BitterSuites

1. The perfect Mt. Fuji the foaming soap made in my hand. 

Obviously, I couldn’t take this picture because, repeat after me, “we do not take pictures in the bathroom.” This is not completely a hard and fast rule, of course, but I don’t like to use my phone with dirty hands. Especially not in this health-economy.

2. The beautiful texture that the repeated scraping of the door-lock on my bathroom stall made.

Please see the above reasoning for this. It was a lovely texture of silvers and greys, more shades than I can name and it sparkled in the harsh light of the public bathroom. One could see that the latch had actually been worn down as well and nestled tightly in the holder. It was wedge-shaped and worn by time and use. The distillation of time and change and entropy, but also belonging and the way we rub together to build something bigger. Two halves of a whole made of shiny chrome. 

3. The sunset as I walked out onto the top of the parking garage.

It was perfect timing as I walked out. The last warm rays of the sunlight were still lighting the clouds from underneath and the blues and reds were incredible. By the time I could have gotten the shot, it was gone. Like I said, it was perfect timing and I’m glad that I just experienced it as opposed to trying to capture it. 

4. The winter stars from atop that same parking garage.

The benefits of parking on the top of the parking garage include being able to see nearly to the mountains and all the stars from above the majority of the streetlights. The light of winter is crisp and cold and it was too biting to stand out and watch for long, but it was a clear night with a silvery moon and the stars were just rising. If I’d been a photographer, I would have set up a time lapse camera and tried to get a sense of it from my back porch. As it is, I’ve stored it away and will probably try to paint it some day, if only with words. 

5. The texture that my sparkly mask leaves on the back of my hand when I’ve been resting my cheek on it.

I work in an office as my day job, and I am required to wear a mask when I’m not actively eating. I have no problem with that. I do have a problem with boring black masks that make me look like I’m up to something. Instead, I have a series of sparkly masks. (Don’t worry, the sparkly layer is either glued on or an additional mesh layer on top of the others.) The back of my hand starts to get properly spaced little red divots in it though which makes me look like I’m trying to become a new Star Trek species, or I’m discovering my long-lost dragonborn roots. In any case, I never think to replicate it at home and pictures at work are also a no-go for many reasons.