September 20, 2026

absorbing
and digesting
and discovering
and recovering
and breathing through
this day following
our final day

it was bittersweet

it was a lot

i think i could have written a better reflection
while inside of it,
now i’ve had a night to dream strange dreams
and almost think about it
but not quite

not quite

i’m not in the moment, so i feel i can’t write about being in the moment
and i’m not really outside of the experience, so i can’t write about looking back

i’m in a limbo of experiences’ making

so i suppose i’ll talk about that

this liminal time between being knee-deep/
elbow-deep/
maybe in over one’s own head
in an experience
riding that wave
and
the time afterward where one can look back
to reflect on what one has done
in memories/contemplations/
from a bit of a distance

this liminal space of being part of something that has not yet disbanded
but not currently experiencing the thing experienced
anymore

i’m using a lot of words because i don’t know how this feeling actually feels in words

[i suppose
that’s why we use the term “liminal”

it means a thing/space/experience of being in-between

it means something that’s hard to put into words
because it will always be
in-between words

i’m experiencing between experiences

i’m living between moments —
between ‘during’ and ‘after’

it’s an awkward, growing-pains kind of place to be living,
and it won’t last forever

but i’m living in it
and riding it as far as it’ll go

because as soon as this feeling ceases
then the experience really is
fully
over

and i don’t think i’m ready for that
quite yet]

September 19, 2026

our bodies are so strong
even as we chafe and bruise
and ache and stiffen
we are still able to continue on
step by buffalo step

i know there is some sort of scientific reason
we can go and go and go —
if it’s adrenaline and/or cortisol
some bodily/muscular word that explains
how we’ve been built, over generations,
to be marathon animals
rather than sprinters

but i think there is also a spiritual reason
that artists can continue and continue and continue
as we sweat out buckets and get exhausted
and our buffalo seems to get heavier and heavier —
it’s the connection between us within the puppet
the connection between all of us in the herd
the connection between our animals and the humans surrounding
all of us hoping for the coming of a kinder, gentler, more buffalo future

these masses of wood and paper and burlap and erosion cloth
become alive the moment we connect
and we see and respect that life, that spirit
and walk with them

we are walking with them

will you walk with us?

September 18, 2026

i am so in love
with non-human persons
the animal companions we keep with us
the wild ones where i may never meet them
but i can watch on videos and capture
the tiniest portion of their soul to intermingle with my soul
for a tiny portion of time
and then let them go

the languages they speak without language
the emotions they express through their bodies and eyes
the understanding i think we share
but the knowledge that it may be my own inferences
my own imaginings
my own human narrative
and not reality
that i’m picking up on

it is humbling

it is momentous

it is a way to live in the moment
and stop thinking of oneself
and instead think about
connection

i am so in love with
the creatures on this planet
and i hope to someday connect with
and see the personness inside
and hear the breathing of
the trees and flowers and soil underground
in the same way i can with those with eyes

[i think all i have to do
is listen]

September 17, 2026

i wish i could bottle certain feelings
and uncork and inhale them when needed

last night i had a moment of utter bliss
looking around, watching adults and artists
puppeteering giant buffalo around a warehouse in brooklyn
everyone concentrating
everyone knowing
it’s an illusion but also a very real spirit
that makes this whole herd work

it’s art and community and hope and strength
and imagination and wisdom and belief
and i damn near cried because i couldn’t believe
this is real life
this is better than i could have imagined
my time on earth
would be spent

helping native persons
helping the earth

with art and performance and everything i have ever wanted to do

i suppose i’m inhaling that bottled sense again this morning
writing about it
trying to express with words what words cannot express
but can, perhaps, capture a sample
or imitate for future use

for when i feel lost

for when i feel depressed

for when i have no hope

i can remember one hundred and sixty? seventy? eighty? people
some inside a puppet
some outside observers
learners
like me
all with one goal in mind: create conversation
for the betterment of everyone on this planet
every person, human and non-human,
and doing it with
art

art that took teams and teams to imagine and map out
and build and construct
and put final touches on
and doctor and make better
and teams to map out routes and talk with other groups
and performers and city officials and advertise so more people
will see and continue a conversation we are creating
we, this team, all voluntary, all wanting to bring to life
this art, this stampede, this dream,
this imagining

this honoring

i hope those who see from the outside tomorrow and saturday
see what i saw yesterday
feel what i felt yesterday

that it’s amazing to be
here
now

with people
with buffalo
with hope
with art
with life

let us let the earth continue to provide this magic

let us help the earth

let us help the magic

September 16, 2026

make
bad
art

we need more
human
bad art

or at least something filled with
life
and breath

art is life
life is art

ai is not currently life/breath/creativity

ai cannot make art

it can make amalgamations of other humans’ art
it can mix styles like paint
but that is just a technical ability

art is ephemeral and hard to describe

it needs life

in needs breath

it needs person-ness

so make bad art, because no matter how bad it is
it
is
still
ART

September 15, 2026

just kinda writing
kinda vibing
this morning

hoping i can nap in such a way
that actually rejuvenates me
instead of making me more
sleepy

and hoping my body holds and heals and continues
the way i need it to
for this week/month/semester/year/life

September 13, 2026

some hassles this morning
but it’s ok
it’s ok

it’s not the end of the world

there are always ways around it
always ways to get to where you’re going

always time to find to do the things you need to do

even if you don’t think there is
borrow from elsewhere

time has both a taking and a giving nature
and we can ask it for favors
every now and then

[just don’t make it a habit
and time won’t find ways
to place ironic twists on your
days]

September 12, 2026

a beginning
the start of something
first day of school
and all that jazz

any new thing is nerve-wracking
is terror-inducing
is scary

even when excitement overwhelms
even when it’s likely to be all good
there’s still a bit of the self that goes
‘EEK!’

so here’s to going in with no predisposed notions
no expectations, just the feelings that i’m feeling
and a hope to stay in the moment
and take all that will happen
as it all happens

[it’s a super neat project
and i’m super stoked about the point and purpose of it all
and if everything goes to heck in a handbasket, which is doubtful
but i suppose always possible, i can always remind myself
it is just
one
week]

September 11, 2026

first time feeling like the attacks were an affront to
My
city

not to the country as a whole that everyone says i should claim
but i’m still not so certain

and it has to do with
time
community
and electing a mayor i’m so proud to have represent us

in all events

yes, even/especially at happenings for memorials and things
tonight

so fuck your anti-Muslim sentiments
because if we can’t all be americans
we can at least all be New Yorkers

i know this

and i’ll wear that badge of honor everywhere