small sustainable notes

Currently in the process of a decision detox. For almost three years, since moving to Salt Lake, I've chosen to make several small decisions about how to operate in my new life. For example, how I want to live, what kind of products I want to buy, what stores to support. Last winter, I moved out of a less than ideal living & job situation.

It would be an understatement to say that I've experienced a bit of burnout. In fact, it's a little much. Too much.

Especially because I am shaking up my life again, by studying & skill-learning.

For the past week, I've implemented a number of dopamine & decision detox practices... Finishing one material/task/project before moving onto another. This looks like finishing one show before starting another one [Hulu's “The Great”], finishing one audiobook before starting another [right now it is romance/vacation-minded/foreign setting rom-coms], reading one paper book [just fiction right now because I read non-fiction before] Task-switching is off limits. No switching between podcast topics/shows, switching between unrelated tasks, switching between projects Focusing on sustainability-related/green skills/green jobs content & reading one blog at a time[no article reading unless it relates to this] Honing in on learning the skill of copywriting while ignoring others' successes [the main reason why I am off of social media for the summer] Choosing to listen to audiobooks on Libby and not Apple Books right now Choosing to read only the books that I have currently purchased/checked out from the library before starting others Keeping the phone on 'do not disturb' & 'airplane mode' until 11 am ['do not disturb runs from 7-11 am but I'm still testing this schedule out] Sleeping longer [and jumping into bed right when I come home from my 8-hour shift], taking a watermelon CBD tincture to calm myself, performing breathwork for 2 minutes [implementing 'the 2 minute rule'] Choosing to only have 'bulletproof coffee' at home [instead of making a decision to go a nearby coffee shop and then having to choose a drink based on what I feel like] Not having many tabs open on my browser as before Already deciding my 'offline activities' Already deciding the products I will buy locally & online & the brands I will support Not having certain apps on my phone to avoid information overload

Hoping that these practices will seep the stress out of my brain, reset my dopamine levels, and assist me in getting into the state of being laser-focused.

First week of learning copywriting. I started a study routine where as soon as I wake up I make my 'bulletproof coffee,' walk to my standing desk, mason jar or clear thrifted coffee mug in hand, open up a safari tab for the Udemy Copywriting Course I've chosen to take [it helps to have it open from the day before or to have the exact link bookmarked in 'Favorites'], imbibe my buttery beverage, and set my Toggl Tracker and 25 minute timer on Mac. I have chosen 'Toggl Tracker' as my designated time log app where I will be recording and tracking all of my learning time. It has both a desktop Mac feature and a mobile app.

Eased into copywriting by clicked on the course 5 minutes a day for two days a week before [when I was prioritizing another project and couldn't focus more than 5 minutes on learning]. Then the following week when I completed that project, I could extend it to 25-50 minutes.

The 25 minute timer beeps [the 'cosmic' ringtone on Mac], I either clean my room, memorize a Anna Sedokova song alongside the prepared lyrics [bookmarked and set on my phone Home Screen], wash the dishes, or clean my face with Paula's Choice 2% BHA Exfoliator. Or I go outside on porch, streaming with sunshine, & write down ten ideas [a practice I got from the blogger James Altucher and what I've been doing off and on since 2017]. Another alternative is I read a few pages of my current romance read on the steps. Then I go back to my standing desk to proceed with my study practice.

I don't wake up at the same time and that's something I will be working on. Because I will be marking my progress based not on hours completed, but on tasks completed I haven't thought about waking up at the same time. Plus, I hate the sound of alarms but if I set it to synth or something space-like then it will not be as grading.

My morning learning schedule consists of duration, not studying set hours. For example, I do two 50 minute sessions of learning [broken up into 25 minute segments where I take a five minute break] but I haven't been learning from 7 to 9 am or 8 to 10 am [as I haven't been waking up at the same time].

I set my timer for 25 minutes & log the time in my time tracker app Toggl Tracker. Also, I will be checking off if I do indeed do three 50 minute sessions [I actually haven't been recording that part] I think I will be choosing Apple Notes Checklist Note as my place to record.

As for learning, I have enjoyed it so far! Progressing through the modules, seeing my visual progress thanks to the Udemy platform features, taking plain text notes alongside the videos, all the time in the back of my mind wondering how I can implement the information to solve my personal problems. When an idea pops into my head, I quickly jot it down in Apple Notes [or under the 'Notes' tab in the course] so I don't lose focus on what the instructor is saying.

A little after starting the first course module [I should have done this in my prep time], I looked at the course curriculum, read the objectives, and noted down what I want to personally get out of this course and ways I can use the information in a practical way in both my business and as a profession. One of the tenants of accelerated-learning is having a very clear and specific purpose of why you are learning [allowing you to also skip over information that might not be relevant to your 'why,'], how the information might be applied later etc….

I learned that the first thing to do in writing authentic copy that sells is doing market research [as it is ethical & the best approach to sell what people ACTUALLY want and not what I think they should want] and I got some ideas of how to approach it. I had to pause for half an hour and write out why I was learning about market research when what I really wanted to learn was the skill of copywriting. How will I actually apply these ideas and concepts of market research to my situation? Do I really need to do market research for 'Small Sustainable Learning'? [both the short-term and the long-term version?] or can I skip right to copywriting [which I know I will learn how to do later in the course?]

I am glad I took that pause to decide on those questions before continuing my mountainous climb into more unknown terrain to be a certified, authentic & ethical copywriter. I pinpointed a more specific area of “Small Sustainable Learning” that I want to focus on [memorization strategies & skill-building strategies applied to language-learning!] and this question and answer came up thanks to trying to figure out if I should do market research.

I learned how to do polls [and skipped the ones that were not relevant to my situation], I learned that it is important to get opinions from the right people for your market research [not necessarily your friends and family], what questions to ask when doing market research, what methods to employ, I learned how to approach people or your audience to talk with them one-on-one to get more clarity on what they would actually pay for [to pay attention to their buying actions and not really what they say they would buy], & how to study your own style before you actually start writing copy.

As I jump into the style of copywriting, I can use the concept of practice-looping to practice this form of persuasive prose, speeding up the loops & spacing out my practice. Deciding to write 'learning documentary' blog posts is a form of fast feedback as I write down the main points so far or realize I don't quite remember what I wanted to in the course.

Within the last month, I've been working on getting 'Small Sustainable Learning' up and ready for both local and non-local learners [I will be doing Zoom calls for both]

I've categorized and organized and stripped my notes [in a plain-text file] of fluff [leaving only essential, streamlined, & simple directives] and that has produced four categories of learning that I have experience in: learning to understand a topic deeper, learning to acquire a skill, learning a language, and learning to memorize [not only do these newly-improved categorized notes help me to quickly explain the concept & detail to the client, but it also helps me as I will apply this knowledge each time with each future project!]

I've come up with my own hashtags & icons for categorizing these points [in each category of my notes which are in a plain text file]

I wrote out my own personal learning project plan that I will use within three months to a year [complete with my how-tos and resources] based on accelerated-learning notes I've refreshed my memory with over the last three weeks [copywriting, content writing+blogging, sustainable travel, jazz piano…]

Created a page on this site where one can book a 30-min meeting with me

Created a page on this site for the testimonials I've collected

I've come up with a lot of ideas about how to get leads for both the short-term and the long-term version of 'Small Sustainable Learning'

I've shared my knowledge with four people so far, two of them students, and the other two wanting to learn the tools to learn a language quickly. It has been exciting to explain these concepts to a newbie!

I've organized my files and folders on iCloud Drive so that I can easily access them for my copywriting learning project. A lot my notes that I previously had in Apple Pages or a Microsoft Word Doc I have converted into a plain text file

I've joined an online entrepreneurship community called “Peak Entrepreneurship” [https://community.peakentrepreneurship.com] where I can bounce ideas off of successful solopreneurs

I set up a Calendly page

signed up for a Testimonial Platform where I can direct people to share how their session went with me

I progressed through a 5-day intensive lead-generation marketing workshop where I specified which professional I would market to, which specific distribution channel I would use, honed in on the green skills/green economy/green jobs market, created a PDF checklist [using Apple Pages & Canva] and a landing page [using Systeme.io] and email-opt-in offer for that freebie in case a future reader would like to get on my email list. I've created a Dropbox account where I can share all of these future PDF freebies.

The last thing I will need to do in order to get 'Small Sustainable Learning' ready is to answer the questions that I have been popping up with the short sessions I have done so far, points and explanations that I need to look up further in order to explain rapid learning better [and for my own learning project]. I call it my 'Questions List' and will just be checking that off in two 50 minute sessions soon.

Also, within the last two weeks, I pressed play on the first module of the copywriting course on Udemy that I said I would start this learning project with. In addition to the online course, I've progressed through a copywriting training from Anna Powers' “Clickworthy Copywriting” [since I signed up for her email list!]. I realized that I haven't done a learning project since 2019 [when I was going through a python course [that I started in 2018] for a month at my makeshift standing desk in Virginia].

Within this month, I will continue to go through the copywriting course & email training, find people for 'Small Sustainable Learning, and blog once a week on Fridays.

It's been a month and a half since I logged out of Instagram and Facebook. In addition to these socials, I haven't even been listening to podcasts because of the yearly accumulation of information overwhelm and opinion overload [I usually listen to podcasts at work and now I am allowing my brain to breathe]. Enjoying it so much that I am exploring ways to spend even less time online. I feel like my work steals time from me, Instagram and Facebook attempt to get my attention, and I remember so many hours wasted at school learning useless topics that it seems like a radical rebellion to aim my attention elsewhere.

Wrote down two columns composed of what I used to do online and then what I am honestly doing on it [with overlap because some I am still doing]. But with other activities, I crossed those off so that I can focus on more important activities that will get me closer to my ideal day.

I have a goal of 6 hours a day screen-time [learning a language, searching/downloading/printing piano sheet music, & copywriting]. I don't read as many blogs or articles anymore. The only online reading material I want to consume right now is related to copywriting and sustainability, specifically eco-lifestyle and ecotourism. I have a stack of books in my room, on my Apple Books TBR list, and recommended titles from a few of my favorite writers that I would rather consume. Last year and at the start of this year, I read blog posts & articles I saved on Pocket when I was still on social media. And I have exposed myself to so much information and possibilities through podcast listening [since 2017], that I just want to implement what I've learned instead of stagnating in a continual consumption cycle. For music, I still listen to synthwave, foreign pop music, and ambient tunes on Spotify.

I was actually off of social media before [sometime in 2021 until the summer of 2022] but I went back on it to follow what a couple people I had just met were posting. Now I would rather have them just tell me what is going on in their lives. For me, it's exciting to share perspectives, imagine their story, and feel special because what they are disclosing to me is personalized.

On the net, I want to be writing copy for eco-conscious brands the majority of the time. Primarily copywrite for my clients offline in plain-text file. Taking notes in plain text files is something that I am experimenting with. I know I will be having to do research for copywriting, further extending my time on the net. Upping my language levels & building up 'Small Sustainable Learning' and 'Small Sustainable Notes' [including its presence on LinkedIn] are the secondary and third activities.

But I want to get even more radical and take a break from films & tv right now as well. This detox has made me realize just how much of the internet buzz in my life that I have allowed before does not appear to matter as much to my personal life as I originally thought. I am enjoying the feeling of missing out, but I want to miss out even more by not even being in the loop of what is playing in the theaters, streaming on tv, streaming on free movie sites. I enjoy not knowing the trends on social media, and I don't miss the emotion of disappointment when I didn't see comments & likes on my photos, not getting direct messages.

I am not saying the internet & podcasts should not exist, but based on what I know about myself, it's better for me to cut out the internet clutter in an extreme manner.

I feel proud of the progress I've made in my personal tasks and projects since being off of Instagram and Facebook. Spending 10+hrs consuming 3 online copywriting courses so far, attending local meetups, blogging, discovering my personal motivations for reducing screen time [burnout, information overwhelm, decision fatigue], starting to commute by bike to work, reading a paper book from the library, audiobook listening, organizing iCloud files and folders, practicing piano.

I've realized that I have been in the on & off process of acquiring skills in different phases of my life, not necessarily becoming this or that person.

I don't really look at becoming anything because I think of the future so much. In ten years, my job might be obsolete or there might be an entirely new way of working. Or I might take a new “job of the future” or perform a new solopreneur project that has not come down the line yet in 2023.

I also like the idea of combining different skills & knowledge in a project. Maybe my skill in python programming [which I was working on acquiring in 2018], could work with a personal money management, female health/fertility/menstrual cycle, or sustainable travel project [provided I have enough understanding of those subjects].

Or my skill in speaking french could be combined with my skill in coding an AR app, writing direct-response copy, or playing jazz piano.

Now I focus on accelerating my rare & marketable skill acquiring and only choosing a specialization after that process.

85% of the way through the process of gaining a deeper understanding of these techniques [my goal being to share my knowledge with interested humans!]. Looked at the notes that I had written out a year ago, on Apple Pages. It was covered in cobwebs, random and unorganized.

One afternoon, after an impulsive decision, I shared a mnemonic language-learning hack with a co-worker. The best way to self-test is to explain it to another person.

Eased myself into this “refreshing phase” by listening to podcast episodes that I’ve saved before as well as episodes from a Spotify playlist I curated before. I put the notes [into different categories by theme & from the different blog posts that I had read before] into an offline plain-text file instead of Apple Pages.

Also listened to articles in audio format, listening to an AI, [sometimes three times] while working at my day job.

Some of these strategies [that I’ve written about in posts before] I’ve applied to this so-called “accelerated-learning refresher learning-project.” Before work in the afternoon, after I drove on the freeway and arrived in the downtown parking lot, I implemented the ‘two-min rule’ by starting ‘retrieval-practice’ and ‘free recall’ and then leaving it there, uncompleted. I did this by writing down everything [on a blank page in my composition book I got from Savers] that I retained in my memory about what I had just looked at in my new and updated plain-text notes.

On the page were the notes that I had drugged up from my memory. At least I wrote something down for two minutes.

A few days later, I walked on an avenue I really like near my house in Millcreek Utah; Stratford Ave in Highland Park. Feet hit the pavement leisurely while reviewing my notes again [for one more free-recall sesh outside]. I really enjoy walking on Statford Ave, seeing the ivy-streamed fences, the color-covered houses. It reminded me of the time back in 2018 when I would walk in the Fan District in Richmond, Virginia, pretty much doing the same activity that I was doing here.

When I was reviewing my notes, saying out loud the concepts that confused me, there came up a lot of questions. These questions are in another plain-text file. I’ve decided to write all of my content first in plain-text files.

These questions are awaiting answers, but they are there for now, in checklist form [‘a concept checklist’]. The important thing is taking imperfect action. I don’t have expertise in this specific sphere of self-education, but I have semi-expertise which I can use for my own learning-projects down the line and to share with the goal of assisting others with theirs.

Starting a new learning project…copywriting! My aim is to help the businesses I feel good about supporting [here in Salt Lake as well as remote] get more foot and internet traffic.

I’d like to help small biz-owners/startups that align with the topics I enjoy reading about in articles or listening to via podcast episodes: -low-waste living -green business -sustainable travel -local sustainable Salt Lake City spots -local Salt Lake City zero-waste shops -ethical travel – futuristic technologies -female-centered businesses -women-owned zero-waste shops -women-owned businesses -“femtech” startups -“sextech” startups – virtual reality/augmented reality & language-learning startups

A possible future idea is to write for these companies and hone my persuasive writing skills. In my written rhetoric course in college, I learned to write in a persuasive tone, but it was never concrete. Desiring results quickly, I like the idea of direct-response over branding & closing a sale rapidly. So that I can help businesses solve problems faster for their buyers.

It took about two hours to do prep: sifting through courses on e-learning platforms such as Coursera, CreativeLive, and Udemy, finding recommended books from bloggers & writers that I admire. I chose my two instructional materials on Udemy, one specifically targeting direct-response copywriting skills & one on utilizing your genuine voice to generate tangible results from authentic copy creation. As well as those two online courses, I will be reading the books’ Spin-Selling,” “The No B.S. Guide to Direct-Response Marketing” and “The No B.S. Guide to Response Sales” by Dan Kennedy.

I reviewed what a great study routine is based on accelerated-learning strategies [spacing, practice, feedback loops], the Pomodoro technique as well as the 5 minute rule, refreshed my memory on what the Feynman technique is, & pinpointed where to pick up mini-projects to hone the macro/micro skills involved in copywriting. Each time I learn something new and need to practice it, I know how to practice it effectively, how to do feedback mechanisms efficiently, and write down concepts I don’t understand by doing ‘retrieval practice” or the “5-year-old method”

My ultimate aim is to have a little more freedom in my day so that I can reduce hours in my 9-5.

I was at my makeshift standing desk in the early morning, summer 2020 in Virginia. After writing lines of python code that I had just learned, I switched to spending fifty minutes on each current study subject: financial terms, French, russian, and study techniques. Then I rewarded myself by dancing to one of my favorite songs. It was my day off from working three jobs & was having so much fun learning. This included writing code, speaking in russian, feeling joy that I finally am learning material that I would practically use in money management, and imagining myself using the travel and points systems that I was learning about.

A few ways I have implemented these accelerated-learning strategies to my own learning projects [in 2020 & in earlier years]:

prep: 
-wrote down why I am learning russian, python, web development, app development, html, css, study techniques, financial terms
-learned the ‘jobs of the future,’ the hot tech skills, and what skills are wanted the most in a particular type of tech job

instruction:
 -implemented the concept of “meta-learning” [learning how to learn a specific subject] by reading a couple of blog posts and watching a few videos for coding [and more specifically python] before starting to learn it [2020]


-progressing through a project-based course on python which emphasized performing quick feedback loops by way of mini projects and instant self-testing [2020]


-read [and scanned some parts that were not relevant to my ‘why’] David Bach’s “The Automatic Millionaire” page by page & didn’t skip ahead until I’ve solidified the information or practiced it in some way in 2020 [in order to get a holistic overview of finance, not just details]


-I would listen to an International Relations lecture [instruction] as I was walking around downtown Richmond in 2017 [after reviewing the information in a book]
-took a blogging course [as I was writing in my first blog ‘russophile’ documenting my russian language learning in 2016]


-took an ARCore app creation course on ‘Coursera’ through doing worksheets, mini projects, & videos in 2018]
-exposed myself to different explanations & metaphors when I was learning a specific term in python and how to write it [2020, via YouTube videos, blog posts, podcast episodes…]


-when learning about the system of travel rewards points & credit cards, I would consult a lot of different platforms to learn the same information by way of a different perspective [2020 again…videos, posts…]

practice:
 -performed a practice/feedback loop each time I would write in python code
-used the foreign language words in Skype with my language partners

spacing:
 -practiced with previous lines of code in order to remember the syntax
-reviewed old words in russian after learning new ones that day
-I would say out loud the financial terms, the russian words, and the french words I was learning [“active recall”]


-reviewed russian & french words using spaced-repetition software [Anki] after being exposed to the words in a simple russian learning/french learning YouTube video

mnemonics: 
-used associative imagery and the words’ sound+image+meaning [“keyword mnemonic”] in order to remember specific financial terms & foreign words
-wrote down this imagery in my notebook and on paper flashcards for later review A lot of my building skills & knowledge happened in between jobs, in between frustrations, in between pauses of creativity and uncertainty of what I was doing. I feel certain when I am in the process of learning something novel and practically using these principles & in conjunction with what I needed to improve my present situation. There wasn’t any super concrete career changes, but I was learning French after high school because I thought I wanted to do something with the knowledge career-wise, or I was entertaining the idea of getting a job or becoming a freelance python web developer, an app developer, wanting to manage my money better that I was getting from my three streams of income etc. There wasn't any external pressure aside from wanting to get out of my present reality, make more money, have deeper conversations with foreign people. I think that nebulous motivations like these are fine provided that you stick with the subject/strategy that works.

recently I refreshed my memory on accelerated-learning & language-learning strategies. I haven’t looked at this stuff in a while. It’s been an adjustment, learning to live on my own and have a 9-5, making myself a tad more comfortable materially & financially. I don’t have as much energy as I did before when I lived at home, and on top of that I have more #firstworldproblems that a 29 year old independent female faces. In terms of learning a language in an accelerated manner, I first applied these newly-learned techniques to my solo russian and french language aquisition beginning in 2013. I would look at the french podcast transcript many times [at the library procrastinating on my college homework] after exposing myself to the conversation sans transcription just as many times. This is spacing [exposing yourself to the material in intervals after first exposure]. Not only did I do spacing, but I did it by exposing myself to the material in different ways, with and without audio, with and without the transcript. I would also incorporate movement into my podcast listening. I would walk from the dorms to the Main Street of Lander, Wyoming or one of the arboraceous side streets far away from campus with the foreign banter simultaneously playing in my ears. When I wished to remember a new word, I would write down the associative imagery that I created, using paper lists & paper flashcards [after coming up with an imaginative picture]. This act of molding information that’s unmemorable [in this case, foreign vocabulary words] into memorable is called ‘mnemonics.’ Using ‘location-based mnemonics,’ I would put that into a space in my mind, a so-called “Memory Palace” or “Memory Castle.” Using my newfound knowledge of this device called the ‘loci-method,’ I would write down my own personalized memory palaces by traveling physically to various places around Lander with my pen & paper [I even wrote one down in a random memorial for US Veterans not far from the campus cafeteria]. I hopped from place to place like the ‘energizer’ bunny, excited for more novelty and discovery. Using these words, I would also talk to native speakers online to get that instant real-time feedback [feedback loops being a highlight of accelerated-learning]. After reading Susanna Zaraysky’s “Language is Music,” I listened to more french & russian music, with or without lyrics, employing more audio & written exposure to the alien sounds of french & russian pop artists. I would listen to music while walking as well, on and off campus in Lander, Wyoming & Richmond, Virginia. When I wasn’t in college, I would also run on the treadmill, around my neighborhood, around downtown. A few times, I reviewed my current set of words while sprinting on the treadmill. A literal “learning-sprint” [as opposed to a metaphorical one]. One of the hallmarks of accelerated language-learning is to learn words in a non-boring way [because that is how our brain works]. That’s why my musical & auditory brain lended itself more to acquiring pronunciation through listening to poppy sounds [that also offered an escapism from my present reality]. Another hallmark is performing “active-recall.” I would do this by saying out loud the words while recalling them using my “Memory Castle.” After realizing that these mnemonics strategies & rapid learning techniques effectively work based on my own experience, I don’t learn a language without it. I don’t drill words into my brain with the expectation that they will “stick.” I no longer learn words by rote-memorization. I no longer learn a language without practicing immediately [either with myself or with a language-partner]. Practicing the language in an intentional way, exposing the information to my brain several times and over many intervals, using the spacing technique, doing feedback loops instantly, performing “active-recall,” using mnemonics, & connecting the foreign information with pleasant memories/experiences/locations is what I choose to do now.

In the middle of West Virginia on my way to Charlestown, I started really questioning what I was doing. There was a truck on fire and a backup on the highway as I was squished in bumper to bumper traffic. The mountain state felt like it was closing in. I had already drove through southern Virginia on I-81, into the Appalachian corner to White Sulphur Springs West Virginia and the 1-64 Welcome Center. The only company I had were my dolls and my stuffed animal monkey sitting on the front seat. I took them out and put them on the stone bench so they could see the blue ridge vista with me. 26 years. The state where I learned how to create AR apps using Google ARCore [their developer platform] by taking a course through the self-learning platform “Coursera” at a local dunkin donuts in suburbia. There, I also ran on the local middle school track to 2010’s russian music, where I taught myself python programming, russian, & accelerated-learning strategies simulatenously, where I drove to pet-sitting client’s homes and ran with their dogs, where I would create flyers for several of my service-based business ideas etc. I thought I was going to be a local piano teacher, a french conversationalist who would meet learners at Starbucks, a mobile developer in Reston Virginia, a personal home organizer in northern Virginia, an international studies major in Richmond Virginia. A few months ago, a plane passed me above, while I was pulling weeds and trimming vines in Warrenton, Virginia on a 10-acre isolated former farm, under a spring sky. West is where I will get full independence, full #adulting skills. Where I will no longer be served eggs benedict by my mom. Where I will do everything myself and everything depends on me. Exciting! As I walked in the Holiday Inn Express outside of downtown Charlestown, I realized that I had truly left, my vehicle proudly pointed west, towards the Beehive State. The two previous years largely consisted of hoarding my savings with jobs that I did not entirely enjoy. I had put my head down for a higher value [a comfortable move]. Arborist assistant, pet-sitter, yard worker and weed-puller, special-needs after school babysitter, a runner with dogs. Out of West Virginia, its rapids running alongside the highway and under the bridge of Charlestown, I drove to Kentucky on my way to Louisville. After passing the Daniel Boone National Forest, I stayed in a La Quinta. I enjoy rewarding myself with films, so when I achieved the goal of moving out of Virginia, I finally let myself watch the film “Buffaloed” starring Zoey Deutch. Sadly, and preferring slower travel, I didn’t go into downtown as I was in a hurry to get to Utah. I took my morning walk in Papa Johns’ park before getting back into my car. Nashville was my next stop. Chose another Holiday Inn Express, this time near Vanderbilt University in Midtown. As I walked into the lobby, I saw a country guitarist playing and heard the buzzy restaurant noise. Vanderbilt campus was outside my window. That next morning, it being a block away on West End Ave, I brought my paper journal to “Three Brothers Coffee,” which easily became one of my favorite coffee shops I’ve visited. Observing the bikes hanging from the ceiling, I got my cappuccino and wrote out my feelings towards this road trip. This very long road trip. The spot reminded me of this bike cafe I went to in The Plains Virginia; “Happy Creek.” 20 minute drive from my house into the virginian country, over the bridge, past another farmhouse. I don’t even remember what I was reading in the cafe, but I remember the feeling [our brain remembers how things and people make us “feel,” even before the “what”] Now that I think about it, I wish that I knew Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls” earlier. I could have listened to it while walking on West End Ave. A hot Tennessean day, close to the Parthenon in Centennial Park from Three Brothers, I decided to walk over there, crossing a little into the park. In midtown, I was walking north towards downtown. I remember a hipster walking as well, reminding me that it’s a city with an influx of millennials. This was one of the cities I was entertaining moving to. Also, Fargo North Dakota for one day [because I listened to my mom who loves the cold weather]. Louisville as well. There was also a cool bike-styled bnb in Louisville that I wanted to check out there but never did. In Nashville though, I checked out some stores on 21st Street in the Hillsboro/West End neighborhood. Next stop on my tennessean musical tour was Memphis. Further down south, after some rest stops and listening to Kacey Musgraves, Muddy Magnolias, Miranda Lambert, Larkin Poe, I drove into the vintage city, observing the brick peeled off the buildings’ walls, the murals. It was evening. Came back to my hotel and watched a strange sci-fi film while eating barbecue. Next morning, I drove over to Beale Street. Popped into a record shop, perused some jazz albums, then headed over to the Mississippi River to walk on the bridge. I loved the feeling of being in a place where so much music has been produced and created! So many ideas and sounds!! Passed by Sun Studio on my way back to the motel, but never went to Graceland. Just like Charlie Sexton’s “Graceland.” Fort Smith Arkansas, Oklahoma City, Texas, then the landscape changed from truly eastern to western. Now I definately knew that I was in the west. It was beginning to get dark on the two-lane highway, on my way to my friend’s in Santa Fe. Next morning, I took a shower, in the backyard read Susanna Jones' “Earthquake Bird” then drove into downtown to practice being a “flâneur.” Visited the states’ smallest house..an adobe house the size of my room back home. Got huevos rancheros at “The Burrito Company.” The following day I spent in bed, with my windows open letting in the august desert breeze, reading more of “Earthquake Bird” until I shut the book. Farmington, New Mexico. Dark by the time I made it to the northern town, driving alongside the rocks, I stopped into a Comfort Suites. No more danger. The next day was my long haul into Utah. There was Monument Valley, the red rocks of Southern Utah, the arch formations from dinosaur days. Passed through Moab, then two hours later, the pine trees appeared, the rocks started to turn gray, no more orange-painted canyons. Remember distinctly a motorcycle while taking the I-15 towards the capitol of Utah for the first time. Turned east in the salt lake valley to my new rental. This was where I was setting up camp for the next year and a half.