May 22, 2026

Where: my balcony

When: 3:00 pm

Bird Species: northern mockingbird, American crow (flyover), song sparrow

Things I Thought About:

• This bad haircut. It's very frustrating. I said "I need you to take it up and get it off my neck, it's too sweaty" and that's all she did. The most minimal feint at taking up the rest of my hair. Then an absolutely harrowing blowout and spray, to produce a helmet sort of look.
• A normal observer would probably think it's fine, but it is my head, both inside and out, and I think it looks like hell.
• It's one thing to get a bad haircut and have to immediately suck it up, "Oh, well, it's bad, but it's just hair, it will grow out." This is, "Well, shit, now I have to pay for another haircut."
• It has rained all day and I have to run errands, so I think "Birds I Can See in that One Tree Close to my Balcony” is going to be the ticket today. There was pretty little song sparrow up top earlier, but I was in an on-camera meeting when I saw it. The tension was immense. First, I had to not be distracted by the sparrow, second, I had to not be distracted by my hair looking like Will Byers in season one of Stranger Things.
• I have an eye exam today, and when I get my new prescription, these birds better watch out. I'm going to perceive them harder than ever.

BOTD: northern mockingbird. As you know, they have been on the prowl lately. What you may not realize is that they are somewhat famous for singing at night, and one was in this very same tree, about 65 feet from my bedroom window, running through the whole mockingbird songbook at about 3:20 am. Nevertheless, I remain a fan.

My eye exam was a revelation. I might be better at manual focus than the photos would suggest.