55

“There’s nothing better than live music. It’s raw energy, and raw energy feeds the soul.”

— Dhani Jones

Coachella 2016 Mood Board

2016 wristbands just arrived! I'm very excited for this year's line up, per usual. This will be my 4th Coachella... what a spoiled brat. I got sick in 2012 during my first year, but still had a great time with my boyfriend at the time. The last two years I went with a group of close friends and stayed for free (again, what a spoiled brat) at La Quinta (Thanks Kirs <3). Both years with friends were incredible. You pregame and get on the bus in groups, but in the crowds, you're quite quickly split into groups of 2. When you have a buddy that's on your same wavelength, it makes choosing what stage to go to, etc so carefree.

Rob and I are VIP this year which will make for a different and even better time. Rob is also a massive Coachella veteran. He is even more of a spoiled brat than I am and has gotten his VIP wristbands for free every year (his fam used to own part of the polo fields that Coachella is held on or something).

I get very stressed out about what I'm going to wear each day to the festival. It isn't just about making a statement, it's about being extremely comfortable in whatever I'm going to wear. ACCESSORIZING TO MAKE YOUR OUTFIT IS THE ANSWER. Like you already know, Indio is a desert which means it is scorching hot during the day and most-likely freezing and windy at night. I've been successful in the past of making sure I know what the weather is going to be like so I don't find myself miserably too hot or too cold once I get onto the grounds. This doesn't mean I haven't had to buy a Coachella sweatshirt bc of the windstorms (I don't wear sweats... $65 down the drain). Ugh.

Anyway, we are going weekend 2 (April 22-24th). I get to see my boo Diplo headline TWO nights. I don't know if my heart can take it. Wish me luck.

Coachella 2015

Coachella 2014

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Coachella 2012

Disposable Camera Pix

52

“One of the mixed blessings of being twenty and twenty-one and even twenty-three is the conviction that nothing like this, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, has ever happened before.”

— Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Jalama Beach Camping Trip, Mid-March

XLVI

“‘Live each day as if it’s your last’, that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just wasn’t practical. Better by far to simply try and be good and courageous and bold and to make a difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you. Go out there with your passion and your electric typewriter and work hard at…something. Change lives through art maybe. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance.”

— David Nicholls, One Day

Joshua Tree Camping, February

Desert Sestina by Susan Sink

I feel at home in Joshua Tree’s desert.
There’s peace in the vast emptiness,
the illusion that you could never get lost
because you can see so far, and sounds carry
over desert like they carry over water,
alerting others to your presence on or off the trail.

Have you ever noticed how two women on a trail
will talk and talk, never running empty,
but couples are more quiet? In the desert
they stop briefly to share a bottle of water
as if time together allows them to be at a loss
for words, or many ways to show they care.

I pay attention to these things now; I care
what brought these people to the desert,
and wonder if it makes them feel full or empty,
the barren rock beneath a sky the color of water.
I know it’s hard for anyone to stay on the trail
and in the world, as in the desert, easy to get lost.

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JOSHUA TREE REVISITED by Dawn Huntley Spitz

Ageless rocks stand like desert monuments,
Trees with spiky arms reach toward the sky.
Roads snake into endless wilderness
Distant views bemuse the eye.

Sandy trails slice through unyielding brush
Where shy inhabitants slither, crawl and run,
Bold wildflowers in radiant colors
Lift their heads to the relentless sun.

Vast and wild, the park calls to adventurers
Who roar along its roads in fearless quest.
While those who come to look for sanctuary
Soon discover gifts of beauty, peace and rest.

Some say this place is where the spirits dwell
And who’s to know who has not felt its spell?

XXII

“If every life is a river, then it’s little wonder that we do not even notice the changes that occur until we are far out in the darkest sea. One day you look around and nothing is familiar, not even your own face.”

— Alice Hoffman, Incantation