Hi friends! It’s been a little while since I’ve settled down enough to write one of these. “Settled down” feels funny to say in this moment, as I’ve just wrapped up my winter quarter of classes, wrote two 20-page papers, and will soon be on a plane
There is a kind of knowledge that only music grants me. I have experienced this intuitive magic since I was at least a teenager, seeking salvation in Pitchfork best-of lists and random finds at the Independent Records dollar bin a block from my high school, whose rows I would trawl
Any first time high is one that’s worth cherishing, and I can say that I found one of the most sublime, unpredictable of such experiences on Saturday, July 18 while seeing the band Phish at the United Center. My friends Sasha and Matt flew in for all three days
The future feels foggy. The present, by contrast, is undeniably overwhelming, each day so full of horrible news that continuing to get out of bed, to go to work, to do the things that are supposed to make life meaningful, takes levels of additional labor that I know most of
Now, it is fall. Over the last several weeks, as I’ve begun classes at Northwestern, returning to the place that first brought me to the Chicago area 11 years ago, I’ve been reflecting often on what this moment has presented within my life, this opportunity to revisit past
Dear all, It has been a busy few months since my last newsletter post, a period of many transitions. Most concretely, I’ve now left my job as an organizer with the Chicago Housing Justice Coalition, taking a much-needed pause before I begin classes at Northwestern at the end of
Note: I am a little out of practice with the newsletter – there have been no shortage of things I could have written about in recent weeks, just a shortage of time and energy! That said, I've been writing a lot recently, and am excited for what is developing
“I wouldn’t say that being trans now is living my truth. I’d say it’s a better fiction. This is the genre of this body now. This is how it breathes easy. It’s telling that transsexuals are required to declare we’re in possession of true being
In my recent travels to different cities, there’s a moment where the city snaps into view. There’s no use willing this moment into reality: each trip is different, the city revealing itself without warning. In my inveterate pursuit of connection with all the places I’m lucky enough
“Are you writing from the heart?” is a big, almost impossible question to face as an artist. It seems so simple, really: we create art as something that helps us to make sense of ourselves, to share a bit of that insight with others, and perhaps, in time, to find
My thoughts return to the breath. With the new year just a few days away, I found myself attending an intensive meditation retreat last week, something I’d long wanted to take on, an event whose timing, falling in the small crevice between Christmas and New Year’s Day, felt
It is Friday, December 8. Just over 72 hours ago, I found myself emerging from anesthesia, put under to complete the second half of my Facial Feminization Surgery, a procedure that countless trans femmes like myself have undergone to see themselves more clearly. I wrote about the procedure for Teen
Last night was Dyke Nite, the fourth that we’ve hosted at Bernice’s Tavern, our beloved Bridgeport dive bar. What began as an offhand comment by Elise that we should ask Steve about hosting something for lesbians who don’t always want to go to the North Side to
I’m making myself sob. Today is my 29th birthday. It’s also the five-year anniversary of starting Hormone Replacement Therapy, undoubtedly the single most decisive action I’ve ever taken in my entire life. Five years ago today, I steered myself onto a path that was many years in
Life is simply a lot right now. There's always something about this time of year that feels heightened: deadlines fast approach, people start to gear up for holiday travel, and the changing weather reminds us that the seeds we'd planted earlier in the year now tend
I keep hoping that when I do a picture, it has its own life that really has nothing to do with that moment. It’s not something frozen. It’s the echo of that time and that what’s on that piece of paper has its own life. Which is
Hello! If you are reading this email, thank you – this is edition one of City Dreams, an email newsletter I’m hoping to get started to keep people interested in my work updated on the many different things I’m working on. Doing an email newsletter in this way is
This is City Dreams, a brand new site by Annie Howard that's just getting started. Things will be up and running here shortly, but you can subscribe in the meantime if you'd like to stay up to date and receive emails when new content is published!