happy birthday armando
mini-profile #1
hi friend. oh how long it’s been <3 among the many tricks i am trying to get me back into the flow of writing & talking with others through writing, i’m working on this series of short conversations with people i adore in my life. here’s the first of what i hope will be many.
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I met armando for the first time in dallas this summer, but I heard about armando through riley (take a shot every time I mention ri in a newsletter) long before that, as the sweetheart who was spending time at the bookstore she manages and slowly becoming a friend. like many of the sag placements i know, armando is burning brightly toward the next iteration of himself and taking his history with him. like all the poets i love, armando is seeking something, some kind of closeness or knowing, that is undoubtedly waiting to be sparked in the core of him and which those who are close to him will get to witness, no doubt. he is unique, generous and funny to boot & is 27 years old today! here’s a bit of armando 🖤
hi sweetest Armando. for the folks who don't know and for me who is still getting to know you: who are you?
hello maghan! to be honest, i think i am so close to finding out, i feel it pressing on the tip of my tongue. i will tell you when i see you.
it was such a delight to meet you in dallas this past summer, i still see you in my mind with a jeni's ice cream cone in your hand. what are your surroundings right now?
plants i am trying so hard to keep alive. books i am trying to read. there's always music playing. i am surrounded by my past and my future.
what's your day to day like and what would you consider to be your daily provisions? something/s that you do/use/touch/consume every day that provide you with comfort or security. or maybe even don't but you do anyway (lol)?
this is such a normal response but first and foremost it's drinking coffee. it's just been the northstar of shitty days. i get to wake up every morning (knock on wood) and have it whichever way i like. i find solace in the privilege to choose. also sharing at least one of my meals with another person.
do you have a spiritual practice or something that brings you closer to yourself/the world?
i take a shower. it's hygienic duh but when i shower and i imagine the day just washing off my body it's also baptismal. after that, doing my skincare routine and marinating in my own beauty. feeling supple and moisturized, that is when i feel the prettiest and the most human. it's also very much a requirement to sing some annoying song you heard being used incessantly on tiktok and shake your booty in front of the biggest mirror you own for a bit.
your music taste is immaculate, certifiable vibe creator via instagram. i'm always adding songs you post to my spotify to listen to later. what's your relationship to music like?
i don't think i can begin to define what my relationship is like. it is actual magic. it is vital to my existence. everyone thinks that of themselves, but i know it with certainty.
Could you tell me about a current truth or knowing that's getting you by?
"new things are scary". i feel like this is a truth we all subscribe to. but i think that if that's the truth, then things that are no longer new, are no longer scary. i try to chase new things because i want a say in how many things i'm afraid of.
Is there anything I didn't ask but you're just dying to talk about?
yes, i want to encourage everyone to go out on a limb more often. that is where all the fruit is!
speed round, what are your provisional (just for now/likely to change) favorites:
song: "las manos quietas" - carlos pérez
food and/or beverage: topo chico (in a glass bottle of course)
movie: everything everywhere all at once (the reviews are true)
item of clothing: my billowy green pants that have a 5 second delay when i move
poem: "the way to keep going in antarctica" by bernadette mayer
Be strong Bernadette
Nobody will ever know
I came here for a reason
Perhaps there is a life here
Of not being afraid of your own heart beating
Do not be afraid of your own heart beating
Look at very small things with your eyes
& stay warm
Nothing outside can cure you but everything's outside
There is great shame for the world in knowing
You may have gone this far
Perhaps this is why you love the presence of other people so much
Perhaps this is why you wait so impatiently
You have nothing more to teach
Until there is no more panic at the knowledge of your own real existence
& then only special childish laughter to be shown
& no more lies no more
Not to find you no
More coming back & more returning
Southern journey
Small things & not my own debris
Something to fight against
& we are all very fluent about ourselves
Our own ideas of food, a Wild sauce
There's not much point in its being over: but we do not speak them:
I had written: "the man who sewed his soles back on his feet"
And then I panicked most at the sound of what the wind could do
to me
if I crawled back to the house, two feet give no position, if
the branches cracked over my head & their threatening me, if I
covered my face with beer & sweated till you returned
If I suffered what else could I do