When I went to California in April, it was in the hopes of finding beauty, losing myself in the massive blasted landscape of the desert, hopefully eating good food, and reading the pile of books I had carefully nestled into my suitcase. I got much more than that.
Amboy, California, Polaroid SX-70 (all photographs 2021)
But I think what you actually look for reveals a lot about you—even if you don’t realize it. Sometimes I poke around in my Google searches and see what I’m really looking for, and I’m always surprised. In the spirit of full disclosure, then:
Selected Google searches, June 2021 (subject to minimal editing for spelling and clarity):
What is the first day of summer
[YouTube] asmr hand movements
slow exposures slowair
[Maps] directions to zebulon, ga
canton texas ice cream
[YouTube] darkthrone hate cloak
[several searches related to a complicated dispute with a friend whether there was a Chili’s in South Mississippi] (I lost)
Twentynine Palms, California, Polaroid SX-70
gmail (ugh when you are expecting the browser to autocomplete to the right site but it googles your gmail, like a goon)
wiki durant mississippi
william faulkner boy in chair (slight Freudian slip here)
william eggleston boy in chair
Desert bush, location unrecorded, Polaroid SX-70
maude schuyler clay dog in fog
radiant human color meaning
anthony bourdain roadrunner doc
alabama 2021 football schedule
Desert mailboxes, location not recorded, Polaroid SX-70
fleur de lis baton rouge2
the little easy natchez
[YouTube] alabama notre dame 2020
[YouTube] alabama 2020 sec championship highlights
can you post to instagram from desktop
outer worlds 2
define tacit
define implicit
define amorphous
Speeding through the desert listening to Joni Mitchell’s Hejira, Polaroid 600
heavy metal parking lot
georgia o’keefe empire state building
georgia o’keefe radiator building
weyes blood discography
freedom summer
[YouTube] eighties metal bands with only one album
[YouTube] auburn sucks
waffle house menu
polaroid sx-70 parts names
Former home of Wyatt & Josephine Earp, Vidal, California, Polaroid SX-70
darkthrone eternal hails shirt3
merchbar coupon code (it didn’t work)4
how much is discovery plus (for my mom, not for me, I swear)
And, of course—
what is my google search history
Amboy, California, after a long day driving through the desert up through Nevada and Arizona, Polaroid SX-70
AS ALWAYS I am gorjusjxn on Instagram, where I’ve returned after a long break, which allowed me to concentrate on scanning and editing for this newsletter (if you’re reading this, though, it’ll all be familiar to you!). You can see more time travel at McCartyPolaroids.
I have one of Byron’s incredible paintings in my living room.
My favorite pizza.
As far as I can tell, there’s no U.S. option to get the official shirt! I mean, come on! I don’t want to pay import prices, and that new album art is amazing! Life is tough for us old metal fans.
So I gave in and just got the Transilvanian Hunger you can more easily get in the States, plus the standard vinyl copy of the new record.