Setting 1: Washington D.C. USA, Earth -Summer of 2016
Tamasha lives with her mother, father and brother (though he is away for most of the story on a gap year trip around South East Asia) in Washington D.C. the capitol of the United States of America, in the Shaw neighborhood of D.C. , known for it’s ethnic diversity and emphasis on intellectual and cultural progress. Their family lives in one of the small Victorian style homes typical of that area.
Both she and her brother occasionally visit the Adams Morgan area, known for it’s entertainment and arts scene. Her brother is interested mainly in the restaurants and galleries, which she occasionly visits with him, but Tamasha is later drawn to the area for the musical venues and stores.
I had a necklace once, a key that never opened anything.
A soft white heart string tied around my neck.
Then there was the ocean and the sudden idea that keys belonged more to it than to me.
The waves were waiting.
Stomach pressed to splintering boards reaching for the small string on my neck, twisting over damp hair, slipping through silent fingers.
Now, even if there was a door to a long lost room or a chest full of somebody else’s dreams I will never open it.
And there is a piece of me sinking to the bottom of that ocean, a slice of my existence, a reminder that somewhere out there, I’m still waiting for a chance to float.
This summer I’ve dedicated a great deal of my time to learning Mandarin and relearning my Spanish. In the process I have met a great deal of people internationally who are wonderful. A common request is to see photos of where I’m from, because they’re all interested in what life in America is life, so I have been taking a lot more photos (despite my lack of photography skills) to show them. This summer has been particularly special to me because I will be attending college in Massachusetts starting this fall, and although I’ll be returning it’s been a little more bittersweet and sentimental. I was going to write an accompanying poem to make up for my photographs, but I think these are better left alone.
While choosing which photos to showcase at my photography camp, I decided to split them into four categories—Photos that included flowers, fences, windows, or photographers. Originally, these “themes” were slightly broader (nature, ‘barriers,’ buildings, and people), but I chose not to display four of the images I had printed out in order to keep the categories more contained. Many of my photos play with depth of field, blurring some areas of the scene while keeping others in focus. In the future, I’d like to play around with different shutter speeds, photographing things in motion. I enjoy photography because it allows me to capture unnoticed or unappreciated details in the world around me, from the unusual slant of a dock to a bee alighting on a flower.
I may edit and add more pictures should they become necessary.
I'm also sorry for the low quality of the pictures themselves; I'm a writer not a draw-er(?). The map looks terrible, especially the coastline, but ignore that for now. What's important is how close Riore is to the Wildlands and the disrance between the Nacx, Seca, and Kaso.
I reference these myself actually. The outline of the building will soon change, if needed.
I hope they help if you read my Workshop entries.
