feel like work; and I going to simply stop writing. Not only that, but then it feels like I am writing to make content, rather than writing to let my thoughts gather and evolve. I think the planning and editing could be very helpful to do this in a way, as I have had to obviously do this when writing college papers….but I am not trying to feel the need to write an essay every time I want to write a post.

The most logical thing to do would be to simply write an offline/private journal, so that there is no pressure - and whatever I write simply exists for my own sole benefit. But the irony is that although I want to write for myself, the mere fact that my blog is public gives me the motivation to try and write and post. So even though I am writing for myself, I have to admit that a part of me isn’t writing for myself, but for the recognition by others. I don’t want to write for the recognition of others, and I have tried to make my blog in a way that there are no likes or comments (no external indicators of the fact that anyone is or isn’t actually visiting/reading my posts) - but regardless, there is a small part of me that wants to share my thoughts with others, to be heard, and to connect…in some weird and corny way.

Simply put, I need to find a way to keep writing and posting - even if its uncomfortable to put my half-assed, rambling, and incredibly flawed ideas into writing to potentially be seen and read by others. I truly do think that the process itself is beneficial, and that if I continue to do it, then hopefully my disconnected thoughts will start to better make sense, and in turn I will be better equipped to communicate them.

–Anthony

I bring this up because I personally find it extremely difficult to feel “content”, or “satisfied” and “at peace” with myself the majority of the time. I think part of this might just simply be a personal issue (as I think I am just generally a restless human being), but another part of me wants to put blame on our social, economic, and political structures/systems as well.

Over the past few years, especially since I have started taking my sociology classes and doing more reading that gave me the vocabulary, terms, and theories to put my feelings into words; I have been reflecting a bit more on our consumerist tendencies and the effects it has on our ability to feel satisfied with our current place in life.

A Brief Backstory:

When I was 18, and about to graduate high-school, I decided I didn’t want to fall into the same trap as everyone else and work my life away in a 9 to 5 job, feeding into the system that drained your soul and kept you tied down to the systems and structures society expected of you. So as soon as I graduated, I bought a one way ticket to Beijing with three nights booked at a hostel, and spent the next three months backpacking all over Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and near Tibet (but failed to get in). ¹ While I traveled, I lived extremely frugal, trying to spend as little as possible on food, lodging, and etc. While I spent some money on train tickets and hostels, I tried my best to get around by hitchhiking and walking, as well as save costs on lodging by sleeping in my bivy sac on the side of roads and such. At the time I decided I would live the rest of my life traveling the world living minimally, making money by either working odd jobs here and there, or going back to the U.S. to work for a few months at a time and saving up. Spoiler: I didn’t end up doing that, and I did end up (kind of) settling down.

When I was traveling those three months, I was young, naive, and careless - and I definitely had a lot to learn. I remember while I was on that adventure, I was almost always exhausted and getting into various predicaments. Yet, I look back at this time in my life as when I felt the most at peace and fulfilled.

I understand that for me, this was a time when I was first experiencing the world outside of my own bubble, and seeing new cultures and ways of doing thing, etc. Even though I was “roughing it”, it was essentially a vacation - even if I didn’t see it that way at the time. The people I was around and the friends I met often had no choice but to live in these conditions due to their social and economic status, while I was there by choice, and had the option to leave at any time. My fond memories of this time are a mixture of many things; to include the people I met, the adventures I experienced, the broadening of my understanding, etc. But I do believe that a large part of my joy during that time was simply because of lifestyle it entailed: enjoying the moment for what it was, rather than the complex social games we must play to stay afloat in a modern world.

Maybe what I am trying to get at, in a roundabout way, is that I had a balance (if not in a bit of an extreme way) that worked for me at the time, and gave me a sense of peace. I had the economic freedom to afford to live more luxuriously if/when I wanted (I wasn’t trapped and restricted by my social or economical means), but I had a simple yet active lifestyle that allowed me to feel disconnected from much of the negative aspects that society throws at us. I am very much over simplifying this, as there are so many factors that I could dive into (such as the fact that was often walking all day long, and thus my brain was probably getting a high amount of serotonin and dopamine; that I made lots of social connections from incredibly hospitable locals; and the fact that despite the social activity I had, I was probably living in my own imagined bubble since I only spoke a few words of Mandarin Chinese). But in the spirit of trying to stay on topic, I am trying not too stray too far down any of these rabbit holes.

Anyways, to continue the story: I remember when I returned back home to my parents house I felt extremely restless again. And not only did I feel restless, but I remember feeling extremely dissatisfied, and actually a bit upset with how materialistic our society was. I remember thinking that people seemed to be worried, upset, and impressed with all the wrong things. While some of these thoughts were partly because I was young and still a bit naive, I think some of the underlying feelings were based upon something real - something deeply wrong with our society: our constant desire to attain more, to grow, and to progress - and while progress may sound like a positive thing…to me it feels like a double edged sword at times.

Back on track:

Now, I try to live minimally - to an extent - but nowhere near the extreme that I had lived at while I was backpacking, of course. But it seems that even when you consciously are trying to prevent the accumulation of unneeded items, it seems that the society we live in constantly raises the bar of what is a “necessity”.

Of course, we all have our own lives to live, and what is truly a necessity to one person is not necessarily a necessity to another (eg: due to medical reasons, geography, etc).

Modern day marketing, social stigmas, classism, etc all contribute to this feeling that we “need” something when truly we do not. Often these things compound upon each other: marketing will convince a portion of the population to purchase an item, then when you are the odd person out within the society that doesn’t have this item you fall behind due to either a lack of productivity, status, or stigma. The complexities I am sure could be (and likely have been) written out in an entire academic essay.

Hurry up and wait

I am extremely guilty of feeling like I need to hurry, or finish something quickly to move on to the next thing - even if there is no “next thing”. While I think consumerism does tie into this a bit, I think I would better describe it in simple terms as a feeling to “keep progressing”. I think most people would probably agree that constant improvement and progression is a good thing, and that we should always strive to get better.

Part of me wants to say “of course”, but the other part of me wonders if I think that simply because that is what our society has ingrained in us to think of as a ‘positive trait’. If you are not looking for improvement, you are “lazy” or “stagnant”, and “wasting potential”.

But coming back to extremes vs balance, I think that we have drilled into our minds that we always need to be looking for ways to progress and improve, when in reality we would probably be more happy, content, and fulfilled if we simply slowed down and didn’t put so much pressure on ourselves and others to keep progressing.

I remember seeing this saying repeated online multiple times, I think on Lemmy comments or something; it went something along the lines of “Constant growth for the sake of growth is cancer.” I am sure I am butchering the quote, and it probably originates from some well regarded person - but regardless, I was reminded of it while writing this. I don’t know what the original quote was referencing, but I think our society has very much started to go down this cancerous path.

We don’t need perfection, we don’t need to be rich, we don’t need to be the “best”, we don’t need the newest version of x, y, or z. Yes…sometimes its nice to chase progress and improvement - but I don’t think it needs to be the default setting, especially when it isn’t a necessity or bringing us joy.

Still figuring it out

I have been chasing the feeling of peace and content most of my life (ironic, I know), and every time I think I found a step in the right direction, I often stumble over something new. I don’t know if we can ever truly feel content in our lives - at least not for long. Maybe that is just human nature. Maybe that is just my nature. Is the irony of endlessly chasing peace simply a snake eating its head? Is the key to peace to simply stop searching for it? Part of me thinks so, but part of me also thinks that it takes a conscious effort to strive for peace, otherwise we fall prey to the whims and manipulations that appear around every corner. I am sure there is a balance in there somewhere, I have just yet to find it.

With that said, recently I have started walking and running a lot more than I normally have - and I must say that I feel a whole lot more . . . “stable?”, when I am running. I am sure it is likely just the chemical release you get from exercise - but for some reason I am on a short little stint of trying to utilize running and exercise to find some peace in my life. Which is funny, because I’ve never been a huge runner per say, but I grew up running quite a bit, bicycled on and off a bit over the years, and have been somewhat active over many of the years…but for some reason it is just now ‘clicking’ for me how much exercise is tied to my mental state. ²

You always hear and read about how good exercise is for you, both mentally and physically - and I know this to be true, but now that I have more time on my hands and have gotten over that initial barrier of “pushing through the suck”, I actually feel really clear headed when I get to go out and run. We’ll see how long it lasts for though hahaha. (Also, I have gone a bit overboard with all the running that I think I gave myself shinsplints along with some aggravating knee pain /:)

As the way most of my posts will likely be, I’m sure it was a bit rambling at times, but hopefully it was coherent enough to make some sense of. (Future me: I did come back and edit a few small grammar mistakes and such, so hopefully that helps)

– Anthony

PS: You don’t know how hard it is to not absolutely get sidetracked on a rant and end up 3 paragraphs later on a completely different subject. ROFL. Don’t know what I would do without parenthesis and citations/references XD.

In my mind, I often feel that a book is meant to be an entire experience - to be enjoyed from beginning to end. But I think that I actually get quite a lot of value by browsing through random books I pass by. In a way, I often reflect and digest the words I read more this way; taken in small bites, rather than as a large feast.

Granted, there is definitely something to be said about immersing yourself completely in a fictional world and forgetting reality while you follow the plot that is so brilliantly painted by the author.

1. I get entirely engrossed in the book and will spend every free moment I have to read. I will be carrying my eBook reader around and pulling it out to read even during a 5 minute wait in line. If it’s a long series, then this will often continue until I finish the series.

2. I simply cannot get into the book, even sometimes when I realize that it is good. If I cannot get ‘hooked’, I most often give up only a couple chapters in. Sometimes about halfway through the book.

I just finished a book called The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin. And this time, it was neither of the above options. I was neither entirely captivated nor did I abandon the book before finishing, so it was a nice feeling to stick the book out and finish.

The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin

Although I just read this book, I wasn’t reading thoughtfully and thoroughly enough to write a reflection on it to start off this “reading list”, but I can definitely say that it was a good read. I loved the parallels it made to modern social issues, and how the author was clearly trying to make a point through the science fiction world. I wish that I would have taken notes and highlighted some quotes, because it would have been a great book to write a reflective essay on - but I will hopefully do this for the next book I read.

If you are looking for a book to read, I can definitely recommend this one. While it wasn’t my most “enjoyable” reading, it was thought provoking and engaging.

Going Forward

I really hate to commit myself to much of anything, because I often hate the feeling of being “locked in” with no way out - but still, I want to try and start reading on a more consistent basis. I am going to try and make the following loose goals:

• Just read: Try to do a little bit of reading, whether it is a few minutes a day, or only a couple times a week - try to make time to have it a part of the schedule.
• Don’t feel obligated to finish: If I start a book and get tired of it, feel free to set it down and start something else. I can either come back to it in the future or forget about it completely.
• Keep track of my readings here on the blog at “/projects/reading_list/”
• While I will likely become immersed into some books that I read, the ones in which I am not, I should try to read more reflectively; taking notes and stopping/slowing down to think about it a bit more.

My wife and I briefly talked about starting a “book club” of sorts, which I think could be a great motivator, as well as encourage me to read books that I wouldn’t normally read. We’ll see if I get any traction with a more consistent reading schedule or not; but regardless, there are definitely a couple other books on my list that I have been wanting to give a shot.

– Anthony

I’ll start out in the worst way possible: I just got back from drinking and I’m a bit toasted - so hopefully I’ll come back and edit this before I publish, but if not…I’m sorry hahaha.

So I just went out for dinner and drinks with a guy I’ve come to know while here in Japan (he owns the rock climbing gym I frequented). I’m leaving here in a couple days, so it was a sort of farewell and good bye in a sense.

But what I figured I would write about, while my mind is still fresh on the subject, even if a still impaired, is the idea of how people sort of “idolize” cultures outside of their own. I remember when growing up, I sort of had a fascination of sorts with the eastern/Asian cultures. I grew up watching avatar the last Airbender, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Lee, and films about the Samurai and Ninja. I remember being interested in the eastern martial arts like Kung Fu, but also the way of thinking - the culture, philosophies, teachings, etc.

Of course I was young, and easily shaped and molded by the things I watched and saw - even as adults we are molded by our surroundings. But it’s crazy how much media and the film industry shaped my thinking. While of course it wasn’t the sole factor in shaping who I am today, but it most definitely had some sort of impact - and even motivated me to backpack China for 3 months after high-school.

The reason I am thinking about this is because my friend who I just got back from drinks with is similarly fascinated with U.S. culture. He is a great deal older than me (about twice my age) - and so the age difference along with the cultural differences most definitely play a part in shaping our identity; but it is fascinating how people often gravitate towards cultures outside their own.

Perhaps I am partially thinking about this because my wife and I briefly in passing brought up something similar to this point quite a while ago. And now I am dwelling on this fact a bit more.

I am sure media and everything plays a big role - but I also think that it has something to do with the fact that our societies (wherever that be) puts certain expectations on us - and when we don’t feel like we fit into the mold of those expectations - we search for answers elsewhere. Of course, elsewhere has their own problems and issues - but they are different than the ones we are currently facing and do not seem as significant. Of course, I am generalizing and over simplifying - but I think this phenomenon is something that has some grounding. I think it’s basically one of those “the grass is greener on the other side.”

I’m sure there is more to dive into on this subject, but honestly the hour is late and my mind is no longer curious or explorative. But all in all, I think maybe the lesson to take away is that each society has its issues and and its strengths. If we could try to be accepting of our learned strengths while critical of our failings, we can possibly learn from the positives of other cultures and simultaneously learn from their faults. No one is perfect or without fault, and neither is any society. We will all see things in a different light, and if we can come together and find an even ground while keeping our mind open, we can learn a lot from one another - both in their successes and their failings.

I hope my writing was at least coherent and understandable. Have a great night and make the most of the moment. Tonight was the first night my friend and I hung out outside of the setting of the climbing gym (with the relative relationship of customer and owner). Over dinner and drinks I realized now that though we may see things very differently, and have very different views of the world - we are both humans who enjoyed the presence and the company of another. It isn’t until the time comes to an end that you make the most of the last moments you have.

Cheers! To the unlikely friendships and the fleeting moments of joy that make this life bearable!

– Anthony