JessBarnett

So I've turned 34 now, and I spent Saturday afternoon/evening with some of my most dazzling friends and family and, most important, my partner-in-crime, my fiance, Chris. (We also visited Manchester-by-the-Sea the next day for several hours, stopping by the best bookstore I've discovered in ages and trucking our bags and towels up to Singing Beach [heavenly].

So first -- The Precious Present, which is pretty precious for the following reasons:

I am in a good place right now. I have a wonderful partner to whom I'm getting married in September; I have a stable, predictable job that pays well and provides health insurance; I have a rented home with a beautiful yard; I have a wonderful cat, two dogs, and two snakes; and VERY importantly, I have a family who loves me unconditionally and whom I do so in return.

But, and secondly:

I came from a worse place. I'd like to visit a few of them here (not in chrono order). Why? Because

So here goes.

Below: Me, 2006. Still unsure of my place in the world, my identity. I had to get drunk every time I got on stage to sing. Life of the party?

Below: Me, 2005. Visiting MOMA, now one of my favorite places on earth, but all of my secret cravings and mind-distractions couldn't have told me that.

Below: Me, 2008. Visiting my best friend Christina in Philly, deciding to get a new tattoo. I'd spent the entire night before awake. Was still at the very, very beginning of my journey.

More to come in a later post... but for now....

(to me)

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and in one last, unrelated (but important matter) -- Burial's 2013 EP, Rival Dealer. If you haven't heard it yet, you're missing something great, on many levels. Do yourself a favor.