Issue 1 - July and August 2026
Welcome to Halcyon Dreams! I decided to start a monthly newsletter/public diary to post on my newly created website. There will inevitably be tone changes, format changes, and additions of things to these posts as time rolls along, but for now I suppose we'll stick with the informal first person tone I'm writing in. This issue will be July AND August, but in the future, posts will be contained to one month each.
Have a peek at what's inside my head! I certainly don't know everything in here.
A Busy, Busy Time
Well, I graduated high school this June. I honestly had no idea if I'd ever get that far, and I'm still processing the fact that I won't ever have to suffer through the ups and downs that come with public high school. To be fair, I haven't had all that much time to process, as merely two weeks after I graduated, my parents whisked me off on a graduation trip to Western Europe! We stayed in London for a week, then Dublin for another week. It's by far the longest trip I've ever taken, but also one of the best.
Highlights include seeing Phantom of the Opera for the third time on London's West End, taking a tour of the Royal Albert Hall, sketching in Hyde Park and St. Stephen's Green, the National Galleries of both London and Dublin, and the ever famous Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary. Don't ask how much money I spent. Far too much.
Ten days after I returned from Europe, I embarked on a solo adventure from my wet and mild Seattle Washington to the suffocating heat of Tallahassee, Florida. The purpose of this visit was to see my dear friends Caroline and the Crown Jewels system, as well as to challenge myself by traveling on my own. We had a lovely time watching surprisingly emotional Minecraft content, making cuddle piles, and running Caroline's generous wallet dry. (Thank you again for buying me so much food.) We only got soaked from the rain once in the week I was there, and Caroline and I got sunburned- although nothing a generous amount of aloe couldn't fix! A success, in my eyes.
Between all of this traveling, I have been hurriedly preparing to move up to Western Washington University and continue my education.
Wild West(ern)
I completed my harrowing math placement assessment to the mildly disappointing news that I would need to be placed into a mid-level algebra class. Yes, I did take up to pre-calculus in high school. But unfortunately I was subjected to the worst teacher to ever teach math for two years in a row, and never learned anything. I was the one that decided to major in Biology, so I'll need to work… quite hard… Wish me luck.
Despite all the hard times to come, I'm very excited to be moving into college. I desperately need more autonomy and cannot wait to be back in the rhythm of school. Over the next few weeks, you'll probably find me packing and unpacking boxes and suitcases as I decide what I'll need with me. By the time my next newsletter comes out, I hope to be mildly settled in.
Although they are subject to change, my current class lineup is as follows:
Intro to Islamic Civilization - Tuesday/Thursday
Gender and Society - Monday/Wednesday/Friday
Functions and Algebraic Methods - All weekdays
Keyboard (Piano) Skills - Wednesdays
Choir Ensemble - TBD
Applied Voice Lessons - TBD
Young Dog, New Tricks
Despite the busy summer, I always need something to do, and thus have developed two fledgling hobbies! First is coding, as is evident by my spiffy website you're currently on! This would not have been possible without the help of the previously mentioned Caroline, who wrote the base code for my layout, let me use her modified bookshelf code, and has put up with my questions over and over. I hope to make it look better and better as time goes on.
The second is guitar! I'm only about ten days into playing, but I have to say I'm already obsessed. I have been generously allowed to borrow a guitar from a family friend (A beautiful dark bodied steel-string Epiphone) and am convincing my hands to contort themselves into new and strange positions for the sake of music. I've made quite a bit of progress already! Soon I'll probably buy my own guitar to take off to college with me.
All in all, I've spent the last few weeks of my summer spending time with my best friends, lounging bored around the house, and finding ways to bide time until I move to college. I suppose those are all ways I'm dealing with the impending doom of adulthood, but I like to think I'm prepared.
Thank you for reading my first issue! See you this time next month.
Media Review
The album of the month is: In Rainbows (2007) by Radiohead
This is my favorite Radiohead album, only squeezing out first place over OK Computer because of my personal enjoyment. As a lifelong Radiohead enjoyer, I recommend this album to those who want to dive into their discography further than Pablo Honey. It's more complex than your average rock, but not artsy fartsy enough that it'll scare off the average listener. There truly isn't a skip on the album. 10/10.
Favorite song: Tie between Weird Fishes/Arpeggi and All I Need
The movie of the month is: Naked Lunch (1991) from David Cronenberg
Yet another installment in the lifelong tradition of my dad showing me weird movies. He is the reason I like the art I do. I've been a fan of Cronenberg since I watched The Fly at a far too early age (also a consequence of my lovely father.) The practical effects and puppetry in this film were top tier, evoking a visceral disgust while still making personable and humorous characters out of them. Naked Lunch is a film primarily about drug addiction, but it succeeds in its dry and absurdist humor. Not as top tier as the likes of The Fly or Videodrome, but definitely worth watching. 8/10.