Ira

12:10 am — i’m hanging w my housemate in the kitchen! lii is warming up his dinner, and we’re catching each other up on our days. i refill the brita. we take turns calling the wabie names (lii’s rabbit. short for, wabbit baby; her government name is Baby Deimos) a “buff guy, with a nice shape”. i desperately need to shower after a long day :(

12:16 am — night shower commences. it feels good to massage my scalp.

12:28 am — brushing teeth, washing my face, skincare. (if anyone has a dupe for cerave hydrating cleanser from a company that isn’t on the BDS list, DM me.)

12:34 am — in bed, texting my partner. we’re hanging out tomorrow and this weekend. 

it’s really funny that my day for this project fell on a thursday, of all days. m and i have been hanging out every thursday since we first started seeing each other last year. it’s become my favorite day of the week to look forward to! but right now i’m thinking about all the shit i have to do this week/weekend. i had today off, but it was still kind of exhausting. checking my email absently, doing some stretching & wishing i went to bed earlier.

1:03 am — i know, i know. i'm just lying here. my sleep has been fucked this whole week, but my bad sleep hygiene habits haven't been helping. need to remember to wind down earlier in the day. yikes. goodnight!!!

——-

6:30 am — hit snooze

6:45 am — hit snoooooze

7:05 am — awake! i’m not sure what to listen to, so i’m putting my music on shuffle.

♫ sunrise (stripped) - MICHELLE 

7:10 am — woke up the birds by drawing the curtains open in the office. mooncake did a little dance with me!! i feed both mooncake and mellow small pieces of almond slices in the morning in an attempt to slowly earn their favor. i've known these birds since 2018, (i actually met lii through a petsitting gig via queer exchange philly facebook group!) but i've only been living with them for a few months now, and the adjustment period is very real. i fed tofu, my beautiful guinea pig son, his breakfast cookie. it’s a vitamin c supplement, which he squeaks for reliably each morning. 

♫ 0308 - bosudongcooler

7:15 am  —  getting ready for the day. my allergies r so bad.

♫ static - steve lacy

7:35 am  — wabie pet tax as i put on my shoes. she is, quite possibly, the softest bunny in the world. she excitedly bites my shoe a little.

♫ passion fruit tea - retirement party

7:49 am — miss the el by one fucking second, which is what septa loves to do to me every morning that i work. it’s like, a canonical and unavoidable event for me. i’m always slightly too late for the el, every morning, by a little bit, and it always begs me to run and catch it, "doors are closing!", and i don’t run. cus i’m sleepy and it’s not the vibe. as long as i’m able to catch the next one, i’ll be on time.

♫ get me away from here i’m dying - belle and sebastian

7:52 am — the next train comes early. this is exactly why i don’t run. i’m too sleepy to interpret the lesson it’s trying to teach me.

♫ marathon - tennis

7:59 am  — an announcement on the overhead but i can barely make out what he’s saying. it sounds like something is on the tracks?? i take it back, maybe i should have ran for the earlier train. another announcement: “we’ll be moving shortly. we’re dealing with an issue with the track. apologize for the inconvenience”

♫ truly (feat. sarah bonito) - mark redito

8:02 am — bro. “we need to perform inspections before moving”. they also turned the lights and air conditioner off?? 😭

♫ i think you’re alright - jay som

8:06 am — it’s getting hot in here, & people are getting grouchy. i hear the faint sounds of someone rapidly scrolling tiktok from the opposite side of the train car. an older woman takes this time to blow her nose enthusiastically. a man with a backpack laments, standing pressed to the door: “this is crazy. damn.”

♫ what would you do? - city high

8:10 am — we’re back up and running, ac and power is back but we are not moving. usually by 8:10 we would be at my stop (8th st station) by now… and then i walk 20 minutes or wait for the bus to take me down to catherine st.

♫ capable of love - pink panthress

8:12 am — we’re moving! but i’m still going to be late for work. lol. lmao.

♫ (didnt what you want) happen - palms

8:19 am —   i arrive at the top of the stairs of the 8th st station exit just in time to watch my bus depart. next bus is 8:29! the illusion of choice: i’m either 8 min late (bus) or 15 minutes late (speed walking) i end up waiting for the next bus. 

8:33 am —  i am on the bus. i suck. this sucks.

8:40 am —  i arrive at work and clock in 10 min late on the dot. sorry phoebe, if you’re reading this! no one is here yet. i do my lil morning tasks, and say hi to miss ramona and tom. i work as a visitor services assistant for an arts nonprofit in queen village that has provided access to low-cost art classes for adults and children for the past 150 years! i help people sign up for classes and answer questions at the desk.

image of guy who is fully awake

♫  cruel - st vincent

9:03 am —  my boss PHOEBE IS HERE !! it was her birthday yesterday :) she brought a cool looking jar into work for us to repot our rootbound office monstera in. our coworker layla left her a birthday treat from machine shop in the fridge!!

9:19 am — phoebe’s off to her ceramics class, and i’m quickly eating my protein overnight oats before anyone comes in. it was my first time making it with protein powder, and it tastes pretty chalky. 

10:03 am — emails, calls, chattin w gerard :)

10:28 am — inputting attendance into the system. phoebe is making a flowerbutt, a guy i draw, who looks like a four-legged critter with a flower on its ass. he is often mistaken for a bunny or cat, but in my brain he looks more like a sea bunny or an amoeba. she made one for me and it sits at my desk at home; she's making one for our front desk trinket area. 

for those of you who are curious, she picked the triangle face in the middle.

11 am —  layla is here & i love them very much! we talk about hanging out with our coworker julianne next week, who just moved to south philly. yay!

11:40 am —  m texts me about a new supermarket + toy store in chinatown. i recognize the space as an old grocery store i used to frequent. i miss the old store and the hidden restaurant in it was a gem, but i'm glad the space is being used after a long time of it waiting in limbo. i text back. "chinatown date?" 

12:02 pm — i have a zoom meeting on my lunch break with my second job i recently acquired, to go over paperwork and some id verification. it's a temp remote job that pays decently; i'm scrambling to make extra money over the summer while i'm not in school. 

♫ tiger face - dora jar

12:32 pm  — eating lunch in the park! i'm eating leftovers from last night, a creamy pasta with chicken and broccoli, and reading care work: dreaming disability justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. 

♫ lemonade - chili beans

1:01 pm  — back from break. successfully encouraged phoebe to grab some cafe cuong for lunch before our all-staff meeting. i might get flack for saying this, but they're my favorite bahn mi place in philly, but of course there's some  incredibly strong contenders in the area. this one is an office favorite.

"this coffee is going to kick my ass, i can already tell."

"hell yeah."

because of how cloudy n gray it is out, i am also slightly inclined to grab a coffee, but since my sleep is so messed up i opt not to. 

1:47 pm —  layla asks if i want anything from nannie franco's. tempting, but i already ate my beautiful pasta lunch... it's a blessing and a curse that i work right by italian market. i explain to layla that it's my Day. 

"you're in this dude!"

"yes!!!! look how high i can kick!"

we both take turns doing incredibly impressively high high-kicks. 

"this is in it now too!"

i make my foot kiss laylas foot with a high kick.

"how am i supposed to explain this in a text-based format?"

2 pm —  i am attending an all-staff meeting virtually while i assist at the desk.

2:15 pm —  andy texts me. they are back in philly from being out of town for work. i miss them a lot! they ask if i want to come roller skating with them and a friend, but i already have plans with m. andy and i have been friends for four years and recently started dating. it's been so exciting to figure out how our dynamic changes and grows.

2:45 pm —  explaining to m over text my parasocial relationship with dollar tree.

3:08 pm —  meeting over, one of my favorite artists yannick lowery dropped by 🙂 

3:30 pm —  ANOTHER favorite artist of mine stopped by! qiaira riley is here, looking for gerard. 

3:37 pm —  work is dead. time is dragging. 

3:50 pm —  my coworker alex is here to take over for the evening shift!! i am free! i start my walk over to graduate hospital, where my parents live, to pet and plant sit for them while they're on vacation.

♫ gimme all ur luv - hemlocke springs

4:19 pm —  made it to the house. our family bird, bibingka, is so happy to see me. he likes to sit on my head.

♫ happy birthday kimchi - mammalfriend

4:35 pm —  ate a rice beignet my step-mom nicky left for me leftover  from a mother's day biscuit pop-up benefitting the people's kitchen of philadelphia. it was incredible.  

♫ part iii - crumb

the tortoises, oro and peso

♫ sansevieria -  green-house

4:56 pm  —  i fed the tortoises romaine lettuce, mushrooms and clovers and refilled their water. i also watered the garden.

♫ bags lo fi lounge (cover) - arlo parks

5:15 pm  — on the way home! i take a quick shower, feed tofu, and get ready for m to pick me up.

5:50 pm — m picks me up, and i give them a baby dracaena angolensis that i propagated from my much larger plant. i've been meaning to give them this as a housewarming present, but for some reason i kept forgetting until now. 

"there he is!" 

5:58 pm  — at a stoplight there's a lil curly headed baby in the car parked beside us staring at me. i'm able to make her crack a smile!

6:09 pm  — we get to m's place in cobbs creek. sleep deprived and tired from our workdays, cuddling turns into us both falling asleep for two and a half hours...

"m. how am i supposed to document this."

8:49 pm  — we're brainstorming dinner but fall into the rabbit hole of reading grubhub reviews.

“mm. it says 'low mac n cheese quality.'"

“yeah, that's something you don't want.”

we opt for tomo sushi. m is vegetarian and hasn't had sushi in forever, and their vegan sushi selection is huge.

10 pm  — sushi arrives! i grab seltzers from the fridge. we chat and catch up from the week.

10:30 pm  — m's housemates elaina and mo come home and join us! i'm thrilled. 

"happy thursday!"

11 p  — me: "you ever think about how cats aren't real?"

m: "...they make me so fucking mad haha”

11:20 pm  — we eat some sugar rewari m got from international food and spices off walnut!

11:35 pm — i'm lying in bed petting m's cat pluto, and she loafs on me for the first time. i try to get m's attention but they are brushing their teeth. they pop their head in with their toothbrush in their mouth, crack a toothpastey smile and enthusiastically give me a thumbs up. only took less than a year to curry favor with this incredibly shy cat. i guess same goes for my incredibly shy partner, too. 🙂

11:45 pm — goodnight !!

ira (they/he) is a queer trans nonbinary filipinx person in philly, but grew up in central jersey, which does indeed exist. they have lived in philly for 8 years now! he is passionate about drawing weird little dudes, growing houseplants, informal care systems, and affecting social change through a decolonizing framework. their dream is to be a clinical therapist and implement art and horticultural therapy as a tool for accessing healing for other queer and trans people of color. you can find him on instagram as @theybakla.