Sleeping Around

Inspired by the writings of my wicked smart funny friends Jesse Seret (Perfect Calm), Trish Deitch (Distant Dock), Jessica Schickel (Chagrin and Bear It), Jen Sincero (Hey Little Bad Ass), and Janine Schulz (Oiling of a Rusty Mind), and encouraged by people I’ve met here and there, I will now commence the blog. Maybe just about beds. Maybe about other things too. But the beds are a constant. I’ve been keeping record of every mattress, hammock, waterbed, and couch I’ve spent the night on for some time, as many of you know.

Not every bed makes it into the bed collection. Sometimes I forget to take a picture. Once my computer was stolen on a night train in deepest India and I lost an important year of photos. Sometimes the beds in which I’ve slept would cause too much of a stir if made public, so. But there are lots beds in the bed collection. And stories behind each one.

If beds bore you then there is still some hope for us having a blogger/reader relationship. Let’s see how it goes. I’m only about 80% comfortable with this set up and welcome your input.

Love and kusheln from my red velvet bed in Berlin,

Noa
June, 2010
~ Monday, February 6 ~
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Ulpotha, Sri Lanka (January 29-February 6, 2012) — We arrived in the middle of the night and I was disoriented. There is no electricity at Ulpotha only gas lanterns. Shadows shifted across mud walls. I let down the mosquito net and lay waiting for the effects of the bumpy drive to dissolve. There was a growl above my head. Claire, who was in the bed across the hut, and I debated whether it was a mammal or a bird. An owl we decided. Claire is very good at replicating bird sounds. In the morning we awoke to a symphony. This is what it sounded like. We would listen for a while then without needing to discuss it, we’d get up, mount our bicycles and ride over to the bathhouse. Maybe stop for a tambly (coconut water), and head into the jungles for yoga. Danielle, the massage therapist said one night a 6 foot black snake crawled up to her mosquito net to say hi. A rat snake. Harmless they say. I had a spider the size of a coffee can lid attached to mine. But if anything these creatures enhanced the experience of living with nature for a whole week. No phones, no computer. People actually talked to each other without their eyes darting to a screen. I felt so grounded when I left and a bit of it has even remained with me. Temperature: Perfect. Reading Materials: Finished Madame Bovary (reading parts aloud to Claire) and Night Swim by Jessica Keener.

Ulpotha, Sri Lanka (January 29-February 6, 2012) — We arrived in the middle of the night and I was disoriented. There is no electricity at Ulpotha only gas lanterns. Shadows shifted across mud walls. I let down the mosquito net and lay waiting for the effects of the bumpy drive to dissolve. There was a growl above my head. Claire, who was in the bed across the hut, and I debated whether it was a mammal or a bird. An owl we decided. Claire is very good at replicating bird sounds. In the morning we awoke to a symphony. This is what it sounded like. We would listen for a while then without needing to discuss it, we’d get up, mount our bicycles and ride over to the bathhouse. Maybe stop for a tambly (coconut water), and head into the jungles for yoga. Danielle, the massage therapist said one night a 6 foot black snake crawled up to her mosquito net to say hi. A rat snake. Harmless they say. I had a spider the size of a coffee can lid attached to mine. But if anything these creatures enhanced the experience of living with nature for a whole week. No phones, no computer. People actually talked to each other without their eyes darting to a screen. I felt so grounded when I left and a bit of it has even remained with me.

Temperature: Perfect.

Reading Materials: Finished Madame Bovary (reading parts aloud to Claire) and Night Swim by Jessica Keener.

Tags: ulpotha sri lanka