whimsically signed, by Kanokwan T. '26
yfnhmc (your friendly neighborhood house meeting chair)
After freshman year, I decided to stick around for the summer. I felt like I scarcely had time to get to know the area as more than just…school. After all, Boston is full of treats, and how could I not indulge in exploring?
Narrowing down my list of living places, I decided on pika, an MIT independent living group. It has a vibrantly colorful house splashed with artwork, a tight-knit community with traditions, and a meal plan full of new foods.
While living there, I was the House Meeting Chair and ran meetings every week. We proposed house policies and voted on them. My favorite part of the job was carrying on a tradition of my predecessors: attaching a fun, new piece of media in every email sign-off. It was a joy digging these emails up.
For example, here’s an actual email I sent, in full:
hi ☀️ pika,
👁 happy august (can you believe it?)!!!
🪵 next house meeting is 9pm on 8/7 at the back deck
✏️ add items here [agenda link redacted]
till then: have a whimsical, magical week 🍄
—
kano
yfnhmc (your friendly neighborhood house meeting chair)
some music magic:
[Verse 1]
Do you believe in magic in a young girl’s heart
How the music can free her whenever it starts?
And it’s magic if the music is groovy
It makes you feel happy like an old-time movie
I’ll tell you about the magic, and it’ll free your soul
But it’s like tryna tell a stranger ’bout-a rock and roll— Do You Believe in Magic by The Lovin’ Spoonful
#
So, yeah, pretty simple: email logistics, an agenda, and bumps every week. Below is a compilation of all the media I attached!
June 5, 2022
2 quotes for you today, both of which speak to the inner child in all of us!
First, one of my favorite exchanges between Andy Warhol and Joan Didion.
WARHOL: Why can’t it just be magic all the time?
DIDION: What.
Second, a classic Maya Angelou:
I am convinced that most people do not grow up. We find parking spaces and honor our credit cards. We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are still innocent and shy as magnolias.
June 6, 2022
Gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe.
— Albert Camus, The Stranger
been in an existential mood the past month (oh my god have you seen Everything Everywhere All At Once? if not, go go go!), so this quote came to mind.
June 10, 2022
from Season 5, Episode 11, Scene 25 of The X-Files: an exchange between 2 FBI agents on scene at the aftermath of a death
(Dawn. MULDER and SCULLY look over smoking remains of trailer.)
SCULLY: Well, if Esther wanted to leave her body, she got her wish. At least that part of it.
MULDER: I wonder.
SCULLY: Mulder, she’s dead.
MULDER: What if she managed to establish an uplink, Scully? A satellite transmission?
SCULLY: (voice) Mulder, are you telling me that Esther may have … that she may not be dead?
MULDER: (voice) Artificial life. It could exist. It could be here among us, evolving.
SCULLY: (voice) Electrons chasing each other through a circuit — that isn’t life, Mulder.
MULDER: (voice) Yeah, but what are we but impulses? Electrical and chemical through a bag of meat and bones. You’re the scientist. You tell me.
June 12, 2022
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
— Dr. Wayne Dyer
it’s giving The Matrix spoon vibes
June 20, 2022
words from Adventure Time that I don’t fully stand by but find amusing:
Come on, bro, taking pain is easy. You just have to imagine that every bruise is a hickey from the universe. And everyone wants to get with the universe.
— Finn the Human
June 24, 2022
2 quotes for you today:
The feeling of communication is very elusive. In being seen by another, there’s always an incompleteness to that understanding.
— Wu Tsang, We hold where study
Busy, busy, busy, is what we Bokononists whisper whenever we think of how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is.
― Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle
June 26, 2022
A classic from Vienna by Billy Joel:
[Verse 1]
Slow down, you crazy child
You’re so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you’re so smart
Tell me why are you still so afraid, hmm?
Where’s the fire, what’s the hurry about?
You’d better cool it off before you burn it out
You’ve got so much to do
And only so many hours in a day, ayy[Chorus 1]
But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You’re gonna
Kick off before you even get halfway through, ooh
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you?July 4, 2022
The same water that hardens the egg softens the potato.
July 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/pjayevans/status/1545197258462769152?s=21&t=JOb6hRp_PNDL7vTV2IveQw
July 18, 2022
a song snippet for you tonight!
Good Looking by Suki Waterhouse:
Tides thrash inside
Baby, I’m high octane
Fever in a shock wave
My core vibrates in an opium haze
Yet you think we’re the sameThe skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyline falls as I try to make sense of it allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
July 18, 2022
more lyrics! music undoes me like no other!
Stairs to the Attic by The Antlers:
[Verse 3]
And on the last step I was dizzy
Because there were stairs in all directions
But I found another door
And through the door there was the attic
Without old clothes, without a ceiling
Everything had opened wide
Into the jaws of something bigger
And suddenly I saw that I was
[Bridge]Upstairs and outside and freezing on the roof
Finally, it had found me: the answer, the feeling, and the truth
[Outro]That I’m small
That I’m small
That I’m small
I’m smaller than the smallest fireball
July 22, 2022
enjoy this song that I previously thought was about a hot shot named Charlie but that I’ve learned is actually about cocaine (which Charlie is slang for). I think about the little middle school kano that would innocently blast this song. 0_o whoops
Charlie by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
[Chorus: Anthony Kiedis with John Frusciante]
So much more than—
Charlie’s wakin’ me
To my core and—
And Charlie’s shakin’ me
And tell my story
And Charlie’s makin’ me—
And Charlie’s makin’ me smile
Oh, whoa, now[Post-Chorus: Anthony Kiedis]
(Tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic)
(One, one, one, one, one, one more)
(Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait)
(One, one, one, one, one, one more)[Verse 2: Anthony Kiedis]
Everybody do the twist
Get the message on Flea’s fists
Move around like a scientist
Lay down, get kissed
(Tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic)July 23, 2022
July 24, 2022
Can we go on land. No. Why? The sun is a deadly laser.
— the history of the entire world, i guess by Bill Wurtz
July 31, 2022
2 frog-themed pieces of media for you:
I am happy. I am very happy. This morning when I woke up I felt good because the sun was shining. I felt good because I was a frog. And I felt good because I have you as a friend. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to think about how fine everything is.
― Arnold Lobel, Days with Frog and Toad
August 1, 2022
(used in the example at the start of the blog)
August 5, 2022
lyrics from one of my favorite songs ever,
Purple Yellow Red and Blue by Portugal. The Man
All I wanna do is
Live in ecstasy, I know what’s best for me
I can’t help it, it’s this hopeless itch
I just wanna feel (Wanna feel)
Purple, yellow, red and blue
[Post-Chorus]
I just (Evil) wanna be evil
I just (Evil) wanna be evil
Wanna be evil, wanna be evil
I just wanna be evil
I just (Evil) wanna be evil
I just (Evil) wanna be evil
Wanna be evil, wanna be evil
Purple, yellow, red and blue[Bridge]
All that I needed
Is something to believe in
‘Cause everything just falls in place like that
All that I needed
Is something to believe in
‘Cause everything just falls in place like that
August 7, 2022
perhaps being square isn’t all that bad!
a fiery quote from one of my favorite squares: Spongebob
episode Squid on Strike
Squidward: Attention, people of Bikini Bottom! You have been cheated and lied to! The gentle laborer shall no longer suffer from the noxious greed of Mr. Krabs! We will dismantle oppression board by board! We’ll saw the foundation of big business in half, even if it takes an eternity!
[The crowd cheers]
SpongeBob: [From behind pole] Gee, I don’t know what Squidward’s talking about, but he sure sounds convincing.
Squidward: With your support, we will send the hammer of the people’s will crashing through the windows of Mr. Krabs’ house of servitude!
[He speaks into Fred’s face, and his eyes shoot into the back of his head. Then, they return to their sockets. Everyone cheers.]
Billy (lime fish): Wow, all this supporting is making me hungry.
Sandals: Hey, everybody! Let’s go get a Krabby Patty.
[Everyone cheers and run into the Krusty Krab, once again trampling Squidward.]
Squidward: Nobody gives a care about the fate of labor as long as they can get their instant gratification.
[SpongeBob walks up to him.]
…
SpongeBob: Gee, being on strike with Squidward sure is a kick. Squidward’s words are still buzzing around in my head like an angry jellyfish. Squidward was right!
I can’t just sit here, it’s time for action!
[He kicks open his front door, hammer and saw in hand. He runs to the Krusty Krab and into the dining room]
I will restore the working man to his rightful glory. I will dismantle this oppressive establishment board by board!
[He pulls up a loose floorboard. He then saws a table in half]
I will saw the tables of tyranny in half. Gnaw at the ankles of big business!
[He takes a bite out of a wooden column. Mouth full]
Squidward will be so proud!
[Cut to Squidward and Mr. Krabs, now fully dressed, walking to the Krusty Krab at dawn.]
…
Mr. Krabs: In order to pay off these damages, you two are gonna work for me forever!
SpongeBob: Ya-hoo! The strike worked, Squidward! We got our jobs back! Forever!
[“Forever” once again echoes inside Squidward’s mind, and the camera zooms in on his bloodshot eyes.]
French Narrator: One eternity later…
[The Krusty Krab is shown to be full of dust, but without any customers. Cobwebs are everywhere. A skeleton Squidward brushes off the floor, and a skeleton SpongeBob waits in the ordering boat.]
August 15, 2022
a lyric from Nancy Sinatra’s song Some Velvet Morning
[Chorus]
Some velvet morning when I’m straight
Flowers growing on a hill
I’m gonna open up your gate
Dragonflies and daffodils
And maybe tell you ’bout Phaedra
Learn from us very much
And how she gave me life
Look at us, but do not touch
Fade
note from me: This snippet does not do justice to the entrancing ending to the song! The chaotic overlap of a duet! The interjection! The menacing fade out! The conversation!
August 19, 2022
a spoken word piece: Apple by The Narcisist Cookbook
Best taken in by listening to the Spotify audio. Lucifer entices Eve on! What does she do? Is man naturally good? What even IS an apple? Oh my god
[Spoken]
Beautiful day, isn’t it?
Yeah I know, redundant to say that though
Every day is more perfect than the last day
Which I suppose must mean yesterday wasn’t perfect at all, ya know? It just appeared to be
Because we didn’t know any better
Tomorrow we’ll say the same thing about today I guess, so on and on until, I don’t know, it gets bored of us, I suppose?
Shuts up shops, sells its clothes and moves on
Then what happens to us, that’s the question, isn’t it?
That’s what keeps me up at night, anyway, fighting off the- the dreamless stand-by
Sorry, I know you, don’t I?
Cannot place your name, one of the little garden gnomes It made, yeah?
No offense intended, we’re all decorations around here, myself included: the rivers, the animals, the trees in the soil, stars in the sky, exactly what we are meant to be, doing exactly what we are meant to be doing more or less
Take this apple for instance
You see, it hangs there, like it was told to
Content, blissful
And it can stay up there, on that beautiful tree forever
Eternity would come and go and it would be just fine
But the apple, you see, the apple knows it doesn’t need to stay up there, the apple could drop, couldn’t it? The apple could fall
Terrible idea
The tree is keeping it alive, without it would die, it would- it would- it would rot and decompose until all that was left behind of it was a tiny stone, a seed
Do you know what a seed is, Eve?
You can take it with impartial authority that inside that seed through some incomprehensible divine technology is a brand new apple tree
And then I suppose the apples of that tree would fall and die and leave their seeds behind the and before long we would have more apples that we could count, an entire orchard, all from a single seed
But naturally the apple, knowing all of this, chooses to stay where it is
Never falls, never allows itself to die, nothing ever changes, just that one apple on that one tree in this one garden, forever
And thank God
Because it is a beautiful tree
It really is
Perfect, you might say
You know what? I apologize
I’m going about this all wrong…
August 21, 2022
for my final gift to you, here are 3 snippets of Mamma Mia/ABBA, in roughly sequential order of our summer together
Oh you can take your time baby, I’m in no hurry, know I’m gonna get you
You don’t wanna hurt me, baby don’t worry, I ain’t gonna let you
Let me tell you now
My love is strong enough to last when things are rough
It’s magic
[Chorus]
Voulez-vous (Ah-ha)
Take it now or leave it (Ah-ha)
Now is all we get (Ah-ha)
Nothing promised, no regrets (Ah-ha)
Voulez-vous (Ah-ha)
Ain’t no big decision (Ah-ha)
You know what to do (Ah-ha)
La question c’est “Voulez-vous?”
Voulez-vous
[Chorus]
I can still recall our last summer
I still see it all
Walks along the Seine
Laughing in the rain
Our last summer
Memories that remain