telcastaway

Hello, my name is Tel* and I live and work at a Buddhist Institute nestled in the redwoods of northern California. My little cabin may be rustic (a wood rat leaves presents on my doorstep, no indoor plumbing, and no heating appliances besides a fire stove), but I love it dearly. Everyday I feel so lucky, my coworkers are like my family and the land is so healing. I get to hike winding trails, see beautiful scenes daily, eat nutritious vegetarian meals, and find time during the week for practices like meditation and prostrations. Being out in nature, going for walks, growing spiritually, and eating good food are essential to me!

I also have a jazz and folk radio show at my town's local non-commercial radio station. I love music, and try to listen to a new album everyday. I have a boyfriend who is a musician, and often weekends consist of going to a show of his or another musician I like and dancing. Live music is an important part of life to me.

I love to read beautiful prose, watch old and arthouse movies, and do a myriad of different art forms and crafts like working with charcoal & oil, writing poetry and letters, and photogtaphy and quilting. All of these hobbies and my likes in them are mentioned in more detail below.

I am looking forward to being a part of this community and getting to write more. I love meeting and interacting with strangers and hope that this will be a wonderful opportunity for me to do this!

If you just don't get a swap from me or there seems to be an issue, let me know via messages, and I can resolve it! I am happy to resend if necessary.

*Some people call me by my first name Maya, I don't mind either but prefer Tel.

What I Like to Recieve:

My favorite color is a deep red, my favorite animals are horses, birds (especially those in the class of Aves), and mythical creatures (my favorite being manticores, nixies, dragons, and werewolves), my favorite drink is butter tea (for sendable teas I'm a fan of any interesting and unique flavors, as well as pu-erh/black/earl grey, nutty teas, earthy/herbal teas, red, green/hojicha, etc. I love trying new teas!

I do NOT like receiving any pastel colors/pink, or Disney/Marvel media conglomerates, nor am I a fan of AI.

Postcards: I like receiving postcards with any of my favorite animals (mythical or real), circus themed, deep green nature, vintage postcards, strange or fun homes and landmarks, art postcards, postcards with a music (especially jazzy) or old film theme, old portraits, and any postcards with a strange or whimsical theme! I am open and happy to receive any though!

Stationary: Refer to my different aesthetical likes below to get a sense of what kinds of stickers, ephemera, bookmarks, memo sheets, washi, etc. I like to recieve. Dark cottagecore/vintage bohemian/folk, circus themed things, and water fae/mermaid/nautical themed stationary are my favorite kinds to recieve.

I love every season: the warm colors and crisp air of fall, the hibernation and silence of winter, the deep greens of spring, dipping in bodies of water in summer. I love dark chocolate (especially the brand Hu), and I love all food but especially hearty soups, beef, chicken, fish, dark green vegetables, squash, lemony/acid heavy dishes, Brazilian, Japanese, Bhutanese, and Thai food.

Here is my Pinterest to get a sense of what I like: https://pin.it/2Qr7Iga03

I love different aesthetics: the best way to describe them would be:

🎪 Night Circus - anything circus themed, particularly vintage circus trinkets, stationary, cards, notes, stickers, and memorabilia. The red and white stripes of the big tent, the smell of popcorn and sweets, the wonder and awe from human feats... (Sentimental Circus is a brand I love too)

🌞 Year of the Earth Rabbit - dark cottagecore, vintage bohemian/folk, vintage puppet show theaters, red accordians, artisan bookshelves, ornate jewel-toned rugs, light through gauzy curtains and stained glass, the deep greens of an overgrown garden...

🌀 Water Fae - the nixie life is one washed with the smell of the sea and the sheen of special shell treasures... nautical things, achors, beautiful shells, the vast ocean and its mysteries... the life of a siren or the fate of a sailor (play Colleen by Joanna Newsom)

I love all genres, all kinds of music. In particular, I am drawn towards all kinds of jazz-from post-bop to avant-garde, all kinds of folk from folk rock to freak folk, third stream, minimalism, and MPB. In my hobby, I have listened to about 1500 releases in full.

Here is my "Big Top" 🎪 list:

https://rateyourmusic.com/collection/ond111ne/stag/big+top/

These releases mean a lot to me for various reasons. However, it is always fluctuating since I am always listening to new things. Here is my general profile where I log music, where I log everything as five stars because I hate rating art: https://rateyourmusic.com/~ond111ne

My all-time favorite book is Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector. She is a Brazilian genius, and I love any and all of her writing. She is able to write stream-of-consciousness, with intense philosophical exploration, and lyrical prose to explore identity, consciousness, and the uncanny in daily life. I also love Borges and Julio Cortazar.

I love to read the classics, non-fiction about history, politics, class, race, and gender, philosophy, science fiction/dystopian, Arthurian-esque fantasy, and much more, as long as the writing appeals. "The word is the fruit of the word."

My childhood favorite is May Bird and the Ever After series, and Love, Stargirl (the sequel, not the first one).

Here is my Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/134812619

I love strange, poetic, melancholic, cheesy, whimsical, sweet, dark, real, and beautiful movies. Here are some of my favorite films: https://boxd.it/PFyum$ruesn6IJLt7ULQ08

Some directors that are close to my heart include Nobuhiko Obayashi, Mike Leigh, and Jacques Rivette. Rivette is a French New Wave director who creates long and improvisational films that blur the lines between fiction, reality, and theatrical performance. Obayashi makes surreal, energetic, and highly experimental movies that blended pop culture with deep humanity. Mike Leigh has a distinct, actor-driven collaborative process and intense focus on social realism, humanism, and tragicomic character studies.

To see more of what kinds of movies I watch and like, here is my film logging profile: https://boxd.it/5l3tj

I love to write poetry, and I love to write stream of consciousness work (I like reading these kinds of writings as well). I love working with charcoal, and tend to do figures and landscapes. I also like to work with oil paint and do people studies with this medium. I love going up to strangers to ask if I could take their portraits when it comes to analog/film photography. I love to sew, particularly quilting. I also enjoy collage journaling, though less than I used to, which I have been doing since high school.